YA Horror, Thrillers, & Suspense

Find mystery, action, and the occasional monster in this curated Collection devoted to YA Horror, Thrillers, & Suspense. With selections ranging from crime fiction to fantasy novels, this Collection includes a broad range of spine-tingling stories and themes that explore the darker side of human nature.

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Class, Grief / Death, Education, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Society: Class

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Survival Fiction, Social Justice, Politics / Government, Class, Love / Sexuality


Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure

The Maze Runner is a young adult dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. The story begins in a dark metal elevator, where a teenage boy awakens with no real memories other than the fact that his name is Thomas. When the elevator stops and the doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by teenage boys. Their leader, a boy named Alby, welcomes Thomas to the Glade. Thomas quickly sees that the Glade is surrounded by... Read The Maze Runner Summary


Publication year 1920

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Society: Class, Relationships: Marriage

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Class, Grief / Death, Immigration / Refugee, Psychology, WWI / World War I, British Literature, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Classic Fiction

The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written by Agatha Christie in 1920, is the first of her novels to feature Hercule Poirot. The small, fastidious Belgian is one of her most iconic characters and among the most famous fictional detectives in the world. The novel is exemplary of the “cozy mystery,” in which well-heeled figures work out the solutions to complex, puzzle-like murders within comfortable settings. This one takes place during the years of the Great... Read The Mysterious Affair at Styles Summary


Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Grief / Death, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Children's Literature, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt

Tags Action / Adventure, Children's Literature, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

The Raft, by S.A. Bodeen, tells the castaway story of Robie, a young woman who survives an airplane crash in the Pacific Ocean. The crash occurs as she attempts to return from a trip to visit her aunt in Honolulu.Other work by this author includes the novel, The Compound.The story is set in motion when Robie’s aunt is called away for workand allows Robie to remain at her apartment unsupervised. Robie is attacked on the... Read The Raft Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Fate, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Action / Adventure, Animals, Education, Arts / Culture, Natural Disaster, Philosophy, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Sports, Relationships, Science / Nature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Community, Relationships: Teams, Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Children's Literature, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Future, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Action / Adventure, Military / War, Climate Change, Relationships, Futurism, Fantasy, Romance

Published in 2013,The Testing is the first in a dystopian young adult trilogy by Joelle Charbonneau; it is Charbonneau’s first venture into YA fiction. The Testing is often compared to Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games due to its dystopian setting and the similarity of the brutal, life-or-death situations to which each series’ teen protagonists are subjected. The Testing received the Anthony Award for Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel in 2014 and was nominated for several other... Read The Testing Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Fathers

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Crime / Legal, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Relationships, Parenting, Modernism, Modern Classic Fiction

The Whisper Man, released in August 2019, is a crime thriller by British author Alex North about the potential resurgence of a serial child murderer known as the Whisper Man and how it entangles various characters in a small town. North claims he got the idea for the book after his son mentioned “the boy in the floor.” Through criminal investigation and the lives of a father and son, North explores the nature of intergenerational... Read The Whisper Man Summary


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family

Tags Realistic Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness, LGBTQ

This Is Where It Ends is the 2016 young adult novel by Marieke Nijkamp. As Principal Trenton concludes the annual first-day-of-spring-semester speech at Alabama’s Opportunity High School, Tyler Browne locks students inside the auditorium and commits a school shooting that leaves thirty-nine people dead. Narrated in four different first-person accounts, by seniors Autumn, Sylv, Tomas, and Claire, This Is Where It Ends traces the fifty-five minutes, from 10:00 to 10:55 a.m., that encompass moments before... Read This Is Where It Ends Summary


Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Siblings

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Children's Literature, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Fathers, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Romance, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, New Adult, Trauma / Abuse / Violence


Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Action / Adventure, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Trapped opens an unspecified amount of time after the completion of the story’s events. Scotty Weems (nicknamed Weems) introduces himself as the narrator and details the severity of the nor’easter (a type of snowstorm specific to the New England region) around which the book centers. Chapter 2 returns to the day the storm began, and events work their way forward.Due to the storm, school will let out early. Weems is upset because his basketball game... Read Trapped Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags Realistic Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus is a middle-grade thriller that embraces the trappings of true crime and high school romance to create an engaging, knotty mystery. Published in January 2019, it is the New York Times bestselling follow-up to One of Us Is Lying and is McManus’s second book. Plot SummaryTwo Can Keep a Secret is a story of two high schoolers told in alternating first-person point of view. The first... Read Two Can Keep a Secret Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Politics / Government, Psychology, Technology, Religion / Spirituality, American Literature, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

UnWholly (2012) by Neal Shusterman is Book 2 in the Unwind Dystology. Shusterman originally planned the series to be a dystopia trilogy, but the third book, UnSouled, was split into two for publication due to length. While it was nominated for several awards in Young Adult literature, it did not win any, in contrast to the first book of the series, Unwind, which won nearly a dozen awards and prizes. UnWholly is science fiction, specifically... Read UnWholly Summary


Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure

Unwind (2007) is a young adult novel by Neal Shusterman. It is the first book in the Unwind Dsytology, which includes UnWholly, UnSouled, and UnDivided, as well as the short story “UnStrung” and the UnBound anthology. This dystopian narrative takes place in a future United States where citizens fought a Second Civil War over abortion. As a result, parents can now opt to have children between 13 and 18 “unwound”—dismembered—in special harvest camps. Because most... Read Unwind Summary


Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance

We Were Liars is a 2014 young-adult novel by E. Lockhart, a pen name of writer Emily Jenkins. The book tells the story of Cady (short for Cadence), who is nearly 18, as she recounts the story of her life. She is a member of the wealthy New England Sinclair family whose patriarch and matriarch, Harris and Tipper, still dominate the family as the story begins. The Sinclair family is so wealthy that it owns... Read We Were Liars Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Gender / Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1966

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Classic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Psychological Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Gender / Feminism, Parenting, American Literature, Post-War Era, Education, Education, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction