The 2025 YA Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot: Every Book Ranked and Reviewed
The 2025 YA Bram Stoker Award preliminary ballot is out, and it is a stronger list than most years. Ten books. Four spots on the final ballot already confirmed. And a clear frontrunner that arguably deserves to walk away with the prize.
For many years, the Young Blood column has reviewed the complete preliminary ballot for the YA category of the Bram Stoker Award, not just the shortlisted finalists. That matters. Strong books get cut at this stage regularly, and the full list tells a richer story about where young adult horror is heading. This year, it is heading somewhere genuinely interesting.
Here is how they rank.
Diana Rodriguez Wallach – The Silenced 9.5/10 (FINAL BALLOT)
Ginny Myers Sain – When The Bones Sing 8/10
Clay McLeod Chapman – Shiny Happy People 7.5/10 (FINAL BALLOT)
Linda Cheng – Beautiful Brutal Bodies 7/10 (FINAL BALLOT)
Amy Goldsmith – Predatory Natures 7/10
Madeleine Roux – A Girl Walks Into The Forest 7/10 (FINAL BALLOT)
Trisha Tobias – Honeysuckle and Bone 6/10
Rin Chupeco – We’re Not Safe Here 6/10 (FINAL BALLOT)
Khalia Moreau – He Burns By The River 6/10
Pamela N. Harris – Through Our Teeth 6/10
Comments:
Well done to the Stoker committee who have compiled a thoughtful and wide range of books.
Clay McLeod Chapman is undoubtedly the overwhelming favourite with his Shiny Happy People and is the author most likely to be known to voting non YA specialists. This book is highly derivative of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, even if it has a modern twang, it is not original enough to win a Stoker. In comparison, Diana Rodriguez Wallach’s The Silencedis super original, topical, scary and incredibly moving, that is, hands down, my overwhelming favourite. If I read it in 2025 it would have undoubtedly been my novel of the year. Unmissable stuff.
The lack of male narratives in genre fiction (not just horror) continues and a pathetic one book of ten here, Khalia Moreau’s He Burns By The River gives a shout out to the boys. I have read most of Clay McLeod Chapman’s adult novels, who writes both male and female narratives, but on this occasion Shiny Happy People has a teenage girl voice, when perhaps Logan deserved his own story instead of being a disposable sidekick.
I cannot emphasise how much of a problem this has become, only the other day another school librarian emailed me about mystery novels recommendations, for a potential author visit, which just didn’t feature boys as secondary support characters. It was a noticeably brief list, which is incredibly worrying.
There is also LGBTQIA+ representation, with the list also diverse in other ways, with Trinidad, Jamaica, East Asia and the UK represented alongside fantasy worlds and the vividly drawn Ozark mountains. For school librarians following the Young Blood page, whose budget might be tight, this is a solid list to investigate further.
Overall, the list also avoids overused tropes and familiar monsters and is alternatively top-heavy with fresh ideas.
If you are a school librarian, a parent of a teen horror reader, a teacher building a reading list, or simply someone who takes young adult horror seriously, this breakdown covers every book on the ballot. Scores, age ranges, and honest assessments. No hype. Just the books.
Stay tuned for my breakdown of the Middle Grade section, which will appear on the site shortly.
Ten books. One award. Only one deserves to win.
Diana Rodriguez Wallach – The Silenced 9.5/10
Publisher : Delacorte Press
Publication date : 16 Sept. 2025
I was a massive fan of Small Town Monsters (2021) which featured in my YA Horror 400 almanac and also enjoyed Hatchet Girls (2023) but The Silenced is Diana’s best yet and a worthy winner of any international YA horror prize. On one level this is a thoughtful and moving investigation of the ‘Troubled Teen Industry’ (TTI), set today, but flashing back to the mid-nineties in powerful, emotional sequences.
As part of a school project Hazel Perez and (not really) friends choose to investigate the abandoned Oakwell Farms School for Girls (‘The Farm’) and after an accident she begins to feel strange, acts out of character developing a connection to a former patient from The Farm and a scary understanding of what occurred there.
This superb novel has a bit of everything. Hazel is a straight ‘A’ student and one of the few Hispanic girls in her school, she has also been cut off from her friendship group, which is revealed as the story moves on. Coming from a Catholic background, Hazel feels a deep connection to a former patient, who she realises has the same surname as her. As Hazel’s personal life spirals out of control, her investigation into what truly happened in The Farm is a gripping and irresistible read. Totally stunning and the manner in which the spirit attaches to Hazel is seriously creepy. Absolutely brilliant and should be in every secondary school library. AGE RANGE 13/14+
Ginny Myers Sain – When The Bones Sing 8/10
Publisher : Electric Monkey
Publication date : 13 Mar. 2025
Ginny Myers Sain has written several teen thrillers, but the excellent When the Bones Sing is the first time I have read and is an engaging blend of thriller and the supernatural, with a taste of romance.
Teens with weird powers is not the freshest of tropes, and being able to discover the bodies of the dead is not new either, but Sain still manages to breathe new life into the subject. 17-year-old Dovie has the ability to hear the bones of the dead sing, a family gift (or curse) her mother and grandmother also possess. This is very cleverly described, as Dovie does not believe in magic, but can still feel the pull of the dead and is used by the local police to locate missing people. Everybody in her small town knows of her gift and treat her family with suspicion.
The Ozark mountains is a superb setting for a supernatural thriller and the author truly brings this hillbilly country to life, with its own rules and customs. The story revolves around a serial killer and Dovie’s efforts to locate the corpse of his latest victim, whilst bringing her into the orbit of the killer and cute elder brother of the victim. Her best friend Lo (and possibly something more) sees the ghosts of the victims and does not believe the local legendary creature, the Ozark Howler, is behind the killings. Atmospheric, fast moving and with great leading characters When the Bones Sing is a real winner, expertly blending the supernatural with thriller. AGE RANGE 13/14+
Clay McLeod Chapman – Shiny Happy People 7.5/10
Publisher : Delacorte Press
Publication date : 11 Nov. 2025
I am a massive fan of Clay McLeod Chapman who is one of the most original and varied adult horror authors around, so I am surprised that for his YA debut he gives us something so similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. A few years back David Owen did something similar with The Fallen Children, which was a YA update of John Wyndham’s Midwich Cuckoos, but was truly clear in stating his inspiration and even set the action in ‘Midwich Estate.’
Chapman does reference every film version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers at the end, and perhaps should have had stronger acknowledgement, as David Owen did. Genuine teen readers, of course, are unlikely to know much about the source material, but even the final scene is lifted directly from the iconic ultimate moments of the Donald Sutherland film version of Body Snatchers. However, this is still a terrific book (which teens will love) and I would have scored it much higher than 7.5/10 if it were not such a copy. It is still possible to be original in this well-trodden plant based alien invasion path, check out Mira Grant’s recent and excellent Overgrowth as a cool recent example.
This version uses a new drug doing the rounds of the local high school, and peer pressure to take it as a clever focus. Taking the drug causes the popper to go into a fit, which everybody else films on their phones and the footage spreads like wildfire as they ‘spore.’
Told in the first person, sixteen-year-old Kyra refuses to take the drug and is soon dropped by her best friend and sees school friendship dynamics change, even at home with her brother. Suffering from anxiety, feeling isolated she connects with new student Logan, who also hasn’t ‘spored’ (I thought the sporing idea was excellent). If you are familiar with the original source material you know where things are heading, but Chapman does an excellent job of ramping up paranoia, pitching an authentic teen voice and smooth high school dynamics. AGE RANGE 13+
Linda Cheng – Beautiful Brutal Bodies 7/10
Publisher : Macmillan
Publication date : 15 Dec. 2025
Beautiful Brutal Bodies is a companion novel to Gorgeous Gruesome Faces (2023) which featured in the YA Horror 400 almanac. It is not as gripping as its predecessor, and can be read as a standalone novel, even if there are character crossovers towards the end. For those readers who enjoyed the K-Pop element of Gorgeous Gruesome Faces this is absent from Beautiful Brutal Bodies, although the main character is in the music business, it lurks in the background of the story which mainly takes place on a wellbeing retreat.
Tian is a singer-songwriter with a massive online following, known for her powerful vocals and reclusive nature. However, this is not deliberate, behind the flashy videos and slick online presence is a disturbing reality, Tian is kept in isolation and has a dangerous medical condition which limits her contact with other people.
This is until she heads to a retreat with her best friend Liya and meets up with her musical collaborator Shenyu, who has his own problems, in the South China Seas. The novel concerns what happens there, blending dreams, the supernatural, rituals and Tian’s connection to the violent legend connected to the island. Morphing into part fantasy, with an LGBTQ+ twang, this is a challenging and dreamy read, steeped in Asian culture, where nothing is quite what it seems. AGE RANGE 14+
Amy Goldsmith – Predatory Natures 7/10
Publisher : Ink Road
Publication date : 7 Aug. 2025
I reviewed Amy Goldsmith’s debut Those We Drown back in 2023, so it was good to catch up with her more recent work. That previous novel was set on an ocean liner, this time out the action is almost entirely set on an exclusive train heading for Europe. As the train has a different starting destination there are very few customers and a skeleton staff, many of which are summer employees and are being trained along the way. This was a cool premise for a YA horror novel, with a solid mix of teen angst, suspense, mystery, and surprises in close claustrophobic quarters.
Predatory Natures is seen from the point of view of Lara Williams who thinks getting a job on the Banebury is an ideal way of moving on from some recent undisclosed trauma. This is a big part of the story and the reveals are dropped as the story moves on, especially after we realise her ex-best friend Rhys (what happened there?) also has a job on the train.
On the first day of their journey, the trip takes a strange turn. Two mysterious carriages filled with an array of beautiful and rare plants are attached to the Banebury in the middle of the night with Lara and Rhys soon meeting the custodians of the load, Gwen and Gwydion, who claim the plants they’re transporting are for research. If you enjoy killer plant horror stories, also throw in a Welsh folklore twist, a feisty leading character, which is presented slightly as a locked room mystery there is a lot of fun to be had here. AGE RANGE 13+
Madeleine Roux – A Girl Walks Into The Forest 7/10
Publisher : Quill Tree Books
Publication date : 17 July 2025
Madeleine Roux has published an impressive range of work dating back to 2011 and is probably best known for her YA horror series Asylum (2013-16) which was featured in my YA Horror 400 almanac. A Girl Walks Into The Forest blends fantasy, dark fairy tale, horror with court intrigue into a story which eventually morphs into a riff on the Baba Yaga legend.
There are multiple versions of the Baba Yaga story and it does not dominate A Girl Walks Into The Forest which also examines the concept of beauty and whether it is truly more than skin deep. For as long as she can remember, Valla’s been told her stunning looks would give her a life most people can only dream of. But what would happen if she lost her beauty? The novel does not mess around; her face is savagely shredded by a forest creature in the opening few chapters!
Set in a land where the mysterious Count Leonid can call on any beautiful girl he fancies, Valla is picked to be his wife, based on a painting before her accident. Leaving her village, with her brother and not much else they venture across the dangerous Gottyar Wood and are brutally attacked. The novel revolves around what Valla will do upon arrival at the count’s castle. No longer with her beauty to fall back on, what will she do to survive if the count rejects her?
Much of the story concerns Valla’s transformation (in more ways than one), with a strong feminist twang, backed up by a superbly described forest and decrepit castle. A Girl Walks Into The Forest heads into the realms of very dark fairytales and in particular Slavic folklore, it becomes more fantasy than horror, developing into a real girl power read. AGE RANGE 13+
Trisha Tobias – Honeysuckle and Bone 6/10
Publisher : Simon & Schuster Children’s UK
Publication date : 14 Jan. 2025
Honeysuckle and Bone is the debut by Trisha Tobias, set in modern day Jamaica, involving their customs and supernatural beliefs. Main character Carina Marshall has trauma and secrets in her recent past and is looking to reinvent herself in Jamaica, her mother’s homeland, working as an au pair for the wealthy and powerful political Hall family. Some of the story revolves around what exactly has brought Carina to Jamaica, which she has kept secret from her parents, and once this big reveal comes it is somewhat anticlimactic. Although the book is relatively harmless it is aimed at older teens as she goes out drinking and partying a fair bit, with heavy sexual tension.
The main story revolves around the luxurious Blackbeard House and whether it is haunted or not, or whether a spirit (‘Duppys’) has attracted itself to Carina. This bubbles in the background and although atmospheric, provides little in the way of scares and the direction the restless spirit takes the story is rather predictable. Solidly written, with elements of coming of age narratives, it lacks supernatural bang but is an engaging enough modern gothic teen drama. AGE RANGE 14+
Rin Chupeco – We’re Not Safe Here 6/10
Publisher : Sourcebooks Fire
Publication date : 4 Dec. 2025
I am a massive fan of Rin Chupeco’s YA horror fiction, both The Girl from the Well (2014) and The Sacrifice (2022) featured in my YA Horror 400 almanac. However, We’re Not Safe Here tested my patience and could be the ultimate marmite read. The story unfolds entirely via mixed media storytelling as the narrative seeps through video scripts, message boards, text messages, and radio programmes. It’s an ambitious and experimental format which might engage those who enjoy techy narratives, giving the book a modern, internet-age You Tube feel where you could disappear down a conspiracy theory wormhole by clicking the wrong link.
We’re Not Safe Here follows Storymancer, a teenage vlogger determined to uncover the truth behind his younger brother’s disappearance in Wispy Falls, a small town where people vanish into the encroaching woods, where monsters are said to exist. Because of this format we never truly meet Storymancer and that is the weakness of this novel, there are no teen relationships, friendships or bust-ups, it mainly jumps from one social media stream to the next. I found myself with endless questions, most of which are (probably deliberately) not answered. AGE RANGE 13+
Khalia Moreau – He Burns By The River 6/10
Publisher : Independently published
Publication date : 20 Jun. 2025
With her second novel He Burns By The River Khalia Moreau takes up back to 1963 and post-colonial Trinidad, which is soaked in customs, rituals and a ready belief in the supernatural. I had to really concentrate to figure out what was going on, and teens who are not strong readers might struggle with the narrative.
Set in the small town of Sapo, which has an older part of the town still under water due to a flood years earlier, sixteen-year-old Roran has to save his brother who falls dangerously ill, with spirits connected to the sunken part of town being blamed. With a blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and the supernatural, the story includes themes of family, jealousy, and sacrifice, all against the vividly drawn setting in a Trinidadian village steeped in folklore and superstition.
Roran does not believe in the supernatural and that his brother’s illness is anything more than routine until things begin to worsen and he has no choice but to commune with the spirits. Using the same sort of spirits as Honeysuckle and Bone, the manner in which the spirit has attached to the brother via Roran is fascinating and I found myself looking up a few things on Wikipedia.
This is also the only book on the Stoker Preliminary List to feature a male character, in a story which also takes in colourism and racism while incorporating folklore and culture unique to the Caribbean. He Burns By The River is an ambitious story which teens might get bogged down with, as its rather dense and close to an adult novel. AGE RANGE 14+
Pamela N. Harris – Through Her Teeth 6/10
Publisher : Quill Tree Books
Publication date : 16 Sept. 2025
Through Her Teeth is more of a teen thriller/drama and is slightly misplaced on a horror award list, even its own promotional material hype it “for fans” of Karen McManus, the current queen of high school thrillers. With the f-bombs coming thick and fast, with mature content, this teen drama centring around toxic friendships thrillers is aimed at older teens. It does not provide easy answers, and although there is a death, it is not a standard thriller with the murder pinned on the culprit, it is significantly more complex and examines the relationships and friendships of those close to Hope Jackson.
The story picks up some months after the death of Hope, who is presumed to have committed suicide. However, main character Liv, with the help of Kizzie and Sherie, aim to prove that she was killed by her possessive boyfriend Brendan, who is also the high school basketball star with a dodgy alibi.
As things escalate there are big reveals, with Liv realising Brendan might not be the only one involved and that there is a web of lies everywhere. Although a decent drama Through Her Teeth was held back by its characters, all of which were annoying, self-obsessed, irritating, shouty and by the end I could not care less who was involved in killing Hope, even if the ending is believable. AGE RANGE 14+
Tony Jones
Praise for the YA Horror 400 almanac, published in 2024:
“Massive congrats to Tony Jones, his colossal almanac of teen horror is out! With a whopping 400 reviews, it’s a corker!” RL BOYLE (YA author of The Book of the Baku)
“If you’re looking for a curator for your reading journey, Tony Jones is about as excellent as you could ask for. And if you wanted that curation available in a one-stop shopping destination, he has just published an extensive almanac of young adult horror over the years. It’s available for the kindle and in print as well.
I was truly honoured to see one of my books gracing its pages and there is a short piece I wrote for this project as well. Do yourself a favour – if you’ve been looking for a great reference book to grace your home, check this out!” CHAD A. CLARK (YA and adult author of The Curse of Worthwood Castle, Tracing the Trails& Winward)
“The YA Horror 400 is a spectacular resource for lovers of horror and YA fiction. It’s a comprehensive guide to the past 15+ years of YA horror with reviews and author insights on over 400 YA horror novels and books, including my ‘We Mostly Come Out at Night’. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to YA horror readers. 10/10!” ROB COSTELLO (YA author and editor of We Mostly Come Out at Night & The Dancing Bears)
“Thanks so much to Tony Jones for featuring FOUND in his awesome ‘YA Horror 400’ almanac and for the opportunity to talk about my love of found footage horror.” ANDY CULL (Adult author, editor and filmmaker of FOUND & Remains)
“My first novel ‘Parasite Life’ gets a mention in this fabulous mega resource for all things YA. Check it out!” VICTORIA DALPE (YA and adult author of Parasite Life & Les Femmes Grotesques)
“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)
“Tony Jones is a rare expert on YA horror, an influential reviewer who’s been a school librarian for 30 years. This A-Z almanac is a must own for horror fans and writers.” CAROLINE FLARITY (YA author of The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter)
“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)
“Humbled to feature in ‘The YA Horror 400’ almanac, out now from top genre librarian and reviewer Tony Jones” DAVE JEFFREY (YA and adult author of the Beatrice Beecham series & A Quiet Apocalypse 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)
“This almanac is massive! Huge congratulations to Tony Jones on his new book on YA Horror! Very grateful to contribute a wee bit to it.” TIM McGREGOR (Adult author of Wasps in the Ice Cream)
“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)
