The first half of this book is slow-moving and uninteresting. Once the crew arrives on the planet, it gets better. The claustrophobic atmosphere and unknown contaminants combine to create an uneasy atmosphere where no one knows who to trust. I requested this arc from NetGalley because I loved Dead Silence. This one is not as good, but still enjoyable.

Title: Ghost Station
Author: S.A. Barnes
Rating: 4 stars

In this space horror we follow psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray as she embarks on a mission with a small crew who has been through something awful on their last mission. No one wants her there and are fighting her help at every turn. However things come to a head when one of the crew is brutally murdered, and fear/paranoia set in. Ophelia and the crew have no choice but to unite to uncover the truth and get off the abandoned planet they find themselves on.

Barnes' writing is masterful and I loved so many aspects of this book.

What I loved

science fiction elements combined with horror
unreliable narrator
characters you like
the atmosphere
the mystery element

What didn't work for me

I desperately want this to be a series instead of a standalone!


If you love space horror then I think this book is a great read that will check all of your boxes!


Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley or the gifted copy!

I love sci-fi horror and I'd heard such great things about [book:Dead Silence|57693184], so I was excited to read the newest from S.A. Barnes. Unfortunately, this didn't really work for me, though I have seen some people really enjoy this, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

The pacing was slow, which as a fan of gothics isn't usually an issue for me, but this just felt too repetitive and didn't have the payoff in the end that I was expecting. I also really struggled with Ophelia as a main character. I can understand and even can root for, an unlikeable protagonist, but I found myself questioning so many of her decisions and not in a good way. To be completely honest, I find myself forgetting details of this story and it's only been a week since I read it. I'm not sure how someone can make such a fascinating premise boring and forgettable, but Barnes managed here.

Okay. Full disclosure: I received an eARC of this for review. I started it months ago and was never able to get past 15%. Library audio book to the rescue.

I really enjoyed Barnes’s Dead Silence. I thought it had some genuinely creepy atmosphere. I liked the action and the main character.

I was soo excited for this release. I started it right after I was approved (thanks to the Tor Nightfire team!). But this one just wasn’t doing it for me.

For starters, it’s kind of a slow start? And I remember there being a lot of confusion on my side in the beginning. Random people kept telling our main character Ophelia not to go on this mission, not to feel guilty, something felt wrong. It wasn’t her fault.

But it’s not explained until much later in the book, what the mission even is, or what Phe feels guilty about. What wasn’t her fault… it didn’t work here because it didn’t get me to care about or feel compassion for the character.

And the atmosphere I loved so much about the first book, was totally absent from this one. There’s some body horror I guess later in the book, but no real build up, no creepy vibes. There’s a lot of flashbacks and dream sequences, but I don’t think they were as scary as they were intended to be (especially since the reader KNOWS they are dreams/memories).

And then the ending is wholly unsatisfying. There’s no pay off, there’s no figuring it out… I just… I don’t know.

I did get through it in the end. And I don’t think it’s bad per se, hence the 3 stars. Just not what I was looking for when someone says Space Horror.

I’ll definitely keep reading Barnes, especially since commercial space horror releases are pretty rare, and like I said this wasn’t bad, it just doesn’t stand out much.

Thank you to the Tor Nightfire team and NetGalley for the ARC. Apologies the review is late….

I’d heard really good things about this author’s debut novel, Dead Silence, so I jumped at the chance to download her newest release from NetGalley.

Psychologist Ophelia comes with a lot of baggage. She’s working to distance herself from her family (tons of drama here) and her father’s crimes, while also trying to atone for a failure in her professional life. She’s devoted her career to studying ERS, a space-based condition that lead to a person brutally murdering twenty-nine crew members several years ago. When Ophelia is assigned to an small exploration crew, she’s determined to prove her usefulness and prevent history from repeating itself.

The treacherous setting of an abandoned planet and all the dangers that come along with it provide plenty of tense moments. Barnes really knows how to create a mood. The crew is sent to take samples, which sounds like an easy task, but they make a shocking discoveries instead. They make the decision to scrap the mission and get off the planet, but that’s easier said that done.

Ophelia is the newcomer to this crew who’s worked together for so long, and most of them are less than welcoming. Plenty of personalities clashing and insults hurled. She’s far from my favorite character (that would be Ethan) and almost immediately starts crushing on the ship commander, makes questionable decisions, and acts like a juvenile at times. It almost made the crew’s treatment of her understandable. A good bit of the time is spent in Ophelia’s head in the first part of the novel – family drama, best friend issues, career disappointments – and it slows the pace. I was ready for the action to begin. Once things got rolling, I rooted for the crew (what was left of them) to escape the horror of the planet. I really liked how the author wrapped up the story.

This was a mixed bag for me, but that won’t prevent me from checking out this author’s future releases. Recommended for readers who enjoy slow-burn stories, space horror, and precarious settings.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Ghost Station is my second read from SA Barnes and I'm ready to devour another book by them. Space horror is a favorite and can sometimes be a difficult genre to find material to consume. SA Barnes writes in such a way that everything is easy to picture in my head, and I cam easily see Ghost Station as a movie. Highly recommend, it's a good time with great pacing.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review and opinions.

Unfortunately, I was unable to download the file prior to it being archived and have no gotten a chance to read it. I hope to read it in the future.

After reading S.A. Barnes first book Dead Silence and feeling lukewarm about it, I wanted to give them another chance. I hate to say it but I feel lukewarm about this one as well. I gave Dead Silence a 3 star and this one will be a 3.5.

First off I feel like these are marketed incorrectly. They are supposed to be Sci-Fi/Horror but I feel they are more Sci-Fi/Thriller. I can see a little more "horror" in this one but not enough to call it horror. I went into this one knowing there was more than likely not going to be a strong horror element like the last book and that helped my reading experience.

S.A. Barnes writing is very accessible and I flew through this book in 2 days. The character development of Ophelia and Ethan was excellent and I feel that we really knew them by the end of the book. I wish we were able to get to know some of the others a little bit better.

All in all I think this will sadly be my last S.A. Barnes book.

This author has yet to disappoint me. I loved Dead Silence, and though this follows a different situation and plot line, it is just as unsettling and creepy as the last book. It isn’t often that sci-fi and horror are meshed, but this author does it in a way that works perfectly.

One of my favorite niches - space horror. And this one is exactly that! It is about a rich and famous girl, who is a psychologist sent with a crew on a mission to a planet to take some samples of left over ruins. And it starts out a bit creepy, with hazing, lots of tragic backstory, and of course a harsh crew that doesn't seem friendly, and maybe in ruin by a space "sickness" that makes them go crazy little by little, The psychologist herself, cannot grasp if it is the sickness, if she herself is sick with it, or maybe everything is normal, and she is just a paranoid person stuck with an aggressive crew that has their own secrets.

It was quite slow with building up the tension. Though it was always there, just not really delivering a full impact. The different questions of who is going crazy or maybe not crazy, the back and forth took away from the claustrophobia and horror. Though in the end, the big reveal felt a bit not new (like I've seen a movie on this sometime ago), but it also did create the creepiness of the future. Maybe we'll get a book two? Do we need to?

All in all, I will keep coming back to this author for Space Horror. Thank you to Tor NightFire for my review copy.

I really liked Dead Silence, right up until the dismal ending. While I hated the ending, I did enjoy the process of getting there so I gave the author a second chance with Ghost Station. It was slow to start and continued to be slow and boring up to the anti-climactic ending, where again, a bunch of nothing happened. It also wasn't particularly scary. I think this will be the last book I read by this author I try. If you want something really scary with good writing, check out Darcy Coates!

I felt like this one was too long. It was a little too slow burn for my taste. I enjoyed S.A. Barnes previous work, Dead Silence, more. However, Ghost Station had the gory descriptions that I was missing from Dead Silence.

Thank you Netgalley, Tor Publishing Group, and S.A. Barnes for the eARC.

Ghost Station is out now!

This might be where Barnes and I part ways because while my feelings about this are substantially more positive than about Barnes' debut, Dead Silence, I still feel pretty meh about it overall. The premises for Barnes' books have both sounded amazing, like exactly the kind of tense, atmospheric space horror that I love but the follow through doesn't match up for me. I do appreciate getting an ARC from Tor so I could see taste test Barnes again and see if it was just Dead Silence I didn't get on with.

The start of Ghost Station is very melodramatic, sort of sci-fi Kardashian family vibes as the main character tries to basically get a new start away from the weight of her family name. As someone who isn't into a lot of family drama, the beginning was a bit of a slog and I didn't particularly care about Ophelia as a character.

Around a third of the way in, Barnes started delving into the mysteries of the alien world that Ophelia and the rest of the crew are on and revealed more of Ophelia's past and I finally started feeling intrigued by what was being set up. The structure of this worked much better for me than the dual timeline of Dead Silence and it felt substantially less derivative.

Unfortunately, the ending just didn't quite deliver. I suspect folks who liked how detailed and scientific the horror was in Dead Silence will be disappointed by the ending, because this felt more convenient to me and a bit less logical. But your mileage may vary, especially if you don't need everything explained by the end. I continue not understanding why Barnes always has to have a romance in her space horror but again, I think she's just not the author for me and I need to just accept that and move on despite the intriguing premises.

Overall, Ghost Station was fine. I certainly enjoyed it more than Dead Silence, in large part because it felt like Barnes wasn't just relying on standard scenes and tropes from the popular space horror stories and actually branched out to make her own story. It's not really for me but if you like space horror and don't mind high drama, a bit of romance and a vaguely creepy alien world, you might give it a try.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar

Ghost Station starts with Dr. Ophelia Bray getting ready for the sleep cycle of a three-month travel in the Resilience ship making their way to Lyria 3936-C, the planet that her new team is going to reclaim for their company Montrose. After the death of one of her patients, Montrose and she decide that she should be out of the spotlight for a while, suggesting she accompany the reclaiming team. The problem is that one of the crew members of the Resilience died in the last job, now the Resilience crew is wary of Ophelia and her new ideas to prevent ERS as it shows up.

The crew of the Resilience consists of Ethan Severin the mission commander, Birch Osgoode the pilot, Kate Wakefield the engineer, Suresh Patel the inventory Specialist, and Liana Chong the scientific coordinator. Ava Olberman used to be the system manager, but she died in the last expedition by exploring the planet without telling anyone else.

The awakening of Ophelia’s sleep cycle is not the best, she is alone and is pranked by Suresh and Liana. While she is there to help them deal with their recent loss and potential mental health issues, Ophelia immediately understands that the crew doesn’t want her there and feels that she is just on this mission to report back to Montrose and all of them will lose their job.

Lyria 393-C is a planet that is currently going through an ice age and the weather is constant storms and blizzards. While the current cold temperatures of the planet prevent any life to exist, the planet used to have humanoids, but they all died a long time ago. The only thing they left was black material pillars that had survived the past of time.

Now as the crew of the Resilience starts their mission in Lyria-393 a strange phenomenon starts to occur on the ice planet, and not all of them might end up surviving this mission.

Ghost Station was a wild ride of a reading, given the premise of the book and its name your mind goes straight to ghosts, but then you wonder, are there ghosts in space? Do aliens leave ghosts behind? Those were questions that I had as I read this book. But this story is much more, is a blend of mystery, murder, and psychological thriller. As you continue to read you wonder who the bad guy is and what is truly going on.

The story follows Ophelia’s POV, she tries to help prevent future mental issues, but she has other reasons. Ophelia’s past is full of secrets, and even though she is the black sheep of the family she is still a Bray, which is one of the richest families in the world and the main competitor of Montrose. She was born in a mining station, when she was a young child she and her mother had to be rescued after an outbreak of ERS caused a man to murder thirty people and kill himself. The Bray family used their money and influence to hide the evidence of their time in that station, many other colonists of that mining station suffered, but the Bray’s name was never reported.

Straight away the reader starts to notice that something is not right with the station that the crew is using in Lyria – 393, it seems that the previous team that was there left in a hurry and many of their personal belonging were left behind, Ophelia even finds a prosthetic tooth that somebody left.

Like Ghost Station, it was a good blend of different genres that keeps the reader hooked to find out how all is going to end. As you read, you start to believe Ophelia when she herself starts to think she is going crazy and becoming a potential danger to the rest of the crew. But something is playing games with their minds and wants them to stay forever.

The reader will start getting an idea of what’s happening and who is behind it, but even at the end, there are a lot of twists and turns.

I do hope that the author writes a sequel to this book. I do want to know what happened to the remaining crew members who got back to Earth and more about the history of Lyria-393.

If you are a fan of ghost stories and space, then I recommend Ghost Station. Here in the cold of space, your past can still haunt you and greater forces are at play.

Ophelia Bray is a psychologist specializing in the study and prevention of ERS, a space-based condition, similar to PTSD, that can lead to mental deterioration and violence.

Dr. Bray is assigned to join a small exploration crew as they journey to an ancient, abandoned planet. Unfortunately, it doesn't take Ophelia long to realize that the new crew isn't exactly excited to have her aboard.

They've never needed a Head Doc before, why now?



Ophelia is confident in her purpose though, so she just tries to do her best to fit in and help them to understand the reasons for her attendance. She knows better than most just how imperative her skills may become.

The rest of the crew have worked together before and feel more like a family than a team. Ophelia, as the only outsider, has a long way to go to endear herself to the group.



As they begin to establish themselves on the abandoned planet, they start discovering disturbing signs left behind by the previous colonizers, who apparently departed with haste.

It presents a real mystery for the crew. They have no idea what happened to the previous inhabitants, but signs are pointing to the fact that they didn't live happily ever after.

The longer Ophelia and the crew remain on the planet, the more unnerving things become, until Ophelia's worst nightmare starts to come to life.



Ghost Station is the latest from S.A. Barnes, author of Dead Silence, which I read and really enjoyed. I've been anxiously anticipating more from Barnes ever since. I loved the SF Horror vibes she delivered in Dead Silence and believe she succeeded overall here as well.

For me, Ghost Station is way more of a slow burn than Dead Silence, but the content is interesting enough that it really didn't both me. I enjoyed getting to know Ophelia and learning of her past, while watching her try to find a place within this new crew.

I also feel like you can see a maturation of Barnes writing in this one, which is lovely to see. We love to watch an author progress over the course of their career.

I really enjoyed the dangerous feel of the atmosphere that was created on the planet they were exploring. There was a sense of foreboding over every page that kept it compelling and also kept my pulse slightly elevated.

The audiobook for this was fantastically narrated by Zura Johnson. I highly recommend that as a format choice if you have the option available to you. The narration style was very soothing to me, in spite of this being an intense story. I really felt myself relaxing into it.

I was extremely satisfied with how Barnes wrapped this up. The conclusion surprised me in the direction it ultimately took. I wasn't expecting it and I was happy with that.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys SF Horror, or darker SF in general. As far as Science Fiction goes, I would consider this light, with concepts that are easily understandable to a wide audience. You aren't going to get bogged down in scientific jargon in this one, if maybe that is a concern for you.

This is an easily understandable, compelling story, with chills and thrills, as well as great characters throughout. Additionally, I think this could translate really well to film.

I couldn’t put this book down! It’s a creepy exploration of mental health and PTSD aboard a remote space station on a treacherous planet. While I felt the ending didn’t live up to the early parts of the book, I still recommend this for anyone wanting an exciting book with interesting characters and a plot that will suck you in from the very beginning.

Rating: 3.7⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley & Tor Nightfire for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a regular-schmegular space horror/thriller, then Ghost Station is the book for you, as it’s a mix of Alien, The X-Files, & an aspect of Scream VI with a sprinkle of capitalism & family drama.

🧠My Thoughts🧠
I had this ARC for a bit, but it wasn’t until Aardvark Book Club made it a pick for May that I decided to jump in. The author definitely captured the isolating & claustrophobic atmosphere & the overall suspense. I liked how one of the reveals evolved throughout the book, which played well into how Ophelia is plagued by her past & her family, in more ways than one. Unfortunately, the pacing was a bit too slow, & there was a terrible & unnecessary crush subplot; additionally, the author wrote Ophelia as immature & the crew members as stereotypical space horror/thriller characters. Was this the most original space horror? Nah. Was it still enjoyable? For the most part, yeah. Would I read another one of this author’s books? Possibly.

🩸🪐📝

TL;DR

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes is a horror story set on an abandoned planet following a crew of explorers as they try to solve a murder before succumbing to mental illness. Highly recommended.
Review: Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes. Cover image: A person in a spacesuit walks down a corridor. In the foreground, blood and an empty space helmet lay on the ground.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

My sister, a doctor, told me that people go into healthcare to heal themselves or heal someone they love. I have to think that’s even more true when it comes to mental healthcare. But as with any person, therapists can’t escape their pasts, especially if they choose to run from it. One way we run from our past is the secrets we keep from others and the secrets that we refuse to confront in ourselves. And when humans venture into space, therapists will be needed. I believe they’ll be highly valued members of each crew. The distances and dangers introduced by space travel will necessitate, not only a physical health upkeep regimen, but a mental health one as well. Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes introduces the necessity of a therapist as crew member as the murder of a crew member could be due to a mental breakdown. This book looks at how secrets past and present tear us apart.

Dr. Ophelia Bray is headed off planet to help a close knit crew of an exploration crew come to terms with the loss of a colleague as they go to claim an abandoned planet. It’s a good time for Dr. Bray to leave as well. Her family, the insanely wealthy Brays who own one of the most powerful corporations in civilization, try to keep her from going, but as Dr. Bray works for their competitor, Montrose, the Brays can’t stop her. Dr. Bray’s arrival on board the ship prior to their landing on the planet gets off to a rough start. The exploration crew is tight knit and grieving. During the mission, Ophelia’s job is to help the crew adjust to the loss of their colleague and hopefully prevent ERS, a mental illness that results in violence or suicide. The crew is made of five individuals, and their mission is to lay claim to an abandoned planet. To do so, they will claim whatever structures were left behind by the previous exploration team. Naturally, the team is wary of outsiders, and add to that the fact that Ophelia is a shrink just makes it worse. It quickly becomes clear that the crew is hiding something from Ophelia, which is only fair because Ophelia is hiding something from them, from everyone. As they proceed claiming the planet, the pilot is murdered. Ophelia must find out who did it, and was it caused by the mental illness ERS? Or is something else at play?

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes is a third person horror novel set on an abandoned planet. It is a slow build novel in which no one is trustworthy, and the pace picks up building towards a satisfying end. The characters aren’t likeable, but they’re worth reading about. Highly recommended.

Mental Health

Mental health is a big part of this novel, and normally I don’t like mental illnesses being part of horror. Part of the current stigma in our culture is attaching horrific actions to mental illness. At the same time, mental health will be an important part of space travel. Long distances of just the crew in small, confined spaces will necessitate close attention to mental wellness. As someone who regularly attends therapy to maintain my mental health, I want to see an author tackle the subject in a respectful way. S.A. Barnes does that here. ERS is a mental illness that is famous for violent, bloody incidents. Yet, it is an illness that can be prevented and treated. That is Dr. Bray’s life’s work. By making the illness a treatable and preventable one, I think Barnes is being respectful towards mental illness.

The Story

Previously, I read Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes. I really liked it, but it didn’t end well. Endings are difficult, and I can’t imagine how hard they are to stick the landing. At the same time, I just don’t think Dead Silence did it. It’s a lovely horror story. Ghost Station displays a level up in Barnes skill as an author. Not only did Barnes pull off a good ending, but the overall story flowed together better. There is excellent craft here in how all the threads come together with the psychology, the secrets, and the horror of an abandoned world. Ghost Station hit all the beats for me.

Not all of my questions got answered. When I closed the book, I had lots and lots of questions open. Yet I was satisfied because all the pertinent questions got answered. Barnes created an intriguing universe that I wanted to know more about. The unanswered questions simply fleshed out the world-building and were peripheral to the story. Part of me wants Barnes to return to this setting to develop it more; another part of me wants to see what universe they come up with next. Either way, I’m going to read the next S.A. Barnes story.

Conclusion

S.A. Barnes Ghost Station is a wonderful horror story set in a fascinating world. The story builds well with characters that aren’t likeable but are awesome. I enjoyed Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes, and I look forward to Barnes’s next work. Highly recommended.

S.A. Barnes has become a must read for me. I usually am not into space thrillers/horror, but the way Barnes writes keeps me thoroughly entertained.

I was intrigued from the beginning. From the moment Ophelia makes it onto the ship, I felt the claustrophobia. The atmosphere builds at a slow pace, but delivers perfectly.

I want to thank NetGalley, S.A. Barnes and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Nightfire for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

I always seem to forget how much I truly enjoy reading science fiction until I dive headfirst into a book like this. While regular science fiction is near and dear to my heart, science fiction horror has become my favorite. Quite honestly thinking about actually living in space is terrifying to me as someone who’s never left Earth to be in an environment where if anything fails, you’ll more than likely die. The same goes for the ocean and deep water exploration – I’m not sure if I would be brave enough for that either. Love learning about both but from the safety of breathable air.

"The outdated attitude that feelings are a weakness – or an inconvenience at best, instead of simply human and a necessity to address – lingers in this industry."

The mental health angle and the effects that space could have on humanity were something I hadn’t encountered previously. Each crew member has their own secrets and history which added to the general feeling of unknowns and unease with the Doctor. The atmosphere of the planet was desolate and haunting – the perfect setting for a book like this one.

The ending felt a little convenient and slightly rushed – I wanted more explanation of the planet’s history and the spires. The romantic feelings in this one did fall flat for me & it could have been skipped completely with no impact on the storyline.

I have yet to get to Dead Silence but I am hoping to rectify that situation with a quickness – especially considering I already have a copy. Cold Eternity was also announced with a release date of April 2025 and after reading this book, I will be checking that one out next year. A huge thank you to Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read Ghost Station – I will honestly admit it kept me up well past bedtime, freaking out in the darkness. All opinions are my own.