Such a spooky paranormal story! Love the twists and turns! I was able to figure out some of the twists but still great!

I recently listened to the audiobook of 80s Ghosts and had a fun time! This book got 3.5 🌟🌟🌟💫 from me. I loved the premise of the book, but parts of the audio fell a little flat for me. I probably would have enjoyed this one more if I read the physical book, so I may end up picking up a copy to reread in the future. The story was strong, but the found footage aspect didn’t translate well into audio. 👾👻🎥🪳

Thank you, @netgalley and @tantoraudio for an ALC for review! The audiobook published on 07/08/2025!

Synopsis:
The year is 2009, and Chrissy Rodriguez is determined to make her ghost hunting vlog an internet success. She’s only one more failed investigation away from financial ruin and having to move back home. When she receives an email asking her to investigate Merlin High, a school that burned down in the 80s, she is presented with a unique opportunity that could make or break her.

As they explore the decaying halls searching for evidence of the paranormal, Chrissy notices that her team is acting a little…off. Everything begins to unravel, blurring the lines between past and present. With her team stretched to its limits, Chrissy realizes that some secrets want to be found. And some of them have even been waiting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for a complimentary copy for an honest review.

Chrissy Rodriguez has been working on a ghost hunting vlog that she is dying to become a success. She is close to financial ruin because her previous vlogs were failed attempts at contacting spirits. She is contacted to investigate Merlin High, a high school that burned down in the 1980s and is rumored to be haunted. As Chrissy and her crew start investigating, everyone begins to act strangely and Chrissy begins having vivid nightmares about what happened in this school 30-plus years ago.

I enjoyed this for the entertainment that it was. It's not my ideal version of a haunting story, but I did love the idea of a haunted school. I liked that there was a plot twist connection toward the end, but I struggled with the process of contacting the spirits. I'm used to the crackled, white-noise-type sounds spirits make in other books/movies, which create the scary effect. The spirits in this one talk as if they're in the same room with you, and I found that a little off-putting and a bit unrealistic.

Other than that, I enjoyed Chrissy's journey of completing her paranormal investigation at a haunted high school.

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

TLDR: 3 ½ stars – Fun times campy-in-the-best-way haunted school story

This book is exactly what I was hoping for when I requested it from Netgalley.

I’ve got a…divisive relationship with horror. I consider it one of my favorite genres. It also consists of an alarming number of my one-star reads: a whopping 25%. I love ghosts. I find serial killers mostly interesting in non-fiction. I want paranormal in my horror and I want to have to dig out bits of the story from the past. Keep that in mind when you read the rest of this.

The main character, Chrissy, is trying to get a ghost hunting vlog to really take off, and they are contacted about investigating a school that burned down in the 80s. This goes about as well as you’d expect given this book is horror, though I suppose it is good for a ghost hunter?

If this were a movie, it would be found footage horror. It has bits and pieces of interviews and recording transcripts. There are flashbacks. Most of it is set in the present, but I love a story that mixes media types.

I did get weirdly tied up trying to calculate how Chrissy was renting a two-bedroom house as a waitress. Still find it a little sketchy, but that was clearly not intended to be something I thought that hard about. The main characters were interesting enough to keep me invested, and the story itself made me second-guess a few theories. I won’t say it was wildly shocking, but also I read a lot of haunted house horror, so I think my ability to fine-tune my guesses is definitely a factor there. I did go down the wrong path a time or two.

There’s a bit of romance, a lot of things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, and some questions about what the truth was. We did have a character that played the eternal skeptic, and they are just as annoying in this as they are in other ghost stories. Listen, I’m glad you want to not believe (I guess?), but you literally saw a ghost just now, stop acting like the people who say they may be able to communicate with them are insane, my dude.

I’m a little too young for the nostalgia to be a big factor, but it added some fun. I got the sounds (and smells!) from an 80s high school from the writing. The connections between characters and the place are fun to string together and don’t feel super overdone. It doesn’t stretch credulity too far to have all these people come together here.

The narrator was both excellent for this and oddly distracting. Her whispery voice sounded great for the spooky stuff, but the deep breaths before starting some sentences were audible and pulled me out of the book in places. It’s quite possible this is something they will clean up for the “official” release, so take this with a grain of salt.

The cover? Absolute chef’s kiss.

The story wraps up properly – no cliffhangers here, folks – but there’s enough that maybe more stories with these characters could be written if they find a new mystery to investigate. I’d be interested in picking those books up if they materialize.

Overall, I do recommend this. I watched Grave Encounters at about the same time, and those pair well.

Enjoyable ghost story. It's set in a high school from an event that happened in the 80s. It was fun learning more about the event as the story went on.

Thank you Netgallery for the ARC!

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. I received an alc of the book from NetGalley, and I absolutely loved it. It is packed full of nostalgia. I couldn’t get enough. There were several instances that felt like some of my favorite 80s horror movies. I ate this book up. I really enjoyed the narration as well. This is a single narration, and Bianca Bryan really brought this book to life. I couldn’t stop listening once I started.

The current time is 2009 and Chrissy is a ghost hunter. She’s determined to make her vlog a success, but has fallen on hard times. When she gets an offer to come investigate and high school that burned down in the 80s, she jumps on the opportunity.

You will get plenty of ghosts in this book, strange behaviors from her teammates, uncovered secrets, Freddy Krueger like nightmares, and so much more! This would be the perfect spooky season read/listen!

This was a story that just clicked for me-- I loved the multiple ways it was told and the mystery of what was really happening, and I was interested in the people even when I was questioning their choices. I especially loved the nostalgia -- this is set in 2009, which is fairly recent, but there was still a real sense of nostalgia. The narration was fantastic and I was entertained the whole way through. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

This one took me a bit to get into it, but once the action picked up, i really enjoyed it!

I caught on to the “possession” angle pretty quick but i expected it to be a different scenario. I also expected more than 2 ghosts to be stuck, but it makes sense since Bev mentioned helping others cross earlier on.

This was a great story for anyone who loves a paranormal angle with a touch of psychic powers.

This had all the elements to be an amazing read for me. I should have liked it more than I did. It had its moments, but overall it was just ok for me. I can't quite put my finger on what it was, but it just didn't excite me. I wanted to keep reading to get to the end, but it felt like a bit of a chore.

Got about 40% in and this is just one of those books that feels like it'd be better as a movie, Idk if that makes sense. Because of this I'll be giving it a sort of placeholder 3 stars instead of continuing when I could read something that feels a bit more fun and like something I can really enjoy.

The cover of this book immediately caught my eye, and after reading the synopsis, I knew I had to dive in. Big thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I listened to the audiobook over the course of a couple of days and really enjoyed the narration, it added a lot to the atmosphere and pacing. The story centers around Chrissy and a team of paranormal investigators as they take on a case that could be their big break... but of course, things don’t quite go as planned. The plot was creepy, immersive, and had a cinematic quality. I could easily picture the scenes playing out like a movie as I listened. While some elements were a bit predictable, I still found it entertaining and fun. I was born in the 90s but If you grew up loving Scooby-Doo like I did, there’s a good chance this one will hit the nostalgic sweet spot for you too!

I wasn’t able to connect with the characters. I’m not sure if it was the narrator or the writing style..

I loved this one. It was so funny and yet serious and kind of romantic. We never let 80s teens be ghosts and really we have been missing out. The narration was perfect too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this listening copy of 80s Ghosts by V.S. Lawrence. I'm happy to share my thoughts on this story.

This was a fun read that walked between the lines of horror and human-interest piece. As the title implies, there is a healthy dose of late 80's - early 90's nostalgia (experienced through old videos and flashbacks), but the story is primarily in the late 00's. This time capsule within a time capsule offered a unique set of snapshots when compared to how I believe the story would unfold if set in the present.

I found the motivations of some of the characters hard to track, even after the story unfolded and more overlapping interests were divulged. Additionally, the entanglements proved to be far too convenient for my tastes but did make the story 'matter more' outside the main character's need to succeed. I also rolled my eyes slightly when many 'common' ghost hunting phrases or sayings had to be re-termed to offer a distinction that I don't believe played off.

Would recommend for fans of Stranger Things or other 80's centric media, but with the knowledge it serves only as a backdrop for a slightly more modern tale.

I wanted to like this one but it was more silly than scary and the light tone just did not appeal to me. I could have finished it but the narration was grading on me and I just wanted to stop

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

I liked that this was a different ghost story. It wasn’t scary, like normal ghost stories. There were quite a few things in the end that I didn’t expect or see coming.

The narrator for audiobook almost ruined the book for me but I kept on listening anyways & it was worth it.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of 80s Ghosts by V.S. Lawrence in exchange for an honest review. 80s Ghosts is a really good book about trauma and the residue it leaves behind. Will the Ghost hunters find a real haunting to help their show or will it destroy them?

This book started off strong, but began losing me with the ghost girl singing in the bathroom, and all I could think was Moaning Myrtle for the rest of the book. Fun idea. Not really scary. Not really horror. The 80s references were funny, and while I kept thinking there could have been more (maybe not as many as Stranger Things, but definitely leaning in that direction), the cheese factor completely paired well with dramatic teenage ghosts.

It just didn't have any "oompf". If you are going to go for a scary, horror ghost story where dozens of kids died, tragically and brutally burned to death by a peer, do it. If you're going to go cheesy, 80s glam camp ghost story and an homage to slasher films, do it. I think the author meant to convey the former, but the latter got in the way. It could've been you got your chocolate in my peanut butter/you got your peanut butter in my chocolate marriage of the best kind (no one can do Grady Hendrix like Grady Hendrix), but it was tepid versions of both.

I enjoyed this. The story was pretty interesting. It didn’t play out exactly how I thought when I requested it but it was still enjoyable. Also I love to see my name in a book (first time ever, even if there is an extra H). The audio narrator was great.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this ARC. The audiobook is out now!

I was really looking forward to this read and wanted to love it so bad. While I did find it entertaining, it really just wasn’t the right fit for me, I’m sorry to say.

I will say that I did quite enjoy the audiobook narration which helped drive the story for me.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.