Horror Hotel is a fun fast read and an ode to ghost shows, horror movies and a bit of true crime.

The story is about four high school students who have a ghost hunting show on YouTube and for Halloween they are trying to get the spookiest location and ghost hunt for them yet, at the Hearst Hotel! Immediately upon arriving at the hotel lots of spooky events happen and the story takes off. Though some of the mysteries might be easy to guess, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment and I found myself eager with excitement for what was to come next.

The story is a mix of ghost hunting, romance, trust in people and what happens in the afterlife. I really love how the authors decided to portray not only the ghosts and their relationships but the relationships of the living as well

If you are a fan of ghost shows and true crime mysteries then you have heard of the mystery that inspired this book, Elisa Lam. The authors did an amazing job of staying true to Elisa and her mystery but also twisting it to help his fictional story as well.

I really enjoyed reading this story as it was a fast and fun read. I turned out the lights, turned down the room temperature and lost myself in this mystery. I think young readers as well as adults will enjoy this story and it makes the perfect night/campfire read. Four spooky stars.

I love the concept and the plot of this book!
Our library already ordered a couple of copies of this book!

full review will be on goodreads:

If you love true crime and horror novels in the YA genre then this is definitely the book for you. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and the story was very well written. This edition involved quite a bit of grammatical errors, but those aside I really enjoyed this story!! A+ murder mystery!

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for this read!

I loved this book! Chrissy, Chase, Emma and Kiki are the members of The Ghost Gang! They usually are lurking around haunted locales in Las Vegas. However, Chase has bigger plans for this ghost hunting troop on Halloween; a haunted hotel in LA and his dream of 1 million followers on YouTube coming true after this epic adventure. The Hearst Hotel is very creepy and things really escalate quickly because Chrissy can legitimately see ghosts, has real feelings from the other side and even can pick up on thoughts from the living!

I had so much fun reading this. There was a piece to this puzzle that did seem a bit predictable but it was handled in a way that I didn't see coming. I loved the murder/mystery along with really creepy descriptions of ghosts and all supernatural. Definitely caused some goosebumps and chills running down my arms at several points.

If this sounds like something you're interested in then I definitely recommend this. Just a trigger warning for frightening scenes, some blood and gore and unsettling imagery.

Coming out on February 1st!

Overall I enjoyed this story but felt like I wanted more from the characters.

The characters felt a little flat to me but I did like the various POVs throughout the book and the role each character played in the Ghost Gang group. Chrissy was a good main character. There didn't seem to be much to Chase other than his desire for the YouTube 1M subs reward and his crush on Chrissy. Emma was similarly lacking, aside from her traits of being the skeptical, technologically savvy member of the group. And despite saying that Kiki was more than the TikTok trophy girl, the authors didn't do a whole lot to really make that part of her character come through.

The characters did all work well together in their Ghost Gang team. I liked the group dynamic and would honestly probably watch their YouTube videos! The incorporation of social media was really well-done. The authors captured the hardworking nature of content creators while also noting some of the bad sides of social media, making Chase sometimes a little overzealous in his goal of reaching 1M subs, introducing a menacing troll in the comment sections of their videos, and demonstrating how Kiki is oftentimes viewed as an object more than a young woman. The balance between the good and bad sides of social media was realistic and great to see.

The hotel itself is such a vivid and scary setting. The paranormal encounters are described in vivid, horrifying detail and I loved it. The ghostly scenes set in such a dilapidated haunted locale were amazing. I was literally getting goosebumps while reading some of these scenes. The writing style really shone in the horror passages of this book. The fear the characters felt was so tangible and it really made the overall tone of the book so ominous, and this intense feeling was amplified when the group encountered the unexpected surprise in room 1413.

The final scene of the book at the hotel was really great. It made Chrissy feel a little more three dimensional and made me feel closer to the ghosts on a level above feeling afraid of them. The final scene really humanized them and reminded the reader that the ghosts Chrissy sees were real people who suffered senselessly at the end of their lives.

So a lot of this book sounds really amazing, but like I said before I just really wanted more from this story. I wish the characters would have been more than just caricatures of a ghost hunting gang. I wish that there would have been more time spent on the lgbtq+ angle between Emma and Kiki, I wanted more about Chrissy's past and how she really came to become a psychic and what she does to help the ghosts she comes across, and more about Chase and his dreams of filmmaking. I've mentioned it numerous times before but I am the kind of reader who typically needs to feel a strong connection to the characters to really enjoy a book. I just didn't feel strongly about these characters, so even though I really liked the twists and the horror aspects I didn't love the characters or their dialogue, so I couldn't really fall for the book. I just got the overall feeling that a lot of care was given to the horror and paranormal aspects of this book while writing and the characters kind of fell by the wayside. They each had a basic foundation but I would have felt more moved by the story if I felt closer to all the characters.

If you're looking for a quick paranormal/horror read I would recommend this. A lot more could have been done to make the characters feel more realistic and relatable and that would have made the book more compelling for me. Despite this, I did enjoy the read for what it was. It could have been better but it was very chilling and fast-paced. The friendship between these characters was wonderful and I loved the ending.

This read like part paranormal investigation, part crime documentary and I loved it!

Internet famous Ghost Gang, consisting of Chrissy, Chase, Emma and Kiki travel to paranormal hot spots to investigate. When they secretly head to a well known LA hotel famous for its dark past to film, Chase hopes this will set them apart from the rest and earn them the coveted 1 million subscribers. They get much, much more than they bargain for when they arrive and things start to go haywire.

Chrissy was saddled with the unique ability to see and connect with ghosts at a young age, and her Ghost Gang are the only people she feels actually comfortable with. But it still sets her apart from them. And being inside this haunted hotel is wreaking havoc on her mind and her body.

This was such a fun and quick read. I read this in one sitting because I didn’t want to put it down… or look behind me.

I was initially interested in Horror Hotel for being sold as a “Blair Witch Project” read and because it followed a team of ghost investigators. From the synopsis it’s safe to assume that the story was inspired by the Cecil Hotel. What I wasn’t really expecting from this book was how heavily the case of Elisa Lam’s death would play a part. I have a read a lot of books that have drawn inspiration from events that have happened in the past, especially of the true crime nature. Some have been respectful and handled with careful hands, while others have not. To be honest, I am not sure where Horror Hotel lands in that spectrum.

My biggest turn off from this book is it didn’t really feel like it was “inspired by.” The authors changed slight details like the name of the hotel and possibly some events that went down there. They changed the name of Elisa and details of her death, but kept the sensationalism attached with her. The strange video, the internet obsession, why she was in L.A, they even mirrored her blog posts. Instead of being a girl who was possibly struggling with her mental health, X, is a girl who has the ability to see dead people. It was very hard not see that character as Elise because it felt like they just plucked her from her very true story and inserted her as a ghost in theirs. To be honest, it just felt exploitive to me, and ruined any enjoyment I could have had with this book. They may have dedicated the book to Elisa, but that didn’t really feel like it was enough. It definitely didn’t honor her.

The book is told from multiple povs with each character alternating chapters. It took a while for me to find the voices of the characters because they all kind of read the same on the page - especially when it came to the characters Chase and Chrissy. The writing itself felt rushed and had very little build up to the horror moments. At times it felt like the authors were presenting me with information instead of letting it naturally occur on the page, if that makes any sense.

All in all, I didn’t really enjoy this book. It definitely made me think about how much true crime has a genre has grown in the last few years. It’s made me wonder about how we write and talk about these real-life cases and the lives of other people. How blurry is the line between “inspired by” or “based on” and just a cash grab?

As in-put-downable I found this book to be… I was only able to give two stars. Yes, it was interesting and caught and held my attention. But, I felt like I was reading an RL Stine book. Definitely a YA. Which I suppose is not a bad thing… I was just expecting something entirely different.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing me with this advance reader copy.

Description from NetGalley:
When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers—and ultimately harmless.

But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads.

Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our help—and the living we should fear.

I flew through this book. I hated having to stop. The cover is amazing. I definitely requested this 90% based off of the cover alone. I love it. Each member of the Ghost Gang feels unique with their own motives, etc. Their actions, both as a group and individually, drive the plot forward. My favorite was definitely Chrissy, the psychic of the group. I felt for her and what was happening in the hotel. The writing was solid, which can sometimes be difficult with two authors.

If you are looking for a not quite so adult spooky read, then Horror Hotel is for you. 4/5

3.5 stars

A notoriously haunted L.A. hotel. A group of teenage ghost hunters. A dead girl and her secrets. And something lurking in the dark...

Location/Concept: ★★★
Sense of pacing: ★★★★
Personal enjoyment: ★★

Horror Hotel comes out on February 1!

Chrissy, Chase, Kiki, and Emma are quickly becoming famous for their YouTube channel, Ghost Gang. In a setup that feels pretty similar to Buzzfeed Unsolved and other real-life online channels, this group of teens goes to haunted locations and films their explorations and reactions to creepy locations. And Chrissy is their ace in the hole: she actually CAN see spirits.

The Ghost Gang needs their next big hit. Chase, the group's organizer, decides to set their sights on the big one: the most haunted hotel in Los Angeles, California.

In this hotel from hell, a young girl died brutally within its walls and her erratic behavior before her untimely death was caught online for the world to watch. Something happened to this girl, and someone—or something—killed her. No one has found out the truth.

Chrissy and the rest of the group aren't exactly wild about visiting this location, but they let their better senses get the best of them and agree to go. (What's a horror setup without a few dumb decisions?)

They have no idea what they're in for...

So first off, a small disclaimer: I think this book is quite good for the right audience, and in that audience I could see Horror Hotel being a new favorite YA thriller/horror. It has all of the right hooks, shocks, and drama.

Unfortunately, I was not the right audience for this story because I'm a frequent horror movie and true crime documentary buff and knew the source material inside and out before starting this story.

If you've watched the Netflix documentary Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel and heard the very true story of the tragic death of Elisa Lam at that real L.A. hotel, then this fictionalized account with different names and slightly different tweaks might not work for you. The authors of Horror Hotel pay tribute to Elisa Lam in their dedication, which makes sense as this story was inspired by hers, but to me this novel was almost an exact replica of that particular Netflix documentary.

Now I'm not getting into whether replicating stories is good or bad, retellings are a very popular thing and I've enjoyed a few of them, but regardless of my opinion on that element I found Horror Hotel to be pretty low stakes and low interest for me, personally, because I knew where it was going all of the time. Without the feeling of "where is this story going," I quickly found my interest waning.

Again, this issue only happened because I was so familiar with that Netflix documentary. For those who haven't seen it and are just casually aware of the Elisa Lam story and the Hotel Cecil, this might be a very different reading experience.

Recommended for new fans to the genre and for those who have not watched the referenced Netflix movie.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Always looking for horror novels to beef up my classroom library. This is the perfect blend of true crime, paranormal, slasher vibes. There are a pleathers of twists and turns, and while yes it was predictable, it was still enjoyable. I know my students will love this!

Firstly, i want to say a big thank you to the author Victoria Fulton, the publisher Delacorte Press, and TBR and Beyond Tours for inviting me on this tour. Horror Hotel is a YA horror story that follows a group of friends who enter a Haunted Hotel. What follows is a string of murders and a chilling past that wants to be acknowledged in the present.

I found the plot development to be really well done, even though the twist of who the murder was I saw by a mile away I still really enjoyed the story. I also loved the way everything came together at the end, it is a short horror story that is wrapped up nicely. Another thing I loved was the romance in the story, I found the main romances to be really sweet and well developed. I also love the fact that there was LGBTQIA+ representation as there is a sapphic romance which was really sweet.

The character development was actually really enjoyable in the moments they we got. The world building of talking about the hotels past was also really intriguing which added a nice touch to the story. The pacing was consistent as it was very fast paced from start to finish which I actually think did the book a massive favour as it being a horror it kept you hooked and engrossed in the story.

Overall, a really decent paranormal, thriller story with elements of romance thrown in that I recommend, I give this story 4 stars!

I'm not usually a YA horror reader so this was a nice little break from the norm. It was super fast paced and packed with enough descriptions that it kept my attention pretty well. I liked the multiple POVs in this book quite alot. I figured out who the killer was pretty quickly but that's my only issue. I like when books are able to keep me guessing at who the bad guy is. Overall 4⭐

I sped through this book rather fast! It took me approx. 8 hours to finish. The cover art is what initially drew me in—it's so stunning! I love the multiple narrator setup of the book. It keeps everything fresh, and I loved reading the different viewpoints. Loved all the main characters, they were relatable and likeable! Overall the story is interesting, and I couldn't put the book down. I recommend this for anyone that loves supernatural horror stories!
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When the Ghost Gang decides to film their next hit YouTube video at the Hearst Hotel, they might've gotten more than they bargained for. Chase (founder), Chrissy (psychic), Emma (tech), and Kiki (personality/manager) find themselves stuck in something sinister after they visit the room of a former serial killer. Will they make it out of the hotel alive?

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC.

This book was such a disappointment. I was really looking forward to the premise of it, a combination of thriller and paranormal activity. However, it was so clearly based on a real murder that reading it felt like an intrution on the family's grief, and made me incredibly uncomfortable.

This title caught my attention due to the beautiful and menacing cover art. In this story we follow a group of teenage ghost hunters trying to make it big on their YouTube channel. Chrissy, the star of the show, is psychic and can sense and see ghosts and paranormal activity. When the group decides to visit the Hearst Hotel, known for strange happenings and tragedies, things quickly spiral out of control and a serial killer may be on the loose. They can only hope they can figure out what’s going on and make it out alive.

There’s a lot packed into this quick read. It is full of vivid horror imagery, surprisingly more than I expected with it being a YA. The main character, Chrissy, can see ghosts and often will be pulled into gruesome visions where ghosts show her their deaths. The descriptions were very creepy so I felt it was a success in the horror department, it may not be for readers who do not like those types of descriptive situations. The book also crosses into multiple genres: horror, crime, mystery, paranormal. They all come together to paint an unsettling environment. This book is good for readers who are into supernatural horror and mysteries set in contemporary times. There’s a lot of tie ins to modern technology and influencer culture, so I wonder how this will age but it is a great horror read for teens and adults right now!

Honestly, I went into this one with low expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised. Young adult horror is very hit or miss for me, but I'm always willing to give it a shot because it's a comfort genre for me. So when I find one I really like, I go all out recommending it. This one will be recommended in my library for sure. It's spooky and atmospheric while still being "fun," and I can see fans of Clown in a Cornfield loving this one as it falls back on some beloved tropes. Definitely a good time.

I don't know what I expected from "the Blair Witch Project for the TikTok Generation" but it was definitely not this. I don't know if it's a result of the content being written in a tone that sounded too juvenile for YA or if it was the story itself, but something about this book just wasn't holding my attention. I think I just wanted a bit more horror and a bit less teen drama.

The dead and the living cannot exist together. Sometimes they need help, sometimes they go overboard with scaring us. This is a ghost hunter story for the social media generation. You could read this in one sitting. The plot is a little predictable but its entertaining. I liked all the characters, but Kiki is my most favourite!! In acknowledgments, the author has mentioned that Horror Hotel came from a shared passion for haunted houses, slasher flickers and true crime. If you like reading these genres, I think you’ll enjoy this too.

Thank you Underlined for the digital arc via Netgalley.

This is definitely a jab at the Cecil Hotel. I’d recommend watching the Netflix documentary before reading it. It’s even dedicated to Elisa Lam 😬 not crazy original, but definitely for the younger YA readers