Synopsis
The year is 2009, and Chrissy Rodriguez is determined to make her ghost hunting vlog an internet success. She’s only one more failed investigation away from financial ruin and having to move back home. When she receives an email asking her to investigate Merlin High, a school that burned down in the 80s, she is presented with a unique opportunity that could make or break her.
As they explore the decaying halls searching for evidence of the paranormal, Chrissy notices that her team is acting a little…off. Everything begins to unravel, blurring the lines between past and present. With her team stretched to its limits, Chrissy realizes that some secrets want to be found. And some of them have even been waiting.
Review
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the audio ARC. This one was on my radar for a while, so I’m stoked I had the chance to bump it up my TBR.
I started this one at the same time as reading a paperback of Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood. It also opens up with a paranormal investigation, and even featured a camcorder, giving it that old school feel. I really thought for a second I was going to have dueling ghost novels, but LSU quickly deviated.
80s Ghosts features Chrissy Rodriguez, a down-on-her-luck paranormal investigator trying to make it big. I was so excited to get into this, and the parallels to my own ghost hunting story, BestGhost, made it even more enjoyable from the jump. Chrissy has the chance to investigate Merlin High with her crew, and although funds are already tight, she’s determined to make this work. A couple hotel room bookings later, they pack up into their very own Mystery Machine (a great nod IMO) and take off. As you can typically suspect in ghost hunting stories, there is not much discovery in the first couple nights. We get the set up, the backstory, the mystery, the tension, and maybe just the beginnings of a hint of haunting. And that’s just how I like it.
The novel has a bunch of nods to the 80s, some of which worked for me as a 90s kid as well. The overall description of how the kids acted back then, especially toward each other (something that I feel has certainly changed) kind of felt akin to Carrie. The mall scene brought back nostalgia for a time when cruising the various stores was the IT place to be. When pizza, a soda, and movies were only a couple bucks.
The novel is also unique in the sense that it blended a few things that are not typical for ghost hunting stories. Or at least I didn’t expect them. Chrissy has nightmares throughout that are part haunting/part clairvoyance, each one growing in intensity. There are multiple twists, not just ones including the spirits left behind, and it’s even a revenge story! While I did think to myself that they must have been some incredibly powerful ghosts to pull it all off, it’s certainly pulse pounding. There is redemption, a smidge of romance, character growth, and forgiveness. A lot of real life ghost hunting shows say they do it to help trapped spirits move on to the afterlife, and this one is no different…well except for the confirmed ghosts.
Great for fans of the 80s, Buzzfeed Unsolved/Ghost Files, and all things paranormal. It was nice to see someone follow a dream, even if it was at the stake of financial ruin, and it was nice to rope in Chrissy’s finding herself and acceptance.
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