I love a good thriller set in an unsettling location. This list features books set in creepy houses, eerie apartments, and high-tech mansions with chilling secrets. Let’s tour these creepy abodes.Updated for Fall 2025!
Mysteries Set in a Creepy Old House
This list includes Mysteries, Suspense, Gothic Suspense, and Paranormal Suspense (of course!)
New Creepy House Books for 2025! Details below!
- Coram House by Bailey Seybolt
- She Didn’t See it Coming by Shari Lapena
- Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
Mystery and Thriller Books Set in an Apartment Building:
- She Didn’t See it Coming by Shari Lapena
- The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
- The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
- You could also try: Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
She Didn’t See it Coming by Shari Lapena
An ingenious locked room mystery about a murder in a high tech high rise. How did the killer get in and out, and which of the neighbors, friends, or family member of the victim did it?
Check out my Readers Guide to She Didn’t See it Coming!
Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
Party of Liars is actually a creepy Gothic story. The setting is a renovated mansion with a dark past and now a dark crime in the present.
Check out my Readers Guide for Party of Liars and let’s discuss!
Coram House by Bailey Seybolt
When a true crime writer is hired to help write a nonfiction book about terrible child abuse at an old orphanage, she has to take the job.
Coram House is creepy, old, and being turned into condos. But there are ghosts there (not literal) who won’t stay silent.
Check out my Review with Spoilers for Coram House!
House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen
An ingenious closed circle mystery set in a modern glass house that becomes its own character in the story!
Check out my review of House of Glass with spoilers!
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
The Only One Left is a PERFECT addition to the list. The house is almost a character in this suspenseful, Gothic-inspired story of a young woman hired to be the caretaker/nurse for a notorious murderer.
My Review of The Only One Left
My Spoiler Discussion of the Only One Left – keep track of all those twists and turns!
The New Couple in Apartment 5B by Lisa Unger
Only Murders in the Building showed us that a creepy apartment building can be a perfect setting for a murder mystery.
The New Couple in 5B is a paranormal suspense book about a young couple who inherit a beautiful apartment in a fancy New York apartment building. It’s like a dream come true … or is it a nightmare?
My Review of The New Couple in 5B
Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman
Look in the Mirror was horror adjacent, with a house that’s definitely a sinister character in the story.
A woman whose father has just passed away is notified that she has inherited a house in the Caribbean. She goes to check it out and … things get weird.
This book is a horror house story crossed with an escape room story.
Check out my review of Look in the Mirror!
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
The Heiress is a suspense story about a young couple who learn that he has inherited an old family house. They head there and find a family that is very hostile to them and a lot of secrets and lies to unearth.
My Review of The Heiress with Spoilers!
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Here’s the title that kicked it all off. Yes, the Parisian apartment in which the book is set is très chic, but it’s also très sinistre. You can find my spoiler post for The Paris Apartment here. Come chat with us about that Concierge, what happened to Theo, how Jess is so lucky as a detective, and more!
My Review of the Paris Apartment
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
This is a Rebecca-inspired story set in Mexico, with a vulnerable young bride who comes to Hacienda San Isidro and needs a priest to help her battle the house and its malevolence.
It’s a little bit Gothic and very rooted in Mexican culture too!
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James
Read my Review of The Book of Cold Cases
A podcaster investigating an old case from the 1970s interviews the woman thought responsible, who seems to live in a haunted house.
And join my Spoiler Discussion for The Book of Cold Cases
Sliver by Ira Levin
Okay, the 1990s movie version was pretty cheesy and VERY 90s (featuring a Baldwin brother and Sharon Stone) but is a classic story of a career woman living in a high tech high rise in New York and feeling like someone is watching her…
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
I have never been brave enough to watch the classic movie, set in “The Bramford” (actually NYC’s famed Dakota on Central Park West). Anyone seen or read this one?
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Anyone who reads this blog knows of my obsession with Gothic fiction and Rebecca. Check out my long list of Rebecca-inspired Books and Movies here.
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Ah, another creepy Manhattan building: The Bartholemew. I just finished this and while I wasn’t wowed, it did remind me a lot of The Paris Apartment, so if you liked that, read this and vice versa!
Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
Most of Ware’s books have creepy, claustrophobic, frequently Gothic settings. Turn of the Key is more of a modern Gothic set in a high tech house instead of a musty old one. It’s also one of my favorite Ware books!
Tell me about mysteries or thrillers you’ve read that are set in a creepy house or building, and I will add them to the list!
I love a good spooky setting. Is the Paris Apartent haunted or just nefarious?
Nope, not haunted. The building has a creepy vibe and a nefarious air but no paranormal stuff!
Fantastic post. I love stories set in atmospheric buildings and places. They also become a character themselves.
So glad you enjoyed it! Hope you are doing well!
I saw Rosemary’s Baby and also read the book. The movie is fabulous. And I have been inside The Dakota visiting a client once.
Ooh. Not sure if I’m brave enough to watch the movie but maybe!
Thankyou! I am definitely an old house aficionado, because turns out I’ve read almost all of these. The Bartholomew one gave me nightmares, though. If I think of other old house mysteries, I will send along.
Thanks, Heidi! I’d love any suggestions 🙂