The Spite House

Reviews

"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."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"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."
—Aaron Heil, Library Journal

“The Spite House is an aching, heartbroken meditation on what haunts us and the sins we inherit from those who came before us.”
—Cassandra Khaw, author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth

“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.”
—Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and The Lioness

“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.”
—Cynthia Pelayo, Bram Stoker Award–nominated author of Children of Chicago

“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.”
—Richard Kadrey, author of King Bullet

“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.”
—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

"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."
—Jamie Mason, author of The Hidden Things

"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."
—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Whisper Down the Lane

"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."
—Diana Rodriguez Wallach, author of Small Town Monsters