If your library has a Young Adult section, your library has horror novels. And they circulate (or mysteriously disappear from the shelves leaving a dark cloud of murk and despair). YA Horror Novel displays are easy to pull together (because there are so many horror novels) and easy to “sell” (because teens are loving the creepy stuff these days).

I decided to keep it simple – one main “Horror Novels: get your freak on” sign with a creepy haunted house background, and 4 accent signs highlighting different subgenres of horror. This is a good way to show teens that horror isn’t just blood, guts, and gore. It can be psychological, romantic, and mythological too. Basically anything scary, with a carefully crafted creepy tone goes.

You’ll have no problem scanning the shelves and pulling dozens of good horror novels, but here’s a list of a few great ones from various subgenres:

Young Adult Horror Novels:

Psychological Thrillers:

• White Space by Ilsa J. Bick
• The Vanishing Season
• Dead River by Cyn Balog
• Touched by Cyn Balog

Fantasy Horror:

• Here After by Kate Brian
• Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
• Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr
• The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Romantic Horror:

• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins
• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
• The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Ghost Stories:

• Possessed by Kate Cann
• Plague In The Mirror by Deborah Noyes
• Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore

Vampire Fiction:

• House of the Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
• I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Futuristic Horror:

• Eve by Anna Carey
• Strangelets by Michelle Gagnon

Adventure Horror:

• The Suburb Beyond the Stars by M.T. Anderson

Zombie Horror:

• Rot & Ruin by Johnathan Maberry
• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
• Walking Dead Graphic Novel Series by Robert Kirkman

Make Your Own YA Horror Display:

Feel free to use my free downloadable signs to create an easy horror display in your YA section.

• Horror Subgenres Signs
• Horror Novels Display Sign
• YA Horror Novel Booklist

What are your favourite YA Horror Novels?