Alright folks, gather ’round for a spooky tale or two! After diving into Nora Robert’s Inheritance (fabulous, btw!) I couldn’t help but ponder the timeless appeal of ghost stories. They’re like the ultimate thrill ride, offering scares without the real-life dangers. Whether you’re into spine-tingling horror or cozying up with a whimsical haunt, these stories promise a journey beyond the ordinary. So grab your trusty blanket (extra protection against ghostly drafts, you know) and join me on a spectral adventure with thirteen eerie and ethereal reads. Including older, new and upcoming releases, there’s something here to send shivers down your spine and keep you turning pages late into the night. Ready to add a dash of spectral magic to your reading list? Let’s dive in!
(All links will take you to Amazon)
Inheritance by Nora Roberts
Contemporary Fantasy | Romantic Fantasy
After finding her fiancé in a compromising position with her cousin, Sonya MacTavish needs an escape. When a lawyer turns up on her doorstep out of the blue with news that she has inherited a beautiful Victorian house, Sonya thinks maybe this is just the change of scene she needs.
The house – nicknamed Lost Bride manor – is beautiful, the setting idyllic and the local town offers Sonya the smalltown comforts she craves after life in a big city. So what if there are sometimes shadows in the windows, objects move of their own accord and music starts playing out of nowhere. Sonya can live with the house being a little haunted.
But things soon start to take a darker turn and it becomes clear that Sonya has inherited far more than a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse, and a puzzle she must solve if there is any hope of breaking it…
All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCaul
LGBTQ + Romance for Young Adults | Horror & Ghost Stories for Young Adults
The Sleeping House was very much awake …
Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace, an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate.
Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice’s pecular girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice’s eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is quickly drawn in by Evie’s compelling behaviour and ethereal grace.
Bone Pendant Girls by Terry S. Friedman
Ghost Horror | Ghost Thriller
(Kindle out now – print out in May.)
Beware of jewelry that calls to you.
Andi Wyndham has been able to communicate with spirits since she was a kid. When a bone pendant carved into the likeness of a girl’s face calls to her at a gem show in Pennsylvania, she can’t resist buying it and a sister piece. When she discovers the girls are missing runaways and the pendants made of human bone, Andi is drawn into a mystery that will force her to confront her gifts, her guilt, and the ghosts haunting her.
Pendant Girls Mariah and Bennie urge Andi to find a man they call “Fisherman,” a master of disguise. Teaming up with a handsome P. I. and a South Carolina sheriff, Andi must find the girls’ bodies and put their souls to rest, before the Fisherman casts his deadly net to trap Andi.
Masters of Death by Olivie Blake
Ghost Stories | Alternative History Science Fiction
This book is about an estate agent.
Only she’s a vampire, the house on sale is haunted, and its ghost was murdered.
When Viola Marek hires Fox D’Mora to deal with her ghost-infested mansion, she expects a competent medium. But unbeknownst to Viola, Fox is a fraud – despite being the godson of Death.
As the mystery unfolds, Viola and Fox are drawn into a quest that neither wants, nor expects. And they’ll need the help of a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel and a love-stricken reaper. As it transpires, the difference between a mysterious lost love and a dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as you’d hope . . .
The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey
Horror | Literary Fiction
Bestselling authors Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey have teamed up to deliver a dark new story with magic, monsters, and mayhem, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill.
Julie is a coked-up, burnt-out thirty-year-old whose only retirement plan is dying early. She’s been trying to establish herself in the NYC magic scene, and she’ll work the most gruesome gigs, exorcize the nastiest demons, and make deals with the cruelest gods to claw her way to the top. But nothing can prepare her for the toughest job yet: when her best friend, Sarah, shows up at her door in need of help. Keeping Sarah safe becomes top priority.
Julie is desperate for a quick fix to break the dead-end grind and save her friend. But her power grab sets off a deadly chain of events that puts Sarah – and the entire world – directly in the path of annihilation.
The first explosive adventure in the Carrion City Duology, The Dead Take the A Train fuses Cassandra Khaw‘s cosmic horror and Richard Kadrey‘s gritty fantasy into a full-throttle thrill ride straight into New York’s magical underbelly.
The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard
Historical Fantasy
12 decades, 9 lives, 1 cat
Early morning, 1902. In a gloomy Edinburgh tenement, Eilidh the charlady tips coal into a fire grate and sets it alight. Overhearing, a cat ambles over to curl up against the welcome heat.
This is to be the cat’s last day on earth. But he is going to return… as The Ghost Cat, a spirit-feline destined to live out his ghostly existence according to the medieval proverb of “The Cat with Nine Lives” – For Three He Plays, For Three He Strays, For Three He Stays.
Follow The Ghost Cat as he witnesses the changes of the next two centuries as he purrs, shuffles and sniffs his way through the fashion, politics and technological advances of the modern era alongside the ever-changing inhabitants of an Edinburgh tenement. As we follow our new spirit-feline friend, this unique story unearths some startling revelations about the mystery of existence and the human condition and provides a feel-good read full of charm for any fan of history, humour and fur-ridden fun.
The Ghost Hunter Next Door by Danielle Garrett
Ghost Mysteries | Cozy Animal Mysteries
The first rule of being a ghost whisperer: Don’t tell anyone.
Seriously. Don’t.
Sure, it might sound harmless. A fun party trick, even. I assure you, it’s not.
How do I know? Well, let’s just say that I’ve had a lot of experience with this sort of thing, and nine times out of ten, it turns into an all-consuming disaster.
Being plagued by needy ghosts twenty-four/seven is one thing; being harassed by a horde of curious-or worse, grieving-flesh-and-blood people is an entirely different circus. I mean really, who wants to hold an impromptu séance in the middle of the cereal aisle? Not me, and the manager of the grocery store probably isn’t too crazy about the idea, either.
So, that’s it. If you’re a ghost whisperer, just keep your mouth shut and act normal. Ghosts? What ghosts?Now, if only I would start listening to my own advice …
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
Ghost Story | Occult Story
Pray they are hungry.
Kara finds these words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area ― only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities.
But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Young Adult | Paranormal
‘There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,’ Neeve said.
‘Either you’re his true love … or you killed him.’
Every year Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them ― until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.
His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, thenbsp; fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Gothic | Dark Fantasy
I WAS BORN WITH THE FEVER, MY BLOOD DARK AS NIGHT . . .
An ancient, mercurial spirit is trapped inside Elspeth Spindle’s head – she calls him the Nightmare. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, she is thrust into a world of shadow and deception. Together, they embark on a dangerous quest to cure the town of Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. As the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a gothic fantasy romance about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
Ghost Story | Historical Fantasy
World War One, and as shells fall in Flanders, a Canadian nurse searches for her brother believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise in this gripping and powerful historical novel from the bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.
January 1918. Laura Iven has been discharged from her duties as a nurse and sent back to Halifax, Canada, leaving behind a brother still fighting in the trenches of the First World War. Now home, she receives word of Freddie’s death in action along with his uniform -but something doesn’t quite make sense. Determined to find out more, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about ghosts moving among those still living and a strange inn-keeper whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could this have happened to Freddie – but if so, where is he?
November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped under an overturned pillbox with an enemy soldier, a German, each of them badly wounded. Against all odds, the two men form a bond and succeed in clawing their way out. But once in No Man’s Land, where can either of them turn where they won’t be shot as enemy soldiers or deserters? As the killing continues, they meet a man – a fiddler – who seems to have the power to make the hellscape that surrounds them disappear. But at what price?
A novel of breath-taking scope and drama, of compulsive readability, of stunning historical research lightly worn, and of brilliantly drawn characters who will make you laugh and break your heart in a single line, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a book that will speak to readers directly about the trauma of war and the power of those involved to love, endure and transcend it.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Contemporary Fantasy
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own sparsely-attended funeral, Wallace is outraged. But he begins to suspect she’s right, and he is in fact dead. Then when Hugo, owner of a most peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace reluctantly accepts the truth.
Yet even in death, he refuses to abandon his life – even though Wallace spent all of it working, correcting colleagues and hectoring employees. He’d had no time for frivolities like fun and friends.
But as Wallace drinks tea with Hugo and talks to his customers, he wonders if he was missing something. The feeling grows as he shares jokes with the resident ghost, manifests embarrassing footwear and notices the stars. So when he’s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days.
You’re So Dead to Me by Stefanie Holmes
Paranormal Ghost Romance | Urban Fantasy
What do you do when three hot, possessive ghosts want to jump your bones?
I’m Bree, and I see dead people.
Not all dead people. Only those with unfinished business. They’re everywhere – I’ll be eating my breakfast and a poisoned heiress glares over my Cheerios, and I can’t even enjoy the wilderness without being accosted by chattering ex-hikers who don’t understand which mushrooms are edible.
I’ve returned to my hometown of Grimdale to cat-sit for my parents while I plan my next move. I’m looking forward to raiding their fridge, hanging out with their two mischievous kittens, and staying far, far away from anything supernatural.
But I forgot that I’m never alone in Grimdale.
The three ghosts I used to play with as a kid are back in my life again. Only now I’m their age and they’re infuriatingly attractive.
