Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Indie Appalachia LLC, and author M.L. Mallow for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

Being a fan of the various ghost-hunting shows that have been on the air for the past couple of decades, I am very well acquainted with the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. It’s an abandoned mental hospital in West Virginia that has been featured on a number of these shows over the years. It’s also at the center of A Ghost Chases the Horizon.

Events take place across the decades at the Weston Hospital, formerly known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. While it was open, it housed the mentally ill, although what constituted being “mentally ill” back in the day is much different than what we classify as that now. People were put in there for being homosexual, as well as other personality traits considered to be not normal, as were those with learning disabilities. In 1905, Harriet, a black woman, was falsely committed to the institution where she bore the child of a white doctor. In 1935, Eugene, a delusional farmer grieving over the death of his wife, self-commits before he is ordered to. In 1999, the hospital now closed down, Brittany, a local schoolgirl, trespasses one night and makes a startling discovery about the place. Finally, in 2019, Neil Hutchence is helping a friend research the property and the area when he finds a link to the past.

Each of these stories stands well on its own, but it’s all intertwined in a way the reader won’t discover until the end. Add in some narration by the building itself, and the book works quite well as something more than just a paranormal story. It’s also a study of the characters who inhabited the Hospital and whose lives were changed by it, one way or another.

I want to say the most compelling stories were between Neil and Brittany, but Harriet’s was quite good as well. Each time the story switches to them, there’s a little more revealed about what brought them to the hospital, either as patients or following the closure. It works well to build the story as well as changing how I felt about each of the characters. Eugene seems to be the most disconnected from the others, but his story is also a good one about families and a lack of communication.

There are abandoned hospitals like the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum across the country, where I think there are similar stories of paranormal activity. The stories of the people who inhabited it are likely to be similar as well. I think readers can relate to the story without having a great knowledge of the hospital in West Virginia.

There’s also a question raised about knowing one’s future and how detrimental it can be. Neil copes with choices that could mean his two daughters never come into being, and both he and Brittany figure out that history will thwart attempts to change it. Although not a story of time travel, it does have some of those elements in it.

I found A Ghost Chases the Horizon to be very well-written. The characters were all compelling as more and more was revealed about them. M.L. Mallow has written a very original book with a number of twists that kept me reading through the night to finish it. I do recommend picking it up.