![]() Burnt Offerings by Robert Marascoīurnt Offerings doesn’t get a whole lot of attention these days, and when people do talk about Marasco’s novel it is usually in relation to the book’s influence on Stephen King’s The Shining. They are witness to the accidents and tragedies that come to surround the new house and afflict its inhabitants. Siddons’s The House Next Door is about a beautiful new house, and is told not from the perspective of this house’s inhabitants but rather through that of the neighbors, Colquitt and Walter Kennedy. Haunted houses don’t always have to be old and steeped in dark history. The House Next Door by Anne River Siddons Hill House is frightening in all its various forms, text and film, as it torments the protagonist Eleanor, and all others unfortunate enough to inhabit its walls. If you’ve only seen the (admittedly awesome) Netflix adaptation, do pick up a copy of Jackson’s original novel and give it a read. But at least I could be sure that the plane wasn’t haunted. To be sincerely freaked out while stuck on a plane at 30,000 feet, I did not expect. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson What could go wrong? (Besides everything.) Plotwise, it’s pretty familiar: the house’s owner invites a psychiatrist and two psychics into the house to investigate the existence of the afterlife. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is a well known contribution to the history haunted house books. As a result a lot of readers find it rough, or downright offensive. Its contents are graphic, heavily sexual in nature, and (given its publication date) completely lack any modern sentiment. ![]() Matheson’s haunted house book was published in 1971, and belongs to that horror publishing of the ’70s and ’80s. I can’t leave Hell House off this list, but I also cannot include it without recommending that you read with caution. As far as haunted house books go, this is definitely a “classic.” Also, Turn of the Screw seems to be the inspiration behind season two of The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix ( The Haunting of Bly House now, technically), so you may as well read up while we (im)patiently wait for 2020. I’m guessing that most of you are familiar with some version of this creepy Henry James novella about the young governess and her two beautiful but strange charges, whether you’ve read the actual text or seen one of the film adaptations. By signing up you agree to our terms of use The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Thankfully, there are a whole slew of writers who have shared that sentiment! When it comes to haunted house books we have plenty of scares to fill our shelves. But lying in bed and hearing something move inside your house? That’s always going to be worse. Looking out your window and seeing something staring back at you is scary. There is also a good deal to be said with regards to the relation between women, hauntings, and domestic spaces, and if that is an area which interests you make sure you check out Sarah Smeltzer’s post on Women, Trauma, and Haunted Houses. So their modern descendants come by it rightly. Even the Gothic romances, from which the modern haunting story stems, were about the inversion and disruption of the domestic space. There is also the fact that hauntings in books often either stem from or cause domestic disruption, further destabilizing the interior of the home and annihilating any feelings of being safe or protected. But in haunted house books the monsters are inside, with you, violating that sense of security. Even in a hotel there is an expectation of safety and security, even more so in the apartment or house you inhabit. Whether it’s a massive multi-room building like a hotel or apartment building, a creaky old mansion, or an unassuming suburban home, haunted houses derive their horror from feelings of invasion and violation. ![]() Book, film, video game there is nothing creepier than big, empty spaces and being stalked by something unseen. The haunted house is probably one of my favorite tropes across the whole horror genre.
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