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casualshino's review against another edition
5.0
My favorite ghost story across any medium. Such great character work and world building. I loved how spooky it was and the tensions just kept dialing up.
Loved the ending as well!
Loved the ending as well!
azzurro22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
kristadollimore's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rkking's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this story. I'm sure that it has been compared to Stephen King's IT over the years, it certainly shares some similar concepts. Small town horror with an ensemble cast of characters facing against a shape shifting being with what little meager means they can. I wouldn't be surprised if Straub and King bounced ideas off each other back in the day, considering their previous collaboration on The Talisman. But Ghost Story holds its own big time.
I was deeply invested in these characters, and trying to determine just what it was that was after them, and what reason it had to haunt them in such a way. The stories-within-stories, also kind of similar to IT in terms of structure, built a strong rooting toward the final confrontations, of which I thoroughly enjoyed as well.
Although I say it’s similar in structure to IT, there is definitely one major difference; in Books like IT or Summer Of Night the characters were mostly kids, facing an unknown monstrosity they don’t understand. In Ghost Story, most of the cast are in their senior years, happy to have lived out their lives instead of facing the evil force that they must. It changes the dynamic greatly.
Having said all that, there is one problem. The audiobook version wasn't assembled very well. There are chapters within the audio listings that actually cut the book's chapters into pieces. You could be finishing a chapter of the audio, but find that it ends midway through a chapter of the story. They compiled the audiobook chapters badly.
Perhaps I'm biased because I'm developing my own small town horror story (which I'm sure this will influence), or perhaps I'm biased because one of the main characters is a writer (which I've mentioned in other reviews I am a sucker for), but I definitely recommend it. If you are a fan of Stephen King's IT or Dan Simmons' Summer of Night, I think you'll really like Ghost Story.
If you don't mind split chapters, then go ahead and give this a listen. Or definitely read the book itself.
I'm a Straub fan now for sure.
Join the RK King readers' list for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes
I was deeply invested in these characters, and trying to determine just what it was that was after them, and what reason it had to haunt them in such a way. The stories-within-stories, also kind of similar to IT in terms of structure, built a strong rooting toward the final confrontations, of which I thoroughly enjoyed as well.
Although I say it’s similar in structure to IT, there is definitely one major difference; in Books like IT or Summer Of Night the characters were mostly kids, facing an unknown monstrosity they don’t understand. In Ghost Story, most of the cast are in their senior years, happy to have lived out their lives instead of facing the evil force that they must. It changes the dynamic greatly.
Having said all that, there is one problem. The audiobook version wasn't assembled very well. There are chapters within the audio listings that actually cut the book's chapters into pieces. You could be finishing a chapter of the audio, but find that it ends midway through a chapter of the story. They compiled the audiobook chapters badly.
Perhaps I'm biased because I'm developing my own small town horror story (which I'm sure this will influence), or perhaps I'm biased because one of the main characters is a writer (which I've mentioned in other reviews I am a sucker for), but I definitely recommend it. If you are a fan of Stephen King's IT or Dan Simmons' Summer of Night, I think you'll really like Ghost Story.
If you don't mind split chapters, then go ahead and give this a listen. Or definitely read the book itself.
I'm a Straub fan now for sure.
Join the RK King readers' list for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes
shalini_gunnasan's review against another edition
4.0
A very engaging read, despite some slow parts. Would definitely hold up to a second read, despite knowing the ending. Psychological horror rarely disappoints and the author has mixed straight up horror and psych horror beautifully.
connorreads_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Ghost story was a great slow burn. I wasn't a big fan of the style and the ending isn't fabulous but nonetheless I would recommend this to any reader who enjoys a story that builds and builds with tense, dread inducing scenes.