By Tony Jones 
The Ultimate YA Horror Reading List: The Best Young Adult Horror Books of 2025
Welcome to our ultimate YA horror reading list for 2025! This curated selection features the best young adult horror books of the year, packed with supernatural scares and dark fiction to thrill every teen horror fan. Within this YA horror reading list, you’ll find a chilling mix of monsters, nightmares, werewolves, possessed computers, time travel, and dodgy schools, all from standout YA dark fiction titles.
Looking for more spooky reads? Our accompanying ‘Best Middle Grade Horror of 2025’ article was published last week on Ginger Nuts of Horror. Also, six of the authors featured here appear in my own YA Horror 400 almanac, which is promoted at the end of this article.
Kalynn Bayron – Make Me a Monster
Publisher : Bloomsbury YA
Make Me a Monster ranks amongst Kalynn Bayron’s strongest works and is a clever spin, with both a supernatural and modern twist on Mary Shelley’s Shelley’s Frankenstein. It is beautifully paced, with the first half setting the scene, built around a family who own a mortuary, with the second fanning out into supernatural realms.
It is both a clever and thoughtful exploration of grief and love after the main character Meka loses somebody incredibly special to her. She works as a mortuary assistant and death is a part of daily life until it comes too close to home. Much of the narrative concerns how the teenager deals with death, having a closeknit group of friends she can rely upon and loving parents.
Meka embraces her unorthodox job as a mortuary assistant and the side-eyes it brings at school and I really enjoyed these sequences and the respect she shows the dead and the seriousness she gives her job. Early in the story a dead body inexplicably sits bolt up straight, with this being the first clue of the direction the story is heading into. Family beats strong at the centre of the novel, her boyfriend Noah is also fantastic, contributing to a plot which was both supernatural, connected to history and carries emotional punch. There is violence in parts, but little swearing and no sex. AGE RANGE 13+
Tom Deady – The Ghost of Black Hill Road: Hopedale Mystery book 2
Publisher : Thomas E Deady
Tom Deady’s excellent supernatural murder mystery The Clearing (2021) has recently been republished and rebranded as The Witch of Hopedale, with a new style cover. The sequel is well worth the wait, with The Ghost of Black Hill Road being a standalone mystery which remains strongly connected to the events of book one.
In a world where YA fiction is dominated by bitchy, unlikable and backstabbing characters The Witch of Hopedale is totally refreshing, with fantastic teens, supportive friendship groups and a complex multi-stranded supernatural mystery which keeps its supernatural story on the backburner until well into the action.
If you are looking for smalltown YA horror do not look any further than The Witch of Hopedale as you are going to have a great time with Hannah and Ashley, who have just started high school. In the first novel they uncovered a dangerous cult and the ripple effect of that story continues in this sequel after the girls befriend new girl Dawn. Meanwhile, Hannah has her first boyfriend and is being watched by a creepy boy in her class, who also has his own dark narrative.
All the main characters have their own trials and tribulations (the parents too) whilst the supernatural story develops in the background. Even if much of the book is pretty cute it also tackles serious subjects such as stalking and Hannah visits a therapist regarding her missing mother and her struggles after her ordeal in book one. One of my favourite YA releases of 2025. AGE RANGE 12/13+
Megan Freeman – A Better Nightmare
Publisher : Chicken House
A Better Nightmare is built around a terrific hook: nightmares can manifest themselves and become real. After Emily Emerson injures her sister after a nightmare becomes very real everybody realises she has the ‘Grimm’ and is removed from her family and sent to the Wildsmoor Facility, which is not your typical school and the ‘inmates’ are not exactly normal.
The story picks up when Emily is sixteen and has been living at the facility for eight years and has not seen her family since her removal. Akin to an orphanage, full of sick children, everybody has Grimm Cross Syndrome and is drugged to keep the symptoms under control.
One day Emily realises a boy has not taken his medication, she does the same, and the story fans out into a ‘what if?’ There is a secret group of teens not taking their medication and instead embracing the Grimm, rather than being ashamed by it. Some romance is thrown into the mix, with Emily trying to negotiate her new complex feelings and life without medication, whilst still trying to fool the guards. Novels about kids with special powers are very common, but A Better Nightmare rose about the pack and was a thoroughly enjoyable dark fantasy which bridged into dystopia. There was no sex or swearing and some violence. AGE RANGE 12/13+
Logan-Ashley Kisner – The Transition
Publisher : Usborne Publishing Ltd
The Transition has a clever gender narrative which is a smart twist on the werewolf story regarding trans issues. The psychological impact of both the operations and the menstrual cycle of the main character who has been taking testosterone injections for over two years in his transition from girl to boy is thoughtfully explored.
When the novel opens he has had a major operation and is relatively far along in his transition. That is until he is bitten by a creature in a forest close to his home. The novel concerns two transitions, from female to male and from male into something else, possibly a werewolf and refuses to shy away from graphic or uncomfortable details.
Hunter is a fascinating main character, who has a strong network of close friends around him, to compensate for distant parents. He lives with his dad, who accepts his transition without truly embracing it. Some of the most powerful scenes were set at school, where Hunter is bullied and has lots of other problems, which were very believable, some of which concerned teachers who understood little about what he was going through.
The story cleverly avoids turning into a traditional werewolf shaggy dog story and swerves into a different direction and I felt a lot of compassion for the creature who bit Hunter. The Transition is not especially violent, has no sex, a lot of swearing and deals with mature gender themes. AGE RANGE 13/14+
Cliff McNish – Lily’s Monster
Publisher : Fox & Ink Books
Cliff McNish returns to YA horror in style with Lily’s Monster after some years away, which packs an emotional punch long before the supernatural narrative arrives, being a beautifully pitched drama concerning a teenager with trauma connected to a death in her immediate family.
Guilt and grief are strong themes which throb throughout Lily’s Monster, and the scene which leads to the tragedy, told via flashbacks, is an outstanding piece of writing. The reader naturally expects the supernatural story to involve the obvious storyline of a family haunting reaching out from beyond the grave, however, McNish throws a curveball and takes the narrative in a totally bizarre direction.
Lily’s Monster opens with the family arriving at Gant House for a week-long holiday. Early in their stay, a little girl appears. She seems to be mute, but the family still figure out she is called Lily, and Holly’s father is immediately smitten by her. Far too smitten. It is obvious from the first sentence there is something off about Lily, with the creepy child beginning to influence the family. And that’s even before we get to the ‘ryss’sa’nikt…’ which whispers in the back and edges of the story.
Upon reaching the end of Lily’s Monster, what the title refers to becomes much clearer, tackling challenging but universal subjects. Holly is genuinely put through the wringer and after a diet of sparrows and gruel (don’t ask) keeps fighting to survive in what develops into the worst holiday ever. Lily’s Monster is suitable for both older Middle Grade and most YA readers. It is outstanding to have the old master back writing supernatural fiction. AGE RANGE 12/13+
Dan Rice – Phantom Algebra (The Haunting of Pinedale High series)
Publisher : Wild Rose Press
I read Phantom Algebra without realising it was part of a series,The Haunting of Pinedale High, which I had never previously heard of. All published by small indie American publisher, The Wild Rose Press, has next to zero exposure and even the frontal notes of Phantom Algebra do not mention the wider series, which are all written by different authors (none of which I was familiar with). All nine books, thus far, have been published between 2024 and into 2026, with according to Amazon, this Dan Rice novel is number seven in the series.
Do not let that put you off for a second though, this reads as a perfect standalone novel, but the fact that it is in a wider series answers the questions why the supernatural is so readily accepted as normal in Pinedale High, the background setting to all the novels.
This was a smart novel, which looks like Middle Grade from the cover and is accessible written, but the content, starting with a near sexual assault near the beginning, is mature, even if there is no swearing. There is a huge amount going on even before we reach the ‘Algebra Ghost’ (sounds very Middle Grade) part of the story, based around the main character being a sixteen-year-old aspiring boxer and MMA fighter. The fight, training and dreams of main character was highly engaging and as I loved boxing, these were vivid, realistic and even the side characters like the boxing coach were terrific.
Zuri and her single parent mother arrive at Pinedale, having to move frequently due to the fact they can never be sure that Zuri’s violent father, and ex-boxer, ‘Big Jake’ might track them down. There is a lot of joint trauma and fear for both women and Jake’s shadow is never far away. Meanwhile, Zuri raises the cash to join a new boxing gym and starts the new school. She is mixed race but sees herself as Black and is the champion of the underdog, who operates on a short fuse.
On her first day in the new school she helps a boy being bullied, Luis, a maths prodigy who becomes her best friend. She quickly realises there are lots of ghosts in the school and I loved the way lots of the scenes were in the school library, struggling at maths and failing algebra a ghost helps her with her tough homework! This sounds really naff, but something about it totally works, and when Zuri and Luis begin to investigate the ‘Algebra Ghost’ in opens out into a much bigger mystery which dominates the second half of the book.
The friendship and developing relationship between Zuri and Luis was so cute and she was a complex and compassionate character who eventually realised that passing maths was just as important as having a great kick or punch in MMA. I found Phantom Algebra to be totally charming, with clever side stories, great characters and a cool big finish. If not for the brief sexual attack I would let anybody read this. Highly recommended. AGE RANGE 12/13+
Mar Romasco-Moore – Deadstream
Publisher : Viking Books for Young Readers
Deadstream has a clever balance of trauma lurking in the background, with a sympathetic lead character with a lot of personal problems who lives online and rarely ventures into the real world. I loved how Deadstream balances its chapters between what is going on with main character Teresa, with what is occurring in the online world where she has a completely different personality.
The teenager live streams gaming content, whilst wishing she were more successful, with a bigger online following. Although this is principally a horror novel it taps into a lot of real teen insecurities where what goes on online becomes more important than the real world.
The plot of Deadstream is neat, one night, Teresa is watching her favourite streamer and after a shadowy figure appears in the background his behaviour mysteriously changes over the next few days before he dies in front of thousands of viewers. As none of the viewers know each other in ‘real’ life, not even the name of the dead streamer, not much happens until others who watched the feed begin to show similar behaviour. As the plot moves on Teresa is pulled right out of her comfort zone with a plot which seamlessly blends technology with the supernatural, which keeping its feet firmly on the ground with terrific characters. Highly recommended. Mostly harmless, except for frequent f-bombs. AGE RANGE 13+
Julia Rust & David Surface – Saving Thornwood
Publisher : Yap Books
Saving Thornwood features excellent characterisations, teens with believable and credible issues and an unexplained supernatural occurrence which connects two seemingly very different characters, who might actually be very similar.
The initial premise of the story is far-fetched, a door between the 19th and 21st centuries miraculously opens, which connects two girls from 2022 and the 1850s together, but if you are happy enough to swallow that then most of the rest of this timeslip drama is very much grounded in reality. It features horror of a realistic type, centred in the awful conditions the patients of the Thornwood Asylum have to live with in the 19th century storyline.
The action opens after Annie Blake’s father has a psychotic episode and ends up in Thornwood. Annie struggles with this, as her father refuses to leave the hospital and gets involved in a campaign to save the building from developers. Annie has her own problems, having kissed her best friend back home, and struggles to cope her unstable father. The story circles back to 1856 and Mary Donovan, who along with her sick brother has been committed to the hospital. Mary, an incredibly feisty character, fights against the cruel system and attracts the attention of the head psychiatrist Jonathan Blackwell who uses her in his research.
The story revolves around how the girls help each other, how events from 1856 could change the fortunes of the hospital in the present. I found Saving Thornwood to be a highly moving book, populated with memorable support characters shining a light on mental health issues. There is much to enjoy for fans of historical dramas, spiky teenage girls, friendship, with highly entertaining dialogue which highlights the clash of cultures between 1856 and 2022. AGE RANGE 13+
Rory Power – Kill Creatures
Publisher : Scholastic
Kill Creatures blends horror with strong elements of thriller and mystery. If you are after a book to keep you guessing, whilst doubling up as a cool page turner, then Kill Creatures hits every note.
It is populated with great hooks and has terrific sense of ambiguity regarding the supernatural and is blessed with a highly engaging unreliable narrator, who comes across as very believable, but without going into spoilers, be careful what you believe. There are also some smart twists, double twists even, and even if the police chief was dumb I had great fun with this book.
This is mentioned in the blurb, so don’t see it as a spoiler, Kill Creatures opens a year after Nan kills her three best friends and with the first year anniversary church service just about to begin. The story slowly circles back to when the four teenagers were out swimming in a remote area, meanwhile, one of the supposedly dead girls returns claiming to suffer from amnesia. What really happened? Who is telling the truth? All I’ll say is that there are secrets everywhere and do not trust anybody! The novel features LGBTQIA+ representation and a lot of f-bombs, otherwise most teens could read it. AGE RANGE 13-14+
Trang Thanh Tran – They Bloom at Night
Publisher : Bloomsbury YA
In They Bloom at Night the main character is the daughter of immigrant Vietnamese parents who have settled in Louisiana and scrape a living catching shrimp. There was little in the book to date the plot; Nhung’s mother (translated to Noon) does not speak English, and they were ‘Vietnamese Boat People’ who arrived in America after the Vietnam War, so the story might be set in the eighties.
As there was a lot in the book about sexuality, identity, and acceptance, it might have been better to make the date clearer, as in recent years this has changed dramatically. For example, there was a bisexual character who had fallen out with his parents because of his sexuality, and it was hard to tell whether this was purely a cultural thing or because of the period the story was set in.
The story revolves around the appearance of a red algae in the seawater after a hurricane and the pollution which follows, causing fish to mutate and people to disappear. Noon and her mother are coerced by a local gangster to investigate the phenomenon as its bad for business. The gangster sends his teenage daughter, Covey (very far-fetched), to join them, and after a slow start, the novel explodes into full-body horror as the small town of Mercy Cove falls under the deadly influence of the algae.
Noon was a great lead character, who has trauma in her past, as well as a complex relationship with her mother, but it was her relationship with lesbian Covey which dominated the book. As Noon is affected by the algae, she also begins to question her own sexuality, and the story is a thoughtful meditation on being comfortable in your own skin, or whether you see yourself as male, female or neither. This was a fascinating and oddly dreamy book, with the slowly collapsing town of Mercy Cove particularly outstanding. AGE RANGE 13/14+
Tony Jones
Praise for the YA Horror 400 almanac, published in 2024:
“The YA Horror 400 is such a good and constructive push for YA horror.” JEREMY DE QUIDT (YA author of The Wrong Train & The Toymaker)
“An amazing teen horror guide, with fabulous features like fear factor ratings and ‘If You Like This Try” recs. Perfect for librarians, teachers, and anyone who wants to live their best YA horror life” ANN FRAISTAT (YA author of What We Harvest & A Place for Vanishing)
“A must have for anyone looking to help connect younger readers to the best genre in the world. Expertly compiled by Tony Jones” PHIL HICKES (Middle Grade author of the Aveline Jones and Shadowhall Academy series)
“So excited that my books have been featured here. Teachers and librarians – this is the PERFECT resource for you!” LORIEN LAWRENCE (Middle Grade author of The Stitchers series)
“If you’ve ever wished there were an easily accessible almanac of YA horror, I’ve got great news, Tony Jones, who has been reviewing and supporting my work since I first started and is one of my biggest professional cheerleaders has released his YA Horror 400 almanac! I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to contribute to it, too. What a cool project! Go Tony!” AMY LUKAVICS (YA author of Daughters Unto Devils & The Ravenous)
“I want to alert English teachers and librarians to the most definitive resource I’ve ever seen highlighting the best YA horror novels since 2008. 400 of the best dark fiction for readers 9-15+ . Where do you go for advice yourself to know what to purchase? It’s all here. What do you give a middle-grade reader or teen with a taste for the darker side? This … and let them pick and choose their own! CLIFF McNish (YA author of Breathe & The Hunting Ground)
“Librarians! Bloggers! Readers! Educators! I am wildly pleased to see The Call on, and between, the covers of THE YA HORROR 400 by Tony Jones. Reviews of brilliant books, author interviews. Scares aplenty.” PEADAR Ó GUILÍN (YA horror/fantasy author of The Call duology)”
“Great news for teen horror fans! The YA Horror 400 is out! A massive horror almanac w/ fab features including fear factor ratings, articles, notes from authors and much more. Absolutely perfect for librarians, teachers and anyone who reads YA horror.” BRYONY PEARCE (YA author of Savage Island & Raising Hell)
“The YA Horror 400 is a fabulous resource for librarians, parents, and fans of horror kidlit.” Lora Senf (Bram Stoker Award winning author of The Blight Harbor series)
“I highly recommend the YA Horror 400: an almanac of 400 teen horror novel reviews published between 2008-2024 by Tony Jones, featuring reviews of the best YA and middle grade horror (including my own novel Channel Fear”. LISA RICHARDSON (YA author of Channel Fear)
“Teachers, librarians, readers… This brand new almanac from horror guru Tony Jones is all you need to navigate your way through YA spookiness, gore and thrills. SJ Wills (YA author of the Bite Risk series)
Discover Spine-Tingling Reads: Your Guide to YA & MG Horror Reviews at Ginger Nuts of Horror
For fans seeking the best Young Adult (YA) Horror books and the most gripping Middle Grade (MG) Horror novels, look no further. The Young Blood library on Ginger Nuts of Horror is your essential destination for in-depth reviews of the year’s most chilling releases. This curated section is dedicated to the thrilling world of youth horror, from spine-tingling ghost stories to dark supernatural adventures.
We explore the powerful themes that make YA and MG horror books so compelling for readers and parents alike. Our reviews analyse how these stories masterfully tackle fear, identity, and resilience through narratives that are as emotionally deep as they are accessible. Discover scary books for kids 2025 that offer more than just a fright—they provide a gateway to discussing bigger themes.
Your Resource for the Latest Spooky Reads
Navigating the vast world of horror for younger audiences can be daunting. The Young Blood library simplifies this by showcasing a diverse array of titles. We highlight everything from buzz-worthy debut authors to new releases from established names like Lindsay Currie and Paul Tremblay.
Our passionate contributors, who share a profound love for the genre, write every review to help you find your next favourite book. Whether you’re searching for ghost stories for kids, spooky boarding school books, or the latest in werewolf series for middle-grade readers, our insights guide you to perfect picks for ages 9-13.
Dive Deeper into the World of Young Horror
The Young Blood section is part of the larger Ginger Nuts of Horror website, a trusted hub for horror enthusiasts. Here, you can stay ahead of the latest trends, from atmospheric Gothic tales to fast-paced supernatural thrillers.
Find Your Next Favourite Frightful Book Today
Whether you’re a teen seeking thrills, a parent building a Halloween reading list, or a teacher looking for chapter books for reluctant readers, the Young Blood library is designed for you. Our reviews help you choose books with the right balance of chills, heart, and exceptional storytelling.
Explore the Young Blood review library now to discover your next spine-tingling read.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What age range is MG and YA horror suitable for?
A: Middle Grade (MG) horror is typically aimed at readers aged 8-13, featuring spooky themes but age-appropriate scares. Young Adult (YA) horror is geared toward teens and older, often exploring more complex and intense themes. Our reviews always note the recommended age range.
Q: How can I find reviews for a specific type of horror, like zombie books or haunted house stories?
A: Use the search function within the Young Blood section or look for tags on our reviews (e.g., “ghost stories,” “werewolves,” “psychological horror”). We also create themed recommendation lists throughout the year.
Q: Are the books reviewed in Young Blood too scary for younger readers?
A: Our reviews carefully assess the scare factor and content. We highlight books that are “scary but not too scary,” perfect for young horror fans. Each review describes the tone and themes to help you make the best choice for the young reader in your life.
Q: Do you review older books, or only new releases?
A: While we focus on highlighting the best new releases and 2025 titles, we also cover timeless classics and hidden gems that deserve a spot on every young horror fan’s shelf.
