Horror Reads for Your Summer Vacations
Summer is here! Bring on the ice cream, bonfires, and travel!
Ahhh, summer vacation. For many, summer is a time of getting to pick up, travel (or stay put), throw their feet up and enjoy slowing down. At least, for a little while, anyway. And what better way to do so than by picking up a new book to read?
After all, road trips are tiring, airports are just giant waiting rooms, and nothing slows you down better than sitting with an engrossing read!
If you’re looking for a suitably spooky read for your vacation time, look no further than these recommendations!
9 Horror Books to Read this Summer
Rouge — Mona Awad
Set in California, this book is spooky but neither too gory nor too monstrous.
I recommend this summer book as a great read for a summer trip!
2.
So Thirsty — Rachel Harrison
Taking a girl’s trip? Despite the winter setting of this story, the relationship between the two, main female characters will give you the right vibes for your girls’ vacation, as well as bring some low level monsters, gore, and a little bit of steam.
3. I Was a Teenage Slasher — Stephen Graham Jones
If summertime makes you think of slasher films, then you’ll love this tale of a boy whose summer goes off the rails!
TW: Gore
4. A Light Most Hateful — Hailey Piper
Rolling along on the theme of summer films, this book starts at a drive-in and quickly devolves into a mad-dash to get the heck out of dodge.
Monsters, some gore, and a WHOLE lot of crazy ensues.
5. Victims — Kristopher Rufty
If the last two suggestions were too tame for you and you want your summer read to be a lot more visceral, then I recommend checking out this book. It has a little bit of everything summer — drive-in movies, horror films, a trip to get ice cream, blossoming relationships, stalking, summer lovin’ (of the non-consensual variety), gore, a lot of triggering content, and some seriously deranged characters. It’s a wild ride, but weirdly hard to put down — if you can stomach it.
TW: Plenty of gore, SA, rape, incest, hostages, language, lots of sexual content, implied necrophilia
6. L.A. Mummy — Lance Loot
On the other hand, if you’re looking for something a lot more along the lines of comedic horror, this little novella is a quick read for a flight or short road trip and is simply amusing.
There are horror elements, but more than that, it’s a facetious frolic.
7. ‘Salem’s Lot — Stephen King
Looking for something a bit more substantial to carry you through a longer trip?
Stephen King has you covered with this wonderful foray into late summertime, small-town New England where things start turning bad before the leaves start to die.
TW: child abuse, infant death
8. Small Town Horror — Ronald Malfi
Speaking of small towns where bad things happen, if the last suggestion was a bit too bulky for your carry-on, check out Malfi’s atmospheric, speculative horror where secrets among estranged friends have particularly dire consequences.
9. We Used to Live Here — Marcus Kliewer
If what’s really your speed is a book that demands you use your time off to stay up late to finish another chapter and leaves you riddling out plot points after you’ve closed the back cover, then read Kliewer’s whirlwind story where everything(?) is somehow not as it seems.
4 Honorable Mentions
Horror Movie — Paul Tremblay
Just as I offered with the suggestions above, if summertime screams “movie time,” to you, you might love this fun book that meets somewhere between novelization and script, involving nods to many ages-old tropes of horror film.
2. Growing Things — Paul Tremblay
I realize I just suggested a Tremblay novel, but this collection of short stories is easy-come-easy-go if you plan to read in short bursts, and many of the stories have a very summery feel or bent to them.
3. You Like it Darker — Stephen King
Full disclosure, I have yet to read this collection of King short stories.
That said, I’ve always gotten the distinct feeling that they’re great summertime reads (both based on when the book was released and on its cover graphics — yes, I judge books on their covers, sue me).
If you read it, let me know how you like it!
4. None of This is True — Lisa Jewell
Although it isn’t a horror, I believe in the cousin-like relationship between the thriller genre and the horror genre, generally considering thriller a subgenre of horror.
(Or do you think horror is subgenre of thriller? Let me know!)
As such, this book is a great, intense read. It’s easy to read and barrel through, which is great because you’ll probably be quickly invested and wondering what the heck is going on.
TW: Implied incest and pedophilia
I hope this list helps you pick your vacation TBR!
And don’t forget to leave room in your luggage to bring back new books from wherever you’re visiting!