The combination of a murder mystery, psychological thriller, and paranormal elements—especially with an unreliable narrator—is a sub-genre that’s grown significantly in recent years. The ambiguity of what is real versus what is imagined is a key element that can create a truly unsettling and memorable reading experience.

Here is a list of novels that fit this description, including both classics and more recent titles.

Classics and Key Influences

• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898): Often considered the quintessential example of this genre. A young governess is hired to care for two children at a remote estate and becomes convinced they are being haunted by malevolent spirits. The entire story is told from her perspective, leaving the reader to constantly question whether the ghosts are real or a product of her fragile psyche.
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959): A group of people gather at a supposedly haunted house to investigate paranormal activity. The story is a masterclass in psychological dread, where the house itself seems to prey on the characters’ minds, particularly the sensitive Eleanor Vance, who begins to lose her grip on reality.
• Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg (1978): A hard-boiled detective story that gradually descends into a supernatural nightmare. Private investigator Harry Angel is hired to find a missing singer, but his investigation leads him into a world of satanic cults and black magic. The line between what is a standard mystery and a journey into the occult blurs completely.
• The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (1955): While not paranormal, this novel is a cornerstone of the psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator. Tom Ripley, a sociopathic con artist, becomes entangled in a murder and his narrative is so compelling and persuasive that the reader is drawn into his disturbed perspective, blurring the lines of what is “right” and “wrong.”

Modern & Contemporary Novels

• I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid (2016): A deeply unsettling and philosophical novel. A young woman is on a road trip with her new boyfriend to meet his parents, but she is “thinking of ending things.” The narrative is fragmented and filled with strange, surreal moments that leave the reader completely disoriented and questioning the reality of the events.
• Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (2017): This novel is a prime example of a psychological thriller with a dramatic paranormal twist. The story follows a single mother who begins an affair with her boss and befriends his wife. The narrative is a tangled web of lies and secrets, leading to a stunning supernatural revelation in the final pages that completely recontextualizes the entire story.
• The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (2021): This book is a puzzle box. Told from three different perspectives—a reclusive man, his daughter, and their cat—the story slowly unravels the horrific events that led to a young girl’s disappearance years earlier. The narrators are so unreliable and the twists so profound that it becomes a disorienting, and ultimately haunting, experience.
• The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (2018): A highly inventive mystery that has been described as Groundhog Day meets Agatha Christie. The protagonist wakes up each day in a different body and must solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle. He has no idea who he is, and his memories and reality are constantly shifting, making it a thrilling and disorienting race to the truth.
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (2019): A criminal psychotherapist becomes obsessed with a famous painter who has been institutionalized for murdering her husband and has not spoken a word since. The narrator’s obsession and psychological fragility make him an incredibly unreliable source, leading to a now-famous twist that challenges everything the reader believes they know.
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020): A young socialite travels to a remote mansion in the Mexican countryside to check on her cousin, who has sent a frantic letter claiming her husband is trying to poison her. The house itself is a malevolent force, and the protagonist begins to have strange visions and hallucinations, blurring the lines between psychological distress and genuine paranormal danger.
• The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (2020): This novel blends a dual-timeline mystery with a classic ghost story. A young woman in the present day investigates the disappearance of her aunt from a creepy motel decades earlier, only to discover the motel is haunted. The ghosts are not subtle; they are real characters in the story, forcing the reader to accept the supernatural elements as part of the mystery-solving process.