Ghost Eaters: A Novel

Product Information

While this book warns you away from mainlining Ghost, because of, you know, ghosts, what you will get hooked on here is Clay McLeod Chapman's writing. I was really hoping this would be a scary book, and while it certainly has a lot of supernatural suspense and ghosts going for it, it was more disgusting than scary.

It serves as the perfect way to set the scene and illustrate the dynamics between the members of the group and almost kind of foreshadow some of the ways they’re going to come into play in the rest of the book. Inside is a kindly old man with a limp who offers him dinner, yet doesn't eat his meal alongside the narrator.

Cringey phrasing: This happened quite a bit, but most notably an ectoplasmic monster entwines itself in our MC’s legs and says “I’m coming for your coooooch, coochie coochie cooooooooo”. And now, EOG brings an expansion on this overlooked archetype, and it even works on Foundry and Pathbuilder. Four friends, Erin, Silas, Amara and Tobias are college friends trying to find direction on life after school, Silas is an addict who Erin is unable to say no too, she has bailed him out too many times.

I had read his book “Whisper Down the Lane”, and while I enjoyed it, it set off a bunch of my rage triggers regarding Satanic Panic, so I was more angry than scared as I read it. As their Rapacity increases, they much spend more Plasm to arrest their aging process, and may undergo physical mutations that reflect the nature of their Cuisine. Despite these extreme measures, the facility is plagued by persistent issues of internal treachery and mysterious disturbances. There is an awesome list of books Chapman read for this book-- lots of excellent and related fiction choices. I was eager for more Chapman, and while I didn’t love The Remaking as much, I did enjoy it, and I had incredibly high hopes for Ghost Eaters.

The blurb for this one pretty much nails the concept, so lets jump straight to what I thought - Ghost Eaters was pretty damn awesome.

Ghosteater is an albino, lion-headed Beastlord who leads his people near the city of Caddow in the Realm of Shyish.One of Vulture’s Best Horror Novels of 2022 (So Far), this terrifying supernatural page-turner will make you think twice about opening doors to the unknown. The idea of a highly addictive drug which allows you to interact with ghosts is a unique one, but while Clay McLeod Chapman shows some real talent throughout the book, the plot is muddled and highly unsatisfying. Maybe I hand out 4/5 stars pretty easily if a book really hooks me and I did read this book really fast. Chapman captures the visceral tragedy of drug addiction and grief as he follows Erin through the unhealthy relationships she has with both herself and others.

I have a feeling this will not be my last book by this author, because now that I’ve discovered that I really like his voice and writing style, I’ll definitely be checking out his other publications—and any future books he puts out. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for you but my goodness, this was such a unique twist when it comes to ghosts and well, being haunted.The opening scene of a séance inside a mausoleum at a cemetery gave me an atmospheric, spooky vibe, grabbing my attention immediately. But when I read the description of this book there were no rage triggers to be found, which meant that I anticipated a more chill experience as I read it. Took almost 40% of the book to get to the first seance, which is the big hook of the synopsis so wtf?