Best Possession Books

The highest-rated books featuring possession, ranked by readers. Browse 40 titles across Horror, Fantasy, Literature & Fiction.

Read more

Possession strips away the illusion that we're in control of ourselves. It's the ultimate horror: your body becomes a weapon against everyone you love, your thoughts aren't your own, and you're trapped watching from inside. The dread is relentless because there's no hiding from the enemy—it lives in your skin. You'll find possession stories across horror, dark fantasy, and literary fiction. Expect escalating body horror, psychological warfare, and the grim question of whether the person you knew can come back at all.

These are the highest-rated possession books across Horror, Fantasy, Literature & Fiction, ranked by reader ratings from Goodreads and Audible.

  1. 1
    Pet Sematary cover

    Pet Sematary

    by Stephen King

    ★ 4.82 BLT Score (708.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.08 Goodreads (708.6K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  2. 2
    Doctor Sleep cover

    Doctor Sleep

    The Shining • Book 2

    by Stephen King

    ★ 4.75 BLT Score (300.4K ratings)
    ★ 4.13 Goodreads (300.4K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  3. 3
    The Exorcist cover

    The Exorcist

    The Exorcist • Book 1

    by William Peter Blatty

    ★ 4.73 BLT Score (274.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.21 Goodreads (274.5K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  4. 4
    Christine cover

    Christine

    by Stephen King, Marie Milpois

    ★ 4.58 BLT Score (265.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.86 Goodreads (265.6K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  5. 5
    The Raven cover

    The Raven

    by Edgar Allan Poe

    ★ 4.55 BLT Score (172.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.29 Goodreads (172.0K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  6. 6
    A Hat Full of Sky cover

    A Hat Full of Sky

    Discworld • Book 32

    by Terry Pratchett

    ★ 4.53 BLT Score (80.7K ratings)
    ★ 4.33 Goodreads (80.7K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  7. 7
    Blackwood Farm cover

    Blackwood Farm

    The Vampire Chronicles • Book 9

    by Anne Rice

    ★ 4.37 BLT Score (35.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.9 Goodreads (35.0K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  8. 8
    The Omen cover

    The Omen

    The Omen • Book 1

    by David Seltzer

    ★ 4.32 BLT Score (70.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.04 Goodreads (70.1K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  9. 9
    Song of Susannah cover

    Song of Susannah

    The Dark Tower • Book 6

    by Stephen King, Darrel Anderson

    ★ 4.32 BLT Score (177.2K ratings)
    ★ 4 Goodreads (177.2K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  10. 10
    The Naked God cover

    The Naked God

    Night's Dawn • Book 3

    by Peter F. Hamilton

    ★ 4.30 BLT Score (20.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.22 Goodreads (20.9K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  11. 11
    The Dark Half cover

    The Dark Half

    by Stephen King

    ★ 4.29 BLT Score (153.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.81 Goodreads (153.5K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  12. 12
    Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis cover

    Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

    The Vampire Chronicles • Book 12

    by Anne Rice

    ★ 4.26 BLT Score (10.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.8 Goodreads (10.0K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  13. 13
    My Best Friend's Exorcism cover

    My Best Friend's Exorcism

    by Grady Hendrix

    ★ 4.20 BLT Score (154.2K ratings)
    ★ 3.92 Goodreads (154.2K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  14. 14
    Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Volume III cover

    Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Volume III

    by Stephen King

    ★ 4.18 BLT Score (1.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.07 Goodreads (1.3K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  15. 15
    Black Mirror: A Cait Reagan Novel (Boston Preternatural Investigations Unit Book 2) cover

    Black Mirror: A Cait Reagan Novel (Boston Preternatural Investigations Unit Book 2)

    Boston Preternatural Investigations Unit • Book 2

    by Aoibh Wood

    ★ 4.12 BLT Score (394 ratings)
    ★ 4.43 Goodreads (394)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  16. 16
    The Unholy cover

    The Unholy

    Krewe of Hunters • Book 6

    by Heather Graham

    ★ 4.09 BLT Score (4.7K ratings)
    ★ 4.08 Goodreads (4.7K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  17. 17
    Dead Men's Boots cover

    Dead Men's Boots

    Felix Castor • Book 3

    by Mike Carey

    ★ 4.06 BLT Score (8.0K ratings)
    ★ 4 Goodreads (8.0K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  18. 18
    Vicious Circle cover

    Vicious Circle

    Felix Castor • Book 2

    by Mike Carey

    ★ 4.06 BLT Score (9.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.98 Goodreads (9.3K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  19. 19
    Unholy Magic cover

    Unholy Magic

    Downside Ghosts • Book 2

    by Stacia Kane

    ★ 4.04 BLT Score (10.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.07 Goodreads (10.5K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  20. 20
    A Head Full of Ghosts cover

    A Head Full of Ghosts

    by Paul Tremblay

    ★ 4.03 BLT Score (107.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.78 Goodreads (107.6K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  21. 21
    Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Volume I cover

    Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Volume I

    by Stephen King, Whoopi Goldberg, Tim Curry, Yeardley Smith, Rob Lowe, Tabitha King, Robert B. Parker, Stephen Jay Gould

    ★ 4.03 BLT Score (1.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.07 Goodreads (1.3K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  22. 22
    The Only Good Indians cover

    The Only Good Indians

    The Only Good Indians • Book 1

    by Stephen Graham Jones

    ★ 4.00 BLT Score (117.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.68 Goodreads (117.6K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  23. 23
    The Tell-Tale Heart - Il cuore rivelatore / The Premature Burial - La sepoltura prematura cover

    The Tell-Tale Heart - Il cuore rivelatore / The Premature Burial - La sepoltura prematura

    Gilded Nightmares – Timeless British Library Books

    by Edgar Allan Poe, Elisabetta Querci

    ★ 3.99 BLT Score (244.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.19 Goodreads (244.9K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  24. 24
    The Creeps cover

    The Creeps

    Samuel Johnson • Book 3

    by John Connolly

    ★ 3.98 BLT Score (2.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.02 Goodreads (2.1K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  25. 25
    Hungry Ghosts cover

    Hungry Ghosts

    Eric Carter • Book 3

    by Stephen Blackmoore, Michael John Casey, Tia Shearer, Jacob Yeh, Zeke Altonn

    ★ 3.93 BLT Score (2.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.98 Goodreads (2.0K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  26. 26
    The Book of Accidents cover

    The Book of Accidents

    by Chuck Wendig

    ★ 3.91 BLT Score (29.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.71 Goodreads (29.5K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  27. 27
    Night Terror cover

    Night Terror

    The Lazarus Codex • Book 7

    by E.A. Copen

    ★ 3.90 BLT Score (158 ratings)
    ★ 4.23 Goodreads (158)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  28. 28
    The Damnation Game cover

    The Damnation Game

    by Clive Barker

    ★ 3.90 BLT Score (21.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.81 Goodreads (21.4K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  29. 29
    Desecrate (Knights of Eternity Book 2) cover

    Desecrate (Knights of Eternity Book 2)

    Knights of Eternity • Book 2

    by Rachel Ní Chuirc

    ★ 3.89 BLT Score (118 ratings)
    ★ 4.58 Goodreads (118)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  30. 30
    Brainchild cover

    Brainchild

    by John Saul

    ★ 3.83 BLT Score (6.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.86 Goodreads (6.9K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  31. 31
    Come Closer cover

    Come Closer

    by Sara Gran

    ★ 3.83 BLT Score (52.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.65 Goodreads (52.0K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  32. 32
    The Bird's Nest cover

    The Bird's Nest

    by Shirley Jackson

    ★ 3.77 BLT Score (8.2K ratings)
    ★ 3.73 Goodreads (8.2K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  33. 33
    The Fervor cover

    The Fervor

    by Alma Katsu

    ★ 3.69 BLT Score (5.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.61 Goodreads (5.6K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  34. 34
    The Entity cover

    The Entity

    by Frank De Felitta

    ★ 3.69 BLT Score (2.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.76 Goodreads (2.1K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  35. 35
    Shadows over Hemlock cover

    Shadows over Hemlock

    Felix Cross • Book 1

    by E.A. Copen

    ★ 3.69 BLT Score (149 ratings)
    ★ 3.84 Goodreads (149)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  36. 36
    Coffins cover

    Coffins

    Vampire Archives • Book 3

    by Otto Penzler, Harlan Ellison, Robert Bloch, Edgar Allan Poe, F. Paul Wilson, Scott Brick, Robertson Dean, Steve West, Robin Sachs, Mark Bramhall, John H. Mayer, Ryan Gesell, Rob Shapiro

    ★ 3.58 BLT Score (83 ratings)
    ★ 3.6 Goodreads (83)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  37. 37
    The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain cover

    The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain

    by Charles Dickens

    ★ 3.48 BLT Score (2.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.29 Goodreads (2.3K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  38. 38
    J. Sheridan Le Fanu: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Gothic Horror Collection cover

    J. Sheridan Le Fanu: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Gothic Horror Collection

    by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Don McCamphill, Alan Drury, Neil Brand, Anne-Marie Duff, Brana Bajic, David Warner, Celia Imrie, Jacqueline Pearce, Nigel Anthony, Roger May, Kenneth Cranham, Ian McDiarmid, Teresa Gallagher, Graham Crowden, Dorothy Tutin, Joan Sims, Kathleen Byron, Tessa Worsley, John Hartley, Jonathan Keeble, Geoffrey Whitehead, Stephen Critchlow, George Cole, Jane Wittenshaw, George A. Cooper, Becky Hindley, Pauline Letts, David Collings, John Evitts, Linda Regan, Joan Littlewood, Paul Chahidi, Haydn Gwynne, Jonathan Forbes, Ruth Everett, Matthew Durkan, Alexandra Hannant, Rebecca Crankshaw, Chris Jack, Michael Begley, Neil McCaul, Seán Barrett

    ★ 3.44 BLT Score (6 ratings)
    ★ 3.5 Goodreads (6)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  39. 39
    A Touch of Evil cover

    A Touch of Evil

    by G.H. White

    ★ 3.42 BLT Score (14 ratings)
    ★ 4.21 Goodreads (14)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  40. 40
    The Accursed cover

    The Accursed

    The Gothic Saga • Book 5

    by Joyce Carol Oates

    ★ 3.33 BLT Score (6.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.24 Goodreads (6.4K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →

Browse Related Lists

Possession Audiobooks Possession Overview All Tropes

How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →