My Favourite Spooky YA Books (Of All Time)

My Favourite Spooky YA Books (Of All Time)
It’s no surprise that I’m a fan of the darker, edge-of-your-seat reads. Autumn has been my favourite season since I was a little girl, obsessed with witchcraft and vampires, making potions out of things in the kitchen cupboard and binge-watching Vampire Diaries and True Blood. In fact, the very first book that I reviewed was a vampire book, Carpe Corpus by the late (and incredible) Rachel Caine. And despite contemporary romances becoming my standard favourite staple these days, I still have a large soft spot for all things mysterious and thrilling. So, without further ado, I’ve compiled a list of my OG favourites to share with you in hopes that, just maybe, they’ll become your favourite, too.

Scary Meter: 6/10
There’s Somebody Inside Your House is a cut-throat YA book that clashes Scream with a classic Stephanie Perkins twist. This book is *elite* among the many mystery/thrillers that I’ve read in recent years. It’s no surprise that in just a few short weeks, the movie (yes, movie!) will be debuting on Netflix. When I read this back in 2017, I knew it was going to be destined for stardom, even writing that it’d make a great TV series! You can see my review here for the book and read a little about it below.

Scary Meter: 7/10 (mostly creepy)
The Fall swept into my life in 2014. I remember feeling on edge the entire first half of the book, reeling at the ways that Bethany had taken the Edgar Allen Poe inspiration and given it a world of it’s own. This one is definitely more “creepy” than scary, but it’ll still have you feeling goosebumps during long, late nights spent reading it. It’s an underdog-read, for certain. You can read my review for it here.

Scary Meter: 3/10
Now, whilst Hush, Hush isn’t necessarily scary, it does have all the eerieness of a true paranormal read. Combining fallen angels, someone out to kill the main character and a dash of steamy romance, this book has been one of my all-time favourites since the day I turned the first page. In fact, I read it way before I even reviewed it because PLM didn’t exist then! I recall reading it in late winter, totally enamoured. It does have dark themes, but isn’t scary, but does have that thrilling, almost spine-tingling element. So if you’re not into the whole “terrified” kind of read, this is a great classic. My review for it is here.

Scary Meter: 7/10
I definitely didn’t go into reading Ten with super high expectations, because I whilst love the whole “who’s the killer” kind of reads, they can be overdone. But this book – THIS book – changed everything. I didn’t feel super scared, but I definitely had shivers sometimes. It has the classic stormy nights, trapped with friends, killer on the loose storyline, and I ate it up. It’s truly perfect for fans of movies like Scream where you don’t want that paranormal aspect but still want horror.

Scary Meter: 5/10
Holly Black is up there with the best-of-the-best YA writers. This was the very first book I ever read of hers back in 2013, and it left me feeling so enthralled by the completely transcendent story-world that was laid out before me. The Coldest Girl In Coldtown combines the paranormal with vampires, predator and prey, bloody scenes and thrills for days. If you haven’t read this one, you’re truly missing out. You can read my review for it here.
Honorary Mentions


Undead Girl Gang and Anna Dressed In Blood are also huge classics in the YA Mystery/Horror genre, but I’ve yet to read these stunning books – but they at least deserve a mention! I’ll be sure to pick these up very soon and let you know what I think of these much-loved books. Let me know if you’ve read them what you thought!
I’m a big fan of listening to ambience music while I read, and in my journey of finding the perfect ones, I know this one fits the theme of the books featured in this post so well! So if by chance you do read any of these, give this a listen! You’ll be transported into the story-world’s with this incredibly eerie, but beautiful sound.
So that’s it! I asked you all on Twitter what this post should be about and although it was tied at first, this one *just* snuck in the lead. But I might have to make the others into reality, too! I have plenty more autumnal (and Halloween) content coming very soon!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments or on twitter, @LittleMemoirs.
Happy Reading!
These are some of my favourites too! 🎃
– Rachel
Hi, Rachel! They are definitely the best, aren’t they?! Such classics! 💕