13 Creepy & Captivating YA Horror Books to Read This Spooktober

Halloween is near, and Hughie Wolfe is volunteering at the Harvest House, a haunted house attraction designed to give the kids a fun but safe fright. The story will follow the vengeful spirit of an “Indian maiden,” a ghost inspired by local legend, but there's more than folklore at play in Harvest House. 

Weird things have been happening at night at the crossroads near the house. A creepy man is stalking teenage girls and young women, particularly Indigenous women. The local animals are behaving oddly. How much truth is there to the legend that inspired the show? It's up to Hughie and his friends to investigate the crossroads and uncover the truth.

Warren Bullock always thought he was a good person, but lately he's found himself haunted by a sinister voice in his head encouraging him to do horrifying things to others. There have been a string of disappearances in southeastern Kansas, and his father's friend is one of the missing travelers. When Warren's father leaves to investigate and doesn't return, Warren wants to find him. 

As he makes his way through Kansas, he finds himself at a suspicious inn run by the Benders, a family who watch him like a hawk and have strange ideas of the world. It's soon clear that the Benders might be responsible for the disappearances, including that of Warren's father. It's up to him to fix things, but what if the only way to do so is to give into that voice in his head that tells him to succumb to his violent desires?

After the sudden death of her perfect, popular older sister Audrey, Jo and her family are decimated by the force of their grief. But days after crying at Audrey's graveside, Jo stumbles on the impossible: Audrey, standing in their backyard, seemingly alive yet not. She's not breathing, her body is decaying, and she hungers for something that human food cannot satisfy. She needs human blood to survive. 

Jo knows she can put her family back together; she just has to figure out how to fix Audrey. So, she hides her beloved sister and feeds her with her own blood until she can find a better solution. The more she looks for one, the more she finds herself stepping into Audrey's old life, which fuels her sister's hunger and jealousy. Only one sister can live on, but which one will it be?

After escaping the clutches of Dieter Kirch, the sadistic leader of the witch hunters, Fritzi and Otto have taken refuge among the witches of the Black Forest. Fritzi is finally ready to assume her place on the council as the coven's goddess-chosen champion, but she's still plagued by self-doubt and fears she'll never live up to the mighty expectations of the coven. She throws herself into serving the goddesses, with Otto by her side as her bonded protector. 

He hopes that their unity, the bringing together of a witch and witch hunter, will heal some very raw wounds from their kinds' pasts. But when Fritzi uncovers a powerful secret that could mean the very undoing of magic itself, they're both thrown head-first into a dark plot that could destroy everything they hold dear.

Laure Mensy has always strived for perfection, and not even the snubs of the elite and cutthroat Parisian ballet will stop her from proving that a Black girl can take center stage. She decides to take matters into her own hands, journeying deep into the Paris catacombs, where blood flows in rivers and the entities within them are eager to strike a deal. Laure emerges from the catacombs with powers that earn her influence, adoration, and the envy of her privileged peers. She knows just how to take care of them, though. 

Laure doesn’t mind the blood on her hands so long as her star continues to rise. What she doesn’t know is there are monsters more powerful than she, and Laure’s ruthless ambitions have made her a perfect target. As her world becomes more intertwined with the darker one lurking below, and Laure struggles to maintain her sanity, she is faced with a difficult decision: continue to destroy herself for scraps of validation or submit to the darkness that claims her monstrous self as is. 

High school senior Andrew Perrault would get lost in the dark fairytales he writes if it weren’t for Thomas Rye, his muse and the only person at Wickwood Academy he’s ever felt close to. Even his twin sister, Dove, has been giving him the cold shoulder this year. Andrew needs Thomas more than ever, but Thomas has been different since school started back up. His abusive parents have disappeared, and he can’t explain the blood on his sleeve—or rather, won’t. He’s even stopped drawing the macabre monsters from Andrew’s stories. 

A concerned Andrew follows Thomas into the woods one night to find him battling the very creatures he once drew, creatures that threaten to kill anyone close to Thomas. Determined to protect Thomas and everyone they love, Andrew joins him in the nightly battle against these monsters. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the creatures, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop them once and for all is to kill the person who created them…

When the final heir to the Deinhart family estate passes away, their gothic mansion goes up for sale for the first time ever. The abandoned mansion has loomed ominously over town for ages, but thanks to Arden, who steals the keys from her mom’s real estate office, it’s about to be the site of the best graduation party her town has ever seen. 

The night is shaping up to be exactly that when someone notices the manor doors won’t let anyone out. Then the walls start to bleed. What was supposed to be the best night of their lives may just be their last.

Jess Choudhary did not kill Hugh Henry Van Boren. All she wants to do is get through high school without being noticed. As a scholarship student—and one of only two students of Indian heritage—her future at her elite school depends on her hard work. But when Hugh, one of the most popular and richest kids in her class ends up dead in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote, Jess becomes both the prime suspect and public enemy number one. 

And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration. Everyone thinks Jess is the killer but she's the only person who can find the real one. If she doesn't find them quickly, she'll be dead too.

In the Forest of the Dead, the worst criminals in the empire are exiled as punishment for their crimes. For Moira and Ashlyn, the Keeper and the Seeker, it's the home of their most dangerous task. Every year, they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned. But this year, they've been ambushed and separated from one another by an ancient evil that refuses to be silenced. 

Accompanied by a stubborn imperial guard and a dashing condemned thief, the girls cross a once-empty wasteland, now filled with reawakened monsters of legend, as they travel to warn the emperor about the impending dangers. But there are those among the court who do not wish for them to succeed…

Who are the Sawkill Girls? There's Marion, the new girl who's stifled by her tragic past and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find; Zoey is a local pariah who has strange dreams of vanished girls; and queen bee Val, beautiful and privileged but also ruthless. 

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where the kids talk of a strange monster that has been snatching away young girls for decades. Nobody has dared to search for answers to this mystery... until now. The Sawkill Girls want to uncover the truth, even if it puts them at risk.

Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. It's now a family home, but its secrets remain buried within its walls. Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins, a chance to get away from her own pain after her best friend died under mysterious circumstances. 

It's been years since she last saw her cousins: Cameron with his scarred hand and stoic demeanor; perfect but odd Piper, and little Lilias with her strange fear of bones. Sophie knows that in her uncle's house, there are rules she must follow: Make no mention of Cameron's accident. Never leave the front gate unlocked. Above all, don't speak of the girl who's no longer there, the sister whose room lies empty of everything except the many antique dolls she cherished in life.

When news reports start appearing of a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's racist father thinks it's a joke, but even if it isn't, he figures, he's okay with a few Irish people dying. 

B doesn't want to publicly go against his cruel dad, but he's not loyal to his bigotry. It's easier to be mean to others than fight back against a bigger, stronger, and meaner adult. But then zombies begin to attack his school, and B is forced to form new alliances with those he once bullied in order to survive.

Kelsey has big plans for her summer vacation. She wants to spend the season on scenic Beverly Island, where she'll get to know her mom’s new boyfriend, Eric, and enjoy the perks of access to a gorgeous beach. But her dreams quickly become a nightmare when Eric’s daughter, Beth, goes missing. 

When Kelsey finds a mysterious note from Beth, things grow even more sinister. Beverly Island, it turns out, is home to a number of suspicious drownings, and the seemingly kind lifeguards who monitor the beaches don't seem interested in rescuing anyone. They have other plans for the visitors...