Do you love a good horror, a spooky story to keep you awake at night? The haunted house sub-genre of the Horror genre is a pretty big one on its own and today we’re guaranteeing some sleepless nights with the scariest books featuring a haunted house we can find.
We’ve trawled the shelves, from classic literature to modern horror to bring you a selection of scary books, all featuring a haunted house. We hope you enjoy the list, we certainly enjoyed creating it and added a couple to the reading list too!
The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson
When I thought haunted house, the first book that came to mind is this classic atmospheric horror from Shirley Jackson. Recently the subject of a Netflix adaptation, the Haunting of Hill House is guaranteed to have you too scared to visit the bathroom at 2am!
You Should Have Left – Daniel Kehlmann
A screenwriter, his wife, and their four-year old daughter rent a house in the mountains of Germany, but something isn’t right. As he toils on a sequel to his most successful movie, the screenwriter notices that rooms aren’t where he remembers them—and finds in his notebook words that are not his own.
Amityville Horror – Jay Anson
Based on the true story of the Lutz family, who in 1975 moved into their new home on Long Island. They knew that one year earlier Ronald DeFeo has murdered his parents and siblings in the house but the property and the price has been too good to pass up. Twenty-eight days later the family fled in terror.
This House is Haunted – John Boyne
Although this is a contemporary ghost story, it’s written in the style of a nineteenth century tale. Set in Norfolk in 1867 it follows the story of Eliza Cain who has taken on the position of Governess at Gaudlin Hall.
The Elementals – Michael McDowell
The Elementals follows the story of the McCray and Savage families who are looking forward to a restful summer on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. Three Victorian houses loom over the beach, and while two are habitable, the third is slowly being buried under an enormous dune of white sand, but it’s not empty. Something deadly lies in wait!
The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters
One postwar summer in his home of rural Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday, the son of a maid who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country physician, is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once impressive and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine.
Jamaica Inn – Daphne du Maurier
On a bitter November evening, young Mary Yellan journeys across the rainswept moors to Jamaica Inn in honor of her mother’s dying request. When she arrives, the warning of the coachman begins to echo in her memory, for her aunt Patience cowers before hulking Uncle Joss Merlyn. Terrified of the inn’s brooding power, Mary gradually finds herself ensnared in the dark schemes being enacted behind its crumbling walls — and tempted to love a man she dares not trust.
The Shining – Stephen King
Jack Torrence starts his winter with his family as caretaker of the off-season Overlook Hotel, but as winter sets in things take a sinister turn and the idyllic location feels ever more remote . . . and more sinister. The only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski
A young family moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane, but they soon discover the house is bigger inside than it is outside! A groundbreaking novel written in coloured words, vertical foot notes and more appendices than words in places. A challenging, but rewarding read!
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James
A young governess arrives at a secluded estate, hired by the often-absent master to look after his orphaned niece and nephew, but with mysterious deaths and the spectral figures wandering the grounds, the governess is no longer sure of what is real and whom she can trust! The Turn of the Screw will be the source of the Season two of the “The Haunting of Hill House” franchise, and so it’s a good time to catch the original tale.
We hope you find some good suggestions there and we’ll be back with more recommendations lists soon. If you want to ensure you never miss any of these, subscribe now.
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