Review: A Different Sort of Ghost Story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2014
Lisa von Biela is best-known for her contemporary/near-future sci-fi/horror novels, so when I heard she was writing a ghost story, I was intrigued.  The end result was not quite what I expected, but it's a great story nonetheless.The story opens with Eileen setting out to start her life anew and landing in Cromwell Bay, a small town that has seen better days.  She buys the local inn and gets to work cleaning it up and getting it ready to reopen.  While cleaning room 8, she feels something isn't right, and her dog refuses to enter.  Once the inn is open, guests she puts in that room often complain and ask to be moved.A bit later, Frank stops at the inn on his way home from a close friend's funeral.  Eileen puts him in room 8.  Strange things happen, but Frank is a journalist, so instead of running away, he digs in and tries to get to the bottom of everything.As mentioned, Ash and Bone is ostensibly a ghost story.  But more than that, it's a character study.  Von Biela seems more interested in how Frank reacts to ghosts and other weirdness than the ghosts and weirdness themselves.  It's a different approach to a ghost story, and one that is likely going to struggle to find support with fans, but I feel it's an welcome departure from the tried and true method of telling ghost stories.That said, there are a few things I would have liked to see, most prominently a bit more exposition or research into room 8.  It's just kind of there, a catalyst to get Frank investigating the history of Cromwell Bay, but that's it.  I also hope the author revisits Eileen in a future story, because I feel like there's more of her story yet to be told.