Horror novels for teens
Teen horror fiction: this list includes age-appropriate ghost novels, murder thrillers, supernatural adventures, strange and unsettling worlds, cliffhanging shockers, classic horror short stories, and unexplainable mysteries. With 40+ titles suitable for high school students, there’s a diverse range of modern and classic horror fiction, anthologies, and short stories suitable for school libraries and independent reading in grades 9-12. This horror book list features titles by Michael Grant, Stephenie Meyer, Vera Brosgol, Ransom Riggs, Bram Stoker, Ryan La Sala, Ellie Marney, Kat Ellis, Kiersten White, Gretchen McNeil, and more.
Horror novels and scary fiction for teens – our recommendations
Gone by Michael Grant. 
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. 
Dracula by Bram Stoker. 
The House Where Death Lives by Alex Brown et al. 
The Dare by Natasha Preston. 
Tag, You’re Dead by Kathryn Foxfield. 
Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White. 
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. 
Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories by Roald Dahl. 
The Gathering Dark by Tori Bovalino et al. 
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol. 
Lockjaw by Matteo L. Cerilli. 
My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron. 
The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland. 
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. 
Beholder by Ryan La Sala. 
Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis. 
The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver. 
Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers. 
How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine. 
Dracula by Bram Stoker. 
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala. 
All These Sunken Souls by Circe Moskowitz et al. 
Poe: Stories and Poems by Gareth Hinds. 
The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan. 
No Escape by Maren Stoffels. 
Fear Street The Beginning by R.L. Stine. 
Two Truths and a Lie by April Henry. 
None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney. 
Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert. 
We Don’t Swim Here by Vincent Tirado. 
Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman. 
Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews. 
Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthon and Kira Breed-Wrisley. 
The Babysitters Coven by Kate Williams. 
Asylum by Madeleine Roux. 
Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis. 
Hide by Kiersten White. 
The Bad Seed by William March. 
Bury Me Deep by Christopher Pike. 
Ten by Gretchen McNeil. Click the buttons below to purchase all of the books in this teen horror novels book list, as well as classroom sets of any of these books and many more, from Bookshop.org. Or buy the 20 most popular titles from this list from Amazon – ideal for gifts or stocking your school library. If you are ordering from outside the US, have a look at our ‘worldwide orders’ page which makes this process easy.
Buy from Bookshop.Org Buy from Amazon Worldwide orders
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Horror genre resources for teachers
- This article from Teach Magazine explores how teaching can be brought alive through horror stories. It explains how scary stories can improve student engagement and questioning skills.
- The New York Film Academy delves into the history of horror in movies, and where the future of the genre lies.
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill looks into what horror can teach us, how horror themes reflect our realities, and why this matters.
- Child Mind Institute examines the creepy clown epidemic, why some children and adults are so frightened of clowns, and how to combat fears of the unknown.
- Harvard Business Review’s Ascend explores the psychology of the horror genre, and why we invest time and money in being scared witless.
- The New York Times suggests ways in which horror stories and being frightened within the safety of fiction can help us deal with difficult situations in real life.
Genre classification
BISAC YAF026000 YA Fiction Horror | Thema YFD
