GHOST EATERS by Clay McLeod Chapman
Cover Artwork: Andie Reid, Art Director at Quirk
For fans of Riley Sager and Paul Tremblay, a terrifying supernatural page-turner that explores ghosts, grief, and god complexes.
Ever since their on-again, off-again college romance, Erin hasn’t been able to set a single boundary with charismatic but reckless Silas, who’s been chasing the next big high since graduation. When he texts her to spring him out of rehab, she knows enough is enough. She’s ready to start a career, make new friends, and meet a great guy—even if that means cutting Silas off. But when Silas turns up dead from an overdose, Erin’s world falls apart.
When Erin learns that Silas discovered a drug that allowed him to see the dead, she doesn’t believe it’s real but agrees to a pill-popping “séance” to ease her guilt and pain. When she steps back into the real world, she starts to see ghosts from her Southern hometown’s bloody and brutal past everywhere. Are the effects pharmacological or something more sinister? And will Erin be able to shut the Pandora’s box of horrors she’s opened?
With propulsive momentum, bone-chilling scares, and dark meditations on the weight of history, this Southern horror will make you think twice about opening doors to the unknown.
“A Gothic-punk graveyard tale about what haunts history and what haunts the human soul. An addicting read that draws you into its descent from the first page.”—Chuck Wendig, New York Times best-selling author of The Book of Accidents
"Clay McLeod Chapman is one of my favorite writers. His books are always white-knuckle reads—blazingly original, gorgeously written, and profoundly chilling."—Riley Sager, New York Times best-selling author of Survive the Night
"Clay McLeod Chapman's guided tour of a shroom-and-gloom ghost world, where everyone is addicted to death, reads like a scared straight program that horrifies you into choosing life."—Grady Hendrix, New York Times best-selling author of The Final Girl Support Group
“A terrifying meditation of the horrors of modern life and our collective fixation with death. Clay McLeod Chapman’s Ghost Eaters promises to fix what ails you, existentially speaking. But be warned: follow Chapman down this rabbit hole and you will see dead people.”—Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor
“Ghost Eaters is one of those rare horror novels that have everything: a dash of humor, real life demons, complex characters, a heavy dose of the supernatural, and the kind of ending you never forget. This is high-grade horror, and Clay McLeod Chapman is the real deal.”—Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home
“Clay McLeod Chapman is a weaver of nightmares and Ghost Eaters is his darkest creation yet. A non-stop thrill ride, all you can do is strap in and prepare to be haunted. Chapman is the 21st century’s Richard Matheson. He’s that good.”—Richard Chizmar, New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Boogeyman
“A quintessential ghost story with a fresh, trippy twist. Chapman weaves hair-raising, goosebump-inducing horror through a sharp exploration of loss, addiction, and grim history. Haunting guaranteed.”—Rachel Harrison, author of Cackle and The Return
“Chapman has the uncanny ability to dredge up his character’s personal histories—and our shared cultural history—exposing them as the terrifying images and symbols they truly are. Richly observed, thoroughly entertaining, and incredibly surprising, Ghost Eaters will be the horror novel of 2022 to read. A dark, gripping tale that is by turns snarky, horrifying, and brutal—this book is as good as modern horror gets.”—John Hornor Jacobs, author of A Lush and Seething Hell
"Clay McLeod Chapman's Ghost Eaters is a grounded and very scary story of addiction, guilt and other (more literal) angry ghosts, set in a landscape rich with layers of haunted history. Highly recommended." — Trevor Henderson, horror artist
Author Bio:
Clay McLeod Chapman writes novels, comic books, and children's books, as well as for film and TV. He is the author of the horror novels The Remaking and Whisper Down the Lane. Visit him at claymcleodchapman.com.