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The 20 Best Horror Novels Featuring Truly Chilling Ghost Stories

From Victorian gothics to modern thrillers, these will give you a good scare.

Watching scary movies is a respected Halloween tradition in many households. While jump scares and CGI monsters can definitely keep you up at night, sometimes the most terrifying stories are found within the pages of a book.

The horror/thriller genre is definitely a favorite, no matter the time of year. Recent book sales have it ranking as the fifth most popular genre among fiction works. And while the characters and circumstances may change, it turns out we've been telling the same scary stories for centuries.

The ancient Greeks and Romans spun tales of creepy haunted mansions and vindictive ghosts that still set the stage for thrillers today. Debbie Felton, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who studies the folklore of the supernatural, speculated in a 2007 interview that the lure of these stories lies in the satisfaction of fictional survival.

"Ghost stories have been popular for thousands of years, and there are many reasons why people enjoy them and enjoy being scared by them," Felton said. "There's certainly a cathartic effect to hearing a ghost story and being scared out of your wits without ever being in any real danger."

If you're looking for a spine-tingling read this Halloween, look no further than these 20 thrilling tales.

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No matter what kind of thrill you're looking for this Halloween season, these spine-chilling novels will leave you on the edge of your seat. So pour yourself a cup of hot cocoa, turn off the lights, and get ready to dive into a world of dark secrets and supernatural forces.

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READ MORE: The 15 Best Halloween Movies on Netflix That Are Truly Terrifying