Summerween Book Recommendations

I don't know who decided summer and horror don't mix, but I have questions.

Summer is the season for horror and thrillers and I will die on this (sun-drenched, slightly haunted) hill. The long days? Perfect for staying up even later reading. The heat? Makes everything feel a little unhinged. Summer camp? Let's be honest, nothing good ever happens at summer camp in a book, and that is exactly why we love it.

Everybody's talking about their Summerween reads right now, so I figured I'd drop in with some books that are perfect for the season. Some are horror, some are thriller, all of them have that summer vibe that makes the dread hit different when the AC is humming and you're vaguely sunburned.

Before we get into it…

TJ Payne joined me on this weeks episode of Talking Horror!

TJ is the author of In My Father's Basement, The Venue, and his breakout novel Intercepts, which just got a full traditional re-release from Crown at Penguin Random House. TJ writes horror that takes wildly extreme premises, government conspiracies, serial killer basements, a wedding gone bloody, and roots them in situations that feel painfully familiar, which is exactly why his books keep getting passed from reader to reader as horror's best-kept secret.

We go back to his start as a Hollywood romantic comedy screenwriter (yes, really) who kept getting notes that his scripts were too dark until he finally gave in to horror.

TJ opens up about the Hollywood bureaucracy that inspired the secret sensory deprivation facility in Intercepts, the cold email from a literary agent that turned his years-old self-published book into a two-book deal, and the rom-com table idea that accidentally became the wedding day slasher comedy The Venue.

If you haven't picked up Intercepts yet, this episode will convince you!

Watch the episode on Youtube, or listen on Spotify or Apple Music.

Okay, now let’s talk Summerween Book Recs!

A conversion summer camp, demon-possessed kids, and Chuck Tingle doing what Chuck Tingle does best: taking something that should terrify you and somehow filling it with heart. This one is sharp and angry and also weirdly hopeful, which is basically the Tingle signature. If you haven't read him yet, this is a fantastic place to start. (And yes, I had him on the podcast and yes, it's one of my favorite episodes ever.)

A group of girls kayak out to an island and disappear. Some come back but they’re not the same. Strange things start happening, and the creeping dread is absolutely chef's-kiss. Faubion writes the kind of queer YA dark thriller that refuses to pull its punches, and if you loved Yellowjackets, this one is going to hit. I read it in two sittings and then sat there staring at the wall.

Consider this book a formal warning against ever, ever going to a wellness retreat. It's tense, it's claustrophobic, it's doing deeply unsettling things with the whole "healing journey" concept. And yes, it also features what I can only describe as creative violence involving yoga equipment, which I am absolutely not judging anyone for being curious about. Brian was on the podcast and he's the real deal — this one is a ride.

What screams All-American summer more than Boy Scouts? Apparently body horror, and Nick Cutter is here to prove it. This is one of the most viscerally upsetting books I have ever read, and I mean that as the most sincere compliment I can give. A Scout troop on a remote island encounters something they absolutely should not have encountered. Check your triggers. Check them twice. Then read it anyway if you dare.

Yes, it's summer camp again, but who doesn’t love summer camp? Moore takes the setting and elevates it into something genuinely literary and deeply unsettling. A girl goes missing from a summer camp, and the investigation peels back layers of family secrets. This is the kind of book where every chapter makes you go "wait, what" — and then the next chapter makes you realize you understood nothing at all.

There's a summer element here with three friends, and I genuinely don't even know how to explain this book except to say it's great and you should read it. Ward has this way of making you feel like you're reading three different books at once, all of them unsettling, all of them connected by something you can't quite see. She's one of the most exciting voices in horror right now and this one proves it. Go in knowing as little as possible — trust me.

What’s a Summerween book I need to read before the summer is over?

Host of Talking Horror Podcast