9 Spooky Horror Books Set in High School | Book Riot (2024)

The stares, the snickers, the constant teasing from the students at Roanoke High—combined with her own self-doubt and absentee parents—finally takes its toll on Mildred Waco. Stumbling upon the Crossroads Magicks shop, she decides she will no longer simply endure the bullying and skeptically buys a revenge curse. But when Mildred begins to lose control and students are found brutally murdered, she realizes that she may have bought more than she bargained for. With time running out, Mildred will have to stop the terrible forces she’s unleashed or lose her soul forever.

Imagine being the new girl in town and wanting nothing more than to be a cheerleader in your high school’s squad. Corki and Bobbi Corcoran have this dream, but little did they know they would risk their lives along with their cute outfit and pompoms.

Little by little, the horror starts with an accident near the Fear Street cemetery, then the screams echo in the school halls and all signs point to a sinister killer wanting to get rid of every single cheerleader in the squad that Corki and Bobbi so happily joined.

Can they stop the killer before all the girls are gone? Read on and find out!

This eerie tale is a classic one, with movie adaptations and a legion of fans who were forever creeped out by Stephen King’s story.

In the book, Carrie White is a secluded girl, living with a strict and religious mother who will stop at nothing to keep her hidden away. Unpopular at her high school, she deals with constant bullying and harassment, but little do they know that she harbors a secret. Carrie can move things with her mind.

When the bullying gets out of hand on prom night, what follows are some sinister, gory and creepy scenes in her high school thanks to Carrie, that the entire town might not be able to recover from.

With lessons on endurance, perseverance and other themes that will make you realize to what extent bullying can lead a person to destruction and revenge, this is a novel for the ages.

This book starts right with the gory action scenes, as we are thrust into a dramatic high school party where the blood runs like a river when a girl murders two of her classmates and is taken to jail.

Suddenly, the jocks and cheerleaders in this small town’s high school start changing into bloodthirsty creatures, and everyone is left puzzled as to what’s going on. Then, the best friend of the girl who murdered her classmates isn’t left with many options as to how to save herself — or her classmates — from death without having to resort to desperate measures.

Mary Carlson decides to investigate the claims by the jailed girl that her victims were actually monsters. But were they? And why did they turn into scary beasts? It’s a chiller and you must read this one, just make sure to keep the lights on.

In this creepy YA novel, Eleanor Zarrin has escaped her wild family and been at a fancy boarding school for years. But, when a terrible incident happens, she rushes back home to face the demons of her past.

When she gets there for a fresh start, she finds herself truly struggling to fit in with her literally monstrous relatives, who spend their days roaming the woods around the family estate and reading fortunes from the guts of birds.

Can Eleanor learn to embrace her background, her new life, and find herself along the way? This novel with pure gothic elements puts a whole new spin on stories about teens with family issues and boarding school experiences.

In the first of a YA series that follows horror in high school, author Chandler Baker explores what would happen if the situations in Frankenstein happened in high school.

In the book, Tor Frankenstein accidentally hits someone with her car. Afterwards, she uses her scientific knowledge to bring the person back to life, to the awe of her classmates and people in the town of Hollow Pine, Texas.

But, will bringing this person back from the dead cause more horror than good for Tor? I believe you know the answer to this, but definitely pick this up for a tale that’s fun, twisty, and set in a high school in a small town.

True love never dies in this completely scary and horrific story set in Horror High School.

In the book, Amber Vanderkamp’s soulmate, Zach, is bitten by a zombie. She is terrified when, after the bite, he joins the legions of the living impaired. Even though zombies are a part of everyday life at Horror High School, this puts a damper on Amber’s perfect world of good grades and always getting the lead in school plays. Suddenly, she finds herself thrust into a crazy game of cat and mouse as she tries to save her relationship, and Zach, from disappearing.

Read on for moments that are cheeky, scary, and an emotional mix as you dig into this book.

Prep school should not be a killer, but it is for Jake Livingston.

Jake sees dead people everywhere. Not only that, but as one of the only Black students in St. Clair Prep, he’s also seen as a threat and has suffered from the wrath of racist teachers and students alike. When Allister, another Black student, arrives at the school, Jake starts crushing hard.

Drama follows as Sawyer Doon, a troubled ghost, finds Jake. When he was alive, Sawyer killed six students at his high school, then took his own life. As a ghost, he’s looking for more revenge. Once Sawyer begins to haunt Jake, everything Jake thought he knew about the spiritual world goes out the window.

Creepy and at times scary, this is a book to read under the covers with a small flashlight. Just try to get some sleep after the twists and turns!

In this spooky novel, set in an isolated finishing school in Argentina, there is a legend that the land the school is built on will curse those who settle there.

Then comes Mavi, who is bravely fleeing the military regime that took her mother. She feels like the school will offer her an escape and a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s most elite and top-notch girls.

She’s about to find out that some legends are real when one of her ten students goes missing. Mavi starts seeing others become eerily possessed and realizes that the haunted school might just lead to the death of her.

Haunting and lyrically beautiful, this scary book will stay with you way past the last pages.

This super creepy and fun book is one to take note of.

In the story, humor and horror take center stage as we follow teen witch Mila Flores. When the Fairmont Academy mean girls and Mila’s bestie, Riley, die under strange circ*mstances, Mila does not believe it was a suicide pact. So unlike them!

With her powers, Mila brings the girls back to life to solve the mystery of who killed them. What follows is seven days (that’s all they have before having to go right back to their graves) of investigations, heart, and pure creepiness.