Welcome fellow Children of the Night. Complied for your dark enjoyment are some of the best horror titles in YA literature. There are books for those of you just getting into the horror genre, titles for readers just be looking for a bit of a fright and novels for teens brave enough to test their scare limits. There are murders, mysteries, unwound organs and supernatural creatures roaming every single page of this collection. Take a deep breath, turn off the lights and dare to enter!! 

                                                                                                                 

For the Faint of Heart 

For readers looking for a little scare, these titles are perfect. 

Not too bloody and not terribly gruesome, the following books pack the right amount of fright to make teens jump, but not feel the need to leave the lights on at night. 

Becker, Tom  Darkside 
(Book #1 of the Darkside Series) 
14 year old Jonathon has never had a normal, boring life living in London. His mother disappeared long before he could remember and his father suffers from a dark addiction that leaves him in a coma. From this life of darkness, Jonathon learns he is the next to be targeted. His only way out leads him to Darkside, a city where vampires, werewolves and other fearsome creatures roam the streets. It’s up to Jonathon to navigate this dangerous world and save himself. 

Black, Holly  The Coldest Girl in Coldtown 

Imagine waking up one morning, only to be surrounded by the corpses of all your friends. The only other two left alive are your infected ex-boyfriend and a mysterious vampire. This is what happens to Tana. In her world, there are walled cities called Coldtowns where vampires, and those infected with the vampire disease are forced to reside. Tana must get the two boys within the walls and find a way to save herself from being infected and turning into one of them herself. 

Collier, James Lincoln  The Empty Mirror
Orphaned after a terrible epidemic swept the country and killed his parents, Nick Hodges was raised by his Uncle Jack in a small town. After a series of unfortunate events, shadowy figures of the woods, creepy graveyards and being framed for a horrible problem in town. Nick has to discover the terrible secrets of his past and find the answers before something truly horrible happens. 

Gaiman, Neil  The Graveyard Book 
After his family is murdered, a small boy escapes his home and wanders into a nearby graveyard. Taking pity on the orphaned boy, the ghosts and spirits agree to take the boy in and raise him as their own. Known as Nobody Owens, the young boy lives and grows up among the dead. What the boy doesn't know is that danger lurks outside of the gates for him when the man who killed his family comes back looking to finish the job. 

Poblocki, Dan  The Nightmarys
Timothy July and Abigail Tremens are classmates who share a terrible secret: they both suffer from horrible nightmares. When a class project brings them together, they learn that their nightmares are curses which turn their worst fears into a reality. It’s up to them to figure out what caused this curse, why they are the target and how to destroy it before it destroys them. 
                                                                                                                

Dare to be Scared? 

If the other books were a little to tame, a little to safe, don't fear because there are other books for you. Vampires, monsters, spirits, murder and mayhem are just the beginning in these takes of terror. 

Blake, Kendare  Anna Dressed in Blood 

Killing the dead is what Cas Lockwood was born to do. After his father is killed by a ghost, his mother (who happens to be a witch), the cat and him set off across the country to do what they do best. It isn’t until Cas comes across the ghost of Anna, a girl dressed all in white and covered in stains of blood, that he meets his match. This vicious ghost has killed anyone who dares enter her house, except for Cas, why? 

Riggs, Ransom Miss Peregrine’s Home of Peculiar Children 
(the sequel, Hollow City, is coming out Jan. 14,2014)

After a family tragedy, Jacob is shipped off to a mysterious island off the coast of Wales. Stumbling across an old, broke down building, Jacob enters and finds a trunk of old, weird photographs. Jacob sees the children who lived there in the past, children which included his grandfather. Children who very well may still be alive, dangerous and looking to escape the home they were forced to live in. 

Shan, Darren  Lord Loss 

(Book #1 of the Demonata series) 

Massacred parents, an extreme chess game played to save one’s fate and finding out that fate condemns you to being a werewolf are all the realities which face Grubs Grady. It’s up to him to face Lord Loss, ruler of the demons, and survive. Will he seal his fate or will he wind up like his family? 

Shusterman, Neal Unwind

(Book #1 of the Unwind Dystology) 

In this future society, abandoned and unwanted teens are used as donors. They’e force to have their organs unwounded and transplanted into more productive bodies so life doesn’t have to end for everyone. Connor, Levi and Risa are three teens threatened to have their organs harvested for the greater good of society. It’s up to them to team up and escape their gruesome fate. 

Yovanoff, Breanna  The Replacement 

Mackie doesn’t belong in the world he grew up in, he’s a replacement for a human child that was kidnapped many years ago. Now, the same thing has happened again and he can’t ignore it.For too long the town has denied the darkness that’s existed and it’s up to Mackie to go against everything (and everyone) and find answers that dwell deep beneath the city. Answers that the lives of humans, as well as his own, hinge on.