4 Thrilling Haunted House Stories To Not Miss Reading

By Amber Khatri – Published on July 8, 2025

The horror genre is one of my favorites. I love the ones that bind crime fiction, mystery, and supernatural elements into an enticing package. And what makes them better is they have plot twists, reversal of roles, and fast-paced writing style. 

There are many horror books that I have read. Some of the ones I have read were really good and I wish I could find more books like them. Not all books that I read were completely horror. Some were mystery novels with gothic and paranormal elements, and others were macabre crime fiction. 

 Though I thoroughly enjoy horror stories, some books don’t match my expectations. For example, I don’t like when ghost stories are not grounded in reality. I like the spooky atmosphere and dark tone. They keep me turning pages and make me wonder what will happen next. But cliche backstory and lack of realism put me off. 

The horror books I am recommending share a common theme: haunted houses. A “haunted house” can be in a metaphorical sense and literal. The plot and characters in these books are fun to read and they have great storylines. Above all their writing styles were a treat for a writer like me.

The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton 

The House on Biscayne Bay is an atmospheric and chilling gothic novel that pounds with mystery and suspense. It is set in the post World War 1 world in Florida that is a magnate for fortune-makers and businessmen. An industrialist, Robert Barnes, has commissioned a grand and marvelous estate christened Marbrisa that is unlike any other. It is a gift to his wife, Anna, for her birthday, who couldn’t imagine it even in her wildest dreams. In celebration, Robert invites the wealthy folks and locals to show off his new mansion. What he doesn’t expect is that inviting attention also means inviting a scandal that outlives them. 

The story alternates to fifty years later with a couple Caroline and Asher Wyatt who now reside in Marbrisa. Everything is the same as it used to be with enormous paintings and gilded furniture furnishing the place. Caroline’s estranged sister Carmen from Havana has migrated to Florida to live with her after the death of their parents. At first meeting with Caroline, Carmen feels an odd tension in the house. There are rumors from locals about the house that it is haunted and something terrible happened here decades ago. 

Marbrisa is a mysteriously fascinating mansion with its inhabitants and staff who are harboring secrets. The decades-old unresolved murder of a party guest haunts the place, and Carmen unearths the past to bring justice. This dark and twisted gothic fiction is a real page-turner. Every scene fills you with anticipation and makes you question the intention and motive behind each character. Moreover, Chanel Cleeton’s writing style is graceful and enticing. Right from the beginning you are drawn into the story and invested till the surprising ending. 

The House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Samantha is an entomologist, a zoologist who is an expert at classifying insects. Receiving a furlough from the digging project in Arizona, she pays a visit to her mother in North Carolina. Her mother lives in an old house where Samantha’s grandmother, Gran Mae, used to live. When she enters the house, she feels something is off-kilter about the house where she grew up. Not only that, her mother is always on guard, looking over her shoulder and flinching at slightest movements.  

Weird and uncanny incidents happen in the house that make Samantha wonder if she is hallucinating things. Her brother, who lives away, believes that their mother’s house is haunted and she is hiding something. Samantha investigates the whole situation by digging in the attic for any explanation and speaking to the neighbor. What she finds blows her mind. She didn’t expect the impossible to turn into a reality. 

This is a horror book with fantasy and paranormal elements. The tantalizing suspense, Samantha’s unique voice, and the southern gothic vibes are gripping. Moreover, T. Kingfisher’s writing style is original; she cleverly weaves entomology in the main concept of the story. It is grisly with details of bugs and insects, and unsettling nauseating scenes. In addition to that, mysterious and ominous energy in the house and strange behavior of Samatha’s mother draws curiosity. You get absorbed into the story through witty interactions and colorful personalities of different characters. 

The September House by Carissa Orlando

Margaret loves her new house. It is everything she ever dreamed of. But it isn’t what she expected when every September blood cascades down the walls. That’s not all. There are wailings and moanings of ghosts of former owners and children, with a dark basement which she steers clear of. She lives in the house with her husband. After living in the house for a few years, her husband decides he can’t live there anymore. He is afraid they will go insane with ghosts all around them. But Margaret doesn’t want to leave her dream house no matter what happens. 

Margaret has created her own rules in order to co-inhabit with the ghosts. She thinks she can manage the chaos every September if she lives by the rules. Eventually, her husband abandons her and never returns. When her daughter can’t reach her father for days, she flies in from another state to check on her parents. Margaret is surprised and is hesitant about letting her daughter live in the house. She has kept it a secret that the house is haunted and she sees ghosts. As her daughter investigates the absence of her father, she notices Margaret’s strange behavior. But Margaret refuses to tell her anything until her daughter confronts her and demands answers. What happened to her father?

The September House is pure chaos. It’s a haunted house story that doesn’t spook you, but makes you wonder why Margaret is obsessed with the house. Who in their right mind stays in a place where they see ghosts? And befriends them? And the bloody mess that cascades down the walls and she scrubs to clean them? Margaret is a very interesting character around whom the whole story revolves. It’s a thrilling paranormal story filled with quirky ghost characters and the house that binds them together. 

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

Maggie Holt has returned to Baneberry Hall to take over the estate’s renovation before selling. Maggie’s father is an author of House of Horrors, which is inspired by the horrific events at Baneberry Hall. Twenty-five years ago, Maggie and her parents, Ewan and Jess, fled the place in the middle of the night. Since then, they never went back to the house because it garnered the reputation of being haunted.

As Maggie attempts to put the house on the market, she explores the long, uninhabited family property. Unknowingly, she starts to see parallels between her father’s famous House of Horrors and Baneberry Hall. She doesn’t believe in ghosts and deems House of Horrors a figment of her father’s wild imagination. But for the first time after visiting the estate, she questions what truly happened the night they escaped the place. Was the place haunted as her parents claimed it to be?

Home Before Dark has a book within the book. House of Horrors chronicles the events at Baneberry Hall, and Maggie’s first hand experience as she explores the house. Baneberry Hall is a mysterious place that feels haunted but there is something else that hints to a buried narrative. It’s an addicting read that combines psychological thriller with paranormal horror, making the book a masterpiece. It’s not a cliche type of haunted house story. There is more going on with a puzzled up mystery and multiple plot twists.