Horror novels offer readers more than just goosebumps; spine-tingling tales often explore deeper themes through subtext and character development. From haunted houses to spook-tastic bumps in the night, frightful situations are prime fodder for teen fiction. Here’s a fresh crop of bone-chilling works that will have teens reading with the lights on.

Grant, Michael. The Tattooed Heart: A Messenger of Fear Novel. 400p. ebook available. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Bks. Sept. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780062207432.

Gr 9 Up –Mara and the Messenger of Fear are back to mete out their particularly brutal brand of justice to those who have caused harm to themselves as well as to others. In this outing, they track two cases, one involving two teenage boys who have committed heinous hate crimes as well as those who have caused a young teenage runaway to overdose on illegal drugs. As in Messenger of Fear (HarperCollins, 2014), the punishments dispensed by the Messenger and his apprentice are graphic and will cause some readers to wince, though those who like their stories on the gory side will enjoy this work tremendously. Grant adequately expands the series’ universe, gives readers more of the Messenger’s backstory, and explains why he does what he does. There is sufficient summary at the start of this volume for those who have not read the previous title, but readers’ experience will be greatly enhanced if they have. The ending is a bit rushed, yet teens will be satisfied with a few loose ends. VERDICT This will appeal to fans of the first installment as well as those who enjoy gory reads.–Christopher Lassen, Brooklyn Public Library

Kurtagich, Dawn. The Dead House. 416p. ebook available. Little, Brown. Sept. 2015. Tr $18. ISBN 9780316298681.

Gr 8 Up –This creepy boarding school novel meshes real world issues with a paranormal mystery in a fun but scary debut. Carly Johnson might have dissociative identity disorder, where the trauma of her parents’ fatal car accident resulted in the creation of a nocturnal alter personality named Kaitlyn. Or there might be something supernatural at work, since Kaitlyn claims she and Carly have shared the same body and life since birth and may have been responsible for their parents’ deaths. A stint in a mental institution doesn’t help, and soon Kaitlyn realizes that the Carly personality seems to have disappeared. Told as an official report investigating the mystery of a fatal fire, this novel includes diary entries, notes, interviews, and transcripts from a video camera. One friend uses a fictional kind of Scottish witchcraft to unravel the mystery of the girls’ identity, there’s a complicated romance, and the diary itself, named Dee, becomes a menacing, ghostly apparition. Is this a creative exploration of mental illness, or a straightforward horror story? The multiple unanswered questions feel intriguing rather than frustrating. Fans of horror novels will appreciate the creepy photographs scattered throughout, and the multiple perspectives are smoothly integrated. VERDICT A worthy addition to high school horror collections.–Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City

Liggett, Kim. Blood and Salt. 352p. ebook available. Putnam. Sept. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780399166488.

Gr 9 Up –Dead bodies in a cornfield in the middle of Kansas, a mysterious ritual centuries in the making, visions of a dead girl, and the sinister plotting of an immortal Francisco Vázquez de Coronado all conspire to turn New York City teen Ash Larkin’s life upside down in this complicated but original paranormal tale. Ash and her twin brother take off for Kansas to find their mother, who has decided to return to the cult she escaped when she was pregnant with them. Their spotty knowledge of family history and Ash’s increasingly disturbing visions about her ancestors do not prepare the siblings for the people in the insular community of Quivira, who have clearly been waiting for them. Thrown into the center of a ritual she does not understand, Ash must sort through violent visions of 16th-century love, loss, and betrayal in order to find her mother and protect her brother. Help comes in the form of a handsome boy she’s not sure she can trust. What readers know of the key players’ complex histories and motivations changes as things are revealed to Ash in her visions, which makes the narrative difficult to follow at times. However, Liggett keeps things moving along with plenty of sexy, frightening, and funny moments. While the history gets a bit convoluted, the idea that when Coronado wandered into Kansas looking for gold, he stumbled across immortality and is still around, pulling puppet strings in a doomsday cult, is too good to pass up. VERDICT A sweeping, scary, and entertaining paranormal read.–Beth McIntyre, Madison Public Library, WI

Sirowy, Alexandra. The Creeping. 448p. ebook available. S. & S. Aug. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781481418867.

Gr 9 Up –Eleven years after two six-year-old girls disappear from the appropriately named town of Savage, this satisfyingly chilling debut finds 17-year-old Stella, the girl who returned, trying to figure out a way to move on from the tragedy. The mystery of why Stella made it back while her friend Jeanie did not has never been solved, nor has Jeanie’s body ever been recovered, and Stella has no memory of the event. However, when the teen stumbles upon another little girl’s corpse on the anniversary of Jeanie’s disappearance, shards of memories from her younger self push their way through and she starts trying to find more answers. Burgeoning love interest Sam and bubbly best friend Zoey might not get along, but they provide solid supporting roles in her search, and a cast of typical small-town characters (the quirky, and witchlike neighbor who spouts vaguely useful clues and the helpful but possibly reliable policeman who might not be as trustworthy as Stella originally believes) lend a hand as well. Sirowy successfully weaves in an unnerving supernatural backstory, but the book’s very human conclusion is far more frightening than any of the town’s superstitions. VERDICT A solid choice for horror fans, this novel will is a spook-tastic spine-tingler.–Joanna Sondheim, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, New York City

Tucholke, Genevieve, ed. Slasher Girls & Monster Boys: Stories Selected by April Genevieve Tucholke. 400p. ebook available. Dial. Aug. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780803741737.

Gr 9 Up –This solid anthology brings together high quality fiction from some of the best young adult writers in the field. All of the 14 entries were inspired by horror stories drawn from literature, television, film, and music, creating a unique spin on classic tales of terror (and at the end of each story, the writer indicates the source of their inspiration). Selected by the author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Dial, 2013) and its sequel, these chilling tales are full of suspense and dread that will haunt readers long after the last page has been turned. The diversity of content and the variety of writing styles makes this collection a top choice for fans of horror and supernatural. Many of these stories could easily be expanded into a novel; most noteworthy are “Hide-and-Seek” by Megan Shepard, “Stitches” by A. G. Howard, “Verse Chorus Verse” by Leigh Bardugo, “Sleepless” by Jay Kristoff, and “The Dark, Scary Parts and All” by Danielle Paige. VERDICT Worth checking out, but not for the faint of heart.–Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY