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.

About the book: Love hurts... Makani Young thought she'd left her dark past behind her in Hawaii, settling in with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska. She's found new friends and has even started to fall for mysterious outsider Ollie Larsson. But her past isn't far behind. Then, one by one, the students of Osborne Hugh begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasingly grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and her feelings for Ollie intensify, Makani is forced to confront her own dark secrets.

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.

About the book: Madeline Usher is doomed. She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin. Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house. In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down? The Fall is a literary psychological thriller, reimagining Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher.

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.

About the book: A SACRED OATH A FALLEN ANGEL A FORBIDDEN LOVE Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment. But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel. For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

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.

About the book: It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie are looking forward to two days of boys, booze, and fun-filled luxury. But what starts out as fun turns twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. And things only get worse from there. With a storm raging outside, the teens are cut off from the outside world . . . so when a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one, there’s no escape. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

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.

About the book: Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave. One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

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!

My Favourite Spooky YA Books (Of All Time)