Books to Give You Chills: 13+ Scary Titles for Ages 13 and up

Summer is here! And that means loads of time for kids to experience books in all their glory. This is also a great time to encourage kids to read the books they choose (without having to worry about school assignments) and to try out new genres that they might be interested in learning more about.
This series will offer titles for toddlers to teens and include a variety of formats. Each week will focus on a different genre and will follow the same format:

• Mondays – Titles for Ages 3-7
• Tuesdays – Middle Grade Titles for Ages 8-12
• Wednesdays – Young Adult Titles for Ages 13+
• Thursdays – Nonfiction pairings
• Friday – Recap of the Week

Young Adult
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
“Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home. Yet she spares Cas’s life.” (Taken from Goodreads)

Asylum by Madeleine Roux
“As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home (a renovated sanatorium), they soon discover it’s no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux’s teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.” (Taken from Goodreads)

Dreamfall by Amy Plum
After taking part in an experimental treatment for insomnia, Kata and six other teens find themselves trapped in a dream world where they are hunted by creatures only they can imagine and tormented by their darkest secrets.

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
Based on a well-known Japanese ghost story, think Dexter meets The Grudge in this YA story of ghosts, exorcism and secrets.

Liar by Justine Larbalestier
“Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as naturally as breathing? ” (Taken from Goodreads)

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
Kacey moves to Brooke Falls where everything feels very idyllic to her father’s family who are “the perfect family” to best friends and high school. But when one of Kacey’s friends doesn’t make it home from the biggest party of the year, maybe Brooke Falls isn’t all that Kacey believes it to be.

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
Will Henry works as an assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthorpe, a monstumologist, or a person who studies monsters, so very little surprises him. Until, a grave robber calls in the middle of the night with their most gruesome case yet.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
“Benny doesn’t want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zombies for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.” (Taken from Goodreads)

Shutter by Courtney Alameda
Micheline Helsing can see the undead and spends her days capturing their souls using her analog SLR, until a ghost hunt goes awry and now she must save herself and her friends from a more powerful entity than she’s ever dealt with before, all while also running away as a rogue agent.

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys edited by April Genevieve Tucholke
An anthology of creepy tales as young adult authors draw from a classic tale to create something thrilling, horrific, supernatural and so much more.

Ten by Gretchen McNeil
An exclusive house party on an island goes from the weekend of their lives to an Agatha Christie situation in And Then There Were None as a killer starts picking off the teens one by one during a storm that cuts all connection to the mainland.

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
“One by one, the students of Osborne Hugh begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasingly grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and her feelings for Ollie intensify, Makani is forced to confront her own dark secrets.” (Taken from Goodreads)

The Third Twin by C.J. Omololu
Identical twins, Lexi and Ava used to blame their own wrongdoing on an imaginary third twin they named Alicia. But now the girls are in high school and their childhood game is getting out of control as “Alicia’s” boyfriend ends up dead and soon another boy is killed and all evidence points to “Alicia.”

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
Five short stories told in the graphic novel format are sure to make you think twice before entering the woods next time.