I’m picky about my haunted house books. It’s not enough just to have “house” in the title. I want the house to be a character. Without this particular haunted house, there’s no way the story could happen. Grady Hendrix’s How to Sell a Haunted House, for example, is a great read—but it’s not about a haunted house so much as about the dolls in that house. For this theme, I wanted horror books where the house is on par with the protagonist, books that capture that sense of the house as an allegory for the human mind.
On the topic of haunted house book recs, the “Spooky Book Club” Facebook group delivered! Lots of thanks to my other subscribers for reader submissions too.
If you like what’s here, sign up for my newsletter! I always include a little extra for subscribers.
Book Recs
100% Would Recommend — Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey | The September House by Carissa Orlando | The Spite House by Johnny Compton | The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson | House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Others I’ve Read — She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran | The Carrow Haunt by Darcy Coates | The Exorcist’s House: Genesis by Nick Roberts | Starling House by Alix E. Harrow | The Good House by Tananarive Due
20th Century — The Shining by Stephen King | The Haunting of the Hill House by Shirley Jackson | Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco | The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons | Hell House by Richard Matheson | The Cellar by Richard Laymon | The Elementals by Michael McDowell | The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
TBR — House by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker | Awake in the Night by Shauna McEleney | Episode Thirteen by Craig Dilouie | Old Country by Matt Query & Harrison Query | The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters | The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
TBR — This House is Haunted by John Boyne | Twelve Nights at Rotter House by J. W. Ocker | The Haunting of Hern Hall by G. R. Pidgeon | Haunted: Perron Manor by Lee Mountford | Moving In (Books 1-6) by Ron Ripley | A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
Games
Inspect each new cabin. Decide if it’s haunted or not. If you encounter anything that moves, get out . . . fast.
The Cabin Factory is a short horror experience (~60 min.) that plays on anomaly hunting, adding a hint of a through line plot-wise.
Podcasts
I just stumbled into this charming podcast via the Spooky Book Club on Facebook. Heaven and Jonathan hang out and chat about all kinds of spookiness and ghostly lore, including haunted houses! I really liked Ep. 51 on the Whaley House.
Oddities
Reddit user CatchingWindows found an entire house . . . inside his house. The house (eh, the big one) used to be a church, so the high ceiling in the attic left space for the not-so-miniature other-house. The photos are well worth a look.
Subscribe for more!
The Author-Oddity Podcast is a twice-monthly email featuring book recs, publishing updates, and other unsettling and spooky goodies. It’s AI-free, and I love supporting small creators and indie authors. Past themes have included MUSHROOMS and CAVES.
