The Spite House

Eric Ross, who has two daughters and secrets of his own, can solve many of his family’s problems with the money he’ll make by documenting his stay in the famously haunted Masson House. But the quiet house and seemingly accepting town of Degener, TX, aren’t what they appear to be—both are stained by past horrors. Compton’s debut hits every satisfying haunted-house trope, but his own tweaks on ghost lore add unsettling layers to the story. The plotting is intricate, following the points of view of many characters from the past and present, all of whom are expertly performed by Adam Lazarre-White. He captures the clash of genteel, small-town Texas facades with Ross’s skilled navigation of prejudice and classism. As with any horror audiobook, the narration is an integral part of its success. Lazarre-White deftly demonstrates that multiple narrators are not necessary to skillfully perform a large cast of the living and the dead. In particular, the Ross family is instilled with such strength from their love, desperation, and determination that it is impossible not to root for them.