The Spite House: A Novel

A Best Horror Book of the Year (Esquire)! • A Bram Stoker Award Nominee! • A 2024 Legacy Awards 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, Johnny Compton's 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 DevilsAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Neil McRobert, Esquire

"You can trace the tradition of the American ‘Bad Place’ from Edgar Allan Poe through Shirley Jackson, Richard Matheson, and Stephen King, all the way to Johnny Compton and The Spite House."

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Compton’s chilling debut is horror with heart that puts a refreshingly modern spin on the haunted house story... This tense work of gothic horror provides a complex and multidimensional look at how anger, grief, and trauma can strengthen bonds of familial love... Even the most jaded horror fans will be wowed."

Aaron Heil, Library Journal

"One part road trip, one part family relationships, and one part haunted house, serve this update on genre staples to showcase the voice of a rising new writer to an audience that adores the classics."

Booklist

“…the constant racial tensions, coupled with supernatural conflicts and a shocking twist near the end, make for a suspenseful page-turner. Great for fans of Tananarive Due, LaTanya McQueen, and Eden Royce.”

Grimdark Magazine

“…an exhilarating debut that will both warm your heart and leave you chilled to the bone. I look forward to reading more from Johnny Compton in the future.”

ThisIsHorror.com

“With his debut novel, Compton tackles our universal need to understand our past with this ghastly ghost story, cranking the dread to a fever pitch.”

Molly Odintz, CrimeReads

"Another great entry into the horror revival."

Agatha Andrews, Austin Monthly

"This debut novel... pushes the boundaries of Southern Gothic... This is destined to be a breakout hit."

Michael J. Seidlinger, The Lineup

"The Spite House promises to uproot the expected and build an entirely new breed of gothic horror."

BookTrib

"[A] terrifying debut novel."

James Grainger, Toronto Star

"A satisfying haunted house story that, like so much good American horror fiction, probes the country’s deep historical wounds."

Cassandra Khaw, author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth

“The Spite House is an aching, heartbroken meditation on what haunts us and the sins we inherit from those who came before us.”

Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and The Lioness

“Ever since I devoured Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House as a boy, I’ve loved a good ghost story, and The Spite House gave me those same chills. Johnny Compton has built a haunted house that is creepy as hell, the bricks and mortar oozing not just spite, but evil. Here’s a supernatural thriller that will have you watching the windows and doors as you read.”

Cynthia Pelayo, Bram Stoker Award–nominated author of Children of Chicago

“Johnny Compton's The Spite House is the modern Gothic story full of dread we’ve all been waiting for. This strange house, perched on a hill and full of terrifying sounds and shadows that come out at night, will steal a part of you and never give it back.”

Richard Kadrey, author of King Bullet

“In The Spite House, Johnny Compton introduces us to a family with secrets and a house as mean and hungry as any in horror. The book is a work of great imagination and humanity, showing both love and terror in a world as real as the dust in the attic of a terrible old house.”

John Harrison, author of Passing Through Veils and writer/director of Tales from the Darkside, The Movie; Frank Herbert’s Dune miniseries; and Clive Barker’s Book of Blood

“The Spite House commences with an enigma that quickly morphs into a mystery, which ultimately leaves us with a riddle that’s perplexed humanity since the dawn of time―all the while rubbing our nerves raw with dread. Johnny Compton propels us through this creepy maze with the assurance of one who has likely stared into the abyss himself.”

Jamie Mason, author of The Hidden Things

"If a house could knit a soul out of history and hatred, what many battles of wills might there be in that place? With chills as well as heart, The Spite House delivers much to think about and lingers as a good scary story should."

Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Whisper Down the Lane

"Johnny Compton is the new architect of terror. His novel The Spite House joins Anne Rivers Siddons' The House Next Door, Robert Maracso's Burnt Offerings, and Michael McDowell's The Elementals, reconfiguring the blueprints of a haunted house story in order to fashion something fresh and frightening."

Diana Rodriguez Wallach, author of Small Town Monsters

"The Spite House is a haunting, multilayered gothic novel with a refreshing twist on ghosts that gives you chills on every page, and just as much family heart. [It] sets a new, and a very high bar, for haunted-house horror."

About the Author

Johnny Compton’s (he/him) short stories have appeared in Pseudopod, Strange Horizons, The No Sleep Podcast and many other markets. He is an HWA member and operates the podcast Healthy Fears, which covers how our fears are explored through horror fiction. The Spite House is his first novel.

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