Page Count 414
Publication date 2019/ Publisher Shadow Work
Synopsis
Be first in line for the most haunted theme park in the park in the world – GHOSTLAND! Discover and explore hundreds of haunted buildings and cursed objects! Witness spectral beings of all kinds with our patented Augmented Reality glasses! Experience all the terror and thrills the afterlife has to offer, safely protected by our Recurrence Field technology! Visit Ghostland today – it’s the hauntedest place on earth!
________
After a near-death experience caused by the park’s star haunted attraction, Ben has come to Ghostland seeking to reconnect with his former best friend Lilian, whose post-traumatic stress won’t let her live life to the fullest. She’s come at the insistence of her therapist, Dr. Allison Wexler, who tags along out of professional curiosity, eager to study the new tech’s psychological effect on the user.
But when a computer virus sets the ghosts free and the park goes into lockdown, the trio find themselves trapped in an endless nightmare.
With time running short and the dead quickly outnumbering the living, the survivors must tap into their knowledge of horror and video games to escape… or become Ghostland’s newest exhibits.
**********
Review
What a brilliant premise! A theme park built using actual haunted buildings transported from around the country.
Technology has been an invented that can build an avatar around ‘dead energy’ ie ghosts, so they can be seen and heard using headsets on offer at Ghostland.
But what happens when the ghosts break out of their confinements?
Ghostland is labeled an interactive book, for each ghost or exhibit the characters encounter in the book you can choose to click to a paragraph long backstory and then jump back to the page you were reading. Its down to you whether you want to take this in during the plot or read about them afterward.
In the beginning I was jumping back and forth but when the tension was high I chose not to slow it down and instead learned more about those ghosts at the end.
I thought this a great idea, like having the choice whether to watch deleted scenes during a movie.
Okay MC Lilian has suffered a trauma, but she’s become your typical arrogant teen in the years to follow and has the shrugging attitude you’d expect of a younger person. I found her mostly unlikeable compared to her counterpart in this story- Ben, although she does get some decent development.
Perhaps it’s because he was abandoned by his peers, had a rougher time of it that Lilian, or maybe because he just tries so hard but I though Ben was endearing. He was definitely the redeeming character in Ghostland.
Dr Allison Wexler was a smug cow and I was quickly irritated by her ‘arching her eyebrow’ twice every page but thankfully Ralston dropped that after a while. Worth a mention also was Stan the retired detective who brought some light hearted relief from the terror!
Ghostland is both fun and absolutely brutal. Two nerds encounter a glorious mixture of violence, gore and paranormal activity in various horrifying forms at a theme park full of friendly employees.
The pace is hectic yet Ralston is still descriptive enough to give the reader full visualisation at all times.
A wild ride, definitely worth a read for any horror fan. I’ve seen other reviewers referring to it as ‘Jurassic Park with ghosts’ and honestly that is bang on.
Roxanne’s Reactions:
Share this:
An Average Life 
This sound really unique, Roxanne. Not sure if I’m brave enough to read it though. 😉
LikeLike
Its definitely a scary one!
LikeLiked by 1 person
{shivver}
LikeLike