Queer horror and thrillers are growing in popularity among young adult readers. Like their readers, these genres are interested in pushing boundaries and going against convention. Challenging and empowering, the books on this list explore themes of fear, otherness and survival. Together they share an important message for young readers: when we stand together we can overcome any darkness.
The Afterdark
Written by E. Latimer
Tundra, 2025
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-12
Northcroft is an elite boarding school with a deadly secret. Each night as the bell tolls and the shutters slam down, cutting off the outside world, the Afterdark descends, turning the surrounding old growth forest into a macabre copy of itself. A negative photograph crawling with horrors. Evie Laurent is certain of one thing from the moment she sees Holland Morgan on the front steps of Northcroft: she wants to know everything there is to know about her.
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A House Unsettled
Written by Trynne Delaney
Annick Press, 2022
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-12
With her dad’s incarceration, escalating fights with her mom, and an overbearing stepdad she’s not sure she can trust, Asha is desperate for the fresh start promised by a move to the country. Her great aunt Aggie’s crumbling, pest-ridden house isn’t exactly what she had in mind, but the immediate connection she makes with her new neighbor Cole seems like a good sign. Soon, though, Asha’s optimism is shadowed by strange and disturbing occurrences within the old house’s walls: footsteps stalking the halls; a persistent chill; cold hands around her neck in the middle of the night . . .
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The City Beautiful
Written by Aden Polydoros
Inkyard Press, 2021
IL: Ages 13-18 RL: Grades 8-12
Chicago, 1893. For Alter Rosen, this is the land of opportunity, and he dreams of the day he’ll have enough money to bring his mother and sisters to America, freeing them from the oppression they face in his native Romania.
But when Alter’s best friend, Yakov, becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys, his dream begins to slip away. While the rest of the city is busy celebrating the World’s Fair, Alter is now living a nightmare: possessed by Yakov’s dybbuk, he is plunged into a world of corruption and deceit, and thrown back into the arms of a dangerous boy from his past. A boy who means more to Alter than anyone knows.
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Cold: A Novel
Written by Mariko Tamaki
Roaring Brook Press, 2022
IL: Ages 12-18 RL: Grades 7-12
Todd Mayer is dead. Now a ghost, hovering over his body, recently discovered in a snow covered park, naked and frozen. As detectives investigate Todd's homicide, talking to the very people linked to the events leading to his death, Todd replays the choice that led him to his end.
Georgia didn't know Todd. But ever since she heard about his death, she can’t stop thinking about him. Maybe because they’re both outcasts at their school, or because they’re both queer. Maybe because the story of Todd people keep telling feels like a lot of fake stories Georgia has heard people tell. Plus Georgia has a feeling she’s seen Todd somewhere before, somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.
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The Haunting of Adrian Yates
Written by Markus Harwood-Jones
Metonymy Press, 2023
IL: Ages 13-17 RL: Grades 8-12
Adrian Yates expected his summer would involve sharing Slurpees with his best friend Zoomer and pretending not to hear his dads’ whispered fighting. And that’s exactly how it was going, until the night Sorel appeared in the graveyard by Adrian’s apartment. Sorel gets Adrian in ways no one else has; the fact that he’s not technically alive only makes things exciting. But Sorel can’t always control his otherworldly behaviour, and Zoomer’s worried he might be hiding something.
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I Hope You’re Listening
Written by Tom Ryan
Albert Whitman & Company, 2021
IL: Ages 13-18 RL: Grades 8-12
In her small town, seventeen year-old Delia "Dee" Skinner is known as the girl who wasn't taken. Ten years ago, she witnessed the abduction of her best friend, Sibby. And though she told the police everything she remembered, it wasn't enough. Sibby was never seen again. At night, Dee deals with her guilt by becoming someone else: the Seeker, the voice behind the popular true crime podcast Radio Silent, which features missing persons cases and works with online sleuths to solve them. Nobody knows Dee's the Seeker, and she plans to keep it that way. When another little girl goes missing, and the case is linked to Sibby's disappearance, Dee has a chance to get answers, with the help of her virtual detectives and the intriguing new girl at school.
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Lockjaw
Written by Matteo L. Cerilli
Tundra, 2024
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-12
Chuck Warren died tragically at the old abandoned mill, but Paz Espino knows it was no accident — there's a monster under the town, and she's determined to kill it before anyone else gets hurt. She'll need the help of her crew — inseparable friends, bound by a childhood pact stronger than diamonds, distance or death — to hunt it down. But she's up against a greater force of evil than she ever could have imagined.
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No One Left But You
Written by Tash McAdam
Soho Press, 2023
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-12
BEFORE. Newly out trans guy Max is having a hard time in school. Things have been tough since his summer romance, Danny, turned into his bully. This year, Max's plan is to keep his head down and graduate. All that changes when new It Girl, Gloss, moves to town. No one understands why perfect, polished Gloss is so interested in an introverted skater kid, but Max blooms in the hothouse of her attention. Caught between romance and obsession, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her on his side.
AFTER. Haircuts, makeovers, drugs, parties. It’s all fun and games until someone gets killed at a rager gone terribly wrong. Max refuses to believe that Gloss did it. But if not Gloss, who?
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The Ones Who Come Back Hungry
Written by Amelinda Bérubé
Sourcebooks, 2024
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-12
After the sudden death of her perfect, popular older sister, Jo and her family feel empty. But days after crying at Audrey's graveside, Jo stumbles on the impossible: Audrey, standing barefoot in the snowy backyard. But Audrey isn't breathing. She's still marred with the evidence of an autopsy. She's decaying. And worst of all, Audrey is hungry, and only human blood can curb her relentless appetite.
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The Stars of Mount Quixx
Written by S.M. Beiko
ECW Press, 2023
IL: Ages 13-17 RL: Grades 8-12
Sent away for the summer, the Ivyweather sisters were promised a family vacation by their wealthy, indifferent parents. Two at-odds opposites — Constance an anxious society sweetheart and Ivory an adventure-struck rebel — the sisters aren’t sure what to make of the dangerously decayed town of Quixx and its creeping fog that never seems to lift. When Ivory disappears after a spat with her sister, Constance tracks her to the mountain, where the Ivyweathers learn the town’s hushed talk of monsters is more than just a rumor.
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Zombie Apocalypse Running Club
Written by Carrie Mac
Random House Publishing Group, 2024
IL: Ages 14-18 RL: Grades 9-12
Eira and Soren are queer twins living with their survivalist parents when a plague starts spreading that turns people into zombie-like monsters. They disagree with their parents about a lot, but they can't deny that their way of life keeps them safe while much of the world perishes--for now. When it becomes clear that their safety won't last, the twins decide to strike out on their own.
They don't get far before encountering the one remaining person in the closest town: their friend Racer, a gold medal-winning Special Olympics champion. Racer is appalled at the twins’ slow speed and tells them that their survivalist skills aren't worth anything if they can't outrun the monsters. He sets them on a training regimen that comes in handy when they embark on the bigger journey ahead of them.
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Book list curated by Spencer Miller