This review originally posted at Christa's Hooked on Books 
 I'm not going to lie to you all. I picked up this book because I wanted to read it before going to see the movie. And I want to go see the movie because Daniel Radcliffe is in it. I'm sure I'm not the only one! However, I must you warn you, if you pick up this book expecting to be in any way like Harry Potter, please set it back down and find a different book, because you will be horribly disappointed. 
 This book is a ghost story in every sense of the word. As told from the point of view of the main character, Arthur Kipps, we experience every creepy moment in tandem with him. There is no extra information we are privy to as readers, we only know what's in front of Arthur's face. This of course is part of the recipe for any great horror story - limit the knowledge, increase the fear factor. In addition, this novel does an amazing job of instilling this constant feeling of dread that you just can't shake. You know something bad is going to happen but you don't know what or when. It's unsettling but in a good way. 
 One issue I had with this novel was the time period. The synopsis has it set in "Victorian England". This is not a Victorian novel. It feels more like The Crucible than anything else. It also seemed to slip in more modern language and settings from time to time. This inconsistency was a little distracting and I think it could have been executed much more smoothly. 
 This is a great ghost story and at 160 pages its a quick read. The story isn't overly scary but it is creepy, and as a result is definitely a fun read (especially at night). If you're planning on seeing the movie then why not read through the book first. From what I've seen from the trailer they're going to embellish the story quite a bit and it might be nice to be familiar with the original before watching.