The Apparition Phase

There are two distinct parts to this story, one which is a study of loss and one which as a study of the psychological aspects of haunting and ghosts.

At the start we are introduced to our main protagonist (Tim) and his sister (Abigail), who both have a fascination with ghost stories and the macabre. After faking a ghost photo and freaking out a colleague at school they are issued with a strange prediction and premonition, which appears to come to past.

Despite being a skeptic towards the paranormal, Tim ends up being convinced that this premonition predicted his sister's disappearance. Dealing with this disappearance fractures their family and leads Tim to see a therapist who introduces him to a paranormal researcher in an attempt to disprove ghosts. This leads us to the second part of the novel where Tim joins a team studying an apparent haunting of an old house.

The psychological aspects are pretty well done, with a lot of questioning what is real and not. I like the way that dealing with his sisters loss leads him to this haunted house and gives an insight into some of the psychological trauma there. Ultimately the book leads you questioning what ultimately was real and what happened.

My main issue with this is on a pacing side. The ending feels very rushed and disjointed. I am not sure it gives the payoff that the impressive build up leads. Also, I always find the use of séance and Ouija boards a bit cliched, and that is no doubt true here too. Finally Will has a strange obsession with lists, which are somewhat jarring in the middle of otherwise flowing prose. This is a debut, and you can feel that he is finding his voice. There are some clever ideas here and I respect a lot of what he has done even if there are some flaws.