
Member Reviews

Usually, I have enjoyed this author's previous books, so I was excited to receive this. Unfortunately, I haven't been having luck with books in 2023, cause this is the second that I haven't enjoyed so far. This book had a good premise but poor execution and it pains me because like I said, I've enjoyed the author's other books before.

I don't feel like I'm having much luck with my kick-off reads for 2023. This story felt confusing and all over the place. It's almost like the author couldn't decide which way to take the direction of the story.

Just got this on NetGalley, thank you NG, and the publisher! My group, HA, is reading this month and it's getting a lot of buzz. So excited to get to start today. Update coming!
Excellent read! I am kind of a lightweight with horror, but I do have a fun wicked self that enjoys a good scare sometimes. I recently joined the Horror Aficionados group here on GoodReads and it was the December group read. I am glad I checked it. It does have some graphic images that might be hard for some to digest, but, I had fun with it. The group had a good discussion and I love to talk about books so it worked for me.
The title is very clever and you will see that soon. There are some gross ghosts in here. Get past that and you will learn what the book really is about. Don't read too much about it before going in because you will want to be surprised. I am not sure about that ending, but, ok, it can work. Bwhahahahaq. Find out for yourself!
Good character development and plot. I read it quickly and found it to be mostly a page-turner.
Highly recommended!
2 likes
READING PROGRESS
December 18, 2022 – Shelved
December 18, 2022 – Shelved as: to-read
December 19, 2022 – Started Reading
December 19, 2022 – Started Reading
December 19, 2022 – Shelved as: netgalley
December 19, 2022 – Shelved as: buddy-read
December 19, 2022 – Shelved as: group-read
Finished Reading Add a date
December 20, 2022 –
52.0% "This is a wild ride!"
December 22, 2022 –
75.0% "This is really good! I want Erin to be ok."
December 25, 2022 – Finished Reading
January 6, 2023 – Shelved as: horror
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message 1: by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReaderDec 26, 2022 09:04AM
Jennifer ~ TarHeelReaderI look forward to your full thoughts on this one!
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message 2: by debbicat *made of stardust* - rated it 4 starsDec 26, 2022 02:57PM
debbicat *made of stardust*Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader wrote: "I look forward to your full thoughts on this one!"
You got it! I am still processing the ending. Not what I expected! ;-)
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4 creepy and scary stars!
Just got this on NetGalley, thank you NG, and the publisher! My group, HA, is reading this month and it's getting a lot of buzz. So excited to get to start today. Update coming!<br /><br />Excellent read! I am kind of a lightweight with horror, but I do have a fun wicked self that enjoys a good scare sometimes. I recently joined the Horror Aficionados group here on GoodReads and it was the December group read. I am glad I checked it. It does have some graphic images that might be hard for some to digest, but, I had fun with it. The group had a good discussion and I love to talk about books so it worked for me. <br /><br />The title is very clever and you will see that soon. There are some gross ghosts in here. Get past that and you will learn what the book really is about. Don't read too much about it before going in because you will want to be surprised. I am not sure about that ending, but, ok, it can work. Bwhahahahaq. Find out for yourself!<br /><br />Good character development and plot. I read it quickly and found it to be mostly a page-turner. <br /><br />Highly recommended!

Four friends, Erin, Silas, Amara and Tobias are college friends trying to find direction on life after school, Silas is an addict who Erin is unable to say no too, she has bailed him out too many times. She is adamant this will be the last time she bails him out of rehab but days later he is dead. Tobias then tells her of a new drug, ghost, that enables you to see the dead, they all takes it with devastating consequences as once you take it nothing is ever the same again. If you could would you want to see your dead loved ones again?
This is an interesting concept and very well written, the story did slow in places but was otherwise fast paced and a real page turner. There are horror elements, there is some very descriptive body horror, but this is more than that, it really shows the damage and selfishness of addiction. Not only on the addict but all those around them, the power of addiction is really excellently portrayed.
This is a really unique take on what happens to us after death and our compulsion to want to connect to those we have loved and lost, it taps into the addiction of grief and loss.
As usual please check the trigger warnings on this before reading.

Thank you for the arc Netgalley!
I really enjoyed this book, it was a very well written horror. A fascinating premise well fleshed out! Kept me reading into the small hours.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ghost Eaters! It was a quick read with a really captivating story. Some of the descriptive language really got to me and I found myself squirming at some parts (which I can imagine the author wanted readers to feel like this).
I will definitely read more from this author in the future.

Ghost Eaters was one of my favorite novels I read in 2022. The book handled realistic horror in such a terrifying and surreal way that many times I felt as if I were having the same trip as the characters.
Chapman's political statements throughout the novel are well integrated into the story while still allowing the reader to lean into the fiction.
Let's get haunted!

I could not finish this book. I thought Net Galley had an option for books that reviewers could not finish, but I cannot find that option. I tried quite a few times to finish it, it I was not able to. I looked at a review on Goodreads to help articulate it, and one said that it had incredibly disjointed storylines which helped me understand the root of the problem. I could not get invested in the characters, world, or plot because the storylines did not flow together (or even on their own) nicely. It was very *very* slow, and for a book that I wanted to at least attempt to scare me in some way- that was disappointing.

I was given a digital copy of this book to review with NetGalley
What if you could take a pill to reconnect you with your lost loved ones?!
Ghost Eaters is a beautifully written book which explores grief and what it means to be haunted. It starts with a group of friends in high school who are attempting to speak with the dead.
We revisit these friends later in life, none of which have achieved the things they wished to after college, and they seem to be unable to break away from one another and the southern town, steeped in dark and bloody history, that they have lived in their whole lives.
When a member of their friendship group is found dead they are heartbroken and would do anything for a chance to say the things that went unsaid between them.
They then learn about a new drug called Ghost, which allows users to connect with people on the other side, but seems to leave users with a lingering connection to the many lost souls that walk the streets of their hometown.
I loved the writing style of this book, the way it handled grief and the effects it can have on people left behind. The characters were really well written and although they didn’t always make the best choices I found myself sympathetic and understanding why they did the things they did.
Ghost Eaters is unflinching when it comes to body horror, there were parts that I read with my mouth hanging open and other parts that made me feel really sick! Also content warnings for drug use and addiction and baby loss.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves supernatural horror, with body horror and a plot line which has you questioning what is reality and what is going on in the protagonists mind!

Absolutely (dare I say it?) ADDICTING. So many layers here, and all of them so well excavated. Chapman is a force.

I really wanted to like this one, but like all of Clay McLeod Chapman's books that I've read since The Remaking, it fell short of my expectations. The concept of haunting-as-addiction was intriguing but I just didn't connect with any of the characters enough to care, and I was struggling to get through it by the end. The worldbuilding was great, though!

This was a fever dream of a read.
Erin is still trying to find her grounding and get her life started after graduating college. One thing that's always a constant, however, is her lack of boundaries when it comes to her enigmatic on again, off again college boyfriend Silas. Silas is constantly getting himself into trouble and jumping in and out of rehab and always asking Erin to bail him out. Erin is always there to help him, even against her better judgment, until one day she doesn't. After Silas dies of an overdose, Erin starts to spiral until she learns about Ghost, a drug that Silas was working on that allows users to see the dead. In her grief she tries it hoping to see Silas one last time, but soon she's spiraling very deep and very quickly into the life of an addict.
Clay McLeod Chapman does a great job with his world building of the most horrific trip. I felt myself shudder quite a few times at certain scenes throughout. I mean, he definitely can write gross stuff incredibly well. And while it was enjoyable for the most part, I found myself wanting more of the story as a whole and not just Erin in a drug induced haze even though that's where I saw the best horror scenes. I just wished it was more balanced with the real world implications of what she was seeing and doing, however, that's just my personal opinion and overall I think horror fans will love this book!
Overall, a fun and terrifying horror book that I'd recommend.

Aaron, Amira and Tobias are friends and followers of Silas. He is magnetic and daring and Aaron is in love with him but he’s in love with drugs and that is what eventually takes his life and begins the weirdest book I have ever read. When she is disgussinghis addiction Silas says “I’m not addicted, I’m haunted.“ This book is crazy I don’t even know how to start describing it to you it is one of the strangest horror books that I’ve read this year with the exception of one where Kevin bacon in Miley Cyrus or demigods but after that one this was the craziest book and one I highly recommend. This doesn’t follow any trope known to hora trust me when I say this is one of the most original plots you’ll ever read it is OMG good! I know hora Authors's or a bunch of demented people but this book takes the cake. If the cake was confusing and you only knew it was a cake this customer gave it to you and said this is the cake but you look up and you’re like this is an a cake and you just confused that’s what this is. It was so freaking good! I received this book from NetGalley and a publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was a really interesting, genre-bending ghost story. I hesitate to say too much, as I'd hate to spoil anything, but this blend of body horror, the supernatural, and obsession made for a really unique read that I couldn't put down.

What an interesting, fresh take on a horror novel! This tells the story of friends finishing college and moving on with their life, but drugs played a major role in their lives during college and some of them never gave them up. In fact, they began exploring more dangerous substances. This tells the story.

Note: ebook provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
4 stars
Successfully feels trippy and at times like you’re reading a nightmare. The focus is on the addiction and the drug itself as Erin slides deeper and deeper into the mess Silas has created. This is done really well, I was both hoping for the best but disappointed in her the whole time. It is a good read and I absolutely will read more from this author. I just wanted a bit more from it, for me this feels more gross and at moments terrifying instead of lasting creepiness I really like from horror.

Very unique. Definitely enjoyed this one. But dear lord some people need to learn to see red flags and stay the f👀k away from those people.
I made this the October adult pick for my book club

Chapman is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I love the worlds that he creates. Ghost Eaters is no exception. This cover is to die for!

The premise of this book really intrigued me and I hadn't read anything quite like it before; grieving friends take a drug that allows them to see ghosts in order to reconnect with their recently deceased friend. I found it didn't really align with my personal taste in horror- the depiction of the grim descent into addiction made me sad rather than scared and I didn't quite buy some of the characters' choices based on what we know about them. I'd recommend to readers who loved Mexican Gothic or the movie Requiem for a Dream.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, that was an enjoyable read, just think Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas combined with a number of ghost stories.
An intense supernatural horror story about our addictions, compulsion's, fears and how we live on within others.
McLeod Chapmans writing is impeccable throughout and conjures up many a trippy, nightmarish and atmospheric scene.
The plot itself was harder to take, with the majority being based around drug taking and addiction. I think this was the main reason I didn't emotionally connect with a number of the characters, but this doesn't take away from the overall quality of the book, more a matter of personal taste.
Would I recommend this book or the author to others? Yes, I most certainly would, and I'll most definitely be keeping an eye out for future work from Clay McLeod Chapman.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.