The phrase "a ghastly time" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a period that was extremely unpleasant or distressing.
Example: "After the accident, he went through a ghastly time, struggling to cope with the aftermath."
Alternatives: "a dreadful time" or "a terrible time".
"Youth", wrote Moore "is a ghastly time".
"It was just a ghastly time," said Mr. Schwarz, 65. "It was just a terrible chapter for us".
We live two miles from the village, with no other means of transportation, no drugstores, or markets nearer than the village, and are having a ghastly time of it".
By contrast, I've detested the idea of veggie burgers ever since my family was cursed with a carton of frozen soy patties in those ghastly times known as the 1970s.
The Republicans' antics are a ghastly waste of time at a moment when the nation is expecting real leadership from Congress, and suggest that the new House leadership is still unable to make tough choices.
As I spoke and hunted at the same time, a ghastly realisation hit me.
I think – I hope – a lot because they're a bit ghastly; at times it's like eavesdropping on a pair of self-obsessed luvvie types in a Notting Hill restaurant.
An era when brave young servicemen and women are being daily killed and injured during the relentless fallout of a ghastly illegal war is no time to sell voters on something that even vaguely smacks of forcing their kids to join the army.
One time John Thompson wore a ghastly sweater, nearly as ugly as the ones Looie wore as his trademark.
Later press accounts condemned the crew in increasingly harsh terms; The New York Times referred to "a ghastly desertion of duty", and condemned the "cowardly and dastardly conduct of the crew".
But it's just too many at one time". This is just a ghastly assembly line of death.
