Spooky Reads for Teens

Spooky season is upon us! It’s a time when shadows dip and dance about, when macabre beings bump and twist in the night, and when one can never be too certain that something isn’t lurking—silent and watchful—in some darkened corner.

To draw you fully into spooky season, we’ve gathered a selection of some of our favorite young adult horror, suspense, and thriller novels of the past few years. These stories are not for the faint of heart. Consider yourself warned!

• When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur
  • In Carrion, Georgia, a town cursed to lose people every 13 years when the cicadas emerge, wealthy residents in the gated Lake Clearwater neighborhood prosper while the rest struggle. When local boy Dawson Sumter disappears, leaving only blood and a key ring, a group of teens joins forces to uncover the truth. Their investigation exposes a decades-old secret tied to the town’s prosperity and systemic inequalities and places them in grave danger.

• Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis
  • Katrell Davis makes a living speaking to the dead, that is, until she brings her dog back to life and sees that the living are worth more than ghosts. However, when she starts a new business reviving the dead, each resurrection weakens her and begins drawing dangerous attention.

• Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala
  • Seventeen-year-old Danika Dizon, a queer Filipino-American high school junior, dreams of becoming a private investigator like her mom. Instead, she earns her own money by reading tarot cards at school. When classmate Gaby Delgado’s sister goes missing after a reading, Danika brings the family to her mom’s agency and takes on her first official case. To solve the mystery, she’ll have to navigate clues, interviews, and secretive school and social circles.

• If We Survive This by Racquel Marie
  • Flora, who has OCD, and her injured brother, Cain, navigate a rabies-infested California after a mysterious radio message hints their missing father may still be alive. Joined by old friend Crisanta and her companion Adán, the group faces danger, zombie-like creatures, and past entanglements on their tense journey north.

• The Coven Tendency by Zoe Hana Mikuta (also available on Hoopla)
  • In the Museum, witches are imprisoned and exploited for their magic. Adult witches perform for wealthy tourists, children have their powers stripped, and others are sent to the Sanatorium. Vanity Adams, a young witch, seeks out fellow teens Ellis Kim and Clover Rao. Together they form a secret bond that defies the Museum’s strict rules. As their connection grows, Vanity begins to uncover the full horrors of the Museum and the toll it takes on witches.

• The Protégée by Erica Ridley
  • Eighteen-year-old Angélique Genêt, a mixed-race seamstress in a society where wealth outweighs skin color, is determined to lift her family out of poverty after escaping the deadly Fournier Fabrics factory. But when her mother and sister are gruesomely killed there, Angélique is left to care for her gifted younger sister, Elodie. With help from apprentice cobbler Domingo Salazar and guidance from Madame Violette, she vows revenge on the ruthless Fournier family. She’ll have to battle jealous rivals and embrace her dark side as she sets out on a quest for justice.

• Deadstream by Mar Romasco-Moore
  • Seventeen-year-old Teresa hasn’t left her room since the crash that killed her best friend, surviving only with the support of her queer online streaming community. But when a sinister figure starts appearing in livestreams and urging her to “open the door,” she is forced to face her deepest fears as grief, isolation, and online threats close in.

• House of Ash and Bone by Joel A. Sutherland
  • Eleventh-grader Josephine joins her family on a winter trip to their inherited Vermont mansion in hopes of escaping her painful psychic powers. However, things take a turn for the worse when Josephine starts seeing a terrifying ghost named Dorcas, and her family begins losing their memories. In order to protect her family from Dorcas’ sinister plans, Josephine will have to uncover the dark truth behind their home.

• They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran
  • Noon, a Vietnamese-American teen, searches for answers in post-apocalyptic Mercy, Louisiana. The town is still drowning in the aftermath of Hurricane Arlene and its resulting bloom of blood-red algae. Scavenging with her Mom, Noon finds an uneasy sense of belonging in the ruined landscape—even as wildlife mutates, people vanish, and strange changes awaken within her body.

• How to Survive a Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans
  • CJ Smith has long avoided Moon Satter’s novels about the Wolf Man attacks. Based on two massacres CJ witnessed, including their father’s murder six years ago, the Slasherville books hit too close to home. But when an unpublished Satter manuscript arrives on their doorstep, events in the story begin happening in real life, and CJ must step into the role of main character in order to stop the murders.