The Ghost Women
Jennifer Murphy
2026 · 368 pages · Horror
How it reads
The Ghost Women is horror (historical gothic horror, specifically), and its dominant mood is eerie. It's atmospheric and uncanny, with a sense that something is wrong. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.
It's set in several locations, in the historical past, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are identity, loss and grief and secrets. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is left open, for you to argue about. At 368 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a hidden gem — known to relatively few readers.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something eerie
- you want something to chew on
- you like finding books before everyone else
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy or heartwarming
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- horror
- Author gender
- female
- Author experience
- established
- Setting: place
- multiple locations
- Setting: time
- historical
- Mood / feeling
- eerie
- Pace
- moderate
- Tone / weight
- heavy and literary
- Length
- medium
- Narrative style
- third person, several viewpoints
- Publication era
- new release
- Popularity
- hidden gem
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- identity, loss and grief, secrets
- Ending style
- ambiguous
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
The Shape of DarknessLaura PurcellShares: horror, eerie mood, heavy and literary tone, historical gothic horror- The Worm In Every HeartGemma FilesShares: horror, eerie mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
- Reluctant ImmortalsGwendolyn KisteShares: horror, eerie mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
- The UnmothersLeslie J. AndersonShares: horror, eerie mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
- And the Sea Gave Up the DeadWilliam FriendShares: horror, eerie mood, moderate pace, historical setting
- I'll Bring You the Birds from Out of the SkyBrian HodgeShares: horror, eerie mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
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