The Greatest Books of All Time on Ghosts

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
49 Beloved Toni Morrison 1987 American English
124 Pedro Páramo Juan Rulfo 1955 Mexican Spanish
189 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 1898 American English
215 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson 1959 American English
615 Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary M. R. James 1904 British English
715 The Sketch Book Of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Washington Irving 1819 American English
1307 Widdershins G. Oliver Onions 1911 British English
1372 The Horror Horn And Other Stories E. F. Benson 1931 British English
1425 And The Darkness Falls Boris Karloff 1943 British English
1650 Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward 2017 American English
1880 The Complete John Silence Stories Algernon Blackwood 1908 British English
1948 The Second Century Of Creepy Stories Hugh Walpole 1937 British English
1948 Topper Takes A Trip Thorne Smith 1932 American English
1975 Peace Gene Wolfe 1975 American English
2061 Ghost Story Peter Straub 1979 American English
2271 In a Glass Darkly Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
2437 Nine Horrors And A Dream Joseph Payne Brennan 1958 American English
2452 Worse Things Waiting Manly Wade Wellman 1973 American English
2728 They Return At Evening H. Russell Wakefield 1928 British English
2820 The Empty House And Other Ghost Stories Algernon Blackwood 1906 British English
2851 The Ghost Stories Of Edith Wharton Edith Wharton 1937 American English
2862 The Ghost Pirates William Hope Hodgson 1909 British English
2862 The Haunters And The Haunted Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1859 British English
2917 The Woman In Black Susan Hill 1983 British English
2939 The Supernatural Omnibus Montague Summers 1931 British English
3257 Goosebumps R. L. Stine 1992 American English
3259 A Fine And Private Place Peter S. Beagle 1960 American English
3465 Sweetheart, Sweetheart Bernard Taylor 1977 British English
3510 Alone With The Horrors Ramsey Campbell 1993 British English
3904 Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1964 British English
4199 The Elementals Michael McDowell 1981 American English
4459 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman 2008 British English
4835 The Uninhabited House Mrs. Joseph H. Riddell 1875 British English
4999 A Nest Of Nightmares Lisa Tuttle 1986 American English
5190 The Wind In The Rose Bush Mary E. Wilkins Freeman 1903 American English
5190 Some Ghost Stories A. M. Burrage 1934 British English
5190 Collected Ghost Stories Mrs. Joseph H. Riddell 1882 British English
5253 Carnacki The Ghost Finder William Hope Hodgson 1913 British English
5381 Bluenose Ghosts Helen Creighton 1969 Canadian English
5573 Stranger Things Happen Kelly Link 2001 American English
5770 The Businessman Thomas M. Disch 1984 American English
6154 CivilWarLand in Bad Decline George Saunders 1996 American English
6281 Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark Alvin Schwartz 1981 American English
6533 A Stranger In Olondria Sofia Samatar 2013 American English
6797 Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad M. R. James 1904 British English
6810 Down A Dark Hall Lois Duncan 1974 American English
6964 The Seance and Other Stories Isaac Bashevis Singer 1968 Polish Yiddish
7103 Get In Trouble Kelly Link 2015 American English
7108 The Children Of The Dead Elfriede Jelinek 2024 Austrian German
7216 Death's Jest Book Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1850 British English
7216 Poems Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1851 British English
7216 Christmas Stories Charles Dickens 1852 British English
7216 Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio Pu Songling 1740 Chinese Classical chinese
7844 If Only It Were True Marc Levy 1999 French French
7955 The Collected Ghost Stories Of M. R. James M. R. James 1931 British English
8195 Ghosts César Aira 1990 Argentinian Spanish
8772 Inland Téa Obreht 2019 American English
9124 Beyond Black Hilary Mantel 2005 British English
9251 White Is For Witching Helen Oyeyemi 2009 British English
9376 Tales For Christmas Eve Rhoda Broughton 1873 British English
9376 The Night Side Of Nature Catherine Crowe 1848 British English
9376 Spook Stories E. F. Benson 1928 British English
9376 Can Such Things Be? Ambrose Bierce 1893 American English
9376 More Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary M. R. James 1911 British English
9376 A Thin Ghost And Others M. R. James 1919 British English
9376 A Warning To The Curious And Other Ghost Stories M. R. James 1925 British English
9376 Ghosts In Daylight G. Oliver Onions 1924 British Unknown
9376 The Haunted Hour Margaret Widdemer 1920 American English
9630 More Spook Stories E. F. Benson 1934 British English
9764 Shadowplay Joseph O'Connor 2019 Irish English
10384 The Airways Jennifer Mills 2021 Unknown English
10595 The Alabaster Hand, And Other Ghost Stories A. N. L. Munby 1949 British English
10852 The Second Ghost Book Cynthia Asquith 1952 British English
10937 The Bone Key Sarah Monette 2024 American English
11478 Vicky Angel Jacqueline Wilson 2000 British English
11608 Elatsoe Darcie Little Badger 2020 American English
11925 Spirit Hunters Ellen Oh 2017 American English
12020 The Fourth Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1967 British English
12587 The Second Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1971 British English
12800 The Eighth Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1972 British English
12863 The Bleeding Season Greg F. Gifune 2003 American English
13334 Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed Over Two Decades Jianren Wu 1908 Chinese Chinese
13941 Ninth House Leigh Bardugo 2019 American English
14071 Riddance Shelley Jackson 2018 American English
14232 Rivers Of London Ben Aaronovitch 2011 British English
14884 The Ghost And Mrs. Muir R. A. Dick 1945 British English
14985 The Weir Conor McPherson 1997 Irish English
14985 The Haunting Of Velkwood Gwendolyn Kiste 2024 Unknown English
14985 Faces In The Crowd Valeria Luiselli 2011 Mexican Spanish
15914 The House Of Dies Drear Virginia Hamilton 1968 American English
17158 Tamsin Peter S. Beagle 1999 American English
17158 Doll Bones Holly Black 2013 American English
17158 Dragon Pearl Yoon Ha Lee 2019 American English
17158 Horrorstör Grady Hendrix 2014 American English
17023 Domnisoara Christina. Sarpele Mircea Eliade 1936 Romanian Romanian
17046 Blithe Spirit Noel Coward 1941 British English
17158 The Piano Lesson August Wilson 1987 American English
17158 No One Gets Out Alive Adam Nevill 2014 British English
17158 Murder Road Simone St. James 2024 Canadian English
17158 Odd Thomas Dean R. Koontz 2003 American English
17158 The Dangers Of Smoking In Bed Mariana Enríquez 2009 Argentinian Spanish
17158 Not Quite A Ghost Anne Ursu 2024 Unknown English
17158 The Echoes Evie Wyld 2024 British English
17158 The Ghosts Of Iraq’s Marshes Steve Lonergan, Jassim Al-Asadi, Keith Holmes 2024 Unknown Unknown
17158 Lost Girls Andrew Pyper 2000 Canadian English
17158 White Tears Hari Kunzru 2017 British English
17158 A Ghost In Shining Armor Therese Beharrie 2022 Unknown English
17158 Haunted Ever After Jen DeLuca 2024 Unknown English
17158 The Year Of The Ladybird Graham Joyce 2013 British English
17158 A Haunting On The Hill Elizabeth Hand 2023 American English
17158 The Court Of The Stone Children Eleanor Cameron 1973 American English
17158 Strange Practice Vivian Shaw 2017 American English
16879 Pedro Páramo / El Llano En Llamas Juan Rulfo 1953 Mexican Spanish
17158 Island Of Whispers Frances Hardinge 2023 British English