A Christmas Tree Farm, A Weapon-Creating Competition, and More New YA Books for October 28, 2026

Do you have your horror books and films all picked out for this weekend? Most places in the U.S. will celebrate Halloween with an extra hour, as clocks tick back one hour this weekend, too. There’ve been so many exciting new YA horror releases this year, and if you are feeling tight on time or like picking up something quicker than a novel, don’t miss these great YA horror short story collections. If you’re not a horror reader or don’t love this season, no sweat. October has been jam-packed with new YA releases, as you’ve likely noticed over the last month of new release roundups. We’re getting into the final stretch of the busy publishing season, so you’ll notice this week’s new YA releases slow down a little bit. That trend will continue, and with it, you might begin also to notice that the diversity of titles being published isn’t as broad as it has been. Though diverse authors and stories continue to be published, weeks like this one are a reminder that the industry still has work to do–you’ll find inclusive reads here, but there should be more. If 40-42% of Americans are of minority racial or ethnic backgrounds, that should be reflected in the literature (and that’s not to tal...