Hotel Chelsea

The creepy but predictable sixth horror novel in Bates’s World’s Scariest Places series (after Mountain of the Dead) explores a haunting at New York City’s Hotel Chelsea. Journalist Malcolm Clock is assigned to cover the story of how Hotel Chelsea—the once-great playground of artists and outsiders—has fallen into disrepair. Though skeptical Malcolm doesn’t believe in ghosts, he begins to doubt his senses when an apparition of Sex Pistols bass player Sid Vicious appears to him. Meanwhile, Malcolm’s new girlfriend, Jolene, is haunted by the specter of Warhol muse Edie Sedgwick. As Malcolm interviews the hotel’s guests and uncovers more about the nature of the phantoms, he and Jolene are pulled ever deeper into a web of lies and half-truths. Though perhaps excessively detailed, the story is suspenseful and the ghosts themselves are genuinely frightening. Bates brings the atmosphere, but a late reveal will prove deeply underwhelming to seasoned horror readers. The unique premise will draw readers in, but the half-baked plotting disappoints. (Self-published)