The Best Horror Books Of All Time: Ecstasy

What Is Ecstasy, and Why Is It So Creepy (In a Cool Way)?
Okay, imagine this:

You go to a beautiful island far away from everything. It’s sunny, peaceful, and full of old buildings and cool places to explore. But the longer you stay, the stranger things feel. You start to hear music when no one is playing it. People look at you like they already know what you’re going to say. And every night, some women disappear into the woods and come back smiling in a scary way.

That’s kind of what Ecstasy, a spooky new book by Ivy Pochoda, is all about.

🎥 The Story (No Spoilers!)
A famous actress travels to a Greek island to make a movie about a girl named Ariadne. (Ariadne is from a super old story about a maze, a monster, and a princess who helps a hero escape.)

But weird things start happening.

The island doesn’t feel like a normal place.
Time feels… different.
People start acting strange.
And it seems like the movie is becoming real.

The actress starts to feel like she is Ariadne. And the more she tries to figure out what’s going on, the more the island pulls her deeper into its creepy secrets.

🌀 Why Is It Scary?
Ecstasy isn’t full of jump scares or monsters jumping out of closets. It’s more like a dream you can’t wake up from — the kind where everything feels familiar but just a little bit wrong.

Here’s what makes it spooky:

People are smiling… but not with their eyes.

The island feels alive — like it’s watching.

At night, women dance in the forest like they’re part of something very, very old.

The story she’s acting in starts to happen to her for real.

It's the kind of book where you're always asking:
Is this a dream? A curse? A trap?

🌙 What’s It Really About?
This book isn’t just about ghosts or legends. It’s about being a woman, and what happens when people try to control your story. The main character gets told what to do, what to say, how to act… until she finally says:

“No. This is MY story.”

That’s when the scary stuff really begins.

It also shows how old stories — like myths and fairy tales — still live in our world today, just in new forms.

🏝️ The Island Is a Character Too
In Ecstasy, the island is more than just a setting. It’s like a living thing. You can feel it breathing. The waves move in time with the strange music. The wind sounds like voices whispering in another language.

And maybe… the island has its own memory. Maybe it remembers everything that’s ever happened there.

And maybe it wants something from you.

🔥 Is This a Book for Kids?
Nope! This book is for grown-ups. But it’s explained here so it’s easy to understand — especially if you like scary stories, old myths, or movies where things get weirder and weirder the longer you watch.

(Think: Coraline, but for adults. Or Moana, if the ocean was haunted.)

✨ Why Should You Care?
Because it shows how a story can be creepy, beautiful, and deep at the same time.

It’s about standing up for yourself.

It’s about how places hold memories.

It’s about how even a sunny island can have shadows that never go away.

And most of all:
It’s about what happens when you stop pretending and finally listen to the truth — even if it’s terrifying.

Final Thought (and a Warning.)

If you ever go to a quiet island to make a movie…

And you start dreaming of ancient queens…

And you see people dancing where no music is playing…

Don’t follow them.

Because maybe the story isn’t make-believe anymore.

Maybe it’s calling you.