I’m sure it is no surprise that I love haunted house stories. I think I like the mystery. I want to figure out the puzzle of why the house is haunted. These are some of my favorite books with a haunted house at the center.
The Grip of It
Jac Jemc
Author Jac Jemc has spliced together the classic haunted house story with psychological, domestic suspense. The Grip of It is tight, sparse and yet deeply disturbing. My review.
Winter People
Jennifer McMahon
This book was terrifying. Delightfully so. McMahon tells a tale via two main points in time (with a couple more moments for context) — present day and 1908. It is set on the same plot of land, a farm in West Hall, Vermont. My review.
American Ghost
Hannah Nordhaus
Hannah Nordhaus’ great-great-grandmother Julia is said to haunt the hotel (once her grand home) in Santa Fe. This nonfiction book traces both the hauntings and the family history. My review.
Ghostland
Colin Dickey
Another nonfiction book, Colin Dickey presents ghost stories in what I consider to be the most interesting way possible — as an indicator of that which a town is most obsessed with. He outlines the ghost story but the focus is really on the history behind the places that are considered haunted. More.
Slade House
David Mitchell
Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. More.
The Seance
John Harwood
Wraxford Hall, a decaying mansion in the English countryside, has a sinister reputation. Once, a family disappeared there. And now Constance Langton has inherited this dark place as well as the mysteries surrounding it. More.
Wieland; or The Transformation: An American Tale
Charles Brockden Brown
One of the earliest major American novels, Wieland (1798) is a thrilling tale of suspense and intrigue set in rural Pennsylvania in the 1760s. Based on an actual case of a New York farmer who murdered his family, the novel employs Gothic devices and sensational elements. Read for free.
House on the Borderland
William Hope Hodgson
The novel is a hallucinatory account of a recluse’s stay at a remote house, and his experiences of supernatural creatures and otherworldly dimensions. H. P. Lovecraft listed The House on the Borderland among his greatest influences. Read for free.
What is your favorite haunted house tale?
Ah! I still haven’t read that one. Bought it at a used book sale and it’s on my shelf waiting…
Oooh great list. Slade House is literally the next book in my to-read stack! A haunted house book that’s really stayed with me is House of Leaves, though I haven’t read it since the early aughts and wonder if it’s really all that I remember…