This book was a SciFi thriller along the lines of Event Horizon or perhaps Alien … in that it was a very slow build up and more creepy and psychological than scary (so not really a good fit into the horror genre even with some of those elements). The premise has been done before … abandoned planetary station with some mystery about why it was abandoned and a small survey crew that has its own ghosts to deal with. In this case, the known boogieman is a psychological syndrome known as ERS that drives some spacers to violence/suicide (trigger warning here). The crew consists of an outsider psych doc who is responsible for helping the rest of the crew avoid any problems with ERS after losing a member on a prior mission. The “Doc” has her own issues to deal with and quite frankly it took me some time to not dislike the character because of this … and her introduction appears to be the source of crew friction that primarily serve to provide cover to everybody being jerks the whole time. As we discover more about each of the crew, this becomes more understandable, but doesn’t make the book any more enjoyable (but is the reason I will cut the characters some slack despite not really connecting to any of them). While the bulk of the story rests upon the interactions of the crew, there is a backdrop of Homefront politics (competing corporations in an apparent space race) and a mysterious alien race that has suddenly disappeared long ago … both of which drive some of the mystery and thriller tension (why did one of the corps abandon the planet and what happened to the alien civilization on this ice ball of a planet). So … while not particularly unique in any way, it was a short, easy read suitable for some quick entertainment.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#GhostStation #NetGalley

I was really looking forward to this but unfortunately it just couldn't keep my attention.

This takes place in a dark, massive but empty space station. The main character is trying to fit in with the small group, but she just doesn't feel welcome. What the author did really well in this book is create a feeling of isolation and tension.

I'd say, if this story sounds interesting, then I think you should give it a go!

Out April 9, 2024!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

My thanks to NetGalley and Nightfire/Tor Publishing for the ARC of "Ghost Station" in exchange for an honest review.
As a lifelong fan of sci-fi/horror, I couldn't wait to dive into this one. And it did not disappoint in checking all the boxes for a book or film that blends space exploration with gut wrenching fear of the unknown and mysterious, grisly deaths.
As expected, we're in a bleak future where space exploration is controlled by rapacious corporations for their own monetary benefit. And these greedy oligarchs depend on the overworked, underpaid crews who put their lives on the line travelling to remote barren planets to collect valuable samples......and possibly alien artifacts, if they find any.
Joining such a crew is psychologist Olivia Bray and she brings with her a background steeped in horrific childhood trauma and a lifelong toxic relationship with her family.......the family that owns and runs one of those corporations that sends out the exploration crews.
She's seeking a measure of redemption for herself by hoping to diagnose and prevent any outbreak of a syndrome that drives crew members mad to the point of making them dangerous to themselves and others.
But this particular crew, knowing the family she comes from, resent and despise her from day one, despite all her futile efforts to win their trust. The planet they're exploring puts them all on edge even more.......a storm-wracked inhospitable world, dominated by the crumbling structures of a long extinct alien civilization.
Or maybe, as a series of unsettling, nightmarish incidents start to pile up, one after the other, there's something else on this planet with them........something that might explain why the previous exploration team fled the planet in an awful big hurry.....
I wouldn't dare explain anything further, but as you can expect, the elements are all in place here for a scary good time. Fear, loathing, paranoia and increasing terror run rampant. And Libby, who's already weighed down with enough previous miseries to fuel her own separate novel, is forced to cope with way more than her own personal demons.
I realize many readers may find "Ghost Station" repetitive and redundant, given that its basic storyline has been done in literally dozens of familiar films and books. And I did find the final chapters rushed into a quick abrupt wrap-up.....(which may work well for a film version but you always expect more from the book) But I loved that author S.A. Barnes was truly committed to delivering a full fledged, full-speed-ahead edition of this well worn genre.
Sure, I'm familiar tales of a space crew beset by who knows what.......but that didn't stop me from turning the pages at light speed. For fans who can't get enough of sci-fi-horror mashups, here's your cup of dread right here.

S.A Barnes had a hit book release a couple years ago called Dead Silence that I really enjoyed so I was looking forward to this new release. This is another scary scifi story about an abandoned crew who must try to survive on an old planet. Fans of this authors storytelling we are in for another creepy claustrophobic feeling story that will definitly scare the pants off you so maybe have an extra pair on hand if you read this.

Officially throwing in the towel on this one at 17%. I've tried my hardest but I can't seem to bring myself to care enough about the characters or the plot setup to go on.

This has a promising premise: our main character Ophelia is a psychologist specializing in ERS, which is a space-based condition that can cause people to go mad and possibly murder their fellow crew. Ophelia is assigned to a ship that just lost a crew member in an attempt to help them process and hopefully prevent ERS. The ship docks somewhere and I presume that horror ensues from there. I didn't get far enough to even get to the horror bits, which is a shame.

The main roadblock for me here was the characters and the plot setup. Ophelia is part of a billionaire corporate family, and she's escaping some sort of big dust up that her family is involved in when she accepts the assignment. The crew on the ship don't appreciate her coming into their space while they're mourning, and the tension from the outset just feels so...contrived. It feels stupid. It made me absolutely dislike every single person in this book, especially Ophelia.

I love the idea of space horror, and I want more of it. I just wish I could have gone on longer with this one, but I just couldn't.

Many thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes is a thrilling and intense science fiction horror novel. Ghost Station is the second novel from S.A. Barnes whose first was Dead Silence. I liked Dead Silence the book had a lot of great moments and promises, Ghost Station I loved it took everything I liked from Dead Silence the intensity, the plot twists, the slight humor, and the horror and turned it up while cutting out most of what I disliked out. Ghost Station was a cross between the movie Life and Helix the SYFY network TV show (more people should watch this show it is fantastic). The pace of this book moves a little slow at the beginning, but when the horror starts at 40% the book is pretty nonstop. I liked the mystery aspect of the story what is happening are they experiencing ERS (space madness) or something else? The book has a lot of twists and turns, no earth-shattering ones but a lot of fun character reveals that lead to twists. There's a minimal amount of characters so you get to know them pretty well I liked Suresh, the jokester, the best. Ophelia the main character took a while to warm up to she really is the worst person to be a psychiatrist. This book makes use of the trapped setting making the reader feel the claustrophobia. The ending was very satisfying and had a good twist with it. I read this advanced reader's copy for free thanks to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire. Ghost Station will be published on April 9, 2024.

Plot Summary: Ophelia is a fill-in psychiatrist for a space mission to explore an abandoned planet that another corporation sold the rights to. Ophelia is filling in because the last crew member Ava died on mission. Ophelia has to be the new crew member, the outsider, and get the crew to talk about themselves. She has developed a new sleep study where a device puts you in a place where you're comfortable like your old childhood bedroom. The sleep device has problems as some start sleepwalking and seeing ghosts. Ophelia would like to think the crew is going through ERS space madness, but she starts hearing and seeing ghosts. The mission is to study this newly abandoned planet, but the crew starts finding evidence that it wasn't abandoned and that maybe the first crew never left. This is intense science fiction horror at its best.

What I Liked: The intensity of the novel is throughout. You can feel an unnerving presence lurking in the shadows. I liked how all the characters had very different voices, I never lost who was talking or being talked to. I liked the ending and how edge-of-your-seat it was. The novel did a great job of providing the flashbacks to make you feel like you were there. I thought what was haunting the crew members was interesting and terrifying. The mystery of what happened to the crew before them was really interesting.

What I Disliked: Ophelia was a horrible psychiatrist she had more secrets than anyone, and just kept making the dumbest choices not to help anyone's psyche. ERS, space madness, was a big thing in Dead Silence I was a little annoyed that it was a thing in this book, in the end, this was a way different book than Dead Silence but I was worried it was going to be the same story in a different setting. ERS at the beginning was brought up so much I was like is this connected to Dead Silence but it was not.

Recommendations: Ghost Station is a great science fiction horror novel that I think you need to check out. It is atmospheric horror at its best, you feel the doom of being trapped where you can't trust the people you are staying with. I like this novel over Dead Silence, which I rated 3 stars and saw a lot of potential. This novel has that potential and it was great to read.

Rating: I rated Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes 4.3 out of 5 stars. I look forward to reading more S.A. Barnes in the future.

Thank you to the publisher for the eArc.

I had a great time reading Dead Silence by this author and was excited to give this next one a go. It was still an interesting read but unfortunately didn’t hook me as much and felt a bit like a chore to get through at times.

I think that part of this issue is due to the synopsis seemingly spoiling the book. It describes the pilot dying but that doesn’t actually happen until over 200 pages in the book if I’m not mistaken. So the whole time before that feels like reading an extended beginning of the story.

The writing was still as good as Dead Silence so I am still likely to read their future works. I would also still recommend this to anyone that likes space horror, just with the caveat of going in blind/not reading the whole synopsis.

After reading Dead Silence two years ago, I was excited to find out that the same author was coming out with a new book this year. I enjoyed my time with Dead Silence, but Ghost Station was honestly hard to get through. I love space horror, but this book (in my opinion) isn't really that close to horror at all. I'd consider this more of a 'thriller that just happens to be on a different planet', since, besides some seemingly forced body horror, there wasn't anything too terrifying about this. (I am a big horror reader though, so this might be scarier for someone who doesn't read in that genre a lot).

One of my biggest issues with this book is that it took such a long time to get me interested in the story. I received an ARC originally of this book, and during the first 50-60% of reading this, I was trying to convince myself to not DNF it. It takes a while to get anywhere, with the first half mostly going in circles about the main character's past and how much she has gone through in her privileged life, which she considers to not be privileged. (I could honestly write a whole other review just talking about that.) I've read many books with unlikeable characters, but I don't know if that was even the author's intention with the character or if she kind of just ended up like that. Ophelia, the main character, also has this instant attraction to the captain and feels the need to be approved by him. Maybe this isn't a huge deal for people, but the captain was rude to her at the beginning and I just felt like the 'romance' was unnecessary.

And finally, the ending. I looked at some Goodreads reviews while reading the book and it spoiled the ending for me, which I've never been more thankful for. If I didn't know what to expect and then got that ending, I might've rated this close to 1.5 stars. All the setup for it to not even be explained at all was a bit frustrating, to be honest.

As you may be able to tell, I wasn't a fan of this book. I really wanted to like it, and the synopsis sounded super interesting, but the execution didn't work for me. In my mind, this is a 2.5-star read. Most of the stars though are because I'm a sucker for reading any space-themed 'horror' or 'thriller' book.

I know a lot of people enjoyed this book though, so maybe I'm alone in feeling this way. If you want to read one of the author's books though, I'd highly recommend trying dead silence.

Big thank you to Tor and Netgalley for providing me with this advanced copy!

Outer Space Is No Place For Things To Go Wrong

SA Barnes has given us another volume of excellent, horrifying, and character-driven sci-fi. A quick read despite its length, the story grabbed me from the beginning and the action and suspense carried me to the end before I knew it.

The plot is well-balanced between the universal human issues we may encounter one day and the individual backgrounds of the characters. I appreciated that where there is drama, the revealed character motivations naturally move the story along.

I enjoyed meeting the central character, Dr. Ophelia Bray. She's gone through a lot, but has survived and grown steel in her spine. She's not another two-dimensional female kick-*ss either, she's driven by conscience and compassion.

Ghost Station was a great read for me because the descriptions didn't overwhelm suspense-building, and even more importantly, the science was plausible. The author illustrated how tech will change in the future, but human nature’s basic instincts aren't likely to change too much. The ethics of corporations aren't likely to change much in the future either, when business will be flung far and wide in Space. Barnes's vision feels frightening and desolate, but crystal-clear.

Thank you to the author, S.A. Barnes, Tor Nightfire, and NetGalley for the free advance reader's copy of the book. I'm under no obligation to them to color my review positively. Like her previous book, Dead Silence, I recommend Ghost Station to sci-fi fans because I loved it.

3.5 Rounding Up

I really enjoyed the setup here - disgraced daughter of an influential family joins a space mission to collect samples from a planet her family sold to the competitor. There is a lot of intriguing backstory that keeps the story feeling more personal than action-packed. I always appreciate a more character-driven SciFi. That’s not to say there wasn’t action though, there are ominous findings, creepy skin conditions, dead bodies, faulty machinery and potentially alien life??

I have no complaints or critiques of the story or writing, I just feel like we were missing something somewhere that would have made this more special. I enjoyed my time 100% when I was reading, but didn’t have a problem setting this down or feel that pull to pick it up when I wasn’t. I am excited to have been introduced to this author because I like what they’re doing in bringing horror and SciFi together!

Thank you to S.A. Barnes, Tor Publishing, and NetGalley for the eArc of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave me everything I wanted, creepy atmosphere, interesting sci-fi elements, and even a little bit of romance. I loved the main character, Ophelia, and found her very compelling and sympathetic. I thought her backstory was interesting and liked that she approached everything from a psychologist POV. It was unique and helped explain certain things in the story, such as the space sickness she’s concerned about, in a natural way. I also liked the fast-paced plot, the description of the alien planet and architecture, and the supporting cast of characters.
Overall, I thought it was a great read! My only wish would be that the plot covered a longer expanse of time. I think this would allow for increased connections between the characters and more time learning about this sci-fi future. Otherwise, I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi and horror!

I enjoyed Dead Silence but found it a little shaky - this is more self-assured and I liked it very much (even though the ending was a bit rushed.) Truly alien problems that are never explained, which seems right and proper.

"People can travel to other planets and live in outer space, but they always bring their troubles with them."

Space horror is one of my favorite tropes because anything goes. In Ghost Station Ophelia is a therapist who is traveling into space to meet up with a team that is exploring other planets after they have lost on of their own. Ophelia's mission is to evaluate and assess the group and make sure that none of them have developed a disease called ERS that can trigger violence and self-harm. Once Ophelia meets up with the team she discovers (not surprisingly) that they aren't excited to meet her. What is she is surprised by is how her own past comes back to haunt her.

I didn't love the very beginning of the story because I found Ophelia annoying. This never actually changed, but I did begin enjoying the story more, so I started tearing through it. Unfortunately, what was creepy at first and I was sure was going to materialize into something scary never really did and I wasn't super satisfied with the ending. I wanted more horror. This was a decent read though and maybe would be a good gateway book for someone looking for some light chills without actually being scared.

First of all, LOVED "Dead Silence" - this one? not so much. I kept waiting to feel the creepiness and the build up of a cool story in this one, and it was just all over the place. The concepts are there - creepy alien civilization remnants on a frozen planet with towers of jutting black structures from the ice and snow with it's citizens probably buried beneath? Yeah, cool! But all the back story felt like it actually detracted from the actual meat of this story, which feels very strange to say! Usually, one wants more of why someone is the way they are, but this one just dove too deep into Ophelia's stuff to get us back to the actual moments, so that we could feel what she's feeling on the abandoned hab unit. I finished it, but it was incredibly underwhelming.

Thank you to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for a copy of the ARC!

S.A. Barnes has done it again. I loved her first novel, Dead Silence, but enjoyed Ghost Station even more. Now THIS is how sci fi horror is done.

We follow Dr. Ophelia Bray, a psychologist assigned to a small exploration crew on an abandoned planet. There is a mystery about the crew, a mystery about the planet, and a mystery about Dr. Bray herself. For the first 30% or so, I found her character just as annoying as the MC in Dead Silence and I was worried this would be more of a psychological horror instead of sci fi. I'm so glad it wasn't, and that it was very much sci fi. As she did in Dead Silence, Barnes sets the perfect creepy atmosphere in Ghost Station that had me refusing to read at night. The character development is excellent too. It was a gripping story and I only wish I had more to read.

4.5 stars - the ending felt a little abrupt and I wish we had more answers. At this point, S.A. Barnes is an instant read for me and I cannot wait to see what's next.

You ever have a craving but don’t know exactly what it’s for? That’s how I felt before reading this book.
This sci-fi horror blend deals with space exploration, alien life and tech, unequal opportunities in society, and family trauma. I was hooked from the very beginning.
The way Barnes takes the time to allow the reader to really get to know and understand all the characters (even the ones who end up not having as much presence in the story) allows her readers to connect with and care about them and ramps up the tension later on. Readers who are bothered by a slow burn may not appreciate this aspect, but it worked for me.
I liked this one even more than her debut, for the way she weaves in clues and keeps her readers guessing until the very end. The ending wraps up the loose ends of the plot, but leaves room for imagining what the next phase of the story is.
I want more.
This is definitely a book I’ll be recommending in the future and possibly rereading.
Thanks so much Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for my copy!

If I compared Barnes's previous space horror novel to "Aliens" and "Event Horizon", GHOST STATION feels like "Prometheus" in similar ways. I took a bit of a leap on this one because I don't generally connect with Sci-Fi, but thought that since the previous book's horror elements worked for me that it would be the same case in this one. And while I did enjoy some aspects of this book (the slow building dread, the unreliability of Ophelia and what she's hiding from those around her as well as the reader), it was a little TOO Sci-Fi for me this time around. Fans of both genres will probably find a lot to like here, and Barnes doesn't hold back and really created some unsettling moments of terror. But GHOST STATION was just a bit of a reminder that heavy Sci-Fi themes just aren't my jam.

A journey in space to another planet. Collecting samples but also trying to survive. Dr ophelia Bray has a toxic past. She is the psychologist for this journey despite warnings to not travel. Crew has lost one member to a tragic death and now appear to be hiding info regarding the situation. There are secrets and demons to conquer. I felt it started slow but luckily I gained interest and am glad I read the whole story.

S.A. Barnes delivers another intriguing sci-fi horror in Ghost Station. There is a lot I enjoyed about this book--an eerie setting, complicated and complex characters and interesting imaginings of scientific advancement and space travel. I also liked the plot because you immediately get a feeling of impending doom and as you read that feeling only grows. My one complaint is that the horror side of things fell flat for my personal tastes. It's absolutely a sci-fi horror but for the way the book was set-up, I expected to be scared. Really scared. I wasn't, and the book took more of a, say, organic turn. With that being said, the horror of what the characters endured definitely gets your mind racing. It was good and I enjoyed reading it but I had hoped for a scarier experience.

Ghost Station is set many years into the future where it is possible to travel to an abandoned planet and it not be a luxurious experience, but a dangerous one that people do in order to survive. Psychiologist, Dr. Ophelia Bray is one of the crew memebers assigned to land on one of these planets and assist the rest of the crew with their phsychiatric needs. Ophelia has dedicated her life to study and prevent ERS- a condition experienced when in space. ERS is something that some may think to be fake but to Ophelia it is very real, so real that her secret past may put her in danger among those who think she can become as violent as her father once was.

Feeling lonely and isolated among the crew, Ophelia find out that there is something wrong with the planet they are inhabiting, and the effect it’s having on the crew is either her delusions or something that has been a hidden secret for a long time.

I enjoyed parts of the story but other parts I feel were boring or unnecessary. The genre is horror/sciece fiction, and I feel like it was more on the thriller aspect in my opinion. Basically there is a mass of black shards of glass that have the technological advancement to inhabit someone’s body and brain, causing them to act violent towards themselves and others. I did not think the romance between Ophelia and Ethan was necessary, in fact, it took away from the story by taking us out of the horror/thriller tone.