New Book Bonus Annotations: Chapter 4- Ghosts and Haunted Houses

When I was writing the Third Edition of the Readers' Advisory Guide to Horror, I originally had over 20 annotated choices per subgenre appearing in chapter 4-13. However, for word count sake, I had to reduce each lists to a well packaged dozen. Obviously making the cuts was hard, but I was able to include the tittles of those deleted annotations in an appendix at the end of the book with a promise that the annotations would run here on the blog.

And that promise begins today. Each list will be posted on the blog over a series of 10 weeks, every Tuesday, beginning June 1, 2021 and running through August 3, 2021. This weekly series will serve to promote the book's upcoming release in August of 2021, but I have also created an archive of all of the lists that will live here. That page is the official index of this bonus content.

In the book, my top three choices in each list are marked to denote Becky's Picks. I will also do that in these lists to give you a place to begin as you suggest. Just like the titles in the print book, every title appearing here is a great options for all public libraries. You can use these lists for collection development, displays, lists, and suggestions. Each subgenre has an essay discussing its history and appeal in the book which you can order here. 

Bonus Annotations

Chapter 4: Ghosts and Haunted Houses

[+] Denotes Becky’s Picks

Chizmar, Richard and Billy. Widow’s Point. 2018.

Thomas Livingston, bestselling author about the supernatural, is spending three days locked inside Widow’s Point Lighthouse, one of the most haunted places in North America, for his newest book. But even a well prepared expert like Livingston is no match for what lives there. A quick, immervie read with a well developed and eerie found footage frame of recordings, which are all that is left of Livingston and creepy pen and ink drawings scattered throughout, this is a cinematic tale that will have readers looking over the shoulders for days after completing it, even if they live thousands of miles from the shore.

Goodwin, Gail. Grief Cottage. 2017.

After the death of his parents, 11 year old Marcus is sent to live with his reclusive and troubled Aunt. As Marcus navigates his grief and his new life, he learns of the empty cottage nearby, where 50 years before a hurricane swept through and the family who lived there were never seen again, alive or dead. Marcus, drawn to a similar story of lives unended, heads to the cottage, making contact with a ghost boy, but he may not be a friendly ghost. This sad, introspective tale told with spare language by a National Book Award nominee, expertly walks the fine line between life and death at the heart of every ghost story. A great pick for book clubs. 

+Hill, Joe.  Heart-Shaped Box. 2007.

Jude Coyne, an aging rock-star obsessed with the supernatural, buys an old suit, said to come with a ghost, from an Internet auction site. Thinking it is a joke, Coyne ends up getting much more than he bargained for as the ghost has a personal vendetta against him. This is the novel that introduced Hill to the world, and employs his trademark, award winning, and bestselling storytelling style featuring extremely flawed but sympathetic protagonists who are forced to confront their dark side as they battle a supernatural evil in a compellingly paced story.

+Kozeniewski,  Stephen and  Young, Wile E. The Perfectly Fine House. 2020.

Imagine, ghosts not only exist, but they live side by side among the living and thousands of people like Donna run businesses based on the ghost economy. Needing a break from the stress of work, Donna’s ghost brother insists she spend a weekend off the grid at a non-haunted house. What begins as a relaxing getaway, unleashes a force set upon consuming every ghost in the world, destroying the world as everyone knows and loves it. Hooking readers with a gimmick, this novel then delivers with an all too prescient and thought-provoking plot, contemplating how the world as we know it can change in the blink of an eye  An unsettling, compelling and intriguing tale with excellent world building, that will fill readers with existential dread even as they race to see what happens next.

Little, Bentley. The Handyman. 2017.

Daniel, real estate agent, recounts the story of his family’s encounters with Frank, the handyman who built their vacation home back in the 1980s, who is at best a con artist, at worst a man connected to an otherworldly evil. After hearing a client mention the problems with his “Frank” home, Daniel goes on a crosscountry search to try to understand the truth behind Frank. Told in three parts, each with a distinct style and an intensifying terror- a supernatural investigation, a series of impressions of Frank from multiple points of view over the years, and finally, the horrifying and disoteinting conclusion that unites the entire novel- this is a unique take on the trope.

McMahon, Jennifer. The Invited. 2019.

Helen and Nate buy a large tract of land in Vermont, hoping to build their dream home, land the locals say is cursed by the spirit of a witch, Hattie, hanged there almost a century ago. As the couple builds the home, strange things happen including Hattie’s ghost appearing to Helen and encouraging her to look into Hattie’s daughter’s fate, leading Helen down a tragic path of violent deaths in the generations of Hattie’s female descendants. This is a compelling and crowd pleasing supernatural thriller with unease and scares lurking around every corner and a subgenre bending twist. The Winter People is also in this subgenre.

Miskowski, S.P. I Wish I Was Like You. 2017.

Talk about an unsettling opening, it’s 1994 in Seattle and Greta returns home from work, to see herself, dead on the floor. Now she haunts the city, bitter and angry, contemplating her place in the narcissistic world of “cool” grunge culture surrounded by the city's numerous ghosts. Less about its plot and more about the time and place, with a direct and snarky first person narration by Greta who is constantly pointing out the dark humor of her situation and its place in the pantheon of crime fiction and ghost stories, this is a nostalgic, unique and thought provoking chiller. I Wish I Was Like You was a 2017 finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.

Nevill, Adam. Apartment 16. 2010.

A young American woman, Apryl, inherits a posh London apartment from her Aunt Lillian who died under suspicious circumstances. Many said Lillian was mad, but after some investigating, Apryl finds that the truth may be more complicated, involving an evil force trapped in the building. This fast paced, plot driven tale follows most of the established conventions of the subgenre but adds a well built, menacing atmosphere and a third act plot twist, that will satisfy hardcore fans of this subegnre.

Niffenegger, Audrey. Her Fearful Symmetry. 2009.

Identical twins Edie and Elspeth grew up in London until Edie married and moved to the Chicago suburbs and had twins of her own, Julia and Valentina. When Elspeth dies, her ghost is stuck in her flat, but after leaving it to her nieces, Elspeth finds she can still communicate with the girls who have come to enjoy their inheritance. But what begins as a creepy and atmospheric adventure quickly twists into a dark and sinister ghost story. A complex, character-centered, Gothic tale told in a modern setting with a focus on death, family betrayal, mental illness, and cemeteries, this novel is shrouded in a darkness of tone and mood that rarely lifts. But it is also filled with lyrical language, beautiful scenes, and amazing passages that beg to be read a second, or even a third time. 

Pyper, Andrew. The Damned. 2015.

20 years ago, teenagers Danny and Ash died in a house fire. Danny was resurrected, and as an adult has made a career writing about life after death, but what he hasn’t shared with the world is that the ghost of his sister has been with him, and wreaking havoc on his life ever since. Now that Danny has found the love of his life, Ash is determined to destroy the relationship, but Danny is willing to do anything to stop her, even if it puts his own life in mortal danger. The compelling pace and an immersive sense of menace that is established immediately combined with an eerie feeling that this book could be true, makes this a solid subgenre entry. Also, a great suggestion for true crime fans who are willing to suspend some disbelief. 

+Read, Sarah. The Bone Weaver’s Orchard. 2019.

This engrossing Gothic tale framed by the creepy Old Cross School for Boys in the North of England circa 1920 focuses on misfit student Charley. As his classmates begin going missing, Charley knows they did not run away and that the grey figure he has seen in the halls at night is not a figment of his imagination. With the help of his pet insects and the school gardener, Charley begins searching for answers in the tunnels under the school, but is he ready for the horrific truth? A tale that combines the haunted school trope with a compelling character driven story of friendship, bravery, and coming of age that is filled with both nightmares and hope. The Bone Weaver’s Orchard won the 2019 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.

Shipp, Jeremy C. The Atrocities. 2018.

A novella that puts a unique twist on a trope first explored in The Turn of the Screw, teacher Ms Valdez is invited to a mansion to tutor the young daughter of its owners. There is one problem however, her pupil is dead, and a ghost. With reservations, Valdez agrees to help the family, but things get even more surreal from there. Part haunted house Gothic, part fever dream, this is a creepy psychological tale filled with atmosphere and great descriptions of the terrors that Valdez encounters. 

St James. Simone. The Sun Down Motel 2020.

In 1982, Carly’s Aunt Viv disappeared from the rundown, isolated roadside Sun Down Motel in upstate New York where she worked as a night clerk to save enough money to move to NYC. 35 years later, Carly travels from Illinois to try to solve the mystery. Told in alternating narratives, readers learn of the terrifying murders that plagued the town and fully inhabit the nefariously haunted motel in both timelines. A terrifying and suspenseful tale of small town horror that will appeal to supernatural thriller readers and haunted house fans alike.

Warren, Kaaron. The Grief Hole. 2016.

Grief holes are everywhere. They suck in those who are in despair. A well known singer sends a young artist into a grief hole to capture the faces of young girls who have disappeared into it. When she dies her cousin, someone who can see ghosts, is determined to stop the singer and figure out what is going on. A well paced, character driven story, written so that it deliberately wrings every last drop of emotional responses from the reader; a combination chilling ghost story and a contemplation of the horrors of real life; in equal turns moving, disturbing, and yet utterly beautiful. The Grief Hole won Australia’s Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel in 2016. Slights is also in this subgenre.