Welcome to the unsettling world of domestic horror, where your comfy home transforms into a breeding ground for fear. These stories peel back the layers of “normal” life, revealing the sinister truths lurking just beneath the surface. From haunted houses to psychologically chilling family dynamics, domestic horror explores how the places, and the people with whom we should feel the safest can become our greatest nightmares. Join us as we delve into this brief selection of books that capture the essence of domestic dread, reflecting our deepest anxieties about the fragility of our perceived safe zones.

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DB 21679 The haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 
During his scientific investigation of the ghosts in an old abandoned house, Dr. Montague invites a young man and two women to participate in his experiments.

DB 85265 Behind closed doors by B. A. Paris 
Jack has looks and wealth, and his wife, Grace, has charm and elegance. It's difficult to get to know Grace better, because Jack and Grace are never apart. Grace never answers the phone and can never meet for coffee. And there are bars on one of the bedroom windows. Contains some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2016.

DB 119233 My darling girl by Jennifer McMahon 
"Alison has never been a fan of Christmas. But with it right around the corner and her husband busily decorating their cozy Vermont home, she has no choice but to face it. Then she gets the call. Mavis, Alison's estranged mother, has been diagnosed with cancer and has only weeks to live. She wants to spend her remaining days with her daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters. But Alison grew up with her mother's alcoholism and violent abuse and is reluctant to unearth these traumatic memories. Still, she eventually agrees to take in Mavis, hoping that she and her mother could finally heal and have the relationship she's always dreamed of. But when mysterious and otherworldly things start happening upon Mavis's arrival, Alison begins to suspect her mother is not quite who she seems. And as the holiday festivities turn into a nightmare, she must confront just how far she is willing to go to protect her family." -- Provided by publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

DB 93085 Someone like me by M. R. Carey 
Gentle Liz Kendall is devoted only to her kids. Then a dark and malicious side of Liz begins to take control--a version of her that will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. To save herself and her family, Liz must stop this alter ego. Contains some violence and some strong language. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

DB 111782 Just like home by Sarah Gailey 
""Come home." Vera's mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories - she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family. Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren't alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera's childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn't the one leaving notes around the house in her father's handwriting... but who else could it possibly be? There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes." -- Provided by publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

DB 88330 The changeling by Victor D. LaValle 
Apollo Kagwa believes he and his wife Emma are suffering the normal stresses of new parents, until Emma's erratic behavior turns horrifyingly violent. After committing a terrible act, Emma disappears, and his search for her sends Apollo on a journey to places he never imagined. Contains some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2017.

DB 116090 The only one left by Riley Sager 
At seventeen, Lenora Hope hung her sister with a rope. Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope's End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife. Took her mother's happy life. It's now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope's End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer-I want to tell you everything. "It wasn't me," Lenora said. But she's the only one not dead. As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there's more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor's departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth-and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought." -- Provided by publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller.

DB 116597 The September house by Carissa Orlando 
"A thrilling psychological horror debut about a woman who is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes haunted, no matter the cost... You can survive anything. That's what Margaret tells herself when the walls of her house start to drip blood every September. She's learned how to live with it...and the other terrifying apparitions that have made the sprawling Victorian house she and her husband bought four years ago turn from a dream home into a living nightmare. But she can outlast all of it. Hal felt differently, though. Her husband couldn't take the hauntings anymore, and he left. But now he's not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine arrives, intent on looking for her missing father, convinced something grim has happened to him. With every desperate attempt Katherine makes at finding Hal, the hauntings at the September House grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep." -- Provided by publisher. -- Strong language, violence. Commercial audiobook.

DB 105260 The last house of Needless Street by Catriona Ward 
In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods, an unspeakable secret binds a strange family together. But when a new neighbor moves in next door, something buried among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

DB 114719 A house with good bones by T. Kingfisher 
"In this ordinary North Carolina suburb, family secrets are always in bloom. Samantha Montgomery pulls into the driveway of her family home to find a massive black vulture perched on the mailbox, staring at the house. Inside, everything has changed. Gone is the eclectic warmth Sam expects; instead the walls are a sterile white. Now, it's very important to say grace before dinner, and her mother won't hear a word against Sam's long-dead and little-missed grandmother, who was the first to put down roots in this small southern town. The longer Sam stays, the stranger things get. And every day, more vultures circle overhead." -- Strong language, some violence. Provided by publisher.

DB 110609 Jackal by Erin E. Adams 
"It's watching. Liz Rocher is coming home reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn't exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the couple's daughter, Caroline, disappears-and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood. It's taking. As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She's seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz's high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart removed. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can't be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town's history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls. It's your turn. With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness." -- Provided by publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers.

DB 108427 Hidden pictures by Jason Rekulak 
"Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy. Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman's lifeless body. Then, Teddy's artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force. Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it's too late." -- Provided by publisher. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.

DB 12162 Blood secrets by Craig Jones 
A romantic marriage between a beautiful woman and a secretive young man becomes a nightmare as the wife gradually uncovers terrifying secrets about her husband and his family. The wife watches as her daughter becomes drawn into the unspeakable horror that surrounds her husband's bizarre family life. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex.

DB 38470 Lost boys by Orson Scott Card 
Step and DeAnne Fletcher move to a new town and slowly adjust to their new community. Preoccupied with their own problems, Step and DeAnne do not realize that their eight-year-old son, Stevie, has become extremely introverted and is spending all his time with his imaginary friends. The terror begins when a connection is made between Stevie's friends and a rash of disappearances of other boys in the town. Strong language.