81 books like Carfax House

This book is a unique take on the haunted house trope that is just so striking. It has genuinely frightening scenes that don’t depend on anything but tension and careful pacing.

Sarah Waters’ writing is always a gut-punch of beauty but this novel, in particular, has roamed around my head for years. It’s so masterfully written. I feel like I’ve seen the house, lived in it, loved it just like the protagonist. 

There’s no list I can create in my head about haunting locations that doesn’t include this book. One of the most interesting aspects of horror novels that take place in a vivid setting is that they draw you in and both make you wish you could visit the location while at the same time thanking all that’s good and holy that you’re not there. That’s what The Shining did for me when I read it. 

The Overlook hotel is larger than life, treacherous, and inviting, and King does an incredible job at maintaining the high-pitched hum of tension from the moment the Torrances walk through its doors.

I love a classic, gothic haunted house story with an unexpected twist, and Priory delivers. When Oliver Hardacre returns to his namesake home, located outside the gloriously atmospheric Yorkshire town of Whitby, he opens the door to his past. The narrative is told from Oliver’s modern perspective and his mother’s point of view in the 1970s, when Oliver and his brother were children at Hardacre Priory. Replete with dark, twisted secrets and multi-layered, complex characters, Wright’s sentient, menacing estate comes alive under her masterful touch. This is a short read, easily finished in one sitting. Crack it open on a foggy morning, with a spot of tea and a blanket to cut the chill.

One night, a gaunt woman stumbles into the road in front of Lauren and her father. They take her home, but the next day she is gone, and only Lauren can remember she was ever there. 

The best supernatural horror works because it reflects the terrors of real life. Francine Toon’s Pine is the story of Lauren, a young girl growing up in rural Scotland with an alcoholic father and only the memory of a mother who disappeared when she was a child.

And while the supernatural is always present, it is the isolation and actions of the living that create true horror. 

Con Riley writes prose like no other, and whilst this is the second book in her Christmas series, it can be read as a standalone.

This is a well-rounded Christmas trip where best friends and roommates Pat and Seb finally figure out what it means to belong. To each other. A mystery backstory and small revelations along the way make this a very enjoyable festive read. Even though it never actually snows in London.

In this ‘last chance for love’ romance, our gently bred heroine allows herself to be courted by a London merchant for the sake of her family’s dwindling coffers. The courtship of convenience isn’t going well, however, as the darkly handsome hero keeps his emotions so much under wraps that Sophie despairs of him ever declaring himself. Will an invitation to their Christmas family gathering inspire the necessary proposal? Sophie is almost ready to throw in the towel, but her heart whispers that her suitor may not be as reluctant as he first appears. 

Any and all of Jenny Bayliss’s books can be read at Christmas and leave you feeling just as good as a hot toddy with the perfectly sized slice of spice cake.

Each of her books is a delectable treat and an immersion in the holiday spirit, but Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is my absolute favorite. Probably because I adore the heroine – Elinor Noel, or Nory for short. She owns her own vintage bookshop in London, but grew up in the English countryside.

Her parents’ home was near a posh private school, which Nory received a scholarship to attend. Throughout the years, she’s remained close with her old school chums and now two of them are set to be married just before Christmas in the old castle on the school grounds. 

Isaac has taken over as head gardener for the castle estate. He tormented Nory when they were children,… show more.

It’s hard to choose a Miss Marple book – they are all so good – but I have settled on this one as it reminds me of London, where I used to live. Miss Marple is my favourite elderly female protagonist of all time, because of the means by which she takes such good advantage of people’s underestimation of her abilities. She is wise, insightful, and clever, and I find her enjoyment of her ‘treat’ visit to the hotel very endearing – who wouldn’t love a holiday in a posh hotel at someone else’s expense?

This is often overlooked by readers of Dickens. I think the term “sketches” is important here at a point where Dickens was still experimenting with his art and particularly his characters which were always going to be his greatest strength. Sketches by Boz is a collection of fascinatingly detailed insights into London life intertwined in episodes (or scenes) as Dickens terms it through a richly caricatured study of a set of interesting lives of the working classes, in a way that only Dickens has ever been able to do. The “sketches” had, prior to this, been serialized in weekly installments (the soap operas of the day). Dickens had experienced sufficient highs and lows of social mobility in his own life to fully qualify his portrayals. "The Tuggses at Ramsgate" is perhaps for me the most memorable but the whole volume is bursting with energetic individuality and character. I have… show more.

When our heroine discovers her fiancé cheating on her at a Yuletide country house party, she flees in distress, saddling up to return to London on horseback. Cue the intervention of a devilishly handsome rakehell offering his carriage. With all good sense thrown to the wind, lovely Lily is soon climbing aboard—in more ways than one. 

When the pair encounter [gasp] a snowstorm and must take refuge on his estate, the passion-o-meter reaches new heights. This book comes with a fabulous (and well-earned) “sizzle alert”. Hoorah!