Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes delivers an action-packed, spine-chilling space horror where the quest for eternal life takes a dark turn, unraveling into a terrifying fate that might even be worse than death.
Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most fortunate citizens from more than a century ago…
The cryo program, created by trillionaire tech genius Zale Winfeld, is long defunct, and the AI hologram “hosts,” ghoulishly created in the likeness of Winfeld’s three adult children, are glitchy. The ship feels like a crypt, and the isolation gets to Halley almost immediately. She starts to see figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents.
It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from….
I don’t usually gravitate toward space-based novels, horror or otherwise, unless they involve characters such as Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. However, after hearing good things about S.A. Barnes’ previous work (Dead Silence, Ghost Station), I decided to give it a shot. And I’m glad I did. Barnes wondrously creates an atmosphere of tension and unease that rivals, if not surpasses, the chills of more grounded horror stories. Set in the vast, isolating vacuum of space, these tales are nothing short of atmospheric, eerie, and downright terrifying.
Halley is on the run from a political scandal and finds herself taking a high-risk job aboard a massive space barge chalked full of cryogenically frozen bodies. The position is shrouded in mystery, and while the pay is less than ideal, it offers her the only real chance to escape her troubled past. But Halley’s fight for freedom becomes far more dangerous when the ship begins to reveal its unsettling secrets. As a protagonist, Halley is incredibly compelling, and I found myself rooting for her safety every step of the way. The other characters, while not particularly likable save for one, are the kind that you love to hate, adding tension and complexity to story at hand.
Although some of the technical jargon, descriptions, and sci-fi elements occasionally lost me—as someone who isn’t a huge fan of space novels—that didn’t take away from the power of Cold Eternity. The story remained thrilling, delivering chilling moments, intensely brutal scenes, and a deeply atmospheric tone. Barnes has crafted a tale that is both literally out of this world and figuratively spine-tingling.
Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes is a wonderful example of why stepping out of your comfort zone can be rewarding—even if it gives something that might scare you (pun intended). While I won’t be diving into a romance novel anytime soon, this chilling, suspenseful story was close enough to my wheelhouse that is was worth the risk. Now that I’ve turned the final page, I can confidently say it was the right decision.
Barnes has crafted a horrifying, spine-tingling tale that will stay with me for a long time. The vivid storytelling pulls you in and makes every twist feel like a jolt. And one thing’s for sure—I’m steering clear of cryogenic freezing after experiencing the unsettling world depicted in this horror.
Cold Eternity hits bookstores everywhere on April 8, 2025 from Tor Nightfire. The audiobook, narrated wonderfully by Amara Jasper, can be pre-ordered at Libro.fm!
