Top 10 Teen Horror (I Remember Reading)

Say Cheese and Die! by R. L. Stine

Greg thinks there is something wrong with the old camera he found. The photos keep turning out . . . different.
When Greg takes a picture of his father’s brand-new car, it’s wrecked in the photo. And then his dad crashes the car.
It’s like the camera can tell the future–or worse. Maybe it makes the future!

This was the only Goosebump I remember genuinely freaking me out! The idea of a camera predicting/causing deaths, terrifying! To me this books is Goosebumps! More so than the ones with Slappy the dummy!

The Twins by Caroline B. Cooney

Two girls . . . one life.
Mary Lee and Madrigal are identical twins, exactly alike in every way. Mirror images. Two halves of one whole.
Or so it appears.
Until they are separated, leaving Mary Lee lost and alone. And Madrigal more beautiful, more popular, and happier than ever. . . with a boy who loves her.
Mary Lee wishes she could live her sister’s life.
But when her wish comes true, Mary Lee is horrified to find out that Madrigal was not the person she seemed to be.

I loved this one. This is the one I reread the most, and I have the clearest memory of the plot… which was batshit even for Point Horror. I read an entire recap of the plot of this book on PointHorror.com, a huge thank you to those guys for that blog/podcast project!

I honestly could not tell you exactly why I loved this one so much! Maybe it was the creepy twin element, maybe it was just how insane and unbelievable the plot is. I still remember the description of Madrigal’s dark red and green tartan print ski outfit with black velvet trim that is meant to be so stunning and the height of fashion. I also remember the business with the green barrettes and hair partings (I’m English so this is where I learned that American’s call hair clips barrettes, weird).

There are a lot of stupid things about this story, not least the names. Why did their parents give one twin the boring name Mary Lee, and name the other one fucking Madrigal? The parents make nothing but terrible decisions in this book! If that was not baffling enough, the evil boyfriend is called Jon Pear… is that meant to be like Jeanne Pierre? What. He is always referred to by his full name, Jon Pear (maybe the publishers thought teenagers wouldn’t be able to pronounce it?)! He reminds me of JD (Christian Slater) from the 1988 movie Heathers, this book came out in 1994 and Jon Pear… JP… Maybe Cooney was going for a blonde JD type.

All the characters are terrible. Mary Lee is such a drip it is impossible to feel sorry for her, she somehow comes out as “good” in the end though she doesn’t really do anything. I don’t understand Madrigal and Jon Pear to be honest, but it would have been better if Cooney had made them the serial killers they were clearly on route to being.

Obviously this book is awful when I look back on it now, but I read it 3 or 4 times at least as a teen and it was my favourite!

The Stranger by Caroline B. Cooney

From the first moment she sees him in class, Nicoletta is drawn to Jethro, fascinated by his dark, mysterious face. She is attracted yet repelled, interested but afraid. Nicoletta becomes obsessed, unable to think of anything but this strange boy.
But she knows so little about him.
Until she follows him to a deserted cave on the edge of town … and learns the truth.
Jethro is not like the others. No, not at all.
He has a terrifying secret. A secret no one must ever find out.

First of all, Jethro? Has the name Jethro ever been hot, even in the 90s? I’d say definitely not in the 90s in the UK because Jethro was the stage name of a well-known very Cornish “old school” comedian – foul-mouthed and all the “ists” you can think of – that my Granddad had a lot of VHS tapes of… so… I struggled the name Jethro! Plus, he’s some sort of golem rock monster if I recall correctly! I’d say this was a “weird one” but that is most of these books!

Reading the recap again brought some of it back to me – I had forgotten the boyfriend is called Christo LOL – as far as Point Horrors go the main character isn’t too irritating and it ends pretty well.

Pointhorror.com recap of the plot here!

Freeze Tag by Caroline B. Cooney

When Meghan and West first played Freeze Tag with Lannie, it was no ordinary game. Because when Lannie tagged someone, they really froze. Icy blue and cold. Like death.
Now Meghan, West, and Lannie are in high school, and Meghan and West are in love. They’re the perfect couple. But Lannie is determined to have West for her very own… and if she doesn’t get her way, she’ll freeze Meghan… to death.

Of the three in the omnibus collection, this was my least favourite. It is a pretty lame and straightforward story that I don’t remember a lot about.

Pointhorror.com recap here.

Vampire’s Love: #1 Blood Curse by Janice Harrell

Rina is beautiful, mysterious and a vampire. Bound to a blood curse against her will over 200 years ago, she is compelled to wander the earth alone. She then meets James who soon falls under her spell but her rival, Chelsea, will do anything to keep him in what becomes a bloody battle for supremacy.

Sadly I could not find a complete plot recap of this one, but I remember this being one of my favourites and it being top of my re-read rotation after the Caroline B. Cooneys. This is probably actually the first vampire book I ever read, certainly with sexy vampires, and the fact it is a female vampire in love with a human boy feels somewhat novel. I liked this a lot but I never got hold of the second book, these were the days before internet shopping and I guess I just never found it in our local bookshop!

Funhouse by Diane Hoh

When The Devil’s Elbow roller coaster goes off its track and several teenagers are hurt, everyone thinks it was just an accident. So no one listens when Tess says she saw someone tampering with the track. — But one person knows it’s true. That person is playing a deadly game–and is going to make sure Tess doesn’t stand in the way. Tess soon finds she’s being terrorized, with threatening notes, menacing phone calls, slashed tires and nasty pranks. When another “accident” occurs in the Funhouse, Tess is sure that she was the intended victim. Who is committing all these horrifying acts? And why?
Tess is just beginning to realize that the Funhouse can scare you…to death.

I think I also had this one on my bookshelf but it took reading the recap to jog my memory. The rollercoaster crash and Joey losing his leg were pretty harrowing in the opening of the book! Honestly it might be one of the better Point Horror books, but it didn’t live in my head like The Twins!

Pointhorror.com recap here

Beach Party by R. L. Stine

It’s the ultimate beach party in California. And Karen, who’s just broken up with her boyfriend, is going to enjoy every minute of it–especially having two new guys who like her. But the party takes a nasty turn when Karen realizes someone is out to spoil the fun by getting rid of her.

This is another one I remember owning and sitting on my bookshelf, but I don’t think it was much good because I didn’t remember anything about it until I read the recap and that jogged some dim and distant memories, particularly the dead-not-dead beach scene and Vince the (abusive) bad boy.

Pointhorror.com recap here

The Surfer by Linda Cargill

Surf’s up. You’re dead.
Jessie has never seen the daring beauty on the surfboard before. The one who gets a thrill out of surfing on the stormy seas. And now it seems Jessie will never know her.
The girl disappears beneath the treacherous waves… never to surface again…
So who’s the new girl in town?
The one who casts a spell over everyone she meets. She can’t remember her name. Or where she came from. Jessie thinks she knows… Has the beautiful surfer come back from the death? Or is it something worse… much worse…?

I strongly remember the cover of this one and I think I owned it. It took the recap again to refresh me but I do now remember the stuff on the cliffs with The Norwegian Lady statue, the mysterious surfer girl coming out of the sea and the eye crystal stuff. I suspect that even 13-year-old me thought the love interest stalker behaviour was a bit much, which might be why this one was not a favourite.

Pointhorror.com recap here

The Invitation by Diane Hoh

For the high schoolers of Greenhaven, Cass Rockham’s fall party is the social event of the year.
Each October, students wait by their mailboxes, praying for the gilt-edged invitation that grants entry into the inner circle of the most popular crowd. And now Cass has planned her finest party yet, with a new sauna, a hot band, and no parents for miles. But to make this party really killer, Cass tops it all off with a sinister twist.
Nerdy Sarah Drew is shocked when she and her friends receive invitations to Cass’s affair. For years she’s steered clear of the popular kids, and now they want her to come to their party? Sarah is wary, but her friends talk her into coming with them.
But she regrets it quickly, for at Cass Rockham’s mansion, the only party favor is death.

This one I definitely borrowed from the library but I strongly remember the cover, the blub for it and the ridiculous psychotic rich girl plot. I think it was very stupid, but pretty good.

Pointhorror.com recap here

Remember Me by Christopher Pike

Dead…
Shari Cooper didn’t plan on dying. But four floors is a long way to fall.
Buried…
Why do they say it was suicide when she knows she was murdered?
But not able to forget…
Even beyond the grave her killer is still with her. Surely you can’t die twice…?

It’s not Point Horror, but Christopher Pike kind of blends into that era for me. I fucking loved this book. I didn’t own it but I borrowed it from the library at least twice. To be fair (at least in my memory!) Pike is leagues better than Point Horror. His characters felt more like real teenagers, they went to parties and drank and were horny and even had sex. Scandalous! The idea of a dead girl spying on her friends was thrilling, and it was surprisingly meditative on the subject of death. I think I also read the second book but it wasn’t as good.

I really did enjoy this but I don’t think I ever got hold of any other Christopher Pike books. My local bookshop did not have a large section for teen books (this was a bit before “young adult” was a thing). The small village library only had these two (there were two small wire carousels of the teen horror books, that was it) and I would never have dreamed of talking to someone to ask them to specially order me something!