This will be the best summer ever. With these summer horror books you will have a bloody scary good time.
A carefully selected list of horror books that will turn the summer into a burning hell.
Updated August 5, 2026.
Summertime is always an excellent time to catch up on your reading. Especially horror books that are set during the summer are a fun read. Killers, ghosts, haunted houses, cosmic creatures are lurking in the shadows, with a sweltering heat and great summer vibes. Set during summer, on vacation, at a resort, at the beach, at the pool, or just in their own home, these horror books create the best sunny vibes.
Horror books set during the summer have a wide variety of sub-genres. From haunted house novels, slashers, coming-of-age stories and cosmic horrors, there’s always a book that will be a perfect read for your summer.
I have put together a list of Summer Horror Books that I have read and personally recommend. It’s not a list with all the summer horror books out there or the best ones, but this is a selection of books that I enjoyed reading.
The list is set up by decade and by year. Starting with the most recently published books. Each time I have found a new book within this genre that I highly recommend it will be added to the list.
This list is about Summer Horror Books. If you are looking specifically for Summer Camp Horror Books, click here.
So save this post for more recommendations.
The list consists of 18 books at the moment.
How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates (2025)
(384 pages)
Genres: slasher, summer, cults, supernatural
Ruth, her boyfriend Zach and their friends Carson and Hailey get tickets to a festival on an uninhabited tropical island owned by influencer Eton who organized the event full of games. Ruth has a tragic past in a cult and that trauma resurfaces. When also some strange things happen to her and the games turn dangerous, Ruth has to relive her trauma all over again. Resulting in a bloody gory violent massacre. The story slowly builds the mystery leading up to an absolute slasher with gruesome kills and a fight for survival. This book is included in my Slasher Book List. (coming soon) You can Read my Full Review.
Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne (2024)
(296 pages)
Genres: haunted house, dysfunctional family, summer
Nothing better to ruin your vacation than a dysfunctional family. While a summer vacation in Italy seems nice and idyllic, it isn’t if you are the black sheep of the family, like Anna. On top of that the villa they are staying at is haunted. A scary haunting ghost that latches on to Anna, like her family, will bring you chills in the summer. With a good-for-her ending, this is a perfect read in the sun. You can Read my Full Review.
Shock Waves by Matt Kurtz (2023)
(166 pages)
Genres: monsters, amusement park, summer, survival, eighties vibe
In 1988, Danny is 17 and works at the Lone Star Amusement Park. When across the highway an explosion creates a big hole at a construction site, all sorts of monstrous creatures big and smaller come out. Soon they reach the Park and Danny and a few others must survive and get to safety. But first he has to get his girlfriend Stacey who also works at the Park. It’s a fast paced action packed novella that dives right in with gruesome kills, gory bloody scenes and lots of original monsters. You can Read my Full Review.
Summer Rental by Rektok Ross (2023)
(264 pages)
Genres: slasher, mystery, YA, summer
Looking for some gory kills and like to guess who the killer is and be surprised by the reveal? This young adult Mean Girls slasher builds up towards a bloodbath. Riley and her friends have rented a summer house for the weekend of the Fourth of July, but are not prepared for the upcoming storm nor a killer that starts killing them one by one. A pure young adult slasher with all the behavior and problems that come with it. Very entertaining and keeps you guessing.
Wasps in the Ice Cream by Tim McGregor (2023)
(282 pages)
Genres: coming-of-age, gothic, psychological, eighties vibe
In the summer of 1987 Mark meets a curious girl named George that will changes his whole life. It has a nostalgic eighties vibe, a gothic vibe in the vain of Shirley Jackson and deals with forbidden love, friendship, identity, secrets, witchcraft and small-minded people.
It’s a very intriguing well-written story that has sharp observations and insights, symbolism and metaphors. The references to all the other (eighties) horror pop culture is fun. It’s a great book for if you want a more interesting read with nostalgia and a meaningful summer. You can Read my Full Review.
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Paradise Club by Tim Meyer (2021)
(278 pages)
Genres: slasher, summer, cosmic horror
Welcome to the all-inclusive resort with sandy beaches, crystalline waters, all you can eat and drink and all you can maim, murder and kill with the most crazy weapons of choice. Let the killings begin.
A well deserved vacation for Elliot Harper and his family turns into a bloodbath were everyone is prey for maniacal serial killers dressed like clowns and other costumed freaks. This book will get you at the edge of your beach chair. It’s fun, it’s gory and thrilling with a cosmic horror twist at the end.
Kill River 3 by Cameron Roubique (2020)
(358 pages)
Genres: slasher, summer, waterpark, eighties vibe
This is the final part of this slasher trilogy about Cyndi who takes on a serial killer to silence him forever. Three months later the waterpark Thrill River is closed after the massacre. But if the horror becomes a trilogy, the horror only gets worse. Cyndi has to fight the masked killer one last time and discovers all about the history of the waterpark, the masked killer and has to save her friends and herself one last time.
Expect eighties nostalgia and water all around to cool off. A genuine horror slasher trilogy that follows the rules with more deaths each sequel and eventually a slasher story with a past where the killing all began. You can Read my Full Review.
The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre by Cho yeeun (2019)
(208 pages)
Genres: psychological, magic surrealism, body horror, amusement park, summer, novella
Going to an amusement park for fun in the summer seems like a good idea until you eat jelly you shouldn’t have and it changes you. Expect body horror, existentialism, themes about abandonment and attachment while you follow multiple people who either visit the park, work there or have another connection to it. And a cat. Don’t worry the cat doesn’t die.
It’s highly original, fun and tragic and the multiple narratives come together in a creative way in this magic surrealism psychological novella. You can Read my Full Review.
The Forgotten Island by David Sodergren (2018)
(316 pages)
Genres: monstres & creatures, splatterpunk, cosmic horror
A holiday in Thailand doesn’t work out exactly as she expected for Ana. Her estranged sister Rachel and her boyfriend Paul are going to be the least of her problems when they get stranded on an island where cosmic horrors, like human-like cult members and horrifying creatures who are out to kill them. Together with some other people they have to set their differences aside to survive this exotic nightmare.
It’s a very graphic, gory, bloody and gruesome story but there’s also room for a tragic background between the two sisters.
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This design of a Crawling Spider Eye is made with pen and a pointillism technique. You can buy this design on a Unisex Ringer T-Shirt and other apparel in my shop at Threadless.
Kill River by Cameron Roubique (2017)
(340 pages)
Genres: slasher, summer, waterpark, eighties vibe
The sequel. That means more kills, more brutal kills and an unstoppable killer. Cyndi escaped a monstrous killer but it’s far from over. In Kill River 2 she finds herself in a sequel.
A year later summer is coming up but Cyndi still suffers from nightmares. Although she has made new friends and even has a boyfriend now, her nightmares become very real when a new waterpark is opening in town. And it looks all too familiar. Soon her fight for survival starts all over again. Now the slasher is set in a fully functional waterpark but that doesn’t stop the killer from gruesome bloody kills. If you liked the first book you definitely like this one as well. You can Read my Full Review.
Kill River by Cameron Roubique (2015)
(348 pages)
Genres: slasher, summer, waterpark, woods, eighties vibe
Going on a summer camp in 1983 seems fun, but not to Cyndi. She befriends three other trouble makers and they make their escape only to end up in an abandoned waterpark in the middle of the woods. Which seems fun at first having the whole park to themselves. Except they are not alone. A killer is out to get them. For Cyndi the fight for survival begins.
This is a fun nostalgic throwback to the eighties, but beware kids are being killed in a very brutal way. It’s a thrilling slasher in the vein of the old eighties slasher films and promises a scary ride down from the waterslide. You can Read my Full Review.
Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand (2015)
(176 pages)
Genres: folklore, haunted house, found footage, summer, novella
In 1972 a British Folk band spends the summer in a house in the English countryside to write their new album. But then the lead singer/songwriter goes missing. Now the band members look back at that summer and each tell their story of what happened. A folklore tale, mixed with a haunted house and written like a found footage results in an original novella with a nostalgic idyllic seventies feel. You can Read my Full Review.
Duma Key by Stephen King (2008)
(611 pages)
Genres: ghost story, supernatural, summer
If you are looking for a book that will entertain you for a long time this will please you. It’s a supernatural ghost story that is set in Duma Key. Edgar rents a house there after a work accident and discovers his talent for painting. But his surreal paintings reveal a secret buried on the island. With new friends he tries to uncover the truth. It’s a classic Stephen King in his particular style and he has you covered on the beach with this biggie.
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This design of a Pink and Green Skull is made with pen and alcohol markers. You can buy this design on a Baseball Cap and other apparel and on other various products in my shop at Redbubble.
The Ruins by Scott Smith (2006)
(336 pages)
Genres: botanical horror, body horror
A group of friends is on vacation in Mexico and find themselves in the jungle looking for a lost person. They stumble upon an old ruin which they climb and then aren’t permitted to leave by the locals who point weapons at them. They have no other choice than to stay on top of the ruin where deadly vines await them. It’s a botanical story about survival, body horror full of thrilling terror that is focused on the characters and their actions. You can Read my Full Review.
Summer of Night by Dan Simmons (1991)
(555 pages)
Genres: coming-of-age, summer, supernatural, sixties vibe
Another book that will last this summer. It’s an epic coming-of-age tale about six 11-year-old boys who are up against a big evil that haunts their town. Set in the sixties it’s nostalgic and brutal. It’s about friendship and a battle between good and evil. There’s good characterization of the boys from whose perspective the story is told. You can Read my Full Review.
It by Stephen King (1986)
(1116 pages)
Genres: coming-of-age, supernatural, summer, eighties vibe, fifties vibe
This epic tale about the battle between good and evil might be the book of all books when it comes to the coming-of-age genre. An absolute must-read, especially during summertime. During the summer of 1958 a group of kids must fight an ancient evil that threatens their town Derry and which is responsible for many missing children. The story follows the kids then and 27 years later when they must confront Pennywise again.
It’s a perfect read for the summer. It’s long, it’s epic, it’s scary and entertaining with a comfortable writing style. You can Read my Full Review.
The Elementals by Michael McDowell (1981)
(292 pages)
Genres: Southern Gothic, summer, supernatural
After his mother’s funeral Dauphin Savage, his wife Leigh and Leigh’s mother Big Barbara McCray and Leigh’s brother Luke with his 11-year-old daughter India go spend the summer at their summer houses in Beldame and they take housekeeper Odessa with them. There are three houses at the beach, one belongs to Dauphin, the other to the McCray family and the third belongs to the dunes and The Elementals, spirits. While they are staying there, the third house that is haunted spills its influence to the other two houses until it comes to a devastating climax. It’s a sweltering hot summer book, with beautiful prose, interesting characters and a haunting Southern Gothic tale. You can Read my Full Review.
Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco (1973)
(246 pages)
Genres: haunted house, summer
The Rolfe family stays at a house in the country the whole summer. They have everything they need, food, a pool, the beach and they only have to feed an old woman who lives upstairs. Soon father Ben and mother Marian are acting strange, while aunt Elizabeth gets sick. The house however thrives. The so-called hauntings are rather taking place inside Marian, Ben and Elizabeth and are cause for some disturbing events. With a great writing style this book reals you in. You can Read my Full Review.
Explore more Lists of Horror Books:
- The List of Christmas Horror Books
- The List of Coming of Age Horror Books
- The List of Halloween Horror Books
- The List of Summer Camp Horror Books
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