One of the most well-known literary figures is Count Dracula, and the recent vampire resurgence has been sparked by novels like “Twilight” and “Vampire Diaries.”
The best vampire novels for teenagers will hold their attention and take them to the perilous yet intriguing world of vampires.
In this post, I’ll go through some of the best vampire books that are perfect for teens.
Many of these stories make excellent choices for young readers looking for literature about vampires.
From romance and fantasy, to mystery and age-appropriate horror, these vampire books are sure to excite.
The Immortal Rules is the first book in Julie Kagawa’s Blood of Eden series.
With its intriguing plot and suspenseful moments, the first book in this series is dark and mesmerizing and will instantly draw you in.
On the Fringe, a walled-in city’s outermost circle, Allison Sekemoto manages to survive.
She and her crew scrounge for food during the day and hide from the monsters trying to capture them at night.
Allie’s loathing of them—the vampires who use humans as blood cattle—is all that keeps her going, up until the evening Allie dies and turns into one of the monsters she hates so intensely.
Allie, who was forced to leave her city, joins a ragged band of pilgrims searching for a legendary place that might hold the key to curing the plague that destroyed most of the civilization and gave rise to the rabids—bloodthirsty monsters who endanger both humans and vampires.
Allie will soon have to make a decision about what and who is worth dying for.
Pros
Combines supernatural and dystopian themes.
Features a strong female lead.
Cons
A lot of the dialogue is used for exposition in the beginning
Ignore any other vampire romance you may have read because Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight is so innovative that it nearly seems to belong in its own genre.
Although the book is aimed at young adults, it can appeal to readers of all ages and will satisfy both teenagers and adults.
Bella Swan moves with her father to the sleepy town of Forks in the Pacific Northwest at the age of seventeen. She doesn’t expect to like it.
She will have to find new friends and adjust to a new school as if living in Forks with its perpetual mist and rain wasn’t hard enough.
Bella quickly meets some new friends at school, but she is immediately intrigued when she notices a boy named Edward Cullen seated with his siblings in the cafeteria.
Even though Edward is nearly unfathomably gorgeous and beautiful, he is also an outcast.
Bella still isn’t able to figure out exactly what makes Edward so unique from everyone else, despite the fact that she falls madly and completely in love with him.
Until she learns the truth about him and his family.
Pros
First-person perspective gives readers a beautiful insight into her feelings toward Edward.
Features compelling side characters that are just as fleshed-out as the protagonists.
Cons
Bigger focus on romance than vampires and vampiric lore.
The bestselling and highly regarded author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black, presents a completely unique tale of wrath and retaliation, guilt and horror, and love and loathing in The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
This is a hugely enjoyable horror that is sure to charm fans of all things spooky and supernatural by putting her own unique spin on the vampire genre.
Tana lives in a world where walled settlements known as Coldtowns are common.
In them, creatures kept in captivity coexist with people in a debauched, gory combination of predator and prey.
The only issue is that once you enter Coldtown’s gates, you are never able to escape.
Tana awakens surrounded by corpses one morning following a completely average party. Her infected ex-boyfriend is the only other survivor of this massacre, along with a mysterious boy who is carrying a dreadful secret.
Shaken and resolute, Tana embarks on a race against time to save the three of them in the only manner she knows how: by going directly to the evil, luxurious center of Coldtown itself.
Pros
Shows vampires in a unique light, as more monster than human.
Presents a unique dynamic between the trio of characters.
For teens looking for their next vampire story, Caleb Roehrig’s The Fall of Dark is a funny, action-packed tale with adorable vampire boys, LGBTQ+ representation, and a terrible prophecy.
Living in a vampire town is the one thing August Pfeiffer despises more than algebra.
Fulton Heights is literally an electromagnet for supernatural drama as vampires coexist among humans due to its location at the intersection of mysterious energy fields.
Auggie finds himself abruptly in the middle of it when a mysterious vampire boy named Jude shows up with a cryptic message.
Jude warns him that the world may come to an end and that darkness is coming. The only one who seems to be able to stop it is Auggie.
Every century, an ancient and terrifying power known as the Corruptor returns, and Auggie’s body will serve as its vessel.
Some vampires think that, although Auggie’s life will be lost, the Corruptor will grant them ultimate immortality.
Pros
Great LGBTQ+ representation.
Creates a world that is both hilarious and exciting.
Fans of vampires will love Glass Houses, the first book in Rachel Caine’s series.
With extensive lore and an interesting premise, this novel is bound to keep a teenage reader entertained for weeks on end.
Although being smart enough to have entered college a year ahead of all her peers, Claire Danvers isn’t having the finest time there.
She is being bullied as a result of the jealousy that comes with it.
The grand old house Claire finds a room in when she leaves university might not be much better.
Although Claire’s new housemates don’t appear to be very lively, they will support her as the town’s darkest secrets emerge, looking for new victims to devour.
Pros
Themes of overcoming bullying and embracing individuality.
Jennifer Ann Shore is an award-winning, bestselling author and writer of Metallic Red, a light vampire novel with hints of darkness that make it an absolute joy to read.
Mina Byron aspires to be like every other high school senior, but she is very different because she is one of the few half-human, half-vampire people on the planet.
She wants to embrace her humanity after having the past eighteen years of her existence guided by what was best for the vampires around her.
It’s not without sacrifice on her part that her uncle, the vampire King of Appalachia, agrees to send her to a private high school and help her fit into the culture of the living and breathing.
She must balance the future he has planned for her in the vampire world with her attempts to find herself, love, and friendship in the human one.
Pros
Interesting interpretation of the inner-struggle and familial expectations.
Bring the fantasy of vampires into a high school setting.
Cons
Important backstory is introduced later in the book rather than near the beginning.
Featuring the worst “Chosen One” ever, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is a witty and funny parody of Harry Potter.
It has plenty of paranormal activity and romantic appeal to have readers hanging onto every word.
Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen.
That is what Baz, his roommate, claims. And even if Baz is a vampire and may be bad, he does have a point.
The Mage, who serves as both the school’s principal and the next ruler of the magical community, has prepared Simon Snow, who is in his final year there, as the Chosen One.
Simon’s destiny is to battle the Humdrum, a monster that is gradually consuming the magical force of the world and leaving “dead spots” where magic is nonexistent.
Simon is a very skilled magician, but he still struggles to keep control of his abilities; his spells occasionally have unexpected results.
Pros
Satirical tribute to Harry Potter.
Features a unique hero that is hilariously incompetent, but also charming.
This will appeal to teen vampire enthusiasts who want to live vicariously through the wealthy and affluent characters in this compelling novel.
At Duchesne, the exclusive private school she attends in New York City, Schuyler Van Alen has never felt at home.
In comparison to her friends, who dress in Prada and pearls, she favors baggy, old clothes.
Even so, Schuyler’s life drastically changes when she becomes fifteen. She is haunted in unexpected ways by the passing of a popular schoolmate.
Strangest of all, the most popular boy in school, Jack Force, has developed a sudden interest in her.
Schuyler, who was formerly shunned, is now accepted into Manhattan’s most elite social group. As Schuyler soon learns, its members are wealthy, powerful, and inhuman.
They are Blue Bloods, a long-lived race of vampires who have never been defeated.
Schuyler wants to know why something is now preying on this privileged society. But is she the one who is most at risk?
Pros
Descriptions of the lavish side of being a vampire
Outcast turned hero character arc.
Cons
Other characters aren’t as engaging as the protagonist.
The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl is a feminist vampire female gang story that is mixed with dark comedy and queer love.
Elton Irving promised Holly Liddell eternal love when he transformed her into a vampire in 1987.
Now, 34 years later, Elton has broken up with her, her hair will remain crimped for all eternity, and the only job she can find as a perpetually-16-year-old is the midnight shift at Taco Bell.
When Holly encounters Rose McKay and Ida Ripley, her afterlife takes a fascinating turn.
They want to help her and beg for her support in return because they, like Rose in 1954 and Ida, his ex-fiancée, were also abandoned by Elton.
Pros
Great female and LGBTQ+ representation.
An exciting and unique twist on the standard revenge story.
Cons
Sets up a lot of themes but fails to explore some of them deeper.
In Every Generation is the first book in an entirely new series by best-selling author Kendare Blake.
This vampire novel continues the story of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and introduces the new Scoobies and Slayers who must battle a potent new evil.
Frankie Rosenberg is a sophomore at New Sunnydale High School, a committed environmentalist, and the descendant of Sunnydale’s most renowned witch.
However, when new girl Hailey arrives with the news that the annual Slayer convention has been the subject of an attack and all the Slayers may be killed, Frankie’s peaceful happy life is upended.
That means that the next Slayer is about to be born.
But as the first Slayer-Witch, she must learn how to use a stake while attempting to manage her developing abilities.
Before she becomes the next victim, Frankie must learn what happened to her aunt Buffy and become the Slayer with the support of Hailey, Jake, a werewolf, and a hot but geeky sage demon.
Pros
Continues the beloved world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Told from the perspective of someone actively trying to destroy vampires.
Cons
The plot becomes a bit complicated, with three mysteries that need to be solved.
P.C. Cast, a seasoned romance author, and her teenage daughter, Kristin Cast, collaborated on the first book in the House of Night series, Marked.
Marked is an excellent blend of romance, fantasy, horror, and mystery that is geared toward older teenage readers.
This gives the book’s coming-of-age theme an edge of dark intrigue.
Zoey Redbird, 16, enters the House of Night when a Vampire Tracker marks her with a crescent moon on her forehead, where she discovers that she is no ordinary fledgling.
She possesses an affinity for each of the five elements—Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Spirit—and has been recognized as special by the vampire goddess Nyx.
She is not the only one with unusual abilities at the House of Night, though.
Zoey must dig deep within herself for the bravery to embrace her destiny—with a little help from her new vampire friends—when she learns that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most prestigious club, is abusing her goddess-given abilities.
Pros
Set in a fantasy high school.
Wide range of interesting characters.
Cons
The beginning of the book starts quite slowly.
What To Look For In A Vampire Book For Teens
Since vampires have become more popular in literature over the years, there are a few things that teens look for when choosing a vampire book to read next.
The idea of vampires is fantastical and spooky, and that’s appealing in itself, but themes of teenage angst and forbidden romance are also hugely appealing.
Teens want to see themselves in this kind of fantasy world and relate to the characters within it.
Final Thoughts
There’s nothing like a good vampire book that you can sink your teeth into.
With these recommendations, you’ll be able to find your next read and enjoy the incredibly complex and dark world of vampires.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s The Best-Selling Vampire Book Of All Time?
Published in 1897, the most popular vampire book of all time is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The bestseller is considered to be the beginning of the vampire genre in horror fiction.
Are Vampire Books In The Horror Genre Or Fantasy Genre?
By definition, a vampire is a fantasy element, in that it is either paranormal or simply that it doesn’t exist.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that any story featuring a vampire is automatically fantasy; the bloody nature of a vampire is in itself indicative of the horror genre.
Noah Burton works as a Librarian full time, and is a blogger in his spare time. His goal is to write compelling recommendations for all of the most popular books he can find, from science fiction to romance.
With a passion for books, a drive to find new reads to get stuck into, and a love for sharing book recommendations with others, Noah can help you find the next novel for your bucket list.
