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Halloween season is closer than it might feel, especially if you’re in any place where the temperature and due points are still high. It is still summer until the end of this month, but don’t let the weather nor the calendar tell you that it’s not the perfect time to begin planning your fall horror TBR.
Horror is not a genre. It’s a mood. This distinction is important not for pedantic reasons–no one should get mad if you call it a genre or if it’s easier to think of it that way–but it’s important because horror has an incredible range of possibilities within it. There are common tropes or themes, but horror is about a work of art inducing disgust or fright within the reader. For some, a psychological thriller might read as horror, while for others, there’s nothing particularly scary about it. Horror doesn’t need to have monsters or creatures. Sometimes the most effective works of horror are about us as humans.
It’s worth bringing up this distinction, too, because it’s an invitation to readers. Horror is far from one thing, and sometimes, it takes finding the right kind of horror to realize how great it is. This is one of the reasons behind the Summer Scares program, which aims to make horror accessible and fun in libraries nationwide. I’ve been overseeing the YA selections process since the program’s beginning in 2018, and it’s been incredible to talk about just how wide-ranging the idea of horror really is. Many of the books which have earned the Summer Scares honor are downright funny.
All of that is to say YA continues to deliver on horror books that cover a vast array of thrills and chills. There are great new picks for readers who love gore-filled books, just as there are great new picks for readers who prefer their horror to be a lot more atmospheric. Let’s take a look at seven upcoming YA horror novels that would make excellent fall reading this year. Of note: there are a lot of vampire books this fall. This list only includes one or two, but if you’re itching for some immortal beings, you’re in for some real treats this fall.
And The River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun (10/7)
Soojin Han’s older sister Mirae drowned mysteriously in the river that slithers through their town. Soojin knows she shouldn’t use her ancestral magic, but she decides that bringing Mirae back is worth the risk. At first it is–the sisters are reunited and it’s cause for joy and celebration.
But then Mirae becomes restless and hungry, and she’s driven to expose the truth of her family and their history. Mirae is out for revenge. As the town finds itself feeling her wrath in the form of extreme weather, Soojin is regretting her decision to bring Mirae back.
The Fright Stuff
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Beautiful Brutal Bodies by Linda Cheng (11/4)
Tian is a super popular singer with a huge online following. She’s got a massive secret, though, which is that she is a prisoner in her own life, having been raised in isolation. Tian does have an IRL best friend in Liya, who protects her as much as she can. But Liya isn’t exactly human.
So when a number of fans experience fatal injuries following one of Tian’s livestreams, she and Liya, alongside Tian’s troubled collaborator Shenyu, are all sent on a healing retreat. This island is as far from serene and peaceful as imaginable. It appears there’s something in the woods waiting and itching to get them. Now, Tian has to figure out what the history of the remote island is in order to save everyone she loves (and she may discover what it might have to do with Liya’s true identity).
The tagline for this is “A feral fairy tale,” and it’s a queer work of folk horror.
The Devouring Light by Kat Ellis (10/7)
Haden Romero and her rival, Deacon Rex are with their respective bands on the way to a rock festival. But things go south quick and they find themselves stranded. Missing the show will suck and so will being stuck with someone she can’t stand.
But things get much worse very quickly. The house that everyone finds that seems like a safe place to rest is anything but. That house is hungry, and the bodies are piling up.
He’s So Possessed With Me by Corey Liu (10/14)
Described as “campy and bewitching,” with comps to Jennifer’s Body, this sounds so good.
Colin doesn’t believe Ren when he says he’s in love. Things took a real weird turn after the two of them were dancing in a club that they were too young to be in and then were harassed when they headed home. A ghost seemed to have come out of the woods and grabbed Ren, but Colin remembers absolutely nothing after that. What Colin does know is that Ren’s never been the same.
Now he’s got to turn to a ragtag group of people to help him overcome his self-doubt and save Ren before he makes the worst mistake of his life.
The Resurrectionist by Kathleen S. Allen (10/7)
In her dead dad’s journal, one he’d hidden away with the hopes of no one ever discovering, 17-year-old Dilly Rothbart finds the secrets for bringing a dead soul back to life.
Dilly sees her opportunity now to become the most important and famous scientist in the world. She’ll continue her dad’s work in whatever ways necessary. Grave robbing? Sure. Murder? No problem. She can bring these people back, which is all that matters.
But then Dilly’s twin sister intervenes. She wants Dilly to stop. But Dilly is hellbent on fame and she’ll stop at nothing to get it.
Frankenstein feels all the way down, with a killer cover to boot.
The Transition by Logan-Ashley Kisner (9/30)
It took forever for Hunter to finally convince his father to let him get top surgery. He’s now achieved that, but things take a turn quickly when Hunter is attacked by something in his backyard.
The good news is that Hunter’s best friend Gabe is there when it happens and he’s able to escape. But strange things begin to happen. Wounds heal oddly. Hunter’s teeth are falling out.
So when Hunter’s other bestie Mars points out that he’s been attacked by a werewolf and that he’s beginning to turn, the trio are in a race against time to save Hunter’s body and his life before he becomes something else entirely.
Who’s All Going to Die? by Lisa Springer (9/16)
Ariana is stoked to get away from home for a bit, thanks to an invitation from her new friend Oakley. Oakley’s parents own a wellness retreat in Barbados, and they’re offering to bring Ariana down for free.
Everything about The Dream retreat sounds good, but then Juniper-Moon, a wellness influencer, started to offer some strange activities. There are bee venom facials and strange mushroom tea ceremonies, yet those are the tip of the iceberg: there are a host of disturbing things happening around the island retreat.
Ariana wants out. But getting out may not be as easy as it seems for her or her friends. What was promised to be a retreat may, in fact, be deadly.
YA horror your jam? You’ll want to devour these gothic YA novels and these queer YA books about possessions and hauntings. If you haven’t yet discovered the world of Summer Scares yet, highlighting some of the best of the best in horror across three age categories, get to know the program and catch up with the previous YA picks.
