YA Horror

Love to stay up all night with the Final Survivor? These are for you.

Updated December 1, 2023
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All these bodies
Blake, Kendare
Paper Book
Big Mouth ARE mailing to curated list of influential librarians/educators Featured title/downloadable galley at virtual events Teens Top 10/YALSA ARE mailing to 15 reading groups across the country Featured title on Harperstacks ...
The book of living secrets
Roux, Madeleine
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of The Hazel Wood, this genre-bending page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux follows two girls who transport themselves into the world of their favorite book only to encounter the sinister alternate reality that awaits them.  ...

Madeleine Roux was one of the first rock stars of YA horror. Anything she has written is pretty creepy.

Dread nation
Ireland, Justina
Paper Book
* Promotion in the HarperCollins Children's Books Booth at major institutional conferences, including booth blow ups and extensive ARC distribution * YALSA galley mailing * School and Library social media outreach, including starred review brags and book talk written by a YA...

Perhaps more action than horror, but Dread Nation is an alternate history in which the Civil War dead rise as zombies.

Extasia
Legrand, Claire
Paper Book
**One of BuzzFeed's Great LGBTQ+ YA novels to Warm up Your Winter * A Kid's Feb/March IndieNext pick** From New York Times bestselling author Claire Legrand comes a new, bone-chilling YA horror novel about a girl who joins a coven to root out a vicious evil that's stalking...
The getaway
Giles, Lamar
Paper Book
"Timely, thrilling, and gripping from start to finish. An absolute page-turner." --Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying Jay is living his best life at Karloff Country, one of the world's most famous resorts. He's got his family,...
The haunted
Vega, Danielle
Paper Book
Hendricks Becker-O'Malley is new in town, and she's bringing baggage with her. With a dark and wild past, Hendricks doesn't think the small town her parents moved her to has much to offer her in terms of excitement. She plans on laying low, but when she's suddenly welcomed into the popular crowd at...
His hideous heart : thirteen of Edgar Allan Poe's most unsettling tales reimagined
Adler, Dahlia
Paper Book
Thirteen of YA's most celebrated names reimagine Edgar Allan Poe's most surprising, unsettling, and popular tales for a new generation. Edgar Allan Poe may be a hundred and fifty years beyond this world, but the themes of his beloved works have much in common with modern young...
Hold me closer, necromancer
McBride, Lish.
Paper Book
Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he's doing all right--until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak. Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash...

This is an old one and therefore hard to find, but it is somehow both firmly horror and hysterically funny.

Horrid
Leno, Katrina
Paper Book
From the author of You Must Not Miss comes a haunting contemporary horror novel that explores themes of mental illness, rage, and grief, twisted with spine-chilling elements of Agatha Christie and Stephen King.   Following her father's death, Jane...
House of furies
Roux, Madeleine
Paper Book
An all-new creepy fantasy series from the New York Times bestselling author of Asylum. Featuring stunning interior illustrations from artist Iris Compiet, plus photo-collages that bring the story to chilling life, House of Furies invites readers to a world where the line...
The initial insult
McGinnis, Mindy
Paper Book
ARE distribution at school & library conferences and preview events  Targeted outreach to Baltimore Public Library system State and national award outreach
A long stretch of bad days
McGinnis, Mindy
Paper Book
2024 Whippoorwill Award Honor Book 2025-2026 MASL Gateway Award Finalist From award-winning author Mindy McGinnis comes a thrilling and gripping YA mystery about a small town's past and the secrets unearthed by way of two teen girls--and a podcast. Perfect for...

Ohio author Mindy McGinnis has a special talent for all things gross and stressful. Also check out her Poe rewrites; the first one is titled The Initial Insult.

The merciless
Vega, Danielle
Paper Book
"Page-to-page Stephen King-style terror..."-Booklist "The Mercilessis chilling...think 'Mean Girls' meets 'The Exorcist.'"-MTV.com "Pretty Little Liars fans, get a sneak peek at your new favorite bookThe Merciless....
The taking of Jake Livingston
Douglass, Ryan
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Get Out meets Holly Jackson in this YA social thriller where survival is not a guarantee. Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere. But he can't decide what's worse: being a medium forced...
There's someone inside your house : a novel
Perkins, Stephanie
Paper Book
Now a Netflix Feature Film! A NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller! "A heart-pounding page-turner with an outstanding cast of characters, a deliciously creepy setting, and an absolutely merciless body count." -Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author ...
This is not a test
Summers, Courtney.
Paper Book
Available now: I'M THE GIRL, the new "brutally captivating" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) queer thriller from Courtney Summers, based loosely on The Epstein case and "not for the faint of heart" (The New York Times) It's the end of the world. Six students...
We have always lived in the castle
Jackson, Shirley 1916-1965
Paper Book
Shirley Jackson's beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family's dark secret, with an afterword by Jonathan Lethem. A Penguin Vitae Edition Merricat Blackwood lives on the family estate with her sister Constance and her uncle Julian....
The weight of blood
Jackson, Tiffany D.
Paper Book
Standalone announcement advertising in key school & library media Teens' Top 10/YALSA mailing to 15 teen reading groups across the country Featured title at school & library conferences and preview events (virtual and in-person)  Update Author Study Guide<...

This is one of Melissa's all-time favorite YA Horror novels. If you like Jordan Peele's movies with their mix of creepy atmosphere and social commentary, you're going to love anything by Tiffany D. Jackson.


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