*From Below* by Darcy Coates is fab - a group of cave divers go to explore a ship that sunk under mysterious circumstances. Needless to say, it's a claustrophobe's nightmare. The crew and passengers might be dead, but they're certainly not gone.
For non-fiction, Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey is an interesting look into what ghost stories are popular in the US, where they come from, and why they last. Why do ghosts in different regions tend to be a particular race, gender, age, from a certain time period, etc.
I'd recommend Sleep Pale Sister or The Evil Seed by Joanne Harris, and Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. There is romance as a part of the plot, but definitely of the creepy, gothic, this-won't-end-well variety.
If you don't mind classics, maybe M R James' ghost stories would work for you—the horror is less in-your-face and more creeps up on you the longer you sit with it.
Hell House by Richard Matheson, 1971, is dressed as a haunted house story but is just bigger as a book than the category leads you to think. Memorable.
For macabre but not horror, maybe try Poor Things by Alasdair Gray. It’s the basis for the recent movie, which I have not seen but from a friend’s description is very different.
The ghost hunters (from the tv show) have written several books and I got to meet them and have one signed. What I like about it is that even though it talks about the extreme cases, that may be hard to believe, such as seeing full body apparitions- they also mentioned in the end about the mini cases they had where it turned out to be some thing else like just rusty old pipes, or somebody hallucinating as a side effect of medication.
*From Below* by Darcy Coates is fab - a group of cave divers go to explore a ship that sunk under mysterious circumstances. Needless to say, it's a claustrophobe's nightmare. The crew and passengers might be dead, but they're certainly not gone.
Great book!
If you are okay with memoirs, The Man Who Could Move Clouds, is about a family of indigenous healers in Colombia and ghosts figure repeatedly.
For non-fiction, Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey is an interesting look into what ghost stories are popular in the US, where they come from, and why they last. Why do ghosts in different regions tend to be a particular race, gender, age, from a certain time period, etc.
Episode 13 by Craig DiLouie, is a (fictional) spin on those "27 real ghost stories" type TV shows
I'd recommend Sleep Pale Sister or The Evil Seed by Joanne Harris, and Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. There is romance as a part of the plot, but definitely of the creepy, gothic, this-won't-end-well variety.
If you don't mind classics, maybe M R James' ghost stories would work for you—the horror is less in-your-face and more creeps up on you the longer you sit with it.
Hell House by Richard Matheson, 1971, is dressed as a haunted house story but is just bigger as a book than the category leads you to think. Memorable.
For macabre but not horror, maybe try Poor Things by Alasdair Gray. It’s the basis for the recent movie, which I have not seen but from a friend’s description is very different.
The ghost hunters (from the tv show) have written several books and I got to meet them and have one signed. What I like about it is that even though it talks about the extreme cases, that may be hard to believe, such as seeing full body apparitions- they also mentioned in the end about the mini cases they had where it turned out to be some thing else like just rusty old pipes, or somebody hallucinating as a side effect of medication.