Best Haunted House Books

The highest-rated books featuring haunted house, ranked by readers. Browse 50 titles across Horror, Mystery, Thriller.

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There's something primal about fearing the place you're supposed to feel safest. Haunted house stories exploit that violation, trapping characters (and readers) inside walls that actively work against them. The house becomes an antagonist with its own agenda—whether that's supernatural revenge, accumulated evil, or something worse. You get psychological unease mixed with genuine horror; the slow realization that escape might be impossible because the threat lives in the architecture itself.

You'll find these across horror and dark mystery, from gothic mansions dripping with backstory to modern homes that seem wrong from day one. Expect atmospheric dread, characters pushed to their breaking points by their surroundings, and the queasy feeling that certain places are just... hungry. The best ones make you question whether the house is haunted or if something about its nature corrupts everyone who enters.

These are the highest-rated haunted house books across Horror, Mystery, Thriller, ranked by reader ratings from Goodreads and Audible.

  1. 1
    The Shining cover

    The Shining

    The Shining • Book 1

    by Stephen King

    ★ 4.93 BLT Score (1.7M ratings)
    ★ 4.28 Goodreads (1.7M)
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  2. 2
    Pet Sematary cover

    Pet Sematary

    by Stephen King

    ★ 4.82 BLT Score (708.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.08 Goodreads (708.6K)
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  3. 3
    The Exorcist cover

    The Exorcist

    The Exorcist • Book 1

    by William Peter Blatty

    ★ 4.73 BLT Score (274.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.21 Goodreads (274.5K)
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  4. 4
    Salem's Lot cover

    Salem's Lot

    by Stephen King

    ★ 4.65 BLT Score (667.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.1 Goodreads (667.2K)
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  5. 5
    Rebecca cover

    Rebecca

    by Daphne du Maurier

    ★ 4.57 BLT Score (730.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.25 Goodreads (730.8K)
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  6. 6
    The Thief of Always cover

    The Thief of Always

    by Clive Barker

    ★ 4.39 BLT Score (37.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.21 Goodreads (37.8K)
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  7. 7
    The Broken Girls cover

    The Broken Girls

    by Simone St. James

    ★ 4.35 BLT Score (130.7K ratings)
    ★ 4.05 Goodreads (130.7K)
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  8. 8
    Home Before Dark cover

    Home Before Dark

    by Riley Sager

    ★ 4.34 BLT Score (320.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.04 Goodreads (320.3K)
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  9. 9
    The Sun Down Motel cover

    The Sun Down Motel

    by Simone St. James

    ★ 4.33 BLT Score (194.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.99 Goodreads (194.6K)
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  10. 10
    Sleeping Murder cover

    Sleeping Murder

    Miss Marple • Book 12

    by Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.30 BLT Score (53.5K ratings)
    ★ 4 Goodreads (53.5K)
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  11. 11
    The Amityville Horror cover

    The Amityville Horror

    by Jay Anson

    ★ 4.26 BLT Score (138.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.83 Goodreads (138.4K)
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  12. 12
    The Woman in Black cover

    The Woman in Black

    by Susan Hill, John Lawrence

    ★ 4.23 BLT Score (83.2K ratings)
    ★ 3.76 Goodreads (83.2K)
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  13. 13
    The Night Is Alive cover

    The Night Is Alive

    Krewe of Hunters • Book 10

    by Heather Graham

    ★ 4.22 BLT Score (4.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.16 Goodreads (4.0K)
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  14. 14
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow cover

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    by Washington Irving

    ★ 4.13 BLT Score (156.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.77 Goodreads (156.0K)
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  15. 15
    The Night Is Forever cover

    The Night Is Forever

    Krewe of Hunters • Book 11

    by Heather Graham

    ★ 4.12 BLT Score (3.4K ratings)
    ★ 4.12 Goodreads (3.4K)
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  16. 16
    The Evil Inside cover

    The Evil Inside

    Krewe of Hunters • Book 4

    by Heather Graham

    ★ 4.11 BLT Score (5.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.06 Goodreads (5.8K)
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  17. 17
    The Phantom of the Opera cover

    The Phantom of the Opera

    by Gaston Leroux

    ★ 4.10 BLT Score (281.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.96 Goodreads (281.0K)
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  18. 18
    The Uninvited cover

    The Uninvited

    Krewe of Hunters • Book 8

    by Heather Graham, Luke Daniels

    ★ 4.10 BLT Score (4.4K ratings)
    ★ 4.12 Goodreads (4.4K)
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  19. 19
    The Fall of the House of Usher: Edgar Allan Poe's Haunting Tale of Family Secrets and Tragic Decay cover

    The Fall of the House of Usher: Edgar Allan Poe's Haunting Tale of Family Secrets and Tragic Decay

    by Edgar Allan Poe

    ★ 4.08 BLT Score (90.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.84 Goodreads (90.4K)
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  20. 20
    The Good House cover

    The Good House

    by Tananarive Due

    ★ 4.07 BLT Score (10.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.02 Goodreads (10.8K)
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  21. 21
    We Have Always Lived in the Castle cover

    We Have Always Lived in the Castle

    by Shirley Jackson, Jonathan Lethem

    ★ 4.06 BLT Score (301.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.91 Goodreads (301.7K)
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  22. 22
    The Silent Companions cover

    The Silent Companions

    by Laura Purcell

    ★ 4.06 BLT Score (46.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.87 Goodreads (46.1K)
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  23. 23
    A Head Full of Ghosts cover

    A Head Full of Ghosts

    by Paul Tremblay

    ★ 4.03 BLT Score (107.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.78 Goodreads (107.6K)
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  24. 24
    Whistlin' Past the Graveyard: A Pine Deep Story cover

    Whistlin' Past the Graveyard: A Pine Deep Story

    Pine Deep

    by Jonathan Maberry

    ★ 4.02 BLT Score (357 ratings)
    ★ 4.06 Goodreads (357)
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  25. 25
    A Box Full of Darkness cover

    A Box Full of Darkness

    by Simone St. James

    ★ 4.01 BLT Score (8.8K ratings)
    ★ 3.81 Goodreads (8.8K)
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  26. 26
    Mexican Gothic cover

    Mexican Gothic

    by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

    ★ 4.01 BLT Score (448.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.66 Goodreads (448.7K)
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  27. 27
    The Invited cover

    The Invited

    by Jennifer McMahon

    ★ 3.98 BLT Score (45.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.8 Goodreads (45.4K)
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  28. 28
    Before Us cover

    Before Us

    by Jane E. James

    ★ 3.97 BLT Score (3.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.56 Goodreads (3.5K)
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  29. 29
    The Distant Hours cover

    The Distant Hours

    by Kate Morton, Unknown Author

    ★ 3.95 BLT Score (85.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.89 Goodreads (85.3K)
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  30. 30
    "The Haunting of Hill House Novel cover

    "The Haunting of Hill House Novel

    by Shirley Jackson

    ★ 3.93 BLT Score (402.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.81 Goodreads (402.1K)
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  31. 31
    The Haunting of Maddy Clare cover

    The Haunting of Maddy Clare

    by Simone St. James

    ★ 3.93 BLT Score (36.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.83 Goodreads (36.5K)
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  32. 32
    Heart of Evil cover

    Heart of Evil

    Krewe of Hunters • Book 2

    by Heather Graham

    ★ 3.90 BLT Score (8.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.01 Goodreads (8.3K)
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  33. 33
    Hellfire cover

    Hellfire

    by John Saul

    ★ 3.89 BLT Score (3.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.84 Goodreads (3.6K)
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  34. 34
    Hell House cover

    Hell House

    by Richard Matheson

    ★ 3.87 BLT Score (64.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.69 Goodreads (64.1K)
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  35. 35
    The Whisper House cover

    The Whisper House

    Rylan Flynn • Book 3

    by Dawn Merriman

    ★ 3.87 BLT Score (958 ratings)
    ★ 4.47 Goodreads (958)
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  36. 36
    The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights cover

    The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights

    by Bridget Collins, Susan Stokes-Chapman, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Elizabeth Macneal, Natasha Pulley, Laura Purcell, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Stuart Turton, Catriona Ward, Lisa Perrin

    ★ 3.87 BLT Score (5.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.95 Goodreads (5.6K)
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  37. 37
    Spirits from Beyond cover

    Spirits from Beyond

    Ghost Finders • Book 4

    by Simon R. Green

    ★ 3.86 BLT Score (960 ratings)
    ★ 3.87 Goodreads (960)
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  38. 38
    The Ghosts of Sleath cover

    The Ghosts of Sleath

    David Ash • Book 2

    by James Herbert

    ★ 3.85 BLT Score (5.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.89 Goodreads (5.0K)
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  39. 39
    The Twisted Ones cover

    The Twisted Ones

    by T. Kingfisher

    ★ 3.84 BLT Score (48.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.63 Goodreads (48.3K)
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  40. 40
    Model Home cover

    Model Home

    by Rivers Solomon

    ★ 3.84 BLT Score (12.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.69 Goodreads (12.9K)
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  41. 41
    Horrorstör - Grady Hendrix cover

    Horrorstör - Grady Hendrix

    by Unknown Author

    ★ 3.83 BLT Score (0 ratings)
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  42. 42
    The Amulet cover

    The Amulet

    by Michael McDowell

    ★ 3.82 BLT Score (2.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.92 Goodreads (2.7K)
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  43. 43
    Haunted cover

    Haunted

    David Ash • Book 1

    by James Herbert

    ★ 3.77 BLT Score (9.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.78 Goodreads (9.0K)
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  44. 44
    The Small Hand cover

    The Small Hand

    by Susan Hill

    ★ 3.72 BLT Score (7.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.47 Goodreads (7.6K)
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  45. 45
    The Sanatorium cover

    The Sanatorium

    Detective Elin Warner • Book 1

    by Sarah Pearse

    ★ 3.70 BLT Score (204.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.36 Goodreads (204.9K)
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  46. 46
    Harvest Home cover

    Harvest Home

    by Thomas Tryon

    ★ 3.70 BLT Score (11.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.81 Goodreads (11.4K)
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  47. 47
    The Phantom Coach: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Ghost Stories (The Connoisseur's Collections) cover

    The Phantom Coach: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Ghost Stories (The Connoisseur's Collections)

    by Michael Sims, Elizabeth Gaskell, Amelia B. Edwards, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Henry James, Robert W. Chambers, Mrs. Oliphant, W.W. Jacobs, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, Rudyard Kipling, Ambrose Bierce, W.F. Harvey

    ★ 3.67 BLT Score (295 ratings)
    ★ 3.73 Goodreads (295)
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  48. 48
    The oval portrait (Edgar Allan Poe Collection nº 3) cover

    The oval portrait (Edgar Allan Poe Collection nº 3)

    by Edgar Allan Poe

    ★ 3.66 BLT Score (7.8K ratings)
    ★ 3.72 Goodreads (7.8K)
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  49. 49
    The Night Boat cover

    The Night Boat

    by Robert McCammon, Colin Sullivan, Rowena Morrill

    ★ 3.66 BLT Score (4.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.61 Goodreads (4.0K)
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  50. 50
    The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights cover

    The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights

    by Bridget Collins, Natasha Pulley, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell

    ★ 3.63 BLT Score (9.8K ratings)
    ★ 3.56 Goodreads (9.8K)
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How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →