Ghost stories are some of the most ubiquitous tales around — even if you’re not the kind of person who seeks them out, you’ve definitely heard a spine-chilling story or two around the campfire or at a sleepover. They’re a kind of horror that’s suitable for all ages, and often carry a message to boot.
But there’s a kind of ghost story that’s a little more subtle than your typical Bloody Mary terrifier — the kind where a character, despite not being on the page as much as the main characters, nevertheless has an incredible, even pivotal, effect on the narrative. These characters might not literally come back to life, but the hole left behind by their presence, or the ways they survive in the other characters in the story, make them haunting enough.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The classic haunting story is Rebecca, a Gothic novel that has remained popular since its first publication. It chronicles the story of an unnamed young woman and her marriage to a wealthy man, all told in retrospect. But of course, the man and his household are haunted by the memory of his first wife.
This book takes the prize as one of the most iconic books whose entire story is determined by someone who isn’t even technically there. In fact, the title of the book itself is of the first wife; Rebecca’s presence is the defining feature of the novel, and her absence motivates many of the book’s major plot points.
Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf’s early novel Jacob’s Room was at least partially inspired by the casualties of the First World War and the effect it had on English society, something that Woolf herself lived through. The novel follows Jacob, its main character, but interestingly, the narration is solely from side characters, and the reader never sees inside Jacob’s head.
Despite Jacob’s technical position as the main character, he often feels as though he is drifting through the story, caught only in glimpses or from afar. Woolf traces the space Jacob’s presence makes in the world, never entering but always tracing his silhouette as it moves through the streets of London.
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno
Thiago and Vera buy Itza, the world’s most advanced smart speaker, and it’s fantastic — until tragedy strikes. Gus Moreno’s novel blends horror with an examination of the way grief and loneliness can, at times, feel more implausible and terrifying than the supernatural.
Thiago’s wife’s absence permeates the novel, accentuated by the haunting, eerie presence (or nonpresence?) of Itza, who begins to speak to no one. This book feels like it could really happen, with just enough horror elements to keep you guessing — and just a little scared.
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
This novel by Julian Barnes, similar to many books about grief and endings, is divided into two parts, with the second longer than the first. The first part centers around two school friends — Tony and Adrian. In the second one, Tony’s presence changes, but remains no less important.
This novel explores not only grief and absence, but the narratives we tell ourselves, and how those stories can slowly replace reality. The second part of the book is haunted not only by Adrian but by the shadow of Tony’s own memories and the ways he has created a story around them.
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Helen Macdonald’s memoir, like a few other books on this list, explores the aftermath of losing someone, the way dealing with their sudden absence can be devastating, and how it might open your heart to a larger world infused with their existence.
After her father’s sudden death, Macdonald purchased and spent a year training a goshawk, which helped her through the grieving process. Her father’s absence is the core of the book, but the writing in this novel, with its examination of nature and the wild, is nothing but alive and vibrant.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven Boys is the stunning first novel in the Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater, but it’s also an incredible stand-alone, with its own ghosts and haunting past events. It would be too much of a spoiler to tell you who exactly haunts the narrative, but trust that it’s most definitely a haunting, in many senses.
If you’re the kind of person who asks your tarot cards about everything, or loves a Wikipedia deep dive, or is convinced that there are friendly spirits inhabiting your washing machine, this is the book for you. Or even if you just like cool cars and forests. Really, it has something for just about everyone.
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
This absolute brick of a book has a structure similar to other books on this list —one that lends itself to a haunting, as the narrator reflects on his childhood growing up in rural New Hampshire. The main character of that childhood is Owen Meany, a fast-talking, destiny-believing little loudmouth of a kid.
When you’re in the middle of it, the book is as lively and rich as though you were there with the characters, getting into and out of scrapes and talking about life as they grow up. But before the book ends, you’ll be reminded that the whole story is a memory in the mind of the narrator, who has lived many years since those events transpired.
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
If you’ve ever inherited a pet or if you would truly do anything for your dog, The Friend is the book for you. After her best friend and mentor dies, a woman is unexpectedly placed in charge of his dog, a Great Dane. The two of them grieve together, in very different ways, and must struggle through it as a pair.
Examining the ways that grief can open up new avenues of communication, while also exploring the sincere and touching relationship between people and their pets, The Friend is a novel worth reading if you’ve seen the ways animals, although not humans, have their own ways of expressing love, devotion, and profound sadness.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson is a master of quiet, suspenseful horror, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle is one of her masterpieces. It’s set many years after a horrific tragedy claims the lives of nearly every member of a rich family, leaving only two daughters in the aftermath, and a swirling cloud of rumor and suspicion.
Although the deaths of their family are now years in the past, the Blackwood sisters are undoubtedly haunted by that day and its repercussions. Like ripples in a pond, the cascading effects of the poisoning and the lingering question of who the culprit was have become waves that are near-impossible to ignore. The reader feels them like a cloud hanging over their head, filled with a not small number of ghosts.
Penance by Eliza Clark
Eliza Clark’s novel is written as a reconstruction of past events, as journalist Alec Carelli attempts to discover exactly what happened on the night of a murder nearly ten years ago. Told through interviews, research, and letters, this book examines how our memories can haunt us, becoming something much more than they were over time.
Clark creates a suspenseful, thoughtful book that looks not only at the ways we can be haunted by the past, but also at the ways the past influences every action in the present. As the story unfolds, the reader feels as if they are discovering something new from the detritus of what came before.
What these types of stories tell us, besides that we, as humans, are obsessed with ghosts, is that the process of grieving, whether it’s for someone who has passed away or just someone who has passed out of your life, can be enormous and occasionally terrifying. It can be challenging to adjust to the absence of an important person in one’s life.
But the other thing it teaches us is that we are an amalgamation of everyone we’ve ever loved. Although people may leave us, the lessons we learned from them, the places we shared, and the memories we have live on, affecting us as we move throughout life, changed but not gone forever.
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