Published by Lividian Publications
Please Note:
Unfortunately, special offers or discount codes cannot be applied to this item.
"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)
Lividian Publications is pleased to announce our signed, numbered, and slipcased Limited Edition hardcover of The Spite House by Johnny Compton. Featuring a stunning full-color dust jacket and six striking black-and-white interior illustrations by Victor Bizar Gómez, this special edition also includes a foreword by Lisa Morton. This elegantly crafted edition is housed in a custom-made slipcase stamped with hot foil artwork and featuring a unique die-cut window.
Retail Price: $150
Publication Date: June 2026
Page Count: 368 pages
Special Features:
• Full-color wrap-around artwork by Victor Bizar Gómez
• Six interior illustrations by Victor Bizar Gómez
• Foreword by Lisa Morton
• Includes a collectible bookmark
Deluxe Production Features:
• Offset printed on an acid-free archival quality paper stock
• A fine cloth binding
• Hot foil stamping on the front cover and spine
• Smyth-sewn to create a more durable binding
• Twine head and tail bands
• High-quality endpapers
• Sewn-in satin ribbon page marker
• Custom-made slipcase stamped with hot foil and featuring a unique die-cut window
• Signed by Johnny Compton, Victor Bizar Gómez, and Lisa Morton
• Limited to 600 signed and numbered copies
About the Book:
Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. When he comes across an ad for a caretaker for the Masson House, Eric hopes they have finally caught a lucky break. The owner of the “most haunted place in Texas” is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there?provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.
The job calls to Eric, not just because of the huge payout, but because he needs access to the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it will help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, too afraid to stop running…
Praise and Reviews:
"You can trace the tradition of the American ‘Bad Place’ from Edgar Allan Poe through Shirley Jackson, Richard Matheson, and Stephen King, all the way to Johnny Compton and The Spite House."
—Neil McRobert, Esquire
"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 constant racial tensions, coupled with supernatural conflicts and a shocking twist near the end, make for a suspenseful page-turner. Great for fans of Tananarive Due, LaTanya McQueen, and Eden Royce.”
—Booklist
“…an exhilarating debut that will both warm your heart and leave you chilled to the bone. I look forward to reading more from Johnny Compton in the future.”
—Grimdark Magazine
“With his debut novel, Compton tackles our universal need to understand our past with this ghastly ghost story, cranking the dread to a fever pitch.”
—ThisIsHorror.com
"Another great entry into the horror revival."
—Molly Odintz, CrimeReads
"This debut novel... pushes the boundaries of Southern Gothic... This is destined to be a breakout hit."
—Agatha Andrews, Austin Monthly
"The Spite House promises to uproot the expected and build an entirely new breed of gothic horror."
—Michael J. Seidlinger, The Lineup
"A terrifying debut novel."
—BookTrib
"A satisfying haunted house story that, like so much good American horror fiction, probes the country’s deep historical wounds."
—James Grainger, Toronto Star
“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
About the Author:
Johnny Compton is a Stoker Award-nominated author whose short stories have appeared in Pseudopod, Strange Horizons, The No Sleep Podcast, and several other publications. His fascination with frightening fiction started when he was introduced to the ghost story “The Golden Arm” as a child. He is the author of The Spite House, Devils Kill Devils, and Dead First, as well as the short story collection, Midnight Somewhere.
