Today, I am doing a collab with a few other members of the book community! We are all sharing our favourite settings and giving recommendations of books with that setting. There are so many settings I love but I finally settled on haunted/creepy houses because in my heart it is my favourite!
The Golden Spoon is a 2023 release that I have had a chance to talk about on the blog yet! This is a fun mystery that leans towards being a cozy mystery. It reads a lot like Clue meets Great British Bake Off and it was a good time. It takes place in a creepy chateau and we follow different and their experiences within this creepy mansion. The mystery itself might be a little predictable but the journey was worth it. I highly recommend the audiobook as it is full cast!
If you are more of a romance reader, I think that The Widow of Rose House is a good one to pick up to get a taste of haunted house stories! I would say it is a romance at the forefront that just happens to unfold in a haunted house. The hero is such a cinnamon roll and I loved the explorations of grief and how the book explores why I ghost might be sticking around.
Gallows Hill is a book that I gave three stars but I appreciate it more and more as time goes on! It is slow burns and I think it has everything you might expect from a haunted house story. The ending was fantastic! I know that Darcy Coates writes a lot of haunted house stories, so she might be a good author to explore.
If you think about it, Beauty and the Beast is a haunted house story, so it makes sense that a Beauty and the Beast retelling would have that vibe. I think that T. Kingfisher takes the haunted house to another level in Bryony and Roses to the point that it almost felt like the star of the show and was very much alive!
I have read and loved everything that Tiffany D. Jackson has written, including White Smoke. This is her first horror and is my least favourite from her, but it is still fantastic. It is such a unique take on haunted houses and I hope that this is a theme that she continues to explore as she writes more and more horror!
Jane Eyre is a classic haunted house story, so I had to include WIthin These Wicked Walls on this list! It is a YA Jane Eyre retelling following a main character who happens to be an exorcist. This book is so underrated!
I listened to an ALC of A House With Good Bones, which comes out later this month, and I loved it! I would expect nothing less from T. Kingfisher. I think this is a good place to start with haunted houses as there is a quirkiness to it that makes it more digestible. That said, it still goes there and I was thoroughly creeped out by it!
How could I make a list of haunted house novels and not include Mexican Gothic? I think of all of the books on this list, the house in Mexican Gothic was the creepiest and is the one that kept me up at night. You will never look at mushrooms the same way!
CJ Cooke is a master at creating atmosphere and has become one of my favourite authors! The Ghost Woods is her 2022 release and features a very creepy house for unwed mothers.
I wouldn’t call the house in Piranesi haunted but it sure is strange! There is an entire universe inside of this house that includes tides and entire ecosystems. It is brilliant!
I love haunted boarding schools, so that is why both Plain Bad Heroines and The Broken Girls are on this list! I often compare these two titles because they have similar themes, though I think that The Broken Girls is the more accessible one of the two.
Do you like haunted house stories? Do you have any recommendations?
YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads
I enjoy haunted houses as long as they’re not *too* haunted, LOL! I refer to them as “spooky houses” on my TBR spreadsheet though, because—as you mentioned in your notes for Piranesi—they aren’t always technically haunted houses. I read Mexican Gothic, and generally enjoyed it (though it was almost too much for me) but several of these others are on my TBR still. Thanks for the list!
I have been told that there is a subgenre called cozy horror and I think that sounds like something you’d like! I think A House With Good Bones fits nicely!
I like haunted house stories as those settings seem to come alive in the stories and really stick out. I consider Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix a haunted house story, although it’s set in basically IKEA. I enjoyed reading it.
That’s so true! I forgot about Horrorstor. I still need to read How to Sell a Haunted House!
Mexican Gothic is Sooooo creepy and good. I loved it. I’ve got a NetGalley book of hers I need to read.
The Widow of Rose House is on my TBR! I keep thinking it’s going to be super creepy so I haven’t picked it up yet… even though I’m in the mood for a good creepy story.
I just picked up Piranesi and really excited to dive in! The house sounds really unique and it’s also short 😀
It’s so unique! You’re in for a ride!
Great post, I love a good haunted house story 😊
Ohhhh thank you for some recommendations!