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Sometimes I Read YA Horror

I don't always read horror… sometimes I read… YA horror.

By: Ashley aka @bookishmommy


Do you ever need a break from the truly terrifying (and oftentimes disgusting) topics? Well, I do... so I've got a solution. Add some YA* horror to the mix. Here are 7 books categorized as YA horror that I absolutely loved and 3 that I'm dying to read:


*YA = young adult.


7 YA horror books I’ve read and loved (in no particular order):


1. The Babysitters Coven by Kate Williams, buy here. “Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this funny, action-packed novel about a coven of witchy babysitters who realize their calling to protect the innocent and save the world from an onslaught of evil.” (blurb via Amazon) 

This book was SO much fun and perfect to read around Halloween (but anytime is fine, of course!) Also, there is a SEQUEL coming this fall!


2. Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall, buy here. “In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister--at all costs.” (blurb via Amazon)

The documentary-style storytelling is addicting!


3. Five Midnights by Ann Davila Cardinal, buy here. “Ann Dávila Cardinal's Five Midnights is a “wickedly thrilling” (William Alexander) and “flat-out unputdownable” (Paul Tremblay) novel based on the el Cuco myth set against the backdrop of modern-day Puerto Rico.” (blurb via Amazon)

I’m always looking for retellings or books based on myths or folklore. Five Midnights combines the myth of el Cuco with the horrors of drugs and addiction. Looking forward to the sequel to this book coming this summer!


4. Wilder Girls by Rory Power, buy here.  “A feminist Lord of the Flies about three best friends living in quarantine at their island boarding school, and the lengths they go to uncover the truth of their confinement when one disappears. This fresh, new debut is a mind-bending novel unlike anything you've read before.” (blurb via Amazon) 

Body horror at its finest!


5. Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderso, buy here. “Veronica Mars meets The Craft when a teen girl investigates the suspicious deaths of three classmates and accidentally ends up bringing them back to life to form a hilariously unlikely--and unwilling--vigilante girl gang.” (blurb via Amazon)



6. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White, buy here. “a stunning and dark reimagining of Frankenstein that internationally bestselling author Stephanie Garber raves  "exquisitely disturbing." (blurb via Amazon)

The Dark Descent is so atmospheric and a delightful retelling that gave me the same dark foreboding as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.


7. House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin Craig, buy here. An eerie, lovely Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling full of ghosts and gods and a fascinating waterfront world and I'm reading it from behind my fingers." (Melissa Albert, New York Times best-selling author of The Hazel Wood)”

AND… the three books I'm dying to read:

1. The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton, buy here. “a haunting maelstrom of magic and murder in the lush, moody Pacific Northwest.” (blurb via Amazon)

2. The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich, buy here. “Debut author Dawn Kurtagich is dead on in this terrifying psychological thriller!” (blurb via Amazon)

3. The Haunted by Danielle Vega, buy here. “a new paranormal novel about dark family secrets, deep-seated vengeance, and the horrifying truth that evil often lurks in the unlikeliest of places.” (blurb via Amazon)

Note: I'm linking the books via Bookstore Link which was created by LibroFM where you can purchase books directly from your local independent bookstore instead of using the BIG NAME. You know who I'm talking about. "Pick a book. Pick a store. Share the link. Support independent bookstores."




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