The term “final girl” was first coined by Carol J. Clover in her seminal work Men, Women, and Chain Saws. Since then, we have seen both the awareness around this term change, as well as the creation of a body of works that all utilize the final girl as a trope. As fall approaches, allow these books to accompany you on your trip to a pumpkin patch or a misled adventure into a seemingly endless cornfield. While each story may differ, there is always a girl left standing.
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Have you ever wondered what happens when the cameras are no longer rolling and the predator lies defeated in a bloody heap? In Grady Hendrix’s The Final Girl Support Group, the girls are left asking the same question. Lynnette Tarkington survived a massacre and has managed to slowly piece her life together with the help of her support group. All is well until a girl misses a meeting, and their fears are suddenly rational. Someone is after them and will stop at nothing to rid the world of the final girls.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
Eighties-slasher-film fan and high school senior Jade Daniels knows this is how all slasher films start: with the sight of a massacre being carved up in favor of rich homeowners and people going missing by the lake. But no one in Proofrock will listen to her, despite her extensive knowledge of slashers and Camp Blood. Jade may have an encyclopedia of every type of slasher movie in her mind, but will that help her survive? Can she get the new final girl trained in time for the killer to appear?
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams: recreating scenes from a famous slasher at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to get scared and to see Charity step into the role as the “final girl.” But as camp winds down, her co-workers begin disappearing, and Charity’s role becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend want to survive the night, they must uncover the bloody past of Mirror Lake.
The Night Shift by Alex Finlay
On New Year’s Eve 1999, four girls working at a Blockbuster video are attacked and only one makes it out alive. Fifteen years later, in the same New Jersey town, four teenage employees working at an ice cream shop meet the same fate. Both victims only remember the killer saying, “Goodnight, pretty girl.” In the aftermath of both attacks, three lives intersect, and not everyone will make it out alive in this suspenseful story about the messiness of survival.
Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
Quinn Maybrook and her father exchange city life for the boring, quiet town of Kettle Springs. All Quinn wants to do is make it to graduation, but the town is harboring secrets and rivalries of its own. It seems to be split in half, with the old generation hellbent on making Kettle Springs “great again” and the new wanting nothing more than to make prank videos and get the hell out of dodge. When the town’s clown mascot, Frendo, goes on a homicidal rampage, Quinn fears for her life and the lives of her new friends. Can they survive the night? Or will Kettle Spring’s murderous tradition claim them all?
The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington
When a group of friends come face-to-face with a demonic force obeying by horror movie rules, they must fight to choose their own fate in this heart-pounding YA horror-thriller. Devon is always being left behind by her twin sister, Drew, so her leaving for college a year early seems more like a fact of life than a betrayal. After committing to give them “the best summer ever,” Devon and her friends soon learn that Ouija boards are not to be messed with. Can they flip the script on this demon? Or will the “best summer ever” be their last?
What Lies in the Woods by Katie Alice Marshall
Twenty-two years ago, Naomi Shaw and her best friends spent the summer roaming the woods and inventing a world of wonder and ceremony. But this magical time was cut short when Naomi was attacked by a man. Miraculously surviving seventeen stab wounds and going on to identify the man who attacked her, Naomi and her friends put a serial killer behind bars. Years later, Olivia wants to spill the secret of what really happened in the woods, so Naomi sets out to uncover the mystery of that fatal summer.
Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis
Temple Baker knows evil runs in her blood. The daughter of a serial killer father and a mom who may or may not have been killed by him, she is haunted by what he did all those years ago. Temple decides to return to his hunting ground, posing as a camp counselor, intent on discovering the truth behind her father’s alleged murder of her mother. But balancing her hidden identity becomes harder when a girl turns up dead in the woods. She worries that her father’s copycat is trailing her and making good use of his legacy.
Survive the Night by Riley Sager
John Baxter may be a serial killer, and Charlie Jordan is stuck in a car with him. Having met John on a college ride share board, Charlie is hoping his reasons for leaving in the middle of term align with hers and not with the recent stabbings on campus. As she begins to notice discrepancies in his story, she starts to plot her escape. Will Charlie survive the night?
Hatchet Girls by Diana Rodriguez Wallach
When the parents of the richest family in Fall River are found murdered by an axe, people are quick to blame the town’s newcomer, Vik. But Vik’s sister, Tessa, knows he is incapable of such a crime. Tessa sets out to absolve him of their murders and soon crosses paths with a haunted forest and the home of Fall River’s infamous axe-murderer, Lizzie Borden.
Final girls are as much a staple in literature as they are in film. While not every book that makes use of the final girl is listed, these are a few that may help to best familiarize yourself with a trope that seems to only be growing in popularity. Be sure to check them out and add them to your TBR! Happy reading!
Interested in more books to add to that ever-expanding TBR? Check out some more recommendations here.
Find these titles and more on our Spine-chilling Horror Novels Not for the Faint of Heart shelf.
