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The Spite House
Johnny Compton
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A Best Horror Book of the Year (Esquire)! • A Bram Stoker Award Nominee! • A Finalist for the Reading the West Book Awards!
A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father's love, The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making— The Babadook meets A Head Full of Ghosts in Texas Hill Country.
Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. When he comes across an ad for a caretaker for the Masson House, Eric hopes they have finally caught a lucky break. The owner of the “most haunted place in Texas” is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there—provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.
The job calls to Eric, not just because of the huge payout, but because he needs access to the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it will help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, too afraid to stop running….
Also by Johnny Compton: Devils Kill Devils
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Posts about this title from Madisoncanread
Madisoncanread\
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Madison\
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• Aug 15 2025
Alright I have made videos in the past for this but I wanted to really sit down and make you a list that should be required reading for spooky season. Fall vibes that will keep you cozy or terrified? Whatever you're wanting! \
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WITCHY RECS \
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Cackle by Rachel Harrison: The ultimate cozy read! Annie is going through a breakup and moves to a small picturesque town where she meets a woman named Sophie and the 2 form a bond. I desperately wish I could read this again for the first time! \
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Maggies Grave by David Sodergren: A woman named Maggie Wall was murdered for being a witch in the 1600s. Now she's back for revenge. If you want INSANE body horror, pick this one up! \
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Slewfoot by Brom: This one I may revisit this fall. Abitha's husband died under strange circumstances and now his brother is trying to come after their farm. Abitha teams up with an unlikely friend to keep her home.\
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The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson: Imanuelle has grown up in a very strict cult. She goes into the forbidden woods and finds power within herself. If you read and loved Slewfoot, you have to pick this book up! \
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Haunted Recs \
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The Spite House by Johnny Compton: Eric and his 2 daughters live on the run. He accepts a job to stay at a rumored haunted house. This will give him and and his daughters more stability than a life on the run. He'll find out quickly that there's definitely some fact behind these rumors.\
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The September House by Carissa Orlando: A woman moves into her dream home and refuses to leave even though it's very haunted, the walls bleed every September, and her husband has gone missing.\
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Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno Garcia: Noemi receives strange letters from her newly married cousin. She goes to check on her and can tell somethings off with her cousins husband's family. \
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The Reformatory by Tananarive Due: Set in 1950's Florida where a young Black boy named Robbie gets sent to a reformatory school for defending his sister. This place is haunted by it's horrific past.\
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CREATURE FEATURE \
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When The Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy: Jess goes home after a shift a the diner she works at and finds a child who has clearly run away and is terrified. Once his dad shows up it is CLEAR why he's so scared. At this point, this is my favorite book of the year! \
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Eynhallow by Tim McGregor: Agnes lives on an island with her husband and 4 children. She knows that there has to be more to life than what she has been given and she may have found that in the stranger who shows up in her tiny village \
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Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison: Rory moves back to her hometown. She goes to a bar one night and is on her way home when she's attacked by a large animal. She somehow survives and now she's seeing some changes within herself.\
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The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn: A group of friends go on a cabin vacation where there is something in the woods waiting for them.\
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VAMPIRES \
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So Thirsy by Rachel Harrison: Rachel Harrison is a Vampire Diaries fan, I just know it! If you love Elijah from The Originals, READ THIS.\
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A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson: Letters from Draculas first wife. This is stunning and atmospheric. \
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The Southern Bookclubs Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix: A group of suburban women start a book club where they read crime novels. They team up when a stranger shows up captivating their town.\
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THRILLERS SET IN FALL \
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Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson: Halloween night Jett is brutally attacked leaving her with a head wound that she won't survive. She can get a risky surgery with a small chance to live or she can live for the next week before she dies of aneurysm. She's decided she'll take her last week and solve her own murder. \
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None of This is True by Lisa Jewell: Alix is a successful podcaster who interviews incredible women. Josie approaches her letting her know she hasn't done anything great, but she's about to. Alix agrees and then Josie has turned her podcast into a true crime podcast. \
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Jackal by Erin Adams: Liz returns to her small hometown for her best friends wedding. She's tasked with watching her best friends daughter at the wedding and she goes missing. Now Liz is on hunt to find out who took her and who is responsible for young Black girls going missing in this town year after year. \
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ON MY TBR \
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The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia\
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The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones\
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We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinbrough\
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The Good House by Tananarive Due
ULTIMATE SPOOKY SEASON TBR
22 books
1
Madisoncanread\
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Madison\
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• Jun 15 2025
Books that show just how far a fathers love will go.\
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The Spite House - A Man and his 2 daughters are on the run when he takes a job staying in a rumored haunted house\
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These Silent Woods - Cooper and his daughter live in complete isolation when a woman goes missing near them, threatening them out of hiding.\
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Razorblade Tears - 2 fathers out for revenge when their sons are murdered.\
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Betty - Betty Carpenter is a half white, half cherokee girl who has been through and seen a lot in her life. I loved her father so much, he is the only person in her life that kept her childhood pure for as long as possible. \
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The Whisper Man - A man and his son move to a new town where 20 years ago there was a serial killer known as the Whisper man. He's been in prison, but his son begins to hear whispering at his window.
Happy Fathers Day! Book Recs included
5 books
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Madisoncanread\
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Madison\
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• Jun 12 2025
Poll:\
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Are you a seasonal/mood reader?\
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Happy almost Summerween to all who celebrate! I'm not necessarily a mood reader, but I do try to be! Here are some great reads to put on your summer spooky tbr!
Spooky Summer Book Recs!
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Madisoncanread\
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Madison\
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• May 27 2025
[Poll:\
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Has a book ever terrified you enough to give you nightmares? \
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What we find scary is subjective. My top fears:\
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- Something happening to my kids.\
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- Home Invasion\
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- The ocean \
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- Really big things (being near an airplane makes me nauseous) Megalophobia? \
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- Mass casualties (I live in the US) \
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Gore doesn't really do it for me, but these ones gave me nightmares!](https://madisoncanread.binderybooks.com/item/Oh9kal6trq36KCYjoYck/)
"Actually Scary" Books
10 books
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Madisoncanread\
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• May 22 2025
Intense and Isolated Books to Read
My favorite kind of setting is an isolated one. THE TENSION, THE DREAD 👌🏻 🙌🏻#madisoncanread #horrorbooks #thrillerbookrecs #horrorbookstoread #darkfiction #literaryfiction #Inverted
14 books
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• May 22 2025
Some of my favorite audiobooks!
Some of my favorite audiobooks! #madisoncanread #thrillerbooks #horrorbooks #audiobooks #bestaudiobooks #Inverted
13 books
1
Posts about this book from across Bindery
Madisoncanread\
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Madison\
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• Aug 15 2025
ULTIMATE SPOOKY SEASON TBR
22 books
1
Madisoncanread\
\
Madison\
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• Jun 15 2025
Happy Fathers Day! Book Recs included
5 books
1
Madisoncanread\
\
Madison\
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• Jun 12 2025
Spooky Summer Book Recs!
8 books
1
Madisoncanread\
\
Madison\
\
• May 27 2025
[Poll:\
\
Has a book ever terrified you enough to give you nightmares? \
\
\
\
What we find scary is subjective. My top fears:\
\
- Something happening to my kids.\
\
- Home Invasion\
\
- The ocean \
\
- Really big things (being near an airplane makes me nauseous) Megalophobia? \
\
- Mass casualties (I live in the US) \
\
\
Gore doesn't really do it for me, but these ones gave me nightmares! \
\
Upgrade for $5 or login](https://madisoncanread.binderybooks.com/item/Oh9kal6trq36KCYjoYck/)
"Actually Scary" Books
10 books
1
Madisoncanread\
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Madison\
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• May 22 2025
Intense and Isolated Books to Read
14 books
Madisoncanread\
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Madison\
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• May 22 2025
Some of my favorite audiobooks!
Some of my favorite audiobooks! #madisoncanread #thrillerbooks #horrorbooks #audiobooks #bestaudiobooks #Inverted
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Courtney\
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• Jul 1 2024
Join for free
June Reading Wrap-Up
Here's all the books I read in June!!
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Celestial\
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Steph\
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• Jun 24 2024
Join for free
part 2 of Black horror book recs!!
out there screaming (edited by jordan peele) is such a fresh and chilling horror anthology. there were pieces from authors i already knew and loved, but also so many new voices that made me really excited to check out more of their work.
the taking of jake livingston by ryan douglass is a split POV between a teenage boy who can see ghosts AND the ghost of a school shooter, come back for revenge. it’s absolutely captivating.
the spite house by johnny compton is a gothic horror tale revolving around parental love & protection, ancestral hauntings, and complicated karmic seeds.
3 books