YA and Middle Grade Horror March & April 2026: The Best New Scary Books for Teens
A wide range of topics feature in our latest look at Middle Grade horror and YA horror books 2026. Only one Middle Grade title appears this March and April. The always reliable Lindsay Currie delivers X Marks the Haunt. Currie has a terrific back catalogue. Any school library should carry her work.
The best new horror novels for teens this spring include an unexpected knockout. Adult horror writer Alexis Henderson makes her YA debut with When I Was Death. This one knocked me for six. Highly recommended.
I looked forward to RL Boyle’s Temple Fall. A complex haunted house story laden with curses. Boyle wrote The Book of The Baku, a title I have recommended numerous times before. It also features in my own YA Horror 400 almanac. Temple Fall did not disappoint. KL Kettle’s debut The Boy I Am also appears in the YA Horror 400. It was good to catch up with her mind-bending science fiction dystopian Control Alter Delete.
I had read other titles from four of the five remaining authors. All have produced top rated work. Erik J Brown’s latest is Better the Devil, a smart thriller about assumed identity with an LGBTQIA+ romance woven into the narrative. More LGBTQIA+ YA horror appears in CG Drews’s Don’t Let The Forest In. This boarding school supernatural thriller came out in 2024, but I read it recently. Darren Simpson moves from his usual Middle Grade into older territory with Thirst. A historical folk horror where pagan old ways must be respected. I thoroughly enjoyed Channelle Desamours’s supernatural thriller They Call Her Regret. A story about the heartbreaking aftermath of a party gone horribly wrong.
Finally we have Jihyun Yun’s And The River Drags Her Down. This title made the YA section shortlist for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. I found it rather underwhelming. Considering the amount of great YA horror coming out of the UK, I am curious why an American Korean author should be nominated for a historically British prize.
The books appear alphabetically below.
YA and Middle Grade Horror Books 2026: Spring Round Up
Dark fairytales, cursed teenagers, and one excellent graveyard mystery.
RL Boyle – Temple Fall
Publisher : Titan Books
Back in 2021 RL Boyle released her debut novel The Book of the Baku which I shouted from the rooftops about. Whilst Boyle’s sophomore effort Temple Fall falls short of reaching the same heights, an exceptionally tough ask, it is nevertheless another complex and ultimately rewarding read.
The characters are all almost eighteen and although the novel is YA, it edges incredibly close to being adult.Temple Fall has a complex narrative which jumps through time periods, so make sure you read it carefully otherwise things will get confusing fast. The title refers to a house, saying that it is haunted is no spoiler, but the ripple effect and influence of the house reaches far beyond its walls as it marks a group of teenagers are cursed to die on their eighteenth birthday.
The novel is narrated by seventeen-year-old Flynn, who is adopted and has been doing genealogical research into her blood family which leads her to the abandoned Temple House. The story opens with Flynn and her friends breaking into the house for a secret party celebrating Jackson turning eighteen, the first of their friendship group.
Things get unsettling quickly and the story focusses on the long-term ripple effect of what occurs during that life changing night. It takes some time for the teenagers to realise they have been cursed, with much of the novel revolving around the problems the fractured friendship group face, as it becomes clear that something from the house has latched onto them. Temple Fall has a lot to unpack in a challenging, layered and readable horror novel.
AGE RANGE 14/15+
Erik J Brown – Better the Devil
Publisher : Hodder Children’s Books
A few years back I was hugely impressed by Erik Brown’s postapocalyptic horror queer romance debut All That’s Left in the World (2022) and its sequel The Only Light Left Burning (2024). In his latest Better the Devil Brown abandons the postapocalyptic horror in favour of teen thriller, whilst retaining the strong LGBTQIA+ elements which threads throughout his work.
The novel opens with a powerful sequence in which a gay teenager runs away from home when he realises his strict Christian parents intend entering him into a gay-conversion program. Early in the story he is picked up by the police for shoplifting and looking for a way to escape he assumes the identify of a teenager who has been missing for many years in a story which was reminiscent of a brilliant, but sadly overlooked, British teen novel The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight, by Jenny Valentine.
How does the main character assume the identity of Nate Beaumont? Simple, he sees a picture of a missing teen on a poster, notices a striking resemblance to himself, panics and afraid of being sent home claims he is Nate. The story then follows what happens when he is picked up by Nate’s parents, who have a brother who is suspicious of who Nate really is.
This is a complex story, as the real Nate’s best friend Miles immediately realises he is fake and then the bombshells begin to drop. Even if you can spot holes in the plot, it is still very clever and soon you will be desperate to find out what happened to the real Nate. The story gets very dark and be warned, heads into serial killer territory, lots of swearing and an LGBTQ+ romance bubbling in the background.
AGE RANGE 13/14+
Lindsay Currie – X Marks the Haunt
Publisher : Delacorte Press
I have been a big fan of Lindsay Currie for a few years now and she is widely covered in the Middle Grade subsection of my YA Horror 400 almanac, often splicing real life history into her spooky stories. Many of her books haven’t been picked up by UK publishers, but they are well worth making the extra effort to track down.
The excellent Mystery of Locked Rooms (2024) did have a UK publisher, so let’s hope this is a positive sign for some of her quality back catalogue is picked up also. Currie also features in two of my big annual reading challenges at school for Year 6 and 7 and the feedback has been incredibly positive. X Marks the Haunt might not be the scariest of Currie’s book, but the blend of action, mystery and characters being dragged out of their comfort zones was a winner all the way. Much of the story also features a genuine graveyard which keen readers can further their research on via the useful endnotes and photos.
Will’s mum works in a local graveyard and after delivering a talk to his class he is peer pressured into giving a valuable key to the class bully. After the key is lost, strange things begin to happen in the graveyard and Will realises the key must be located at all costs. When the novel opens Will is a bit of a loner, who is great at genealogy and can decode centuries old records, but not so good with people.
But his peculiar skill set does bring a gang together as trees die and the lake becomes covered with a sinister green slime that threatens to choke out anything living in it. Soon Will and his mostly new friends Stash, Michelle, and Henry must figure out which restless spirit is draining the graveyard of life. X Marks the Haunt is a fun speedy read which shines a light on the geeky kids which are often mocked with a positive message of friendship, bravery and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
AGE RANGE 10+
Channelle Desamours – They Call Her Regret
Publisher : Bloomsbury Children’s Books
I was a huge fan of Channelle Desamours debut Needy Little Things, a dark thriller drama which I also featured on one of my teen reading challenges at school for 2025/6. WithThey Call Her Regret Channellereturns with another very dark thriller, with a powerful supernatural vibe as the ‘Regret’ of the title is a witch who supposedly haunts a local lake.
Soon to turn eighteen, every year horror-loving Simone Washington throws an epic Halloween party and this year wangles an overnight stay at Doll’s Head Lake, looking to fill it with spooky pranks and scary stories told by the fire. The party happens early in the story and one of Simone’s best friends tragically dies in suspicious circumstances, with the novel dealing with the aftermath after the appearance of the witch and the curse she drops connected to the death.
They Call Her Regret might attract fans of teen dramas, thrillers and horror, as for much of the time the supernatural bubbles in the background and you might forget you are reading a thriller about a curse. The teen dynamics dominate the novel, the relationships between Simone, Kira, Rich and the secrets they keep from each other.
The curse was particularly fascinating, on one level it brings Kira back from the dead, it also leads to research into who the witch originally was. Although it’s not totally clear, many of the characters were Black and this also plays a part in the story. Interestingly, many of these stories are top heavy on the f-bombs and They Call Her Regret was, refreshingly the opposite, drugs are mentioned, but even if this is a solid YA storyline there is no cursing or sex. The supernatural might have been more pronounced, but overall this was a tight and very readable dark thriller.
AGE RANGE 13+
CG Drews – Don’t Let The Forest In (2024)
Publisher : Hodder Children’s Books
Since 2018 CG Drews has published an impressive range of YA fantasy and other genre fiction before her adult debut You Did Nothing Wrong (2026) which is also horror. In the UK she is best known for her popular YA drama thriller The Boy Who Steals Houses (2019), which is the reason I backtracked to read Don’t Let The Forest In published a couple of years ago.
Although a solid fantasy horror novel set in an American boarding school, I have read many books fairly similar to this. Gay introverted leading characters who have infatuations with friends or classmates seems to be the norm, with this being no different, and not having enough to raise it from the pack. Even the encroaching forest which also always seems to dominate these types of YA novels was too familiar. However, I am not the intended audience and teens who enjoy dark fairytales, with fantasy and a heady dose of angst may find much to connect with.
High school senior Andrew Perrault has a secret crush on his best friend Thomas Rye, who he thinks might have had a thing with his twin sister Dove. Once the final year of school starts Thomas is distant and acting strangely, previously he would encourage Andrew to experiment with his very dark leaning fantasy artwork, that is until the creatures in the stories come to life in the forest. What follows is a brooding angst driven blend of fantasy, coming of age drama and male friendship and sexuality which develops into something more. This novel has 13,000 reviews on Goodreads, so is obviously incredibly popular, but does nothing new.
AGE RANGE 13/14+
Alexis Henderson – When I Was Death
Publisher : Penguin
I was so impressed by Alexis Henderson’s When I Was Death I intend backtracking through her adult horror novels and am already intrigued by her release slated for 2027, The Godfrey Home for Demonic Children (I wonder whether it’s YA or adult?) I have seen many YA horror novels compared to the magnificent House of Hollow and this is one of the few that actually lives up to the hype with its deep resonating feelings of sisterhood and loss.
The story picks up one year after Roslyn Volk lost her older sister Adeline, who died under suspicious circumstances, and she’s still weighed down by grief and obsessed with unanswered questions. After dropping out of school and quitting running track she works a dead end job in a local diner, life is a trudge until six mysterious girls appear in town one morning. Roslyn finds herself inexplicably drawn to the group and soon discovers Adeline knew them and spent her last summer travelling with them, which only increases her fascination.
I did not know a huge amount about the book before reading, so I would be wary of spoilers (even the blurb gives too much away) with the story concerning what happens when Roslyn leaves town with the girls, following in the footsteps of her sister. The shadow of Adeline dominates the book, with part of the story concerning a strange pact Roslyn makes to find out how and why she died.
Always an introvert and an outsider, the story is built around how Roslyn interacts with this odd group of girls who are crisscrossing the USA, wait for it, killing people. With a subtle LGBTQ+ undercurrent and a fast developing supernatural story this is highly original fiction with an ending which is both brilliant and compassionate. Highly recommended. Lots of swearing, mature themes, limited violence and no sex.
AGE RANGE 13/14+
K.L. Kettle – Control Alter Delete
Publisher : Little Tiger
I was a big fan of KL Kettle’s debut The Boy I Am (2021) which features in my YA Horror 400 and was interested to catch her follow-up, which had another decidedly dystopian twang. Control Alter Delete is very much in the same ballpark as Ready Player One where large parts of the population spend more of their time in an online virtual reality world, rather than the real one.
For instance, in Control Alter Delete the main character’s mum is fit and healthy in the ‘Alternet’ whilst in the real world she is ill with dementia and in a nursing home. There are a lot of books where supposed utopias turn out to by dystopias and whilst Control Alter Delete spins a good story, with a spunky leading character and good family dynamics, it struggles to do anything new but has a complex plot which must be followed closely to get the most out of it.
‘World 2.0’ dominates the lives of everybody, with many like main character Hal, using it to paper over the cracks of their real lives, a missing dad and a sick mother. The plot revolves around how Hal is given some cash from a friend of her mother’s and enters a gaming competition called The Knox Cup, with the hope of meeting the creator of World 2.0.
Realising her father was a computer game developer, and that both her parents were involved in the creation of World 2.0, Hal uncovers some dark secrets and the fast moving plot is off and running. This is as much speculative as it is science fiction, asking thoughtful moral questions as the plot moves along with Hal edging closer to the elusive Frances Knox, uncovering secrets along the way. Gamers and tech fans should have a lot of fun with this book, which also uses text bubbles here and there, but at 428 pages was long. No sex or swearing but younger readers will be put off by its size and complexities.
AGE RANGE 13+
Darren Simpson – Thirst
Darren Simpson – Thirst
Darren Simpson is well known on the Middle Grade scene withScavengers (2019), The Memory Thieves (2021) and Furthermoor (2022) with his latest Thirst being an eventful change of direction. Folk Horror is a popular subgenre in the adult book market, but much less common for children, with Thirst blending this with both fantasy and horror.
Set in the town of Maimsbury, the location and time is kept enticingly vague, I guessed maybe a 1000 years ago, with hints to the background to the village. We are told they rejected Christ and follow their own pagan ways which is crucial to the plot. This is not a hugely graphically violent book, but it has plenty of disturbing scenes, but the pace of the story and the setting push it more towards YA than Middle Grade, as younger kids will find it slightly slow even if it does feature dark fairytale vibes.
Every year in Maimsbury there is a sacrifice to the river, which is presented as a living entity, but this year (a Brim Year) the crops have been lean and the river demands a human sacrifice instead of the usual animals. The sacrifice is akin to an open secret, everybody knows about it but let those responsible for the deed get on with it, main character Gorse does not realise he has a part to play.
Faye is looking for work, is a new arrival in the village and an obvious unwitting sucker for the upcoming sacrifice. For those who enjoy subtle, atmospheric and leaning towards historical fiction fantasy there is much to savour here, and I loved the boogieman type character ‘Dandyclogs’ and the nods to traditional Folk Horror, but it will be too slowly paced for less confident readers.
AGE RANGE 12/13+
Jihyun Yun – And The River Drags Her Down
Publisher : Rock the Boat
As YA horror is rarely featured on prize lists, I read Jihyun Yun’s And The River Drags Her Down with some interest, finding myself rather underwhelmed. This novel features on the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Shortlist 2026 (older readers category) and is written by Korean American author Jihyun Yun. And The River Drags Her Down is definitely aimed at older readers, is seriously slow and steeped in Korean folklore, particularly water spirits, which takes some time getting used to. Using the word ‘Drag’ in the title is no mistake, as this book does indeed seriously drag.
The story concerns a seventeen-year-old Korean American girl who has magic abilities, passed down from her mother and grandmother. She can bring the dead back to life, but is only supposed to resurrect small creatures, no bigger than chickens. Revolving around the drowning of her sister, she breaks the rules and brings her sister back to life (but not quite alive). The story teetered from drama to study of grief, with a distant lead character who is tough to like, before long, the sister begins to act out of character and suspicion develops.
And The River Drags Her Down never truly develops into a full-blown horror novel, testing my patience, and I am sure it will do more of the same for genuine teen readers. If you want to read a more traditional horror novel with a similar back-from-the-dead plot, but considerably more bite and threat, then check out Amelinda Bérubé’s The Ones Who Come Back Hungry as an alternative to this. AGE RANGE 14+
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