Halloween [1] is far from the only time of year when you can enjoy a good ghost story [2]. Books featuring spirits — just one of the prompts in our 2019 Reading Challenge [3] — can be enjoyed at any time, because the theme of connecting with the great beyond is one that never fails to resonate. The best ghost stories [4] do more than send a shiver down your spine, they also have something to say about the human condition. The ghosts can represent things from our hero's past that they can't escape, they can manifest as our worst nightmares, or they simply teach us lessons that only those who have moved beyond this world could impart. The sheer array of books featuring ghosts [5] on this list proves that a compelling ghost story doesn't have to follow any one set of rules; in fact, they're at their best when they're breaking every one of the genre's time-honoured traditions.
The Haunting of Hill House
Netflix's adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House [6] became a runaway hit in 2018, but the classic novel by Shirley Jackson weaves a different, but equally haunting, tale. Instead of a family falling prey to the spirits that reside in the house, it's four unrelated strangers who are looking for proof of the afterlife in a strange abode that's all too happy to feed off of their disparate energies.
Dark Matter
Michelle Paver's eerie book Dark Matter [7] begins with a young man named Jack looking for a way out of poverty in 1937. When he joins an Arctic expedition, he thinks he's found a new beginning, but instead he finds himself facing an unending cold that begins to infect his every thought. And as Jack's companions falls, the darkness around him only grows deeper.
The Little Stranger
Sarah Waters brilliantly sets The Little Stranger [8] in a crumbling postwar English manor in the waning days of the aristocracy. There lives the eccentric Ayres family, who are stubbornly holding on to their dying way of life. Are the ghosts that are haunting them metaphorical or all too real? That's the difficult question that one country doctor is trying to answer in this page-turner.
The Woman in Black
Yes, The Woman in Black [9] by Susan Hill inspired the Daniel Radcliffe [10] movie of the same name, but it's an entirely different beast. There's a touch of Gothic horror to this slow burn novel. Arthur Kipps arrives in a remote town to settle the estate of Mrs. Drablow, but her home is brimming with secrets that no person should unearth.
The Shining
Stephen King's classic The Shining [11] poses an interesting question about how far any single person is from tipping over the edge into insanity. The ghosts at the Overlook Hotel are no doubt sinister, but Jack Torrance doesn't need much convincing to turn on his family.
Horrorstör
And now for something completely different. Grady Hendrix's Horrorstör [12] upends the idea that spirits only gravitate to crumbling mansions. In his witty and terrifying novel, they can be found in the aisles of big box stores, too, just waiting to haunt you as you try to decide which assemble-at-home coffee table will look best in your living room.
Beloved
It seems almost a disservice to call Toni Morrison's masterpiece, Beloved [13], a ghost story, but spirits play such an integral part in this tale of the horrors of slavery that it would be equally wrong to leave it off the list.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves [14] reads like a slow descent into madness. Again, a haunted house is at the centre of this story, but it's the human toll of unraveling the mystery that will leave you up at night — and once you research how the novel came to be in the first place, you'll be even more fascinated by this strange tale.
The Amityville Horror
The scariest part of Jay Anson's The Amityville Horror [15] is that to this day, the Lutz family insists that the hauntings described in the book are true. Whether or not you believe the home was haunted by restless spirits, it's hard not to get a few chills while reading this possibly true story.
The Ghost Notebooks
A young marriage is put to the ultimate test in Ben Dolnick's The Ghost Notebooks [16]. When a married couple takes on the task of running a museum, it's not long before the wife begins hearing voices in the night. One morning, her husband wakes up to find her missing, and he's left with more than one potentially supernatural mystery to unravel.
Hex
What's worse than a ghost? A ghost witch who curses an entire town. That's the bone-chilling scenario at the heart of Thomas Olde Heuvelt's clever and frightening novel Hex [17]. And trust me, things only get more terrifying when a few enterprising teens try to break the witch's hold over their town.
Lincoln in the Bardo
Not all ghost stories are scary. While you might experience a few shivers while reading George Saunders's beautiful novel Lincoln in the Bardo [18], the story of Abraham Lincoln and his son is, at its heart, a stirring character study about a parent's grief.
The Seance
Constance, the heroine at the centre of John Harwood's The Seance [19], has been haunted her whole life. First, she lived in the shadow of her deceased sister, and after her mother's untimely death, she inherits a home full of mysteries and restless spirits. Following her as she faces the literal and figurative ghosts in her life is at once harrowing and immensely satisfying.
The Secret of Crickley Hall
The loss of a child leaves an irrevocable mark on any family. In James Herbert's The Secret of Crickley Hall [20], it drives the Caleighs to seek refuge in a remote home that is clearly haunted. But for this family, the realisation that ghosts might exist fills them with hope, not terror.
The Ghost Bride
Yangsze Choo's Ghost Bride [21] is rooted in Chinese folklore. The novel tells the story of Li Lan, who marries a ghost after her father loses his fortune. Her unconventional union means that by day she lives among the living, and by night she ventures into the afterlife in hopes of discovering the secrets surrounding her husband's death.
The Turn of the Screw
A true master of the genre, Henry James's The Turn of the Screw [22] remains one of the most heralded ghost stories of all time — although the debate over whether or not there are actually any ghosts in the novella rages on. All we know for sure is that a governess's belief that spirits are haunting her charges have unthinkable consequences for all involved.
Heart-Shaped Box
Believe it or not, but Heart-Shaped Box [23] is Joe Hill's debut novel. It's hard to believe that his masterful tale of an ageing musician who purchases a possessed suit off the internet was his first stab at full-length horror, but it just goes to show that he was a master of the genre from the start. (Since he's Stephen King's son, that shouldn't be too surprising.)
Daughters of the Lake
Told across two time periods, Wendy Webb's Daughters of the Lake [24] focuses on Kate, a woman who returns to her mother's home after her divorce only to find a body washed up in the lake near her home. Surprisingly, Kate recognises the body as that of a woman who has been haunting her dreams. So begins her journey toward unraveling a mystery that stretches back 100 years.
The Winter People
History repeats itself in Jennifer McMahon's lyrical and spooky The Winter People [25]. The compelling read finds a young woman searching through the diaries of a girl who died decades ago in the hopes of finding her missing mother.
The Witch of Willow Hall
Willow Hall is full of secrets, but it also awakens a sense of power in the sisters who reside there. Hester Fox's The Witch of Willow Hall [26] is more than a ghost story; it's a book about empowerment and fighting back against societal expectations.
Ghost Story
Peter Straub's Ghost Story [27] is aptly titled. It's centreed on a group of men who gather together to tell each other scary stories. However, one of those stories is true, and the ghosts it brings to the surface are ones everyone wishes would have stayed buried.