Come for the ghosts. Stay because something is standing in the corridor.
Most Haunted Hotels | Yvette Fielding | Andersen Press | 24 September 2026 |
Hotels should be places we pass through, but Yvette Fielding knows some guests have other ideas. In Most Haunted Hotels, the fourth book in her illustrated paranormal non-fiction series, she turns to lodgings with violent histories, restless spirits and enough reported activity to make the night porter reconsider the rota. Written for readers aged ten and over and illustrated by Hannah Shaw, this is brisk, accessible haunted history with a strong sense of place. Fielding mixes real locations, local legends and her long experience of paranormal investigation into a book that makes curiosity feel every bit as important as courage.
“Fielding turns the hotel corridor into a perfect haunted-history machine: every door opens onto a story, and some of those stories refuse to stay put.”
Most Haunted Hotels Review: Room Service from Beyond the Grave
Hotels are strange places before the dead turn up. You sleep in a room used by hundreds of strangers. You trust a lock you did not fit. Every creak after midnight is probably the pipes. Probably. Add murder, grief and a few ghost tales, and the humble overnight stay starts to feel less restful.
That makes hotels a fine fit for Yvette Fielding. Most Haunted Hotels is the fourth book in her Most Haunted non-fiction series. It follows Most Haunted Theatres, Most Haunted Castles and Most Haunted Houses. Each book takes a type of building and asks what may still be hanging around. Hotels give that idea an extra twist. People are meant to arrive, sleep, pay and leave. Ghosts, as ever, appear to have missed the last step.
Fielding knows the pull of a ghost story. She also knows that she does not need to prove every tale to make it work. The fun comes from three things meeting at once: real places, old stories and reported events. A dark past gives the tale weight. A ghost gives it shape. Put both in a quiet hall at two in the morning and your brain will happily do the rest. There is no extra charge for the fear, which may be the best value any hotel offers.
The book promises a broad guest list. We get restless murder victims, a captured witch and even Lady Jane Grey. Fielding also brings in her own holiday cottage. That mix helps the book avoid one-note ghost lore. A royal shade feels unlike the victim of a crime. A witch tale carries fear of blame, rumour and old law. The dead do not all arrive wearing the same white dress and standing at the end of a hall. Thank goodness. Even ghosts need range.
One of the big draws is the Stanley Hotel in Colorado. Its link with The Shining is famous, but the facts are worth keeping tidy. Stephen King stayed at the Stanley, and that stay helped inspire his novel. Stanley Kubrick’s film came later and used other sites. The real hotel then gained even more fame through the book and film. That loop is fascinating. A place can feed a story, then take some of that story back into itself. Fear has a long memory and very good return postage.
That idea sits at the heart of the book. A haunted hotel is not only a building with claims attached to it. It is also a store of memory. Guests come and go. Staff change. Rooms are redone. Yet some tales stay put. Fielding is good at showing why those tales last. The best ones have a clear place, a human loss and one sharp detail. A stair after dark can do more work than a page of fog.
Her method is simple and strong. She sets up the place. She gives us the key parts of its past. Then she turns to the ghost lore and the claims made there. That order matters. Without the past, a ghost can feel like a party trick. Without the ghost, the history may feel like school work. Bring them together and each gives the other more force. The format works like a torch beam. First you see the room. Then you notice the dark corner.
This is also why the book works so well for younger readers. Andersen Press lists it for ages ten and over. Fielding never talks down to that age group. The dark parts stay dark. Murder is still murder. Fear still has teeth. Yet the tone stays brisk and clear. The book wants readers to ask what happened, where it happened and why people still tell the tale. That turns a scare into a path back to history.
Hannah Shaw returns as illustrator, which gives the series a clear visual link. Her part matters in books like these. The art can keep the page lively while the text deals with death, fear and old wrongs. It also helps younger readers picture the places without making the mood too grim. The result sits in a useful gap. It is spooky enough to thrill, but never so harsh that the fun is lost.
There is a neat fit with Fielding’s wider career too. For more than twenty years, she has made haunted places work on screen. TV loves the sudden moment: a bang, a shadow, a cry in the dark. A book can slow that down. It can give the place a past before the lights go out. That change of pace suits her. Most Haunted Theatres used stages. Most Haunted Castles used old power and blood. Most Haunted Houses brought fear close to home. Hotels pull all three strands together. They can be stages, old buildings and short-term homes at once. The ghosts have been given excellent working conditions.
The only small cost is pace. Some of these places have enough history for a whole book. Older readers may want another page before the next door opens. Yet the speed is part of the point. This is a book that should send readers elsewhere. It gives them a chill, a name and a place, then lets curiosity take over. If a ten-year-old goes off to find the real history behind a ghost tale, the book has done more than scare them.
Most of all, Most Haunted Hotels trusts young horror fans. It does not treat them as fragile. It also knows that gore is not the same as fear. A quiet room can be enough. So can a locked door, a stairwell or a sound with no clear source. Fielding understands that the best ghost question is rarely “Can you prove it?” It is much shorter.
“What was that?”
Check in if you like. Just remember that, in Fielding’s hotels, checkout seems to be more of a suggestion.
Sleep tight. The hotel would hate an empty room.
Most Haunted Hotels by Yvette Fielding
Discover the spooky histories of real-life places in this chilling non-fiction series by world-famous ghost hunter and First Lady of the Paranormal Yvette Fielding.
Paranormal investigator Yvette Fielding has been uncovering the ghostly pasts of places for over 20 years. Join her as she brings to life the hauntings and chilling histories of some of the most notorious hotels in the UK.
From an inn haunted by murderous landlords, to the hotel that inspired a famous horror movie, and even Yvette’s own holiday cottage, these spooky stories are not for the fainthearted! Prepare to discover some truly terrifying paranormal activity, including the ghosts of restless murder victims, a captured witch, and even the spectre of Lady Jane Grey . . .
Facebook post:
Some hotels leave a chocolate on the pillow. Yvette Fielding’s preferred establishments appear to leave something considerably less alive. Our five-star review of Most Haunted Hotels checks into the fourth book in the Most Haunted series, where paranormal investigation, dark history and Hannah Shaw’s illustrations make for a gloriously creepy stay. Link in the comments.
Tom B. Stone is not his real name. In fact, there is a reasonable chance that Tom B. Stone is not anyone’s real name.
The person lurking behind the pseudonym reviews horror for Ginger Nuts of Horror and has gone to increasingly ridiculous lengths to ensure their true identity remains buried deeper than the final reel of a cursed VHS tape. Bribes, disguises, burner phones, false moustaches and legally questionable witness-protection arrangements have all been rumoured. None can be confirmed. Tom would like to keep it that way.
What can be confirmed is an unhealthy enthusiasm for horror fiction, haunted houses, things that should probably stay buried, and books capable of ruining a perfectly good night’s sleep. Tom approaches reviews with a sharp eye, a dry sense of humour and the firm belief that even the darkest horror deserves the occasional terrible pun.
Authors seeking revenge for a bad joke are advised not to bother looking. Publishers attempting to discover Tom’s real identity have already been added to a list.
Tom B. Stone exists.
Who is underneath?
Nice try.
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