The Elvis Room

Fascinating Story, Frustrating Narrative Style

A man with an obsession risks it all to prove a scientific theory that ghosts cannot be real, only to accidentally discover a chilling reality beyond his expectations. But science isn't ready for this, his choices to break protocol have landed him in hot water, and all he can do now is lecture among Bigfoot-believers and alleged alien abductees, outcast to the fringes of science where only those of questionable sanity will listen.

It's in these spaces filled with conspiracy theories where he hears about the one room every hotel leaves unoccupied... and the ghostly theory as to why. He deems it the Elvis Room - as in, the room they seem to set aside just in case Elvis or the President or some other VIP wants a room when all others have been claimed - and it soon becomes his obsession. If he can prove the theory that ghosts occupy that room and kill hotel patrons when it's invaded, he can bring validity to the very work which got him ostracised from the scientific community.

This story follows the man's decline into madness. But is it really madness, or is it something more? Is there a grain of truth to his hypothesis? You'll have to read to find out. And if you're like me, you'll flop between belief and disbelief a few times as the main character spirals ever further out of control of his own life.

I didn't much care for the narrative style; many times, the main character's first person account dragged on his arrogance and got boring with unnecessary details. However, by the halfway mark, I knew I wanted to see this tale through to the end. And, thankfully, the narration style also got more engaging the further the main character fell into his obsession.

This one is very much worth reading through to the end. And I quite like the ghost story it brought to the table. It's not perfect and I think the ending got a bit messy - and also broke its own lore slightly - but I was entertained all the same.