I'll start with House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Iris is the youngest of the three Hollow sisters. When they were young, the three sisters disappeared from a busy street. It should have been impossible, but there was no trace of them. A month later they reappeared, changed, and with no memory of what happened to them. Iris has tried to forget what happened, and stay away from the weirdness that followed. But when her oldest sister Grey goes missing, Iris and middle sister Viv go looking for her. If they want to find Grey, they will have to uncover the mystery of the past.

This book is creepy and has a rather horrifying twist near the end when you learn what really happened in the past. I think this is one of the scarier books on this list, but it's done really well, with monsters chasing Iris and her sister around and an eerie parallel world

Rep: bi main character, lesbian side character; Korean side character

Other books from this author: The Invocations (horror, coming early 2024); Our Chemical Hearts (contemporary), a semi-definitive of worst nightmares (fabulism)

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Two hundred years ago in small Oregon town Sparrow, three sisters were accused of witchcraft. Stones bound to their feet, they were thrown into the harbor and drowned. Ever since then, the sisters have returned once a year as ghosts. They each possess one young girl in town and kill one boy.

The town has long accepted their fate and Penny is no different. But then Bo Carter enters the town, unaware of the danger he's just stepped into. Penny can't trust him, but she wants to save him from the danger just the same.

This book has one big twist. It's not super scary perse, nor is there any gore, but very atmospheric and that's where this author excels. Would recommend it for people who aren't used to reading horror.

Winterwood is the next book by Shea Ernshaw

Once again set in a small, isolated town in Oregon, this book follows Nora Walker, a girl descended of a line of witches. She is connected to the Wickerwoods, dangerous haunted woods that only she can enter during full moon to collect lost things.

In the middle of winter, with the power out and all connection to the outside world lost, Nora finds a boy in the Wickerwoods. Oliver went missing from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago. By all accounts, he should be dead and yet she found him. Oliver has no memory of what happened the past weeks.

Nora quickly bonds with him, but realizes she has to uncover the mystery of what happened to him and how he could survive so long in the woods. And it soon turns out Oliver was not the only boy who went missing.

Much like the Wicked Deep, this book excels in its atmosphere and the way it portrays a very creepy forest. It has an interesting plot twist, though not as strong as the one in the Wicked Deep. It's not keep you up at night scary, and also has a lot of focus on the romance.

Other books from this author: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen (Nightmare before Christmas book); A History of Wild Places; A Wildnerness of Stars

Next: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

This book is set on the isolated island of Sawkill rock, where girls have been going missing for decades, stolen away by evil no one has dared fight... until now.

Marion is new to Sawkill rock, trying to escape the tragedy that befell her family

Zoey's best friend was the last girl to disappear, and she is determined to find out what happened, and if Val has anything to do with it

Val is the queen bee, the daughter of the richest woman on the island. But she has a dark secret.

This book was not entirely what I expected when I bought it, but I loved it. This one is rather creepy, I think, though not what would keep me up at night (to be fair, movies are more likely to keep me up than books due to being scary). It creates an isolated atmosphere, but another strong point in this book is the relationships between the three girls and the development there. Marion and Zoey become friends and team up to uncover the mystery when Marion's sister disappears. Zoey hates Val. But Marion might have feelings for Val.

Rep: Sapphic relationship, Zoey is Black and asexual

Also by this author: Furyborn trilogy (epic fantasy); Extasia (horror); Winterspell (Nutcracker retelling)

House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig

This is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses

Annaleigh is one of twelve sister. Or, she used to be. Four of them are dead due to strange accidents, and people are saying her family is cursed. Annaleigh becomes more and more suspicious that her sister's death were no accidents.

Then, her sisters start sneaking out, going to glittering balls and dancing the night away. Annaleigh does not know if she can come with them or stop them, because where are they really going and who are they dancing with?

If Annaleigh does not find out what happened to her sisters soon, she might be the next one to die.

It's been long enough that I do not remember exactly what happened in this book, but I do remember that it was eerie and there was an interesting plot twist when Annaleigh finds out where they really go dancing.

The book stands on its own, but there will be a companion coming out this year, House of Roots and Ruin, which follows one of Annaleigh's sisters

Also by this author is Small Favors

I read this solely because someone told me it would make a good comp title for the book I'm querying, and this is a retelling of Rumplestiltskin.

Ellerie is the daughter of a beekeeper in Amity Falls, a small town surrounded by mountains. They're very isolated and have to go on supply runs to a bigger city to make sure they have what they need. But during a supply run, all people on it die. More and more strange things start happening, slowly building up. Monsters in the woods, people acting strange.

Ellerie finds herself in a race against time to save herself and the people she loves before her town goes up in flames.

This book has a kind of strange pacing. The last part has a lot happening, but before then it's all a very slow build up. Most of the incidents with monsters, Ellerie does not witness, she hears about it second hand. She befriends a strange boy who has come to town as a trapper, catching animals in the forest to sell their hides. He won't give her his name, making me instantly suspicious, but their relationship builds up for such a long time that I was constantly questioning if he could be trusted or not.

My biggest criticism of this book is that I could not tell you when it was set. It took me a while to figure out it was America, though the religious small town feels very American to me, but I couldn't tell you the time period. Likely historical. But when? Who knows, certainly not me.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

Mars and his twin sister Caroline have always been inseperable. But that summer, Caroline went to Aspen summer school alone. Mars no longer felt welcome there due to his gender fluidity. But when Caroline dies unexpectedly, Mars decides to take her place at the camp to feel more connected to her. It does not go as expected, and Mars quickly remembers why he stopped going. But he befriends Caroline's old friends, a group of girls called the Honeys because of the bees they tend to. But he soon finds something is seriously wrong in the camp, and it might very well have caused his sister's death.

This is a book about grief for a large part, and I think inspired by the author's own grief for his sister. I especially loved the way the Honeys were characterized in this book, and their friendship with Mars, and the story is also about a very femme queer person being accepted within a group of feminine girls.

Rep: gender fluid MC; queer side characters

Also by this author: Reverie (contemporary fantasy); Be Dazzled (contemporary); Beholder (horror, coming in October)

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

The Dead and the Dark is a paranormal/horror mystery set in a small town in Oregon. Because apparently Oregon is where all the spooky paranormal mystery things happen? I don't know, it seems to be a popular location

Logan's two dads host a ghost hunting show together, and have traveled to this town, which is also their hometown, for the new season. But teenagers are disappearing and there might be something really spooky going on here, and Logan has the feeling her dads are keeping secrets from her.

Ashley is a girl who has lived in this town her entire life, and her boyfriend was the first to go missing. Now, Logan is her only hope to find him.

This is a sapphic story as well as a paranormal mystery, but the emphasis is more on the mystery, I think. There are ghosts in here and a pretty sinister and quite creative explanation for what is happening in this town and why.

Rep: sapphic relationship, main character has gay dads

Last on this list is Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

Trans boy Benji is on the run from a cult. A fundementalist sect that unleashed Armageddon, killing most of the population. They believe that one chosen one will end the world for them and they made the ultimate bioweapon to do this.

Benji is rescued by the teens from the ALC, a queer youth center, and their leader Nick. Benji is immediately drawn to Nick, he's slowly changing into a monster capable of destroying the world and Nick knows.

Still, Nick allows him to stay with them as long as he can control the monster and use it to fight on their behalf.

This is I think the goriest book on this list, with lots of details on the ways Benji is slowly transforming into a monster. It's written by an autistic trans man. Benji is trans, while Nick is autistic. There is a lot of creepy fundamentalist religion in this book, as Benji was raised in the cult and their whole idea is that they should kill everyone not part of their world with their bioweapons.

Also from this author: The Spirit Bares its Teeth (coming September)