Haunted houses are a well-known Halloween favorite. From haunted house attractions to decorating your house scarily, they are a pivotal part of fall and of horror literature. These famous haunted houses have indeed crossed your TV as they have all been adapted to TV shows/movies, but where did they come from? Here are the books — which you may know, or may have only seen on screen — that created some of the best haunted houses in the horror world.
Trigger Warning: These books contain difficult topics related to suicide/mental health, death, substance abuse, language, gore, and some include such issues as slavery. Please practice self-care.
Hill House in The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is considered a classic horror and was adapted into a show. The story follows four people forced to stay at Hill House: a scholar, his assistant, a quiet young girl who might be a medium, and the future heir of the house. At first, the moving objects and the creepy sounds are an unsettling coincidence; they told each other ghost stories, so of course, they will be on edge. But soon the house comes alive, and not all of them will make it out.
Bly Manor in The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James created the popular Bly Manor, which was also adapted into a show. A young teacher is hired as a governess for two orphans, who reside in the manor. Once she arrives, she realizes a presence lurks, and she can’t tell if this foreboding presence is malevolent or benevolent. Soon, she realizes it might be something other than the ghost she thought was stalking the house.
House of Usher in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Another fantastic book and a Netflix miniseries, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe is one of his many horror short stories. Our narrator is asked frantically to join his friend, who is deathly ill, at their manor, House of Usher. Things take a dark turn as an illness plagues the narrator’s friend and his twin sister, and the narrator has no idea what to do, but he knows that this house is no longer safe. It is decaying and starting to come alive, and it hopes to take everyone with it.
Hell House in Hell House by Richard Matheson
Hell House by Richard Matheson is another classic horror book turned movie. This Maine manor, nicknamed Hell House, has stood alone and quiet for decades. No one has even been able to investigate it, as each one dies tragically. That is, until four brave and maybe foolish people enter the house: a publisher, a psychiatrist, and two mediums, all there for their own reasons. Soon, they will discover why this mansion is nicknamed the Hell House.
Amityville Manor in The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson is based on a real story, which has ignited a ton of controversy about whether it was a “real haunting” and was also turned into a movie. The Amityville House held horrors unimaginable, as the former owner murdered his family, then himself. The Lutz family moved in a year after, thinking it was the perfect house for cheap, until they left screaming 28 days later. The house was indeed haunted, not by something as weak as a ghost, but something more evil that had already destroyed one family and had its eyes on a new one.
124 Bluestone Road in Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beloved by Toni Morrison is not your traditional horror story, but it does include a famous haunted house, 124 Bluestone Road. Though the book is more well-known, there is a movie! Sethe was born into slavery and escaped, but she will never be truly free. The decisions she had to make on the road will haunt her for life, literally. Her dead child haunts her new house, and it is turning her life around, forcing her to remember everything she tried to forget.
The Marsten Lot in Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
The king of horror, Stephen King, created an iconic haunted house named the Marsten Lot in Salem’s Lot, which received a movie adaptation of its own. Two boys enter a forest alone, and only one exits. Mears, the main character, knows this isn’t normal. Marsten Lot attracts dark and violent energy, masking the entire town in violent nature, causing it to be a horror show. He and a small group of heroes are the only ones who might be able to contain the evil haunting all of them and expel it.
Eel Marsh House in The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (another book adapted for film) is a psychological horror that will make you feel like you’re the one being haunted. Up and coming in his career, Arthur Knipps is suddenly sent far away to attend a funeral and help settle the affairs of Mrs. Alice of Eel Marsh House. However, this is nothing like the job Knipps thought he was completing, and he is utterly ignorant of the secrets, mysteries, and horrors that this house holds. The longer he stays, the worse he feels, experiencing everything from visions to sounds to touches. All he knows is that he is not safe here, especially when he sees the ghost woman dressed in all black. Knipps must do anything to get out of here alive.
The Overlook Hotel in The Shining by Stephen King
Though unconventional, as it is a haunted hotel, not a haunted house, The Shining by Stephen King is another classic in both the film world and the book world, and is known famously by the Stanley Kubrick film. Jack gets a new job as the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel during the winter months, and he decides to bring his family, hoping that this is the perfect time to reconnect with them. However, something sinister is using the hotel, and when they get snowed in, Jack starts to experience hallucinations he can’t separate from reality. The only person who seems to see anything is his five-year-old son, Danny.
House of Leaves in House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is another unconventional haunted house story. It combines experimental horror, psychological puzzles, and many more unconventional forms complexly intertwined to create one mind-boggling novel. The main story follows a family who moved into a haunted house that seems larger on the inside, has hallways that disappear, and is overall alive to trick and haunt them. Interspersed between that are multiple other stories, creating a novel that most deem too difficult to read or understand fully, but is still enjoyable.
These ten haunted houses are famous and sinister, filling all horror lovers’ dreams. Did it surprise you that any of these came from literature? Which ones are you familiar with?
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