Scary YA BooOOooks
Scary books, or the Horror Genre, is meant to evoke a sense of fear and dread through frightening scenarios.
What are the sub-genres of Horror?
- Psychological Horror: Focuses on the mental, emotional, and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle readers.
- Slasher Horror: Characterized by a violent psychopath hunting and killing a sequence of victims in a terrifying manner.
- Gothic Horror: Designed to inspire fear through a romanticized view of the past, combining elements of both horror and romance.
- Paranormal Horror: Involves supernatural elements, such as ghosts, vampires, witches, or demons.
- Lovecraftian Horror: Inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft, this sub-genre often involves cosmic horror of the unknown and the unknowable more than gore or other elements of shock.
- Zombie Horror: These tales involve zombies, undead creatures, usually in an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic world.
- Body Horror: Focuses on the graphic destruction or degeneration of the body.
- Splatterpunk: A movement within horror literature that aims to emphasize the gory, visceral, and often extreme nature of horror.
- Supernatural Horror: Includes stories that have elements beyond scientific understanding, often involving gods, demons, or ghosts.
- Sci-Fi Horror: Combines elements of horror with the settings and technology typically found in science fiction.
- Occult Horror: Deals with the occult, involving witches, satanism, and demonic possession.
- Vampire Horror: Centers around the myth and lore of vampires.
- Ghost Horror: Involve spirits or ghosts causing terrifying events.
- Werewolf Horror: Focuses on stories revolving around the lore of werewolves.
- Survival Horror: Often involve protagonists trying to survive in hostile environments.
- Haunted House Horror: Involves stories of haunted houses or other locations where the setting itself is tied to the horror.
- Monster Horror: Often revolve around monsters, creating fear through their appearance or actions.
- Eco-Horror: Involves stories where the horror is derived from nature or the environment.
- Erotic Horror: Blends elements of horror and erotica, using sexual themes to elicit fear and dread.
- Techno Horror: Uses elements of technology to create fear, often involving computers, robots, or other forms of advanced technology.
- Comedy Horror: Often combines horror themes with comedic elements, using humor to lighten the horror.
- Witch Horror: Includes stories that involve witches or witchcraft.
- Quiet Horror: Focuses on creating a sense of dread and the uncanny through subtle and often psychological means, rather than relying on graphic violence.
- Weird Fiction: Focuses on the weird, blending elements of horror, fantasy, and speculative fiction.
- Crime Horror: Combines elements of horror and crime fiction, often involving serial killers or violent criminals.
- Extreme Horror: Characterized by the depiction of extreme acts, such as gratuitous violence, gore, and taboo subjects.
- Dark Fantasy: Combines elements of fantasy with horror, creating a dark and often gloomy supernatural world.
- Post-Apocalyptic Horror: Deals with stories set in a world devastated by an apocalyptic event.
- Historical Horror: Uses historical settings or elements to heighten the horror.
- Pulp Horror: Emulates the style of classic pulp fiction, often involving fast-paced plots and lurid themes.
- Teen Horror: Focuses on horror stories aimed at a teenage audience.
- Southern Gothic: Employs the use of macabre, ironic events to examine the values of the American South.
* Sub-genre list and explanations come from Self-Publishing School
Want to read scary books? Try these:
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
"Uneasy lies the head that wears the tiara"
Synopsis
Paying homage to Stephen King's Carrie, Maddy Washington is hiding a secret and the school discovers it: Maddy has been passing as White in a community where only 30% of its student body are Black. It sparks a school scandal surrounding a hateful act in a classroom along with the community's segregated proms. But that's not the only thing catching fire. Maddy has another secret, and it's all laid bare on prom night.
Awards
- GoodReads Nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction (2022)
- Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Best Young Adult Novel (2022)
- Junior Library Guild Selection
- NPR Best Pick
- Kirkus Review Best Teen & YA Book of the Year (2022)
Spotlight
Tiffany D. Jackson brings on the suspense as she weaves a podcast called "Maddy Did It", that takes places years after prom night, and the events leading up to prom night. She expertly weaves in racial tensions that have been sitting just under the community's surface as it comes to rise. Creating Maddy as a catalyst, Ms. Jackson uses this novel as a social commentary about racism that is still going on today because of "tradition". All the characters are complex and struggle with racism and prejudice in their own way displaying how deeply ingrained it is within society.
Maddy's character is a girl who has had to lie to the world her entire life, abused by her father, and is an outcast within the community. She grows throughout the novel finding who she really is and transforms into a powerful protagonist.
Trigger Warnings
- Hate Crimes (racial micro-aggressions, racial bullying, police brutality, lynching (mention), brief uses of the n-word)
- Child Abuse (physical, emotional)
- Some Graphic Violence (vomiting, blood)
Additional Information
The Black Girl Survives in This One edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennel
"Be warned, dear reader: The Black girls survive this one."
Synopsis
A collection of fifteen short horror stories making space for Black girls in horror. Black girls are at the center of all the stories covering folktales, campfire traditions, and '90s horror nostalgia—"except this time, the final girls are Black."
Spotlight
A collection of short stories that are entirely written by women of color, The Black Girl Survives in This One features Own Voices and changes the narrative of Black women within the Horror Genre. It's perfect for young adults who are into horror and likes a wide variety of sub-genres from Supernatural Horror to Zombie Horror to Sci-Fi Horror to Occult Horror and more! There really is something for everyone. Each protagonist is a strong and resilient character that holds her own. This book is really about representation and it adds something new to the Horror Genre.
Trigger Warnings
- Blood
- Murder
- Racism
- Death
- Violence
- Body Horror
- Gore
- Injury / Injury detail
- Alcohol
- Grief
- Bullying
- Fire / Fire injury
- Kidnapping
- Torture
- Body Shaming
- Child Death
- Emotional Abuse
- Sexism
- Animal Death
- Car Accident
- Death of Parent
- Toxic Friendship
- Panic Attack
- Gun Violence
- Sexual Content / Harassment
Additional Information
The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst
"Three strangers. The secret waiting to be unleashed."
Synopsis
Sent to an off-the-grid, remote summer camp on an island, Claire arrives late along with two other campers, Reyva and Mariana. The only problem is, the camp lodge is burned down and there are no survivors. Now something is hunting them and won't let them leave. It's up to the three of them to make it out alive.
Awards
- Junior Library Guild Selection
- YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults List
- YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers List
Spotlight
The Lake House features representation of anxiety disorder, LGBTQIA+ themes, and chronic pain/disability. Claire, Reyva, and Mariana all have distinct personalities and backgrounds and work well together in a high-stakes survival scenario. Packed with suspense, what I call a "bottle episode" (where all events happen in a contained area), it's a fast read. "They said they wouldn't split up, yet Revya was already halfway down the beach. What if this was a mistake?" (pg. 307)
Trigger Warnings
- Grotesque / Disturbing Imagery
- Violence (General, Suicide)
- Anxiety Disorder
Additional Information
The Getaway by Lamar Giles
"Welcome to the funnest place around..."
Synopsis
Picture a dystopian Disneyland-esque vacation getaway where workers are disappearing and the richest families seem like they're moving in. Except, they are moving in because the resort has turned into an end-of-the-world oasis, only the workers weren't told. And Jay is left wondering, what's scarier, the world within the walls or the world outside of them?
Awards
- Kirkus Review Best Teen & YA Book of the Year (2022)
- YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults
- YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
Spotlight
Featuring a diverse cast of characters, The Getaway is a social commentary on the rich controlling the poorer classes covering racism and classism. It's perfect for young adults who want a horror book but don't want your classic horror troupes. It's horrifying in "how could this happen?" but not scary enough to keep you up at night.
Trigger Warnings
- Suicide
- Murder
- Torture
- Cannibalism
- Racism
- Violence
- Death
- Hate Crimes
Additional Information
Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers
"Tsalagi should never have to live on human blood, but sometimes things just happen to a sixteen-year-old girl.""
Synopsis
Through a series of short stories, we follow one Cherokee family through the generations and over centuries as they travel from their tribe’s homelands in Georgia during the 1830s to World War I then the Vietnam War through our own present and far into the future.
Awards
- Walter Award, Teen Category (2023)
Spotlight
This book is beautifully designed with clear black chapter spreads depicting large white stylized graphics that stand out and relate to the story. It also clearly labels who, where, and when the story takes place before you start reading. Written and illustrated by citizens of the Cherokee Nation, the book spotlights Own Voices through the reimagining of Cherokee stories from the Deer Woman to fantastical sea creatures, and more. Covering a wide variety of Horror Genres, this books has something for everyone as Andrea L. Rogers weaves classic vampire and werewolf stories with Native American social issues of the times.
Trigger Warnings
- Death of Parent
- Child Death
- Death
- Blood
- Violence
- Grief
- Body horror
- Murder
- Colonisation
- Gore
- Toxic Relationship / Friendship
- Injury / Injury detail
- Domestic / Physical / Emotional / Child Abuse
- Racism
- Medical Trauma
- Abandonment
- Confinement
- Gun Violence
- Pandemic / Epidemic
- Sexual Assault
- Cancer / Terminal Illness
- Genocide
- Hate crime
- Homophobia
- Animal Death
- Sexual Violence / Harassment
- Torture
- Cannibalism
- War
Additional Information
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