I think book experience can be driven to some extent of your preexisting thoughts. For Ghost Story I knew it was not only on most best of horror list but has been cited as one of Stephen King’s farorits , king is my most read and beloved authors so I had expectations that might resulted in confirmation bias. Had I read cold turkey my reaction might be different

I really enjoyed Ghost Story. I was expecting literary master work but what I got was a slow burn horror tale reminiscent of Salems lot and all time favorite. I have always loved forces of evil manipulating small town stories. Although set in late 70s it had a quaint 1950s vibe of wholesome town besieged. I really like the elderly protagonist. Older characters are often portrayed as generally needy or wise sages. Straub provides relative layers. Over 60 can be very attractive, stubborn, sexy, brave, stupid, etc. the “scary” scenes worked for me but had to lean in on vivid imagination. Jump scare are just not the same in print.

My problems that prevented me from loving were the pace. It is the slowest of slow burns. Narrative structure changing tense, and some flawed logic with evil antagonist that see all know all until they don’t.