Spooky-Season House-Story Book Faves
There's a concept in writing that has always fascinated me: how, in a story, the setting shapes the overall tale—think about Overlook Hotel in The Shining, or Manderley in Rebecca, or even Hogwart’s Castle in the Harry Potter books or movies, and how the physical space shapes each story.
And this is nowhere more prevalent than in anything horror, or spooky, or ghost related. Not surprisingly, as a preservationist and working in real estate, these tend to be my favorite seasonal (and sometimes not-so-seasonal) reads. With the physical space being so integral to the story, it’s often the house or the structure that sticks with me.
Over the years, a friend and I have collected myriad ghosty books. It started with “Grave's End: A True Ghost Story,” and we’ve added many, many more to the stash ever since. Sometime in September, the itch sets in, and we start reading, keeping each other informed about our current selection—fiction, or those recorded as first-person experiences.
Without further ado, here are my favorites*:
“The Little Stranger,” Sarah Waters
I found this book at a church rummage sale several years ago, and I have read, or listened to it at least 10 times since then. Something about it draws me in every year. This gothic novel details the final hurrah of what remains of an aristocratic family, post-WWII, living in a once-grand manor house they no longer have the financial means to care for. There’s social commentary, a tinch of love story plus a generally spooky vibe… And all of this set in the English countryside, to boot? It’s a little like Downton Abbey meets Poltergeist.
(And please don’t judge the book by the movie. You know the book is always better than the movie.)
“Grave's End: A True Ghost Story,” Elaine Mercado
A common lived experience in ghosty tales is that of buying or moving into a new home, where the new owners have stretched themselves in some way. Often times, it’s a house that needs a lot of repairs or renovations, but happens to be within the buyer’s limited price range. Such is the case with the Brooklyn home of the Mercado family, who purchased Grave’s End after searching for over a year (gasp!) when they went to look at “what was apparently the last affordable house in Brooklyn, New York.” What follows is 13 years of unexplained noises, weird smells, disembodied voices, suffocating dreams, and so much more. Can you say PORTAL? Yeah, you get the idea.
“Rebecca,” Daphne du Maurier
Is there any more iconic opening narration than, “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”?
This novel is a pretty obvious addition to any list of this type, I’d say. I sought out the book after learning that the movie—Hitchcock’s first American project, in 1940—was based on a novel written by a talented and prolific female author, and I was not disappointed. To this day, both the book and the (ahem) original film are in my regular rotation. Not familiar? It’s a rags-to-riches, wherein the nameless main character meets the dashing Maxim de Winter during a winter visit to Monte Carlo. Far from being swept off her feet, she nonetheless becomes the new mistress of the aforementioned estate on the imposing Cornwall coast. Similar to “The Little Stranger,” the manor house Manderley (which was based on real-life Menabilly, du Maurier’s beloved home of 25 years), is a “lonely house,” that is, a lone structure, situated in an isolated and desolate area, which creates an ambiance all its own.
“The Amityville Horror,” Jay Anson
Ok, ok. The story of what happened to the Lutz family over 28 days in December 1975 has been disproven… time and… time again; still, the combo of this entertaining story plus the GLORIOUSLY cheesy 1979 movie is enough for me to revisit the Long Island Dutch Colonial at 112 Ocean Avenue every so often. I mean, freaked out nuns and priests, spooky pigs, and Margot Kidder practicing ballet in a gold-vein bedroom wall mirror? Yes, please. (Well, this last part isn’t in the book but you can imagine it already, can’t you.)
“Winfield: Living in the Shadow of the Woolworths,” Monica Randall
Turns out I’m bookending this post with my true favorites, one fiction, and one fact. “Winfield” is part historical documentation, part memoir—for this reason alone, the book is worth your time.
Author Monica Randall grew up on the Gold Coast of Long Island at the moment in time when the Great Gatsby-era homes were starting not only to fall into disrepair, but had also begun falling to the wrecking ball. Randall’s teenage adventures of “saving artifacts” from the old houses rolls seamlessly into her adult obsession with Woolworth properties. Later, a whirlwind romance and subsequent engagement culminated in her living in Winfield, uncovering its mysteries, including Woolworth's Napoleon obsession, his interest in the Egyptian occult, and the rumored causes of the fire that burned the first Winfield estate to the ground in the early 1900s.
Read any of these, or have others to share? I’d love to hear your faves. I have lots more, if you’d like to be added to our spooky-season book club!
*Disclaimer: Just because they are my favorites does not mean that I endorse them as particularly good writing. Some are well written and others are not; all are as enjoyable as a PSL on cool and colorful Autumn day.