So you’re looking for the perfect haunted house story that will scare you so badly that you’ll lay awake at night wondering what that noise was. Haunted houses are my favorite genre of horror. I just love stories about creaky old mansions that hold dark secrets. Here’s my list of some of my favorite haunted house horror novels. I’m only recommending books I actually read and enjoyed on this list. If I read it and hated it, it isn’t here. If I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, it’s not here.
The Good House by Tananarive Due
I recommend this book all the time, but that’s because it’s so good. The Good House is about a woman who moves into her grandmother’s home after her son has committed suicide there. (That’s not a spoiler it happens in the first chapter.) The book unravels a haunting along with flashbacks to what was happening with the woman’s son before his suicide and what caused it. It’s a phenomenal read.
Twelve Nights at Rotter House by J.W. Ocker
A paranormal writer gets more than he’s bargained for when he decides to spend thirteen nights in a haunted house to disprove the ghost stories locals tell. Convinced he’ll be able to write a bestseller based on his experience, he invites his best friend, a horror fan, to stay at the house with him. What follows is a whole lot of ghosts, an exploration of friendship, and some interesting discussions about the paranormal between a believer and a skeptic.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Of course, this book is on the list. The story is about a paranormal investigator who invites a group of strangers to stay at Hill House to see what paranormal activity they experience during their stay. It’s a classic. Compared to what ghost stories are these days, it might seem a bit tame to you at first, but that doesn’t mean it’s not brilliant. I love it.
White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson
I don’t usually read young adult books. I didn’t even realize that’s what this was when I got it, but once I did, I decided to soldier through and read it anyway. I’m glad I did. White smoke tells the story of a teenage girl whose family moves into a haunted house in a nearly completely abandoned area in a midwestern town. It’s about family dynamics, race and class, teenagers trying to fit in, and ghosts. I thoroughly enjoyed it, which was a pleasant surprise.
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
I wasn’t sure if I would like this book when I got it out, but it was sooo good. It’s about a woman who grew up in a house that her father claimed was haunted. He became famous because he wrote a book about living there. Then she gets the house when he dies. The book follows two timelines. It follows the story the father wrote about the house and the experiences of the daughter now that she’s moving in.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
When her cousin is ill, a woman goes to her home to check on her. There she finds her cousin living in a mansion with her husband and in-laws that seems to be overtaken with plants and moss. As she navigates relationships with her cousin’s new family, she begins to suspect that they are hiding a sinister secret about their house.
Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi
I am a big fan of Ronald Malfi’s work. This book doesn’t disappoint. A couple buys their first house back in the woods by a lake. From the windows of the house, they can see a staircase, the remnants of an old dock, sticking up out of the center of the lake. Even from the first day, it is a haunting sight that draws them to it. Then they find out that the 10-year-old boy who previously lived in the house drowned there. With that knowledge, the husband begins to have strange experiences in the house, and he feels compelled to unravel the mystery of the child’s death.
I Call Upon Thee by Ania Ahlborn
Maggie had a happy childhood, but once she left home, she never came back … until the day that she did. When she returns to her childhood home to visit her sister, who now lives there, she remembers why she really left. There is a dark energy present there, one that she’d purposefully forgotten. Now she has to figure out what that energy is.
The House of a Hundred Whispers by Graham Masterton
I’m not usually the biggest fan of Masterton, but I did enjoy this book. When they go to the old house where their father died, this group of adult siblings never planned on staying very long, but then the young son of one of the siblings vanishes without a trace. Desperate to find him, they all stay at the creepy old home where they can hear whispering in the halls at night. What are these strange whispers? What happened to the child? You’ll only find out if you read the book. There is a rape scene in this book that comes out of nowhere. Just letting you know because it caught me by surprise.