YA Books for Spooky Season
In this post, I recommend 10 books to read around Halloween.
Halloween lovers, we have arrived! Halloween is a favorite holiday for my family. We have some family members who love making costumes and dressing up, some who love decorating and passing out candy, and some who love watching scary movies and enjoying the atmosphere of spooky season. Whatever it is you enjoy doing to celebrate Halloween, why not pair it with a spooky story to help set the scene? Some of the books on this list are not really scary, just atmospheric. Others are plain horrifying. Whichever you fancy, I hope there is something on this list you will enjoy!
*As important as I think it is to support libraries and independent bookstores, I understand this is not a possibility for everyone. So, I’ve included links to purchase the books mentioned in this post through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1)
By Renée Ahdieh (2019)
Historical/Supernatural romance. 1872. Celine has emigrated from Paris to New Orleans and is living in an Ursuline convent. She gets caught up in the city’s fantastical underworld, La Cour des Lions, and starts to fall for the group’s leader, Sébastien Saint Germain. When a woman in the convent turns up dead and other people in the city are found gruesomely murdered, Celine has her suspects, and number one on her list is Sébastien. Celine takes matters into her own hands to try and prove once and for all that the man she is falling in love with cannot be the killer.
For fans of: Vampire romance, historic cities, age-old feuds, handsome aristocrats
Unnatural Deeds
By Cyn Balog (2016)
Psychological thriller. Victoria “Vic” Zell does not fit in at school and just wants to spend time with her homeschooled, agoraphobic boyfriend, Andrew. But everything changes when Zachary Zimmerman, aka “Z”, starts at her school and zeroes in on Vic. Suddenly Vic is doing things she never thought she’d do, and falls into a deep obsession with Z and uncovering all his secrets. But Vic has secrets of her own, and when someone turns up dead, those secrets start coming to light.
For fans of: Misfits, huge plot twists, mental health representation, unreliable narrators
The Curse of Heartwood Academy
By Marty Chan (2026)
Horror. This short, fast-paced book is accessible for both dyslexic and non-readers. Allie Lau is attending boarding school at Heartwood Academy. Being new, she must undergo an “initiation ritual” developed by the senior class: She, and the other new students, must spend a night in the woods. The seniors said that they should expect to meet some ghosts, but things go awry when Allie messes up an old gravestone, unleashing a zombie-like creature that has her in its sights.
For fans of: Quick reads, suspense, dark academia, gore, boarding schools, hazing rituals, zombies, Goosebumps, paranormal mysteries
Don’t Let the Forest in
By C. G. Drews (2024)
Horror. Andrew Perrault, a student at Wickwood Academy, writes monster stories that his roommate, Thomas, recreates in drawings. When Thomas starts acting strange (is that blood on his sleeve?) and his parents vanish, Andrew has more questions than answers. One night, he finds Thomas in the woods fighting the monsters from his stories. The boys need to kill these monster before anyone else gets hurt, but one of them may need to die in order to save the other.
For fans of: LGBTQ+ romance, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, monster stories, dark academia
Horrid
By Katrina Leno (2020)
Psychological horror. After the death of her father, Jane North-Robinson and her mother are moving from California to Maine to live in her mother’s childhood home (which happens to be a creepy, old mansion). Jane makes some new friends, and also new enemies, like the school bully. But this is the least of her concerns as there is a locked room in Jane’s house she is not allowed to see… and weird things keep happening in the house that make Jane think that she and her mom are not the only ones living there.
For fans of: Haunted houses, mental illness representation, New England
How to Hang a Witch (How to Hang a Witch #1)
by Adriana Mather (2016)
Paranormal thriller. Samantha Mather has recently moved to Salem, MA - the site of the Salem Witch Trials. Sam is attracting a lot of unwanted attention and bullying as a descendant of Cotton Mather, who was one of the men responsible for the trials. She is also dealing with the unwanted attention of a ghost in her home. However, these turn into surface-level problems when Sam discovers she is involved in a curse that dates back to the witch trials, and she needs to work with her tormenters and the ghost to stop it for good.
For fans of: The Salem Witch Trials, paranormal romance, fall settings, age-old curses
In the Hall With the Knife (Clue Mystery #1)
By Diana Peterfreund (2019)
Mystery. Based on the board game CLUE, this book follows a group of Blackbrook Academy students who are stranded at their school after a violent storm hits the woods of Maine. Hours later, they find their headmaster dead in the conservatory. With all students having a motive for murder, who could it have been? If you are in the mood for classic murder mysteries, you will love this series!
For fans of: CLUE the board game, CLUE the movie, Agatha Christie, prep schools, murder mysteries, Maine
Anatomy: A Love Story (The Anatomy Duology #1)
By Dana Schwartz (2022)
Historical fiction/romance. Edinburgh, 1812. Hazel Sinnett wants to be a surgeon, but is not allowed to attend university because she is a woman. However, she will be able to enroll if she can pass the medical examination, which requires her to have experience with human anatomy. For this, she will need the help of resurrection man (aka grave robber) Jack Currer, who will bring her bodies to dissect in the dungeon of the castle she lives in. Jack has bigger problems as several of his friends have gone missing, and he keeps seeing suspicious men lurking in the cemetery. Can Hazel and Jack figure out what’s going on before anyone else disappears? This story brings together the genres of historical fiction, romance, mystery, and fantasy to tell a stunning tale.
For fans of: Gothic tales, castles, grave robbing, feminist historical fiction, Scotland, Greyfriars Kirkyard
Thornhill
By Pam Smy (2017)
Horror/graphic hybrid. Two alternating timelines, one told in words and the other in illustrations. In her journal entries, Mary, an orphan at the Thornhill Institute for Children in 1982, tells the reader she is tormented by bullies. She seeks revenge, but her choices have devastating consequences. Through illustrations the reader learns that years later, Ella moves into a house with a view of the abandoned, crumbling Thornhill Institute, and is intrigued by the girl she sees in the window. When the two girls’ lives intersect, Mary’s secrets are revealed, changing Ella’s reality forever.
For fans of: Graphic novels, historical fiction, creepy & abandoned buildings, ghost stories
She is a Haunting
By Trang Thanh Tran (2023)
Horror. Jade Nguyen leaves her home in Philly to spend time with her estranged father in Vietnam as he restores a French colonial house to become a B&B. If she can make him believe she is “good enough”, he will pay her college tuition that her mother cannot afford. Horrifying things keep happening to Jade in the house - night paralysis, insects crawling all over her legs, strange visions and dreams, and the ghost of a bride who warns Jade not to eat. The house is angry, and Jane needs to bring her family together to fight back before it consumes them.
For fans of: LGBTQ+ romance, Vietnamese culture and history, haunted houses, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Cemetery Boys (Cemetery Boys #1)
By Aiden Thomas (2020)
Urban fantasy. Yadriel comes from a long line of brujos (sorcerers). The men guide spirits into the afterlife, and the women have healing powers. But because Yadriel is transgender, his family and community do not accept that he can be a real brujo. To prove himself, he decides to summon the spirit of his recently deceased cousin, figure out the mysterious circumstances of his death, and guide him into the afterlife. Unfortunately, he summons the wrong ghost - Julian, a former classmate - and has to guide him into the afterlife instead. But the more time they spend together, the closer they become, and the harder it is to send Julian on.
For fans of: Día de los Muertos, Latin American culture, LGBTQ+ romance, paranormal romance
I have read five of the books on this list (Unnatural Deeds, Horrid, Anatomy, Thornhill, & Cemetery Boys), all of which I gave 5/5 stars. If you have any questions about these titles in particular, please let me know and I will try to answer them the best I can. And if you have anything to add to this list, please leave your thoughts in the comments! Whatever you’re reading, I hope you’re enjoying it!
Thanks for stopping by. :)