Fall Chills and Thrills:
9 Heart-Pounding YA Thrillers To Read This Fall
by Dena McMurdie
As temperatures outside cool off, I start craving thrillers and spooky books that make my heart pound and blood run cold. I love stories that keep me glued to my seat and tearing through the pages with shaky hands.
If you’re like me, you’ll want to assemble a big stack of thrillers to binge on this fall. From paranormal thrillers to murder mysteries, here are nine YA books you need on your fall chills and thrills list.
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Such Charming Liars
Available from:Thriller fans will devour Karen M. McManus’s latest novel — a heist thriller set during a billionaire’s birthday party. When someone at the party dies, ex-step siblings Kat and Liam learn they are next on the killer’s hit list. They join forces to expose the killer and stay alive. But two expert liars can’t trust each other, can they?
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The Silent Sister
Available from:Two sisters vanish on a class trip, and only one reappears — wearing the other sister’s blood. Everyone thinks Grace killed her sister, but with no memory of the night in question, she must figure out what happened before she takes the blame. This spooky thriller combines sisterhood with school dynamics and a twisty mystery that will keep you guessing.
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This Is Not a Dead Girl Story
Available from:Jules, River, and Remy do everything together, so when River dies and Remy disappears, Jules feels lost and unsettled. As she searches for answers about her best friends’ deaths and disappearances, she uncovers family secrets and hometown tragedies. This suspenseful thriller will keep you up all night!
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Two Sides to Every Murder
Available from:Seventeen years after several brutal murders shook the residents of Camp Lost Lake and shut it down, the camp opens again. Two teens looking for answers to separate mysteries return to the camp and search for clues. If you loved How to Survive Your Murder, add this book from the same author to your fall reading list!
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Hemlock House
Available from:YA readers who loved Liar’s Beach will also enjoy this follow-up novel. A year after their disastrous stay in Martha’s Vineyard, Linden and his girlfriend, Greer, start their first year at Harvard. But when Greer’s roommate is murdered in Greer’s bed, wearing Greer’s clothes, Linden suspects the roommate was not the intended target. He will need help from his childhood friend, Holiday Poirot, to solve the case and keep his girlfriend safe.
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Under the Surface
Available from:On a senior trip to Paris, Ruby and three friends venture into the catacombs beneath the city for a party and get hopelessly lost. Soon, the teens realize that something sinister and deadly is stalking them through the labyrinth, and they must find their way out if they hope to survive. YA readers will be on the edge of their seats as the characters race against the clock before a mysterious killer finds them.
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The Champions
Available from:The much-anticipated follow-up to the bestselling YA thriller, The Cheerleaders, is here! Hadley is new to Sunnybrook and has heard the dark rumors about the town. When she starts covering the football team for the high school newspaper, she quickly realizes that a killer has the team in their sights and will stop at nothing to take them out. If you are looking for the perfect fall thriller, you can’t go wrong with this one.
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Come Out, Come Out
Available from:After a bizarre incident in the woods that left their best friend, Mallory, dead, queer teens Fern and Jaq forget their identities and the events of the night. But when Mallory’s ghost appears, demanding revenge, the two remaining friends start to remember the horrors of that night and why they were all driven into the woods in the first place. This haunting and thought-provoking novel has enough thrills and chills to give you goosebumps.
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There’s No Way I’d Die First
Available from:Horror movie buff Noelle plans to throw the biggest and most immersive Halloween party her classmates have ever seen. But when the hired It clown kills someone, her night of spooky fun becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse. Dark humor, hair-raising chills, and enough pop-culture references to satisfy even the biggest horror movie enthusiast make this a must-read for Halloween season!
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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2017 and updated in 2024.