This is the first book by S.A. Barnes that I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The tension, the moodiness, the character development was all excellent. If you enjoy a tension filled journey to an unknow planet in an abandoned space lab this will be right up your alley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for this ARC!

3.5 stars

Ghost Station is great if you're looking for an atmospheric sci-fi horror that has an isolated, trapped feeling. The premise of the story had a lot of potential, and Barnes managed to create a palpable sense of tension throughout the narrative. One of the strongest aspects of the book is the atmosphere Barnes creates. The eerie setting of the abandoned station, paired with the protagonist's mounting paranoia, kept me hooked until the end. However, there were a few shortcomings that prevented me from rating this book higher. Firstly, the pacing was sadly my biggest issue because it felt like it took a little too long for the story to pick up and for the horror aspect to start. I also found the character development to be lacking. While the protagonist was fairly fleshed out, several of the other characters weren't and so felt one-dimensional. I would have loved to have seen more depth and complexity in their personalities. Additionally, the resolution felt somewhat rushed and anticlimactic. After building up the tension so effectively throughout the book, the ending left me wanting more. It seemed as though loose ends were hastily tied up, leaving certain plot points unresolved. Overall, Ghost Station is a decent horror that delivers on its promise of suspense and intrigue. While it may not be a standout in the genre, it's still worth a read for fans of sci-fi horror looking for a quick, atmospheric read. I'm excited to read more by S.A. Barnes in the future!

I am a huge fan od S.A. Barnes and their space based novels. This was a must read and I loved it so much! Thank you Netgalley for my advanced copy.

Thank you Netgalley, Tor Publishing Group, and S.A. Barnes for the ARC! Although I hadn't read Barnes' debut "Dead Silence", the premise of "Ghost Station" reminded me so much of those creepy Doctor Who episodes I loved as a teen that I couldn't pass the opportunity to pick this one up.

Trying to escape her powerful, wealthy family and the dark secrets of her past, Dr. Ophelia Bray volunteers to be the resident psychologist on a deep space exploration mission. Unfortunately for her, the Bray name and her family's reputation lend to the already tightknit crew's hostility and distrust- especially in the wake of a recent tragic accident of one of their own. When things start to spiral on this eerie, cold, and desolate abandoned planet, Ophelia must gain the trust of her crew in order to unravel the thread of secrets and undercurrent of violence plaguing the crew.

The abandoned planet setting was particularly effective in capturing the isolation and descent into madness throughout the story. I really enjoy reading books that have that sort of "trapped" feeling. I will say though, the buildup took a little longer than I expected, especially since the description of the book spoils one of the characters dying (which doesn't end up happening until about 60% through the book). At the same time, getting to know the characters a little better before things started escalating raised the stakes and made things a little more emotional. If you don't mind a slow burn, I think this one is ultimately worth the wait.

I was SO excited when I got the approval email for this and I immediately bumped it up to the top of my TBR, and it did not disappoint! Dead Silence last year was one of my biggest surprises reading wise and made me realize that I really enjoy a sci-fi horror story, and S.A. Barnes does it the best! I love the way that she really makes you read between the lines to figure out what's going on, and I really loved the way that Ghost Station focused on mental health and the effects of the missions they went on had on them. This had the same level of creepiness that Dead Silence had, and I was so glad that it did. Her writing just has a way of really getting under your skin (no pun intended) and making you second guess if you want to read at night. I also loved that the ending for this was left a little ambiguous considering the direction the twist went- it made sense to not have all of the answers and I thought it all felt very realistic to what might actually happen in that story. S.A. Barnes was already an auto buy other for me after I read Dead Silence, and this just solidified that even more!

**3.5 stars**

I really liked Dead Silence so I was looking forward to this one. I liked it but didn’t love it as much as her first book.

What I liked: the setting, the mystery on the ground, what happens in the story

What I did not like: the pacing was too slow, easily 30-40 pages could have been cut to speed the story up, and my least favorite part was Ophelia. She was really grating on my nerves for most of the book.

While this was not as creepy as Dead Silence I still liked it and it’s worth a read if you like space horror. I will absolutely read her next book.

**Thanks to the author and publisher for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**

This is a very slow-burn horror, deeply committed to building an atmosphere that feels really immersive. The immersion effect is helped by a very close third person POV with the protagonist: we spend more time inside her head that outside, but I take it as part and parcel of the genre. I really enjoyed the build-up of tension and slow feeling of exploration, so no complaints about the pace there, but I did feel it sort of ambled towards the end without a really satisfying closure. If you are in for the vibes, this is an excellent horror novel; for a meticulously would-together plot, this isn't the book. I did enjoy my time with it, but I also read horror largely for vibes and character work, so it all worked out!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC.

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

Science fiction is not my genre but this book was amazing. I learned so much about people and life from the near death experiences of these characters. I thank Tor Publishing Group
for this title.

Therapist Dr. Ophelia Bray, after a 3 month “cold sleep,” awoke with an assignment to help crew members who didn’t even want her aboard their ship. Their task was to get samples of a defunct planet to bring back for analysis. Her task was to use talk therapy to assess their mental health, yet no one would open up to her. Ophelia had years of dark family history to overcome to get this crew to trust her.

Commander Ethan, her closest ally, would remind her that “your past is not your future,” and to rise above by making good choices now. The wisdom this author shared throughout the story via the characters was inspiring.

Five stars from me, with a strong recommendation for any reader, but especially for sci-fi buffs interested in interplanetary intrigue.

Ghost Station" is a thought-provoking journey into the depths of guilt, redemption, and the complexities of human nature, framed against the vast, unforgiving backdrop of space.
Dr. Ophelia Bray, the central character, embarks on a mission that is as much about exploring the unknown territories of alien planets as it is about navigating the murky waters of her past and that of her complicated and publicly hated family.
This story took me a little bit to get into. I did find myself wanting to read it to see what happens. There were moments I found myself skimming some of the internal thoughts to get to the scary moments. "Ghost Station" may tread along the lines of traditional space exploration narratives, it distinguishes itself through its introspective dive into Dr. Bray's character. Her journey is fraught with moral ambiguities and questionable decisions, which, rather than detracting from the story, enrich the narrative by painting a portrait of a deeply flawed, profoundly human protagonist. These elements serve to underline the book's core message: redemption is complex and personal, and the path towards it, can be scary!

The inclusion of elements from Dr. Bray's school years didn’t add to the plot enough to be added in the story in my opinion. The dynamics of the ship's crew, seemed too reminiscent of familiar tropes within the sci-if genre. The crew did provide a canvas against which the characters' motivations, fears, and hopes are vividly shown, even if these elements sometimes overshadow the uniqueness of their setting.

The book's descriptive writing might leave some readers longing for more visual detail, particularly in its depiction of characters other than the captain. This choice, whether intentional or not, could be seen as an invitation to focus more on the characters' personalities and emotions rather than their outer appearances, aligning with the novel's introspective tone.

One of the more poignant elements of "Ghost Station" is the unresolved relationship from Dr. Bray's past, which mirrors the unresolved nature of many personal and familial conflicts. Its lack of resolution may frustrate some, yet it arguably adds a layer to the story, reflecting the often unresolved and messy nature of real-life relationships.

"Ghost Station" is a novel that will resonate differently with each reader. For those willing to navigate its complexities and embrace its explorations of human imperfection and moral ambiguity, it offers a reflection on our own journeys of atonement and the uncharted territories within ourselves. I would recommend for the lovers of Alien, The Thing, and Event Horizon.

An immersive psychological horror in space!

Despite taking place in space, <i>Ghost Station</i> feels grounded in reality. S.A. Barnes’s worldbuilding is believable and immersive. The author never over explains how the world functions, she writes as though this is our reality and the reader quickly buys into it.

That said, the first half of the book dragged a bit. While the main character, Ophelia, was well-developed, I don’t think all of her flashbacks moved the story forward. Then she joins a space crew and we’re introduced to a wealth of new characters. The initial descriptions of the characters felt clunky and it took me some time to sort them all out.

At about the halfway point, the threat becomes interesting. This is a psychological horror where we are led to question the sanity of the main character and her crewmates. The mystery is great. It keeps you guessing as to what the threat is and I didn’t see the twists coming.

Definitely one to check out for fans of space horror!

In an effort to escape the immediate public fallout of a tragic event, Ophelia signs up to go to a remote planet with a small team that has recently lost a team member and could use her support as a psychologist. But she finds resistance to her presence and it also starts to become clear that something else is afoot.

I liked Barnes’s first book, but felt it took too long to develop. She really hits her stride with this one, gradually paying out events to create a sense of creeping dread that kept me turning the pages. It’s so exciting to see an author grow toward the potential that clearly seems to be there, and she’s definitely accomplished that here. I loved this book. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ghost station checked all the boxes for me - a creepy, unpredictable sci-fi adventure with the exact level of romance I like in a sci-fi or fantasy book...a hint of one, cause bad stuff is happening and there's no time for more than that.

The characters were believably flawed and had trauma in their past, trauma that reflects the reality of the way people live in this future. Ophelia, our main character has a huge secret, a lot of self doubt and driving need to prove herself. The situation she finds herself in, a research and exploration team sent to bring back samples from a planet with a long extinct alien race, starts off badly and quickly gets even worse.

I very much enjoyed this and will definitely be looking forward to more from this author.

Unfortunately, "Ghost Station" didn't quite live up to my expectations.

One of the major issues I encountered was with the pacing, especially in the first 60% of the book, which felt like a tedious journey. The protagonist, Ophelia, failed to resonate with me; her self-centered and excessively analytical nature became quite off-putting as the story progressed. I feel like this is one story where multiple POVs would have really added a lot of depth. The absence of other perspectives to break up Ophelia's monotonous internal monologue.

The second half of the book did manage to pick up the pace and introduce some elements of horror, however the ending left me with unresolved questions and unfinished plot lines. The repetitive descriptions and themes, such as tingling skin and pervasive feelings of paranoia, grew tiresome over time.

Overall, "Ghost Station" fell short for me in several aspects. It had some good parts; however, you have to slog through a lot of boring parts to finally get there.

Ghost Station follows a group of explorers on an abandoned, mysterious planet, where not everything is quite what it seems. We follow the crew, who just wants to complete their mission, collect their pay, and go home. And we follow Doctor Ophelia Bray, whose own mission is to help the crew work past their own trauma of a previous accident, and prevent ERS - a deadly space induced condition

This is my first S.A. Barnes, and the description immediately intrigued me. Space horror? Absolutely. Unfortunately, the book did ultimately fall flat for me. The pacing was extremely slow, and the repetitive plot and writing style made it hard for me to stay engaged. I took much longer to finish this than I would have liked.

My biggest plus for this book, is that if you’re interested in dipping your toes into the world of sci-fi, Barnes writes sci-fi without it being intimidating.

The premise of the book itself was super interesting. If there was more than 30% of the book actually dedicated to the abandoned planet/sinister atmosphere, I probably would have been completely enthralled. A major portion of the book is spent with Ophelia, the MC, overcoming her past (there was A LOT of her overcoming her own trauma instead of focusing on, you know, the creepy stuff happening). Ophelia is an insanely unlikable character; she makes horrible decisions and for being a dedicated psychologist, I found her to be one in which I personally would never book a session with.

There also was not really any horror in the book that is marketed as “space horror”. It read more as a mystery/thriller hiding in the horror tag. I did not find myself scared or uneasy or really any of the feelings I should feel while reading a horror.

I might try Dead Silence by Barnes at some point as I did enjoy her writing style and her ideas. I just wish Ghost Station packed more of a punch.

Thank you to S.A. Barnes, Tor Nightfire, and NetGalley for an eArc of Ghost Station in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up to 4

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received an eArc of this sci-fi novel through NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings . . .

I really enjoyed the author's first novel and this one was a lot of fun too.  The highlight for me of the author's writing is her eerie atmospheres.  In this story, psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her study into ERS, a space based illness that leads to hallucinations and violent tendencies.  She is assigned to accompany an exploratory crew to an abandoned planet where one of their members had a tragic accident.  Or did they?

The crew just wants to complete their aborted mission and get paid.  Ophelia is determined to help them work through the past trauma on the planet.  The crew wants nothing to do with her or her offered help.  The setting of an abandoned planet with horrible weather conditions was excellent fun.  I loved how every thing started going wrong.  The abandoned station, ruins, distrust of the crew, and unanswered questions were the best part.

I do wish that this book did not focus so much on Ophelia's own trauma.  I felt that too much time was spent with her facing her past demons, discussing her past, and not enough on the situation at hand.  I felt like I spent more time in her head then on the planet.  I think her PTSD helps make her an unreliable narrator but I would have preferred that the focus was actually on ERS and the current predicament.  Part of the problem was that, for me, sending a psychologist who is that damaged seemed silly and the reasons for it (politics etc.) were not convincing.

Despite that flaw, I still read this pretty quickly and wanted to know how it would all resolve.  I do think many readers will enjoy Ophelia as a main character.  I wanted more insight into the crew dynamics and more definite answers into ERS and the mysteries on the planet itself.  No regrets reading this though and I will read whatever the author writes next.  Arrr!

4-7-24
Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes
Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes is a sci-fi horror novel, and it was a big hit for me. I’m new to sci-fi but a longtime horror fan (I love Stephen King!) This is Barnes’ second book but I have not read her debut, Dead Reckoning.
Ghost Station is an atmospheric novel with a slow and anxious story arc and pure terror for Olivia and her crew on the Resilience. Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray is on a small exploration mission, sent by the ‘company’ to help the crew to avoid EBS and watch for indications of the horrible mental illness that his led to mass murders in space. She is battling her own childhood trauma but keeping her past a secret. The situation for Ophelia and her fellow crew members goes for tense and tentative to horrible and deadly over course of their exploration mission. I will make time to read her book Dead Reckoning soon.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes
5 stars – Pub. Date: 04-07-24

I loved Barnes’s novel Dead Silence and couldn't wait to get my hands on her newest one! And this one is even creepier than the first!

Ophelia has to prove herself. She has to make this mission work and has to prove that the mental health disease ERS, caused by trauma + prolonged space tours, can be helped and prevented! So she joins a space mission. But the team has secrets and she has secrets. And the planet they just landed on has secrets.

This was creepy! I loved the characters and their back stories. I loved the planet and the setting and the idea of exploring ancient civilizations. The setting was creepy, both the physical setting and the tension among the characters due to their secrets. I appreciated that the female main character was aware of her shortcomings, but didn't let them hold her back and moved forward despite them. At the end I was still left with a couple of questions at the end, but no major holes! I’m already looking forward to more space horror from Barnes!

Thank you Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the advance digital copy! All opinions are mine!

I confess, I'm not a fan of Space settings in stories but I decided to give this one a try anyway- it sounded intriuging. However the pacing on this one was just too slow for me. This is definitely a slow-burn, atmospheric horror and I just felt the build up took too long and I lost interest. By the time things started happening I just wasn't interested. It was a flop for me, but if you like the slow-burn build up in a trapped room kind of setting this one might be for you.

While reading, I had fun. It's atmospheric and foreboding, and I've been constantly craving sci-fi stories (I need to just stop reading reviews and see what I think for myself because I keep talking myself out of reading new stuff). After finishing the book and sitting with it, I do think there was room for more. The mystery and "why" of the planet and the things that happened were not really explored, and instead the focus was on the survival aspects of just getting out safely. I enjoy a good survival story, but I was curious about the world!

So while it made for a quick and snappy read, but I would've liked either more details added resulting in a longer book, or some of the set-up time to have been devoted to more of that instead. We got a lot of characterization for Ophelia, our main character, but the rest were a bit paint-by-numbers since we only had Ophelia's viewpoint, and she was an outsider to the group.

I can't say I'll remember a lot about this one in the long-term, but I don't regret reading it, and I would still read more from Barnes in the future. If you enjoy being a little creeped out by space-horror / sci-fi but don't want anything too dark in tone, I'd recommend it.

FTC Disclosure: I received a free ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars. I picked up Ghost Station with middling expectations, since my experience with S.A. Barnes' previous novel, Dead Silence, was so mixed. In my review for that book, I said that it wasn't the terrifying, mind-bending deep space horror novel I was looking for -- and ultimately, Ghost Station wasn't quite either, although Barnes definitely got closer with this one.

Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her professional career to studying the effects of ERS, a condition suffered by space explorers that can cause mental deterioration and violence, and which can be contagious. She is invited to join a small crew on an exploratory mission to an abandoned planet, but as the crew begins to establish residency in the ghost station left by their predecessors, it's clear that everyone on the crew is hiding something...and so is the planet itself.

Aside from the deep ocean, there's nothing scarier to me than outer space. The vastness and darkness of it, the fact that it's a giant vacuum, the fact that literally anything could be out there -- I mean, it's totally terrifying. So naturally I'm drawn to space horror, because reading about it is the closest I ever want to get to facing down this particular fear. One of the things Barnes does so well in Ghost Station is set an otherworldly, claustrophobic, hostile atmosphere, both vivid and eerie, that her characters have to navigate. It would be impossible, so far from the planet you call home, in the silence and isolation of outer space, for your mind not to play tricks on you, and Barnes explores this idea so effectively. Are the characters suffering from the effects of ERS, some extraterrestrial force, or just the human mind's uncanny ability to overthink and create nightmare scenarios? We aren't sure, and neither are the characters. It makes for some very unsettling reading.

Barnes gives Ophelia an interesting backstory and family history, which adds a lot of texture to the narrative and allows her to explore the effects of trauma, the role of genetics in behavior and illness, corporate greed, toxic ambition, and the consequences of late-stage capitalism. She integrates all of this into an engrossing narrative that ratchets up the tension insidiously as it gradually descends into madness. I wish there were more truly "scary" moments, and the ending was somewhat lackluster, but Barnes really does make the most of this concept. Thank you to Tor Nightfire for the complimentary reading opportunity.