Ghost Camera is a semi-short story with 8 other short stories included. I feel like I read all of these stories before and Coates just put a little spin on each one. I was pretty disappointed in this one. Coates was one of my favorite cozy horror authors, but I think the books are starting to feel rushed and are all extremely similar. Anyway, back to the review on Ghost Camera-
Ghost Camera is a story about Jenine who finds a Polaroid camera in a lighthouse and decides to take a whole bunch of photos. It turns out that the camera can take photos of ghosts (a ghost camera!). The ghosts start to get aggressive and want to kill Jenine now that they can see her/she can see them.
I was not sure if this was written for YA or maybe even middle grade. The characters act and speak like middle schoolers. The best friend, Bree, annoyed me she kept calling Jenine "babe" as if she were so much older, when they were friends (where they apparently did not grow up) from middle school. Bree has a boyfriend she calls butt-face and Jenine is worried people will not like her in one scene. I really thought this might have been Goosebumps level writting. I do not want to seem critical, but there were a lot of flaws in the writing style for me.

The other 8 stories were better, but again most were similar to ideas that are already out there, but I will not ruin which for readers; you will figure it out. There was Payment for the Dead, Death Birds, The House on Boxwood Lane, The Run to Broken Ridge Lighthouse, Remains, Untamed Things, Cathedral, and A Box of Tapes.
A quick breakdown: Payment for the Dead is about a grave robber. Death Birds was interesting and had to do with giant ghost-like birds that prey on the dead and dying. The House on Boxwood Lane was about an abandoned house that beckons people to come in. The Run to Broken Ridge Lighthouse is about a lighthouse where a woman died. Remains
I really liked Untamed Things, it was about a plane crash and the survivor(s). Cathedral was about a cathedral, that is all I will give you with that one. A Box of Tapes really should have been the main story. If it were not for this story about a woman finding a box of tapes in her new home, this would have been a 1-star book for me. Again most of these stories were predictable and I still got the sense it was written quickly to get it published.

I miss Coates original haunted house horror, so this really did not do it for me. I know horror does not necessarily need to be realistic, but thought into small details would make a difference. Adults should read like adults. Money and life-problems are not easy, and I hate that all of the characters have no real struggle or reasonable response to the trauma. Example, Bree cashed in her life savings at 19 and got a small business loan from her parents to open a store she never runs. What life savings could she have? How do you survive on a small town store that you run a few hours a week and afford to pay another employee? The evil/monsters/scary stuff does not have to be realistic, but the main characters really should be to make it feel real. My only suggestion would be to move it to YA or younger. 13 year olds would probably love this.

Not my favorite of Darcy Coates, and it’s hard not to compare this to her other much better works. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

3.5 Stars. I would have loved for Ghost Camera to have been a full length novel. It had so much potential to be so much more, especially from a master like Darcy Coates. The book would have benefitted from more development around the ghosts characters. It was however, still a good short story as were the other included bonus stories. Thank you to Poisoned Press and Net Gallery for access to review this book.

While this may not be the absolute best by Darcy Coates, "Ghost Camera" did manage to give me a few chills and goosebumps. I love spooky reads.

I always love a short scary story, and Darcy Coates delivers in Ghost Camera. Creepy, slightly unhinged, and unforgettable.

<i>ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review</i>

**This is actually a collection of short stories FYI. Hopefully this be will made more obvious for the re-release!!**
Ghost Camera
With her usual ease DC had me hooked into this creepy and intriguing world. As unlucky as someone can be at a wedding, heroine Jenine stumbles upon an old camera. As it’s clear the owner is long gone Jenine decides to take the thing home and from there her life and reality spiral out of control. I was truly creeped out by this storyline and the quick way everything culminated took me by surprise. I was not expecting things to end as they did and all I know is Jenine is super lucky to have a crazy devoted friend like Bree.

Payment for the Dead
This was a very weird story about a grave robber. It was barely a story and feels too short to even have thoughts on it!

Death Birds
Really odd story about giant birds that feast on the dead. Once again a super short story barely ten pages if that. MC is obsessed and in awe of these death birds even after they devour his family 🤷🏼‍♀️

House on Boxwood Lane
Ok this was a really good one and totally eerie. When a creepy old house turns up and no one (especially local teens) remembers it being there, temptation is too great and they can’t help but risk a peek inside. Little do they know it’ll be the last thing they do.

Run to Broken Ridge Lighthouse
Urban legend tale that kills those who break the rules!

Remains
Sometimes love makes you utterly insane.

Untamed Things
Surviving a plane crash in the cold and freezing mountains is a feat into itself. Surviving while some creepy a$$ creatures stalk your every move until help arrives sounds damn near impossible. But when humans are thrust into situations like this, 99.9% of the time we will do anything to live. This was a good story, short creepy and not something I needed to read before an upcoming vacation!!

Cathedral
Sometimes exploring can be deadly.

Box of Tapes
This was actually my favorite of the set. Absolutely creepy haunted house with a killer ghost who wants her house back. Starts off with Ring-like vibes as the heroine finds some old school VHS tapes hiding in her daughters closet. They clearly state on them to not watch but the heroine can’t resist and it may or may not be the last thing she and her four year old daughter do!

Darcy Coates is a brilliant horrow writer, however Ghost Camera for me just wasn't as good as her other works, it was an OK, quick spooky read, however it wouldn't be one I'd highly recommend from her collection. Still pretty good and a quick read for Halloween 🎃 👌
3.75 stars

3 stars

Unfortunately this was labeled as a novel not a collection. Also, it was labels as a reprint.
This isn’t Coates’s strongest work, it is good though. As with all short story collections there are stand outs (The title story being one for me).
However, all that being said, it’s nice to see how far she has come as a writer from these stories to now.

Looks like the novella has been previously published, not sure about the short fiction.

Jennie finds a Polaroid camera. She takes a picture with it and there seem to be ghost-like figures in the image. She shows her best friend Bree and they continue to take pictures, the figures seem to move closer with each photograph. They also consult a ghost hunter who gives them some not-so-welcome news.

“Ghost Camera” was pretty good. I quite enjoyed some of the short fiction, others weren’t for me (but it’s typical that short stories are a mixed bag.) Overall, well worth reading for a fan of horror fiction.

This was not an especially strong book, but I hesitate to say anything unkind because I liked other titles by this author. The first story in the collection was compelling in concept, although I didn't love the characters (I actively hated one of them.), and it made it a bit of a tortuous read. I couldn't even make it through the first page of the second story. This book ended up being a DNF for me.