Is There a Thriving YA Horror Genre?

It's a niche. A niche well-filled by people like Rick Yancey and Brenna Yovanoff, but a niche. We horror geeks have always been a bit off-center. And it was definitely bigger in the 90s. The RL Stines and Christopher Pikes of yesteryear just aren't around anymore. They're still writing, but they seem to have hopped on the PNR bandwagon from what I can tell.

As for it being easier to find for people who look for it regularly--it depends. I find a lot of a great, random stuff in the library. The Devouring is proper teen horror. As is The Monstrumologist. Also Bad Girls Don't Die, but those are more fun than scary--good stuff, I love those books. Then there's The Turning, which is a YA modernization of The Turn of the Screw, but IMO it's pretty weak.

It's out there, but decidedly, noticeably less popular than PNR and dystopia. At least right now.

Pretty sure that the Darren Shan series counts as MG/YA-horror, and the Demonata series by Darren Shan counts as YA-horror.

I read the Darren Shan series and enjoyed it. Read the first chapter of the Demonata and haven't checked out the rest, because the change of protagonist has put me off a bit, but it's on my to-read list.

Thought of a few more: Tessa Gratton's Blood Magic, which is technically filed under PNR, but it's pretty grisly. Appropriately so. The flashback/epistolary scenes were my favorite bits.

Scott Westerfield's Midnighters is dark fantasy, but the monsters are freaky-looking. Definitely some Lovecraftian weirdness going on there.

Also, I haven't read Gone yet, but it got blurbed by Stephen King. I think it's classified as horror.

Oh, and Cryer's Cross as well. Don't let the paperback cover fool you--it's horror.

Want to know if there's a demand for YA horror (not romance-with-horror-elements)? Check for agents/publishers asking to see YA horror manuscripts.

From my cursory check, there's not a lot of interest right now.

MostlyBecca said:

I hadn't really been thinking of it as horror. Dark fantasy, maybe. I'm probably thinking of YA horror too much in terms of what makes adult horror what it is.

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So many times I've asked for YA horror recs and been directed to Dark Fantasy. The Mara Dyer book series comes up nearly every single time, and as far as I'm concerned, they are not horror at all. It's annoying, because I'm not really so much of a fantasy fan.

MartinD said:

Want to know if there's a demand for YA horror (not romance-with-horror-elements)? Check for agents/publishers asking to see YA horror manuscripts.

From my cursory check, there's not a lot of interest right now.

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I wonder if that's because people aren't writing it. It's not like they've been flying off the bookshelves in previous years so it can't be to do with overkill.

I'd love love love to see more YA Horror about, personally.

I certainly hope so, because that's primarily what I write. Though it doesn't seem to be as popular as other genres. Genuinely good horror is hard to write because the hardcore horror fans have been there, done that, and it's hard to bring something fresh and new to the table that really scares them (or us, I guess I should say).

The only YA horror that's really creeped me out was The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. It's technically dystopian, and I was home alone and reading it late at night, which might have contributed to the creep factor. But it's worth a look if you don't mind zombies and a decent amount of romance.

MostlyBecca said:

I've actually read this one and it was pretty much straight dystopian. I do find it interesting that Stephen King wrote a blurb for it. But then again, he has written some dystopian, so maybe they were going for that angle instead of horror.

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I've read it too, love, love, love the series, but I didn't think of it as dystopian at all. I think of dystopian as more of a government falling apart, new world order type of thing. The Gone series was different, not horror, but not dystopian either. I'm not suprised that Stephen King gave it blurb, I think he wrote about a town trapped under a dome, and the series reminded me strongly of The Regulators.

Speaking of Christopher Pike, I found a few of his books at my local used book store for .50 cents. I snapped them all up; I still have great affection for his stories. I still have some of his "adult" novels too, which I would classify more as new adult.

I'd like to see YA horror get more play, and I do think we're due for an upswing in that genre. Dystopian is running it's course right now (I love it, but it's so hit and miss), so I think something new is around the corner.
I'd also like to see a return of MG mystery/horror. The Dollhouse Murders, Behind the Attic Wall, even Bunnicula and The Egypt Game, all books I loved as a kid.

ellio said:

I wonder if that's because people aren't writing it. It's not like they've been flying off the bookshelves in previous years so it can't be to do with overkill.

I'd love love love to see more YA Horror about, personally.

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As would I. But if you can't read it, write it. And I am. LOTS. *points to signature*

I do have a deadline for this one, actually--I want to send it to Strange Chemistry for their open submission call. Fingers crossed!

/pimpage

Dia Reeves writes YA horror. I've never been interested enough to read past a few pages, though.

I like horror. A lot. But I don't think there's much of a market for it in YA. Therefor, I don't write it.

And I don't think I've ever read a really good YA horror book that wasn't disguised as a lukewarm romance. Everyone was raving about Anna Dressed in Blood a few months ago. I haven't read it yet, but from some reviews I've read, it's not really horror, either.

One of the first books I've ever reviewed was The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I did not like it. Too much bad romance and not anything remotely horrific or dystopic, IMO.

MG horror, however? Skeleton Man and The Babysitter were some of the scariest things I ever read in the middle of the night when I was 10. MG horror has YA horror kicked squarely in the ass.

TaintedBoo said:

I'd also like to see a return of MG mystery/horror. The Dollhouse Murders, Behind the Attic Wall, even Bunnicula and The Egypt Game, all books I loved as a kid.

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Did you pilfer my bookshelf? I loved these books. The Dollhouse Murders creeped me the F@*& out when I was a kid. I loved the Bunnicula stuff.

The Egypt Game! I thought I was the only one who had that book.

I have copies of all these on my bookshelf.

What about The Headless Cupid?

As for YA horror, yeah not seen much of it. However, I am hoping to bring that stuff back. I hope to have a pretty decent yarn at the end of this draft. I consider it horror.

ArcticFox said:

Did you pilfer my bookshelf? I loved these books. The Dollhouse Murders creeped me the F@*& out when I was a kid. I loved the Bunnicula stuff.

The Egypt Game! I thought I was the only one who had that book.

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Loved all of the above, and also: Wait Til Helen Comes, The Westing Game, and Christina's Ghost.

Also, Stone Words: A Ghost Story. That was an amazing book.

@Cory: Agreed on The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Lukewarm romance (with a love triangle, one of my favorite things /sarcasm) with zombies in it. And not nearly enough rending of flesh from bones.

I too would love to see more MG and YA horror. The Monstrumologist books are awesome. I'd also recommend WHITE CROW by Marcus Sedgwick.

My books are YA horror. I've done pretty good with them. I just won a White Pine award too (teens pick the winners, not the adults)

So yeah, I'd say horror is still alive.

There are a few coming out this year and more coming next year. Jenn Johannsson's INSOMNIA and April Tucholke's BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA are being released soon. My critique partner got a really good deal for her Bloody Mary book, which is a fall 2014 release. Most of what I write is Gothic horror, less blood and guts and more of a dark and paranoid atmosphere. My book being released next is a pretty dark YA Gothic paranormal that has some horror elements, and my agent's gotten some early interest in my WIP, which is a contemporary Gothic horror. There are several YA horror authors under contract with publishers now, and in the next year, I guarantee you'll be seeing more of it hit the shelves. There's a pretty good variety as well regardless of whether you want the hack-and-slash or moody, dark houses or monster horrors. A lot of people will say horror has to scare the hell out of you, but horror fiction is designed to induce terror (the dread of facing a fear, be it a world infested with zombies or girls who have a seance gone wrong or the psychological undoing of a person) and horror, which is revulsion after seeing something terrifying. It is a much broader genre than what most presume, hence why books like ANNA DRESSED IN A BLOOD are indeed horror. I focused on Gothic literature in college, and I remember writing a paper of what constitutes American horror and its roots, why movies like Saw and Hitchcock films fall into the horror genre. Loved that subject and glad to see horror is starting to show up again.

I also think there's a difference between saying something is thriving and saying it's simply alive. Sure, horror in YA is alive, but I don't think it's thriving. Just like I don't think YA psychological thrillers are thriving (though they're steadily coming back—though, with romantic subplots). Or YA westerns, which I think, for the most part, are dead.

YA sci-fi is thriving. YA gothic romances are kind of thriving, in vein of Beautiful Creatures and the countless revisions of old gothic novels. YA contemp romance will always exist steadily. The Sarah Dessen novel will never die. YA PNR/UF was thriving hard to the point of being annoying.

I honestly would like to see more straight up contemporary horror in YA. Not post-apocalyptic novels, which while they contain elements of horror, are not horror novels. Not "dystopic" novels with horror elements. I'd like things resembling Sinister, The Exorcist, The Boogeyman, Coraline, Misery, Rosemary's Baby, and etc...

I like romance and zombies and sci-fi more than anyone I know (hell, I write contemp romance), but horror doesn't necessarily need those elements. I could go for one or two YA horror books without those three hitting it big to prove that YA doesn't need romance in it to be successful. I am, for the most part, sick of Team X and Team Y.

But that's just what I like. And what I like does not necessarily jive with the main YA audience. Misery is quite possibly one of my favorite novels of all time, and I'd love to see a YA writer go deep into psychological thriller mode. Maybe I should write it.


What would we call Flowers in the Attic? A psychological gothic thriller... or what?

MrsBrommers said:

There are a few coming out this year and more coming next year. Jenn Johannsson's INSOMNIA and April Tucholke's BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA are being released soon. My critique partner got a really good deal for her Bloody Mary book, which is a fall 2014 release. Most of what I write is Gothic horror, less blood and guts and more of a dark and paranoid atmosphere. My book being released next is a pretty dark YA Gothic paranormal that has some horror elements, and my agent's gotten some early interest in my WIP, which is a contemporary Gothic horror. There are several YA horror authors under contract with publishers now, and in the next year, I guarantee you'll be seeing more of it hit the shelves. There's a pretty good variety as well regardless of whether you want the hack-and-slash or moody, dark houses or monster horrors. A lot of people will say horror has to scare the hell out of you, but horror fiction is designed to induce terror (the dread of facing a fear, be it a world infested with zombies or girls who have a seance gone wrong or the psychological undoing of a person) and horror, which is revulsion after seeing something terrifying. It is a much broader genre than what most presume, hence why books like ANNA DRESSED IN A BLOOD are indeed horror. I focused on Gothic literature in college, and I remember writing a paper of what constitutes American horror and its roots, why movies like Saw and Hitchcock films fall into the horror genre. Loved that subject and glad to see horror is starting to show up again.

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This makes me so happy, you have no idea. Although I guess mine falls in the dreaded category of horror-with-romance-elements. But I like to tell myself the horror elements are actually scary.

MrsBrommers said:

girls who have a seance gone wrong

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This is my WIP in a nutshell.

It's also a romance (don't hate), mystery, and coming to terms with traumatic events story.
But it starts with a seance gone wrong, and just snowballs from there.

I also the love for The Egypt Game, it's one of those books I'm trying to force my nine year old to read, because it's just that good.

thebloodfiend said:

I also think there's a difference between saying something is thriving and saying it's simply alive. Sure, horror in YA is alive, but I don't think it's thriving. Just like I don't think YA psychological thrillers are thriving (though they're steadily coming back—though, with romantic subplots). Or YA westerns, which I think, for the most part, are dead.

YA sci-fi is thriving. YA gothic romances are kind of thriving, in vein of Beautiful Creatures and the countless revisions of old gothic novels. YA contemp romance will always exist steadily. The Sarah Dessen novel will never die. YA PNR/UF was thriving hard to the point of being annoying.

I honestly would like to see more straight up contemporary horror in YA. Not post-apocalyptic novels, which while they contain elements of horror, are not horror novels. Not "dystopic" novels with horror elements. I'd like things resembling Sinister, The Exorcist, The Boogeyman, Coraline, Misery, Rosemary's Baby, and etc...

I like romance and zombies and sci-fi more than anyone I know (hell, I write contemp romance), but horror doesn't necessarily need those elements. I could go for one or two YA horror books without those three hitting it big to prove that YA doesn't need romance in it to be successful. I am, for the most part, sick of Team X and Team Y.

But that's just what I like. And what I like does not necessarily jive with the main YA audience. Misery is quite possibly one of my favorite novels of all time, and I'd love to see a YA writer go deep into psychological thriller mode. Maybe I should write it.


What would we call Flowers in the Attic? A psychological gothic thriller... or what?

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Good grief -- that book. I've seen it categorized as "gothic horror" and "horror" and "YA." So, I don't know. I agree with "psychological gothic" though.

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I wouldn't say Horror is thriving in YA. But I'd love to see it boom and I think it could in the future. With some writers here and all .

Yes, let's write some horror and get it sold!