Haunted House Books
As a professional ghost hunter, I'm very picky about what I read. If the book is stupid or silly, I probably won't finish it and I certainly won't recommend it.
I want a good, believable story with convincing details. If I pause to say, "Oh, that's not realistic," the book has lost my interest. I put it down and probably won't pick it up again.
I like the following books about haunted houses.
Haunted House Books - Fiction
- The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson.
This book inspired two movies, and it's one of the scariest, most authentic "haunted house" books ever written.
It's a troubling, very realistic story about what can happen to vulnerable people in a truly haunted location.
- The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. This is a classic story, but... it must be read in one sitting. If you read a few pages and put the book down to order pizza, the mood is broken. Set aside a couple of hours (it's more of a short story than a full-length novel) on a dark night, and read it all the way through. If you're like me, you'll sleep with the light on.
Haunted House Books - True Stories
If you want to read an in-depth true story about a single, haunted house -- instead of a collection of ghost stories -- here's what I recommend.
- The Myrtles Plantation: The True Story of
America's Most Haunted House, by Frances Kermeen. This book is dated, and the style is a little corny. It was written long before ghost hunting
became as popular or as scientific as it is now.
However, the author is telling you exactly what happened when she lived at the Myrtles. After staying at that very haunted house, I wanted to learn more about the house, and this is a good book to understand its ghosts.
- The Amitville Horror, by Jay Anson. This story is very controversial, and I wasn't sure whether to list it as fiction or a true story. No matter what you believe about the house, this book is worth reading. Some of it is very dated. Other parts of the story are difficult to believe. In my opinion, it's still a good, creepy story, and far better than any of the movies about that house.
Is My House Haunted? by Fiona Broome
Available now
at the Create Space e-store
and at Amazon.com
$9.95 - Approximately 130 pages - ISBN 1449954952
