[ Up ]

Teen Reading List:
Horror

Anderson, M. T. - Thirsty

All Chris really wants is to be a normal kid, to hang out with his friends, and to fantasize about classmate Rebecca. But startling changes start to happen to him. Who do you turn to - when you're turning into a vampire? 

Beagle, Peter - Tamsin

Jennifer has just moved to an old estate in the English countryside with her family. Not long after her arrival, Jennifer meets Tasmin, a ghost who was killed on the estate over 300 years ago. To help Tasmin find peace, Jennifer must face the other entities that haunt her home. 

Duncan, Lois - Gallows Hill

Sarah knows she doesn't fit in at her new school, but she is past caring. Then the cute class president asks her to play the fortune-teller at the school carnival. What's weird is that she's good at it - too good. Is she psychic? Why is she the only one who sees images in the crystal ball? In Pine Crest, Massachusetts, they still believe in witches. 

Duncan, Lois - Night Terrors: Stories of Shadow and Substance

Psychologists use the term "night terrors" to describe experiences that are darker than nightmares, visions that can actually kill. In this collection of short stories, eleven top teen authors share stories that will make you want to sleep with the lights on. 

Fleischman, Paul - A Fate Totally Worse Than Death

When Norwegian exchange student Helga comes to Cliffside High and catches the eyes of the most popular boys, Danielle, Brooke and Tiffany decide to teach her a lesson just like they taught Charity who "jumped off" a cliff. But as they put their plan into action, each girl is afflicted with strange symptoms, from gray hair to incontinence. The girls think that Helga is Charity's ghost, but the reality is much more hilarious!

Gallo, Donald, editor - Short Circuits: Thirteen Shocking Stories

Warning: reading this book at night can be hazardous to your health. Your mental health, that is! This collection of stories is guaranteed to make your ski crawl and send shivers down your spine. All except for "A Nasty Muddy Ghost Dog," which will make you howl with laughter! 

Gee, Maurice - The Fat Man

"Revenge is better than chocolate," says Herbert Muskie. He's come back to his hometown to exact revenge on the kids who made fun of him in his school-years. 13-year-old Colin becomes a part of the scheme, when he steals some candy from Muskie. Now Colin must try to thwart the Fat Man's plans and save his parents. 

Hahn, Mary Downing - Look for Me by Moonlight

Cynda has come to live with her estranged father and his new family. Her dad lives in an old, spooky inn in Northern Maine where winter is long and lonely. When a mysterious stranger comes to the inn for an extended stay, what Cynda thinks is love at first sight might be something much more dangerous.

Klause, Annette Curtis - The Silver Kiss

Zoe spends time in the park when she is not at school or the hospital where her mother is dying of a terminal illness. There she meets a mysterious boy to whom she becomes attracted. He helps her come to terms with her mother's impending death in spite of his bizarre secret. 

Mahy, Margaret - The Tricksters

Ariadne Hamilton's Christmas holiday at her family's summer home takes a disturbing turn when characters from her own novel come to life and pay a visit.

Nixon, Joan Lowery - The Haunting

Can a house be possessed by the victim of an unspeakable crime from the past? Lia is faced with a living nightmare when she spends the night in a deserted plantation house. 

Nixon, Joan Lowery - Spirit Seeker

Holly's life becomes a nightmare when her boyfriend is suspected of murdering his own parents. Her search to prove him innocent takes a turn toward the supernatural when a clairvoyant begins to convince her of her own psychic connections. 

Reiss, Kathryn - Pale Phoenix

Miranda Browne is suspicious when her parents take in 13-year-old Abby as a foster child, especially since Abby seems able to disappear at will, and when she does, only Miranda can hear her crying. Eventually, Miranda learns Abby's mysterious and tragic secret involving the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s and helps to solve her problem. 

Singer, Marilyn - Deal with a Ghost

Deal moves to her mother's old hometown to live with her grandmother after her mother moves away with her new boyfriend. Deal finds that her usual game of stealing another girl's boyfriend takes on a haunting meaning at the haunted high school she now attends. 

Sleator, William - House of Stairs

Five -year-old orphans are forced to stay in a house with endless stairs to test their different psychological responses in a controlled experiment. The different personalities make for an interesting outcome. 

Stearns, Michael - A Nightmare's Dozen: Stories from the Dark

In this series of short stories, good intentions have horrifying results, monsters really do hide under the bed, simple tricks can become unending nightmares, and it is better not to have your dreams come true. 

Sweeney, Joyce - Shadow

Sarah dreams frightening dreams and sees things other people can't see. Only Cissy understands and explains her "gift." But that doesn't help her avoid the horror of the situation and the impact it has on her and others. 

Vande Velde, Vivian - Being Dead

Seven haunted souls tell their stories in this blissfully creepy collection of short stories. 

Vande Velde, Vivian - Companions of the Night

On a late night trip to the laundromat, 16-year-old Kerry inadvertently gets involved with a vampire named Ethan who has been captured by local vampire hunters. When the disbelieving Kerry helps Ethan to escape, the vampire hunters think she is in league with him and kidnap her father and brother. Then Kerry has to join forces with Ethan to find her family. 

Windsor, Patricia - The Blooding

What happens when the perfect summer job turns into a nightmare? Sixteen-year old Maris Pelham finds out when her position as a baby sitter in a small English town does just that.

Zindel, Paul - The Doom Stone

The Creature comes from deep beneath Salisbury Plain. It feeds on the bodies of those it stalked and on the minds of those it possessed. Nothing can stop it - not the British Army, not the famous anthropologist, and certainly not 15-year-old Jackson Cawley. 

Zindel, Paul - Rats

New York City is often compared to "the jungle," but there is one big difference, this New York has a rat problem. Big rats, mutant rats that escape from the Staten Island dump begin the invasion of New York City. With the help of Srah, and his pet rat Surfer, Michael manages to avert the "worst case scenario."