You probably recognize Duncan Ralston as the author of the extreme horror novel, Woom, that went viral in the internet bookspace. Bookstagram, booktok, etc. Maybe you think of him every time you see a traffic cone in an unconventional space, like my fellow Woomies do. I loved Woom because I like extreme horror, but I wasn’t in a hurry to read Ghostland. I don’t pick up ghost stories often. I don’t believe in things like ghosts, hauntings, or anything that implies an afterlife. That’s too big a leap for me so I tend to find ghost stories a bit boring. That said, Ghostland is on the BoH Indie Brawl list, so I read a ghost story. Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.

So let’s talk format for a moment. I like to read along with audiobooks. I like to make highlights and notes to refer back to when I’m writing my reviews. I like being able to listen to an audiobook while I’m working or crocheting and popping over to my kindle to make a quick highlight. I own the kindle version and watched Libby for the audiobook. So imagine my joy when Libby notified me that the library had acquired this audiobook and it was available to borrow. I hit play and was greeted by the sound of one of my favorite narrator’s voice. Joe Hempel has narrated literally hundreds of audiobooks, and while I have not consumed nearly that many of them, every one that I have has been a delightful listen. I see Hempel and I just know I’m going to enjoy the narration.

Ghostland is rumored to be the most haunted theme park in the world. The main attraction is a mansion haunted by a horror author named Rex Garrote who died in his home by self-immolation. Yeah. Dude set himself on fire and haunts his house. Aside from that, the entire theme park is home to hundreds of ghosts that can be seen by patrons via headsets. So there’s a lot of hype surrounding Ghostland, the hauntedest place on earth. This story follows Ben and Lillian as they venture into this new theme park, each with their own motivation for being there. Ben has a beef with Rex Garrote and Lillian has something to prove to herself and her therapist. Of course because they’re visiting Jurassic Park for Ghosts with Technology, shit goes awry. Like Jurassic Park, the bulk of the story is the exhibit that has no business existing not working as intended after a technology fail. Surprise, ghosts gonna ghost. Ben and Lillian fight for survival while rekindling their friendship. You’ll have to read it to find out how that goes. This is not an extreme horror book, but there are some pretty gruesome scenes. It’s great.

When I originally sat down to write this review, I started as I usually do by checking out the author’s website. While most authors have one, it is often mostly a place where they sell things and announce their new books. Sometimes there’s a blog that hasn’t been updated in a while, despite the author’s level of activity on social media. Totally understandable. Getting people to read your blog is a chore. Ralston’s website is all of these things, but it is also a rabbit hole I eagerly fell into. If you found yourself wondering about Rex Garrote like I did, you probably googled him and ended up reading the Rex Garrote saga on Ralston’s website. This book is full of recognizable horror references, so naturally the reader would wonder about Rex Garrote. I won’t spoil it for you, but I will suggest that you read it from the beginning and enjoy the ride. Ralston is one hell of a storyteller. I thought the book was pretty great, but this added another dimension that pushed my rating up a bit.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. If you love horror and Woom is the extent of your exposure to Ralston, it’s time to remedy that. Don’t be intimidated by the page count (414 for the kindle version, 1000+ for the omnibus edition). It’s fast paced and fun! The horror references and their footnotes made this book feel like Ready Player One for horror fans. I read the first part for the BoH Indie Brawl, but I will be reading the entire omnibus because it’s just a really good story.

You can buy Ghostland, by Duncan Ralston on Amazon for a couple bucks or read it as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription. Do it.