How to Build a Haunted House : The History of a Cultural Obsession by Caitlin Blackwell Baines (PRE-ORDER)

DATE OF RELEASE: 9 OCT 2025

What makes a house haunted? Why do some buildings conjure up a reputation for being particularly creepy, while others leave us unmoved? Barring the possibility of a looming afterlife, what are the particular features, contexts and histories that lend a building the dreaded identity of haunted house?How to Build a Haunted House tours some of the world's most famously spine-chilling structures in search of answers. From Medieval Scotland to Enlightenment-era London; Victorian suburbs to pre-Civil War Louisiana, Blackwell-Baines, an expert in Gothic art and architecture, will explore that specific set of ingredients that captures our imaginations and contributes to our collective understanding of the eternally eerie. After all, whether a staunch sceptic or paranormal enthusiast, we all know a haunted house when we see one.

Hardback 
Publication: 9 Oct 2025, Profile 

ISBN: 9781805221487

Extent: 320 pages