13 YA horror books you might have missed (for your spooky season TBR and Halloween reading lists)
Sophie will tell you there are so many books, and so little time. You can’t be expected to know all the books ever published ever. Some are going to slip through the cracks, and others will slide down the TBR into the land of the forgotten reads, and that’s ok!
But with Halloween and Spooky Season upon us, maybe now is the perfect time to have a TBR refresh. I know I have. And here’s a few titles that are guaranteed to send shivers down your spine and read with the lights on…
‘The Creeper Man’ by Dawn Kurtagich
My all time fave in the YA horror genre. An auto-buy author, and I may be a little biased, because I’ve met Dawn and I think they’re just such a cool human. But if you want super spook, creepy, edgy reads, then this is the author for you. Here’s the synopsis of my top pick out of her books, ‘The Creeper Man’:
“When sisters Silla and Nori escape London and their abusive father, Aunt Cath's country house feels like a safe haven. But slowly, ever so slowly, things begin to unravel. Aunt Cath locks herself in the attic and spends day and night pacing. Every day the forbidden surrounding forest inches slowly towards the house. A mysterious boy appears, offering friendship. And Nori claims that a man watches them from the dark forest - a man with no eyes, who creeps ever closer…”
‘We Played With Fire’ by Catherine Barter
I read and reviewed this book earlier this year, you can click here to see that. What I liked about this one was the historical element, mixed in with some really eerie scenes. I think it treads the line between paranormal and psychological so well.
“Maggie has witnessed impossible things. But no one believes her, and now her family has taken her away to spend the winter upstate in a remote, freezing farmhouse.
Bored and angry, Maggie and her younger sister Kate start to play tricks: rapping on the floorboards above their parents’ bedroom, cracking their toes under the table, and telling tales about noises in the night. Then the house starts to make sounds of its own. Neither Maggie nor Kate can explain it, but it seems as though someone – or something – is trying to speak to them…
Inspired by the incredible true tale of the Fox Sisters, the girls who made their fortune in nineteenth-century America by speaking to ghosts.”
‘The Merciless’ by Danielle Vega
Another solid horror writer. More in the way of modern teen horror that would make a great film/series on Netflix. I love this series, and the fourth book is on my own TBR for Halloween this year.
“Sofia is new in town, desperate for a fresh start at her new school. On her first day, she meets three seemingly perfect girls who invite her into their circle. Sofia's expectations are shattered when her new friends kidnap Brooklyn, a troubled classmate, and attempt to save her. The girls stage an exorcism, but their efforts spiral wildly out of control. Over the course of one weekend, Sofia will learn more than she ever bargained for about friendship, secrets, and the terrifying darkness of the human soul. In an astonishing final showdown, Sofia will learn who is good and who is evil. What she discovers is the biggest surprise of all…”
‘Wicked Little Deeds’ by Kat Ellis
Another author I rate highly. I think my favourite is ‘Blackfin Sky’ but ‘Wicked Little Deeds’ fits today’s assignment better. Addictive writing, it’s the kind of read that has an edge to it, like there’s someone watching you if you could just look over your shoulder fast enough.
“From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well - since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she's been plagued by nightmares.
But when her school nemesis is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction.
Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there's a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns…”
‘There’s Someone Inside Your House’ and ‘The Woods Are Always Watching’ by Stephanie Perkins
I was so surprised by this book. If you’re a YA romance aficionado then you’ll have read ‘Anna and the French Kiss’, but this is a totally different direction. More thriller than horror, but I think it’s perfect for October if hardcore horror is not for you. It’s got suspense and a fear element, and I’m actually very interested in the new release ‘The Woods Are Always Watching’ too. Here’s the summaries for both:
“Over a year after her parents sent her away from Hawaii to live with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska, Makani Young is still adjusting to her new life. She's made a small group of close friends and even flirted with romance, but her past in Hawaii is still hard to forget.
And then...one by one the students of her new high school begin to die in a series of gruesome murders. Makani doesn't know who's next on the list. Between this, and a secret scorching relationship with the school weirdo, this school year may turn out to be one to die for...literally.”
And:
“If you go down to the woods today...
Two girls go backpacking in the woods. Things go very wrong.
And, then, their paths collide with a serial killer…”
‘Dread Nation’ by Justina Ireland
Oh this book! It’s also on my Halloween TBR because it’s sat on my shelf for far too long. Everything about the synopsis creates a need in me to read it. See here:
“Trained at Miss Preston’s School of Combat for Negro Girls in both weaponry and etiquette, Jane McKeene is poised for a successful career protecting the wealthy from the encroaching plague of walking dead. But when families begin to go missing, Jane uncovers a conspiracy that pits her against some powerful enemies. Sent far from home, Jane will need all her resourcefulness, wit and strength of character to survive.”
‘The Death House’ by Sarah Pinborough
I’ll just say it: The older hardback cover is better than the new mass market paperback. But it’s the paper between the cover that counts and I found ‘The Death House’ to be both haunting and disturbing, while also having a lot of heart? I think? It’s a confusing one, but in the best way.
“In the near future, children are tested for the defective gene. Those who possess it are taken from their homes, torn from their families and sent to the Death House.
Standing alone on a remote island, it looks like a 1940s boarding school. But a school prepares children for life, and these children are destined to die. Idling their time away in pointless classes, supervised by cold matrons, their days have no purpose, because neither do their futures.
When the sickness hits, death comes quickly. Children are taken from their dormitories in the night and never seen again. Forced to confront his own mortality, 16-year-old Toby tries to block out his past, and the terrifying unknown that is his future. Until a van arrives with a group of new kids, and everything changes.
Death may be certain, but Toby discovers that his fate is up to him.”
‘The Taking of Jake Livingston’ by Ryan Douglass
This is at the top of my Halloween TBR, and I’m almost 100% certain you will have heard of it having only been released in July 2021, but I’m going to implore you to add it onto your reading lists for this season because it just sounds so WONDERFUL:
“Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere. But he can’t decide what’s worse: being a medium forced to watch the dead play out their last moments on a loop or being at the mercy of racist teachers as one of the few Black students at St Clair Prep. Both are a living nightmare he wishes he could wake up from. But things at St Clair start looking up with the arrival of another Black student – the handsome Allister – and for the first time, romance is on the horizon for Jake.”
‘Cemetery Boys’ by Aiden Thomas
Oh so much need for this book, I’ve only heard good things. I also really enjoy seeing more latinx stories pushing to the front of the pack. This is a must read, regardless of the season:
“Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school's resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.”
‘Dark and Shallow Lies’ by Ginny Myers Sain
I read and reviewed this book in September and it’s an absolute stunner! Very much ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ by April G. Tucholke vibes, this read isn’t going to scare you senseless, but it has a lot of suspense and enough mystery to keep you guessing. It’s dark and cryptic and beautiful.
“When seventeen-year-old Grey makes her annual visit to La Cachette, Louisiana – the tiny bayou town that proclaims to be the “Psychic Capital of the World” – she knows it will be different from past years: her childhood best friend Elora went missing several months earlier and no one is telling the truth about the night she disappears.
Grey can’t believe that Elora vanished into thin air any more than she can believe that nobody in a town full of psychics knows what happened. But as she digs into the night that Elora went missing, she begins to realize that everybody in town is hiding something―her grandmother Honey; her childhood crush Hart; and even her late mother, whose secrets continue to call to Grey from beyond the grave.
When a mysterious stranger emerges from the bayou – a stormy-eyed boy with links to Elora and the town’s bloody history – Grey realizes that La Cachette’s past is far more present and dangerous than she’d ever understood. She doesn’t know who she can trust. In a town where secrets lurk just below the surface, and where a murderer is on the loose, nobody can be presumed innocent―and La Cachette’s dark and shallow lies may just rip the town apart.”
‘Wranglestone’ by Darren Charlton
Another “softer” read in the realm of horror (which depends on your definition) but if you’re looking for something with a lot of heart and character development while set against an apocalyptic background, this is for you.
“Winter was the only season every Lake-Lander feared…
In a post-apocalyptic America, a community survives in a national park, surrounded by water that keeps the Dead at bay. But when winter comes, there’s nothing to stop them from crossing the ice.
Then homebody Peter puts the camp in danger by naively allowing a stranger to come ashore and he’s forced to leave the community of Wranglestone. Now he must help rancher Cooper, the boy he’s always watched from afar, herd the Dead from their shores before the lake freezes over.
But as love blossoms, a dark discovery reveals the sanctuary’s secret past. One that forces the pair to question everything they’ve ever known.”
‘Daughters Unto Devils’ by Amy Lukavics
You want a quintessential YA spooky season read? This is the one. What can I say about it other than I read it in 2015 and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. So…
“Sometimes I believe the baby will never stop crying.
Sixteen-year-old Amanda Verner fears she is losing her mind. When her family move from their small mountain cabin to the vast prairie, Amanda hopes she can leave her haunting memories behind: of her sickly Ma giving birth to a terribly afflicted baby; of the cabin fever that claimed Amanda's sanity; of the boy who she has been meeting in secret. . .
But the Verners arrive on the prairie to find their new home soaked in blood. So much blood. And Amanda has heard stories - about men becoming unhinged and killing their families, about the land being tainted by wickedness.
With guilty secrets weighing down on her, Amanda can't be sure if the true evil lies in the land, or within her soul…”
What are you reading this Halloween?
Written by Sarah
