This was an interesting take on haunted houses, the people behind them, and why we continue to think that they are haunted.
While reading through this, I did enjoy the backstories on the houses, and the crimes that were committed within the walls. Those crimes can carry down through time. People have a fascination with the true crime stories, and the more gruesome the better.

Overall, I really did enjoy reading through this book. I did find that the authors constant mention of her political leanings was rather a bit over the top. I read to get away from politics, if I wanted them, I could just teach the course on government that I have.

I enjoyed the crimes and the background on the families and the houses.

While not what I was hoping for this was a very interesting collection of essays on the haunted house genre of horror cinema. This is usually my least favorite genre of horror but I found myself glued to this book the entire time.

For fans of Ghostland: An American History of Haunted Places, Sick Houses is a non-fiction text exploring a variety of "sick" (ie bad, haunted, wrong, brutal) domiciles in the real world, fiction, and entertainment. Written in an academic-lite tone, Sick Houses will mainly appeal to fans of horror, folklore, and architecture. Some sections are more in-depth than others, for example the Witch House section has more examples than the Brutal Houses section.

The good
Interesting topic
Accessible to casual fans

The not-so-good
Some topics more in-depth than others

I really enjoyed this! Taylor takes the reader on an exploration of what makes a house a home, and the more sinister steps that can turn a home back onto a house. She references famous haunted houses, the homes of serial killers and what society has come to view as a “haunted house”. There are detailed descriptions of ghosts, murders, unfortunate accidents and everything that could lead to a structure becoming sinister all by itself. I particularly enjoyed the social commentary on these so called haunted houses, and how they often reflect societal norms at the time. There were so many incredible conversations and observations in this book and clearly so much time and research went into it. A really fantastic book.