Fall is almost here and we are ready for it! Pumpkin patches, homecoming, Halloween, and costume parties—what’s not to love about fall? And for fans of horror and thrillers, there’s even more to love as the spookiest season draws near. Not only will we have scary movies like The Thing Behind the Door, Summoning the Spirit, and Voyage of the Demeter to look forward to, but there are plenty of terrifying YA books coming this fall, too! Here are some of the best horror and thriller books to check out while sipping your PSL in your coziest oversized sweater.
There’s No Way I’d Die First by Lisa Springer
Scary movie buff Noelle knows horror inside out—every trope, every red flag, and every survival tactic. She’s totally the perfect girl to throw the ultimate Halloween party with the most exclusive guest list.
At least until her bargain-bin creepy clown axes one of her classmates. And then Noelle’s got a new mission: use all her knowledge to become a real-life Final Girl.
The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven
“Back to school season” has a totally different meaning for Lottie and her new roommate, Alice—incoming freshmen at the elite Carvell Academy of the Arts, finally reopening a decade after the unsolved murder of four students on campus.
After Alice discovers an unsettling ritual in a book hidden in the library, another body appears. Can Lottie and Alice find the killer before another student falls victim? Even worse—is the killer one of them?
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill
Duchess Simmons’s best friend Nova was murdered the night she was crowned the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High. And she’s sure she knows just who did the deed: Tinsley McArthur, the wealthy white Lovett legacy who comes from a long line of homecoming queens.
As the daughter of Lovett’s first Black police captain, Duchess is determined to prove Tinsley’s guilt, even if her father won’t do anything about it. But Duchess isn’t the only one with a secret agenda.
Win Lose Kill Die by Cynthia Murphy
A historic school for high achievers, Morton Academy is notoriously cutthroat. It’s just that no one quite expected that to turn out to be so literal. As the bodies of the already competitive school’s best and brightest start piling up, the competition to become Head Girl starts to seriously heat up.
Five students sworn into a secret society are determined to get to the bottom of the serial killings. Is their secret society responsible? A cult that’s plagued the school for years? Or is there someone else taking out students one by one?
The Wicked Unseen by Gigi Griffis
Audre sticks out from the moment she moves to her new rural town. A nose ring and an obsession with horror movies doesn’t endear a girl to a town where everyone’s convinced there’s a Satanic cult doing rituals in the woods.
But when the preacher’s daughter goes missing on Halloween, Audre is the number one suspect. Desperate to find her friend and crush, Audre sets out to investigate where the local cops won’t—but the deeper she gets into her investigation, the more she’s convinced something much more sinister is going on in town.
The Haunting by Natasha Preston
Penny’s parents have forbidden her from seeing her ex, Nash, after Nash’s father was arrested for the murder of four students the year before. As the anniversary of the killings comes closer, it’s hard not to think about what happened.
Especially when Penny walks into a Halloween store in search of a costume and discovers one of her classmates stabbed and bleeding out on the floor. As the adults search for the killer, Penny starts to search for the truth on her own. . . .
