Happy Goat Horror

Dark bleatings, my spooky tribe!

Ghosts are not my usual forte, to be honest. As a rule, I generally don’t feel that inclined to pick up ghost novels. I don’t know why, because I really enjoy them when I do, especially if the author does something a little bit weird or different with the usual spooky, ghosty tropes.

So here are my Top 10! First, some honourable mentions…

Slade House (by David Mitchell), Hell House (by Richard Matheson), Burnt Offerings (by Robert Marasco), and The Haunting of Hill House (by Shirley Jackson). And two more that almost made my Top 10…

Remember Me – by Christopher Pike

This was my very first teen horror read, and I’ll never forget it!

The Perfectly Fine House – by Stephen Kozeniewski and Wile E. Young

This novel is set in a world where the most terrifying thing is a house that ISN’T haunted – such a great twist on the classic ghost story!

10. Hearthstone Cottage – by Frazer Lee

Hearthstone Cottage is about four friends (two couples) that go to stay in a remote cabin for a little post-graduation getaway, only for things to go a bit… awry. Especially for Mike, who starts dreaming and seeing all sorts of weird stuff that apparently isn’t there. It’s not exactly a “ghost” story, but it employs an isolated setting, characters that are confused, and spooky happenings.

9. The Wretched Bones – by C.M. Saunders

Ben Shivers, Paranormal Investigator, goes to The Regal Resort to investigate some mysterious deaths, and the root cause of the resort’s bad luck. This is a dark horror comedy of the finest calibre, it’s an absolute hoot. The plot and the storytelling is great, the characters are easy to either like, detest like the moustache-twirling villains they represent, or laugh at. I had a really good time with it!

8. The Shining – by Stephen King

This isn’t in my Top 10 King novels, but it does fit nicely into this list! Everyone, by now, knows the basic story, though I much prefer the narrative in the book as opposed to the film adaptation. That hotel is scary as hell!

7. Dark Matter – by Michelle Paver

It’s 1937 and Jack joins an Arctic expedition, but ends up alone in a cabin. This is a brilliant winter read – absolutely perfect for in-a-blanket-in-cold-weather-clutching-a-hot-drink book time! The setting really amps up the isolation and loneliness, making everything much creepier than it might have been otherwise. It’s fairly quiet on the horror front for quite a long time, but suspenseful and scary nonetheless.

6. The Woman in Black – by Susan Hill

I was delighted to love this classic, gothic horror story so much. I listened to the audiobook late at night during an insomnia patch, whilst doing creepy jigsaw puzzles to pass the time. I’ve also seen the stage play. It’s about a solicitor who goes to tie up affairs and comb through the paperwork of a deceased lady at her somewhat isolated, big, creepy house.

5. Mexican Gothic – by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

After receiving a concerning letter from her cousin, Noemi rushes to High Place, her cousin’s marital home in the Mexican countryside. I’ll admit that when I read this initially, I didn’t like it much. Upon a re-read (because I couldn’t stop thinking about it), I totally changed my mind. This has a decent amount of human drama on the backdrop of this grand house, surrounded by secrets and questions, and the final act really surprised me. For something ghosty and spooky, it’s also very different.

4. The Folly – by Gemma Amor

Yeah, this one scared me. Following her father’s release from prison, Morgan and Owen (the dad) go to stay in an old tower on the Cornish coast. Morgan can live in their house no longer, thanks to the fact her mother died there, and so they take on caretaker responsibilities. As well as truly captivating family stress here, a creepy character turns up and this dude really made my skin crawl. He… it.... reminded me of that weirdo thing from Vivarium, for some reason. It’s an excellent, spooky read.

3. Hilltop House – by S.Q. McGrath

This story is told from a few different perspectives, including the POV of a house that a mother and daughter move into. It’s bloody great, GREAT I TELL YOU! The house gets a little attached to the daughter… a little too attached, you might say. Within the internal monologue of the house, we learn that it is a bit.. unhinged, and we start to worry for the human characters. The house has killed before, you see.

Some very dark humour, great storytelling, and an interesting plot, this one is a breath of fresh air.

2. House of Leaves – by Mark Z. Danielewski

I know a lot of people just don’t get on with this book because the format is, well, quite frankly… insane. I’ve read it once but I suspect it would take several reads to fully get the whole picture.

A house measures smaller on the outside than it does on the inside, which is impossible, of course. But there are secrets lurking in this house, inside a closet that isn’t just a closet. What started, for me, as a fun gimmick, as I turned pages upside down to read the letters, or deciphered hidden codes, gradually became a thing of terror. The more you throw yourself into the entire thing, like it’s a project, the scarier it gets. I love it.

And finally, my number one favourite ghosty novel is….

The Silent Companions – by Laura Purcell

This one also takes the usual ghost tropes and twists things about a bit. Also, the story is told over several timelines, and I absolutely love this sort of narrative technique.

Elsie, a newly widowed, pregnant woman, is staying at one of their estates, The Bridge, with only hostile servants and one of her husband’s cousins for company. At least, that’s how it seems at first. There’s a locked room in this house… a locked room that she should never have insisted opening….. it’s impossible to get the genie back in the bottle, once you pop that cork, as she discovers.

It’s atmospheric, mysterious, and increasingly creepy as it goes along.

So, there you have it! I hope there was something new and intriguing for you on this list! And if you have any recommendations for me in this genre, please share them!

Bleeeeat!