‘Tis the season of pumpkin spice, candy, and overall spookiness, and I know I’ve been enjoying my fill of all three. I recently binge-watched Mike Flannigan’s newest horror series The Haunting of Bly Manor, and it got me thinking of how haunted house stories are making a comeback, so it only made sense to recommend some of my favorite haunted house books that would be perfect reads for the spooky season!
1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
If you’re going into this book thinking it will be exactly like Mike Flannigan’s Netflix series, you would be wrong because he took some great creative liberties when making the show. But just because the book and tv series differ from each other doesn’t mean the book is any less enjoyable.
Jackson’s novel is often looked at as the haunted house story, and you’re missing out on a lot by not reading it.
The novel follows occult scholar Dr. Montague who is looking for solid evidence of a haunting at the infamous Hill House. In order to run his experiment, he seeks the help of Theodora, a psychic, Eleanor Vance, a lonely and reclusive young woman who was once haunted by poltergeists, and Luke Sanderson, the future heir of Hill House.
At first, their stay seems ordinary for an old and awkwardly built house, but things take a terrifying turn when the house chooses one of its guests to take . . . forever.
2. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
If you’re like me and you’ve been bingeing Flannigan’s newest series The Haunting of Bly Manor, why not look at its source material?
While Bly Manor also takes liberties from the original novel by using inspiration from James’s other novellas and short stories, The Turn of the Screw is a classic gothic horror that needs to be on your reading list.
A young woman takes her first job as a governess for two beautiful but strange children. Miles and Flora live in their lonely and haunted estate. Strange figures hide in the tower and windows who linger and come closer and closer to the living members of the house.
As the horrors continue, the governess realizes that slowly the ghosts of the estate want Miles and Flora and are slowly taking possession of their bodies, minds, and eventually their souls. The governess wants to save them, but do the children feel the same?
3. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
If you’re looking for a cult classic, House of Leaves is where it’s at.
A postmodern novel and a story within a story, House of Leaves might look intimidating, but it’s worth diving into.
The book follows Johnny Truant who finds a strange manuscript in his dead neighbour Zampano’s apartment. The manuscript seems to be a thesis about a documentary called The Navidson Record. It tells the story of a Pultizer winning photographer, his actress wife, and their children who move into a house and discover it’s bigger on the inside than the outside.
(I know it sounds like the TARDIS, but this house is MUCH MORE TERRIFYING AND NO DOCTORS LIVE INSIDE IT.)
But Johnny soon learns that neither the film nor the people in the film exist, but that doesn’t stop him from reading it.
Made up of The Navidson Record, Johnny Truant’s autobiographical footnotes, interviews, brief notes from the editors and so much more, House of Leaves is an unforgettable and truly haunted book that will stay with you long after you’ve finished it.
4. The Grip of It by Jac Jemc
If you like you’re looking for an eerie and atmospheric story then The Grip of It is the perfect read for you.
Married couple Julie and James are ready for a fresh start. They move into a house in a small town that sits between the ocean and forest. The couple tries to settle in the house . . . but the house seems to have other plans. It becomes claustrophobic, and hidden rooms appearing within rooms. Strange stains and drawings appearing on the walls. Dark bruises start appearing over Julie’s body and whenever James tries to drink from the tap mold spores appear in the water.
James and Julie must work together and investigate the town they now live in and their strange neighbours to discover what is happening with their house. The Grip of It is full of tension and thrills.
5. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
Do you like your horror with a dash of humour? How about less haunted houses and more haunted IKEAs?
Then Horrorstör is the book for you!
Whenever the employees of the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio come into work they find something interesting. There are some broken Kjering bookshelves, Liripip wardrobes, and shattered Glans water goblets.
Sales have never been worse, and the security footage shows nothing amiss. But, well, we and the characters know better.
With the store managers panicking, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. They investigate the strange destruction that’s been happening when the store is closed and, well…we’ll leave it at that!