The Ghost That Ate Us by Daniel Kraus is a fictional nonfiction horror novel. The book is set up to look like it is nonfiction even though it is fiction. The poltergeist haunts a fast food staff which at first is cute and innocent, soon turns deadly. This book was not what I was expecting, with the premise of a ghost at a fast food restaurant I expected a lot more humor (there is a tiny bit), but what we get is a depressing novel that is a slow-burn horror novel. The horror in the novel is almost all at the end, and it gets pretty intense but you have to get through a lot of depressed teenagers. The book was interesting in the way it was written where we are told what happens to the restaurant and some of the kids, then we get interviews with the survivors who fill in part of the story and the narrator watches security tapes that add to the story. Daniel Kraus gets to be a horror novelist who is interested in the case and involves himself in the story, which was interesting as one character reads his books and keeps asking him questions about them. The pace is very slow in this story it picks up at 75% and moves pretty fast after that. The climax is exciting and the epilogue is well written. This is the second Daniel Kraus novel I read and loved his work on The Living Dead which he co-wrote with George A. Romero. He also wrote the screenplay for one of my favorite movies The Shape of Water. I received The Ghost That Ate Us from Netgalley and Raw Dog Screaming Press for free in exchange for a review. The Ghost That Ate Us was published on July 12, 2022.

Plot Summary: A murder happens at Burger City location #8 in Iowa that affects everyone who works there as it sets off a paranormal event. The location is haunted by a poltergeist who is cute and meme-able as it makes the mascot move around, but then the spirit turns vengeful and starts to kill. Some employees laugh it off but others become obsessed. The restaurant soon becomes popular as a ghost hangout and draws attention from a ghost hunter show called Spectral Journeys. Will the kids that work there remember high school or the time a ghost haunted their fast-food restaurant?

What I Liked: The final chapter that Daniel Kraus wraps up the with story is great writing, which I wished was more present throughout. The final chapter is the only one that I truly loved. A funny bit is if you see a ghost while you a masturbating in the bathroom do you take a picture? In this book, the answer is yes. The climax was wild cause you kind of forget who dies and who survives even though it was stated at the beginning. I liked Spectral Journeys’ scene where you see how produced it is, and they have an agenda going in for the kind of story that they want to tell. How COVID was added to the story really timestamps it.

What I Disliked: Don’t these kids have any fun, a lot of the teenagers were so depressed it is okay to have some but not so many. The pacing for this book is awful, I don’t like to not finish books but I considered it. I wanted a lot more humor. A ghost at a fast food restaurant is funny but the book leans away from it.

Recommendations: It pains me to say that I do not recommend The Ghost That Ate Us since I have loved Daniel Kraus in the past. The ending is great but all other chapters are slow-paced. Only a few of the characters are interesting and Kit is a standout character and the only one. The story did remind me of an episode in Buffy: the Vampire Slayer where she gets a job working fast food and it is super depressing, I do not like that episode and it reminded me of this. Daniel Kraus is a good writer even though this book was a miss for me. The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus is one of my favorites and is a highly recommended 5-star book.

Rating: I rated The Ghost That Ate Us by Daniel Kraus 2.3 stars.