The House Next Door

This is a significant departure from the notion of a “haunted house” most of us are familiar with. We expect an old house, haunted by the past, far from humankind, and left to rot and fester in isolation somewhere remote. The haunted house in Siddons’s novel, however, is right in the middle of an upper-class neighborhood in Atlanta, and it’s a brand-new build. Rather than being haunted by the ghosts of the past inhabitants, the house itself is a force of evil, corrupting all who cross its threshold in terrible, terrifying, and often deadly ways.

I hesitate to recommend this, but as I think back over spooky reads that aren't overly graphic, I have to say the plotline of this one has stuck with me over the years. To be honest, it's a book I'll never read again because it scared the tar out of me—we're talking on a psychological level. Yet if you're looking for an edge-of-your-seat mystery that'll freak you out without getting gory, this is the book for you. Just don't say I didn't warn you.