Book Recommendations: From Page to Screen: YA Horror and Thriller Pairings to Keep You Up at Night

YA horror and thrillers have exploded in recent years, carving out space for everything from slashers to haunted houses to strange, uncanny body horror. At the same time, film and TV are pushing the genre in bold new directions. So why not pair them together? Here are some YA horror and thriller novels matched with horror movies and TV shows that capture the same chilling energy, ready for you for Halloween today.

How to Survive a Slasher

by Justine Pucella Winans
Published by: Bloomsbury YA
on March 11, 2025
Bookshop
Goodreads

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight meets Scream in this YA slasher that turns classic horror tropes on their heads.
There’s a reason CJ Smith’s hometown of Satterville is known as Slasherville: it was the site of not one, but two Friday the 13th-style massacres. CJ’s dad survived the first attack; only CJ survived the second. And thanks to the mysterious writer Moon Satter’s bestselling novels based on the events, the town—and CJ—will always be defined by this horrific past.
Then a new, unpublished Moon Satter manuscript shows up addressed to CJ. But unlike the others, this story isn’t about the past. Instead, it predicts new murders. On the day the book says the first murder will occur, CJ sets out to stop it. But in saving one classmate, the final girl ends up dead. CJ and their friends have suddenly gone from extras to leads—and they’ll have to use everything they know about the rules of horror to make it out alive.

Read This –> Watch That

How to Survive a Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans × Scream

This 2025 release is tailor-made for fans who know their horror rules. Justine plays with slasher tropes in a town haunted by past massacres, where the horror novel itself might predict the next victim. Much like Scream, it’s self-aware, whip-smart, and asks whether knowing the rules makes you any safer…or just marks you as the next target.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala × Midsommar

Both take place in sun-drenched, unsettling communities that thrive on rituals. What looks idyllic at first slowly curdles into horror, leaving you to question who is really in control.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland × Yellowjackets

Girls with strange secrets, body horror, and survival at the edge of sanity. Both are equal parts beautiful and terrifying, unspooling the mystery of identity and trauma.

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare × Fear Street: 1994

Small-town secrets erupt into chaos in both of these slashers. Adam’s book skewers teen culture while delivering outrageous kills, much like Fear Street: 1994, which blends nostalgia, gore, and supernatural twists into an over-the-top teen scream.

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee × The Craft

Boarding school witches, blurred realities, and the intoxicating pull of obsession. If you loved The Craft, this gothic academic thriller will scratch the same itch.

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power × Men

Nature itself turns monstrous in these stories. Power’s rural gothic body horror pairs perfectly with Men, where inheritance and isolation breed violence and terror.

Five Survive by Holly Jackson × The Strangers

A group trapped in an RV on the run feels just as tense and claustrophobic as The Strangers, where the threat outside is faceless, merciless, and always a step ahead.

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran × The Haunting of Hill House

Family trauma and haunted houses intertwine. Trang’s debut brings the gothic to Vietnam, but like Hill House, it proves that the scariest ghosts are often the ones inside us.

Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington × Ready or Not

Elite competition with deadly stakes. Both skewer wealth and privilege while delivering adrenaline-pumping survival horror that makes you cheer for the underdog.

Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis × The Blair Witch Project

Creepy small towns, local legends, and the sense that the truth is buried just out of sight. If you like found-footage vibes and folklore turned real, this pairing is pitch perfect.