I went in with high expectations, having heard the claims that Ghost Story is one of the best horror stories ever written. And sure enough, it starts very promisingly. The initial idea of a bunch of old men telling spooky stories to each other seemed intriguing, and the first story told was also if not scary, at least unsettling, which is good.

As I kept reading, there were more promising hints of things to come. Unexplained things happening, people seeing what the reader could only assume were ghosts etc. The characters are wonderfully fleshed out and seem like real people with real faults, which does admittedly make them a bit hard to root for, but hey -- not all good characters are good people!

Despite these nuggets of a good spooky book, Ghost Story never really went anywhere. The horror elements didn't go beyond hints of things to come and as the page count builds up, the book starts to drag in a major way. The tension doesn't keep rising, but instead settles at ankle depth while characters keep dropping off. Most disappointingly when everything was revealed, it was a massive, massive letdown.

I don't think the problem is in me having too high expectations, either. It's not like Ghost Story ended up being a good, if not spectacular experience for me. Instead it was a major disappointment. Competently written, of course, and with good characters, but very little horror to be found.