Reuters
LONDON
If you’re as obsessed with home-repair shows as we are, you know that all houses need a little loving. Sometimes a new coat of paint will do the trick, annnnnd sometimes they require more of an... exorcism. That’s right, the haunted house books on this list would make for one supernatural episode of “Fixer Upper”, but hey, what’s a ghost, demon, or doorway to hell when you can have original stained wood floors? Granted, they’re stained with blood, but look at that curb appeal.
1. “House of Bones,” By Dale Bailey
Pro Tip: If gang lords and crack dealers steer clear of the abandoned Dreamland high-rise, it’s probably for a good reason. Unfortunately, the strangers in this tale didn’t get the memo.
Built as affordable housing for those needing a second chance, Dreamland became the stuff of local legends when the walls started to bleed and inexplicable fatal accidents became the norm. Now, decades later and abandoned, five strangers put the terrifying legend of the Dreamland high-rise to the test by spending two full weeks living inside it. Nothing can prepare them for what awaits inside. Because in Dreamland, every nightmare comes true.
2. “The Haunting of Hill House,” By Shirley Jackson
If you’ve never read a Shirley Jackson tale, you’ve never been truly unnerved. Start with this classic thriller about four people seeking answers within one terrifying house.
3. “Nella Waits,” By Marlys Millhiser
Marriage took Lynnette far, far away from the confines of her dull hometown. But when her husband dies, she returns to take care of her mother. She connects with Jay Van Fleet, who is also coping with a tragedy and has come back to claim his inheritance: his childhood home, haunted by the ghost of his mother Nella. Sadly, Nella is not at all happy that Jay and Lynnette are falling in love.
4. “Hell House,” By Richard Matheson
The titular abode in Matheson’s novel is not someplace a house hunter wants to be at night, or afternoon, or at any time.
Rolf Deutsch hasn’t much time left, which leads him to start contemplating life after death. It consumes him so much that he hires several people (including a physicist and a medium) to investigate Hell House, an old home that just might be the key to the other side. Now the question is “which side?” And will they survive the night after they open some of the many doors within?
5. “Wylding Hall,” By Elizabeth Hand
A British band sets off to record their latest album in an ancient country house. Wylding Hall boasts fantastic acoustics, a gorgeous countryside, and the kind of deep dark secrets that keep property values low.

Though they manage to create the album that cements their reputation, it comes at a cost: Julian Blake, the group’s lead singer, disappears within the mansion and is never heard from again. Years later, the surviving members and a documentary filmmaker return to tell what happened that summer.