10 Horror Novels for Teen Readers That Are Worth Checking Out

Teenagers are avid readers of horror fiction, which they consume through novels, comic books, video games, TV series, and movies that keep them entertained throughout their lives.

Here are ten horror novels aimed at a teenage audience.

1. Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare (2020)

Classic 90s slasher meets modern political divide.

Quinn Maybrook and her father move to the tiny, struggling town of Kettle Springs for a fresh start. Quinn quickly learns the town is fundamentally fractured: the adults want to restore traditional values, while the local teens just want to live their lives and post on social media. Things turn deadly when the town’s creepy mascot—Frendo the Clown—goes homicidal, deciding the best way to clean up the town is to literally cull the younger generation.

2. House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (2021)

Eerie folk horror, dark glamour, and body horror.

As children, the three Hollow sisters—Iris, Grey, and Vivi—disappeared from a London street, only to reappear a month later with no memory of what happened. Strangely, their eyes had changed color, their hair turned white, and they possessed an intoxicating, almost unnatural allure. A decade later, Grey goes missing under suspicious circumstances, forcing youngest sister Iris to confront the gruesome, decaying supernatural secrets of their past.

3. The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson (2022)

A contemporary, socially conscious reimagining of Stephen King’s Carrie.

Maddy Washington is a biracial teenager passing as white in a deeply segregated Georgia town. When a sudden rainstorm reveals her natural hair, she becomes the target of relentless cyberbullying and racism from her classmates. To smooth things over and look progressive, the school decides to host its first-ever integrated prom. But a cruel prank at the dance pushes Maddy to her absolute limit, unleashing a terrifying telekinetic vengeance.

4. Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White (2022)

Post-apocalyptic body horror and fierce queer rage.

Sixteen-year-old Benji is on the run from the fundamentalist cult that raised him—the same cult that infected him with a bioweapon called the Seraph, designed to mutate him into a monstrous angel of the apocalypse. He finds shelter with a group of queer teens fighting for survival in the ruins of a destroyed city, led by the enigmatic, deadly Nick. Benji must learn to control the monster growing inside him if he wants to protect his new found family.

5. The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass (2021)

The Sixth Sense meets a modern psychological thriller.

Jake Livingston is one of the few Black kids at his elite prep school, which is hard enough. It’s even harder because he can see dead people. Most ghosts are harmless loops of their past lives, but things take a terrifying turn when Sawyer Doon—a troubled teen who recently carried out a school shooting—returns as a powerful, malevolent spirit. Sawyer is targeting Jake, intending to possess him to continue his reign of terror.

6. The Honeys by Ryan La Sala (2022)

Midsommar meets Heathers with a dark academia twist.

Mars, a genderfluid teenager, is devastated by the violent, mysterious death of their twin sister, Caroline. Seeking answers, Mars takes Caroline's place at the ultra-exclusive, sun-drenched summer retreat known as Aspen County Academy. There, Mars encounters "The Honeys"—a beautiful, elite clique of girls who tend to the academy's beehives. Beneath their sweet, pristine exterior lies a buzzing, cult-like hierarchy rooted in an ancient, cosmic horror.

7. White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (2021)

Modern Amityville Horror mixed with social commentary.

Mari is looking for a fresh start after a battle with anxiety and addiction. When her mother gets a free house in a newly gentrified town in the Midwest, the family moves in. But the house is far from welcoming. Mari hears noises in the walls, smells foul odors, and notices her young stepsister acting increasingly bizarre. Mari must figure out if she’s losing her mind or if the house—and the town's history—is hiding something truly sinister.

8. Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert (2022)

Told in dual timelines, the book follows seventeen-year-old Ivy in the present day and her mother, Dana, as a teenager in the 1990s. Ivy’s summer takes a bizarre turn when she starts finding dead rabbits, encountering a strange girl on the road, and discovering that her mother is hiding a past full of dangerous, corrupting magic. As the secrets unravel, Ivy realizes she must pay the price for a supernatural debt her mother struck decades ago.

9. Don't Let the Forest In by CG Drews (2024)

Severe psychological horror and dark fairy tales.

Andrew is an anxious, isolated teen who fiercely protects his best friend and crush, Thomas. Thomas is a brilliant but troubled artist who creates terrifying drawings of monsters that live in the woods behind their school. The horror escalates dramatically when Andrew realizes that Thomas's nightmares are leaking into reality: the forest is coming alive, and the ink-and-wood monsters are stepping right off the pages.

10. Gideon Green in One Night Only by Katie Katie (2024)

Cozy horror-comedy meets supernatural mystery.

Gideon Green is a washed-up teenage detective who used to solve minor neighborhood mysteries until everyone grew up and moved on. When his estranged former best friend, Lily, approaches him claiming she witnessed a literal monster attack in their small town, Gideon is thrust back into the game. Together, they uncover a shadowy conspiracy involving local cryptids, secret societies, and the horrors of growing apart.