Welcome to Summer of Horror 2025! This is my third year, having started it in 2023, and as usual, I have quite a few summer horror releases on my TBR that I’d love to get to (all of these come out in June, July and August). What better way to make my way through the stack than to focus on them during the hot days of summer?
This isn’t a formal event, but I would love others to participate, so please feel free to join in! Reading new releases is my thing, but you can read any horror you want, new or old.
Here are the summer horror books I hope to read (in no particular order):
The Farmhouse by Chelsea Conradt. June 17th. “Every woman who has lived on this farm has died. Emily just moved in.”
We Won’t All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall. July 29th. “From the bestselling author of I Am Still Alive comes a new nail-biter that’s part survival story, part murder mystery, and all thriller—perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson!”
The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine. August 5th. “A deliciously rich thriller, perfect for readers of Bella Mackie’s How To Kill Your Family and Alexia Casale’s The Best Way to Bury Your Husband.”
My Ex, the Antichrist by Craig DiLouie. July 1st. “From Bram Stoker award-nominated author Craig DiLouie comes a horror novel with a twisted tale of love, heartbreak, and the apocalypse.”
Red Rabbit Ghost by Jen Julian. July 22nd. “An impulsive young outcast confronts his small town’s dark secrets in this atmospheric and haunting debut horror novel from brilliant new voice Jen Julian.”
A Game in Yellow by Hailey Piper. August 12th. “Euphoria meets Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke in this latest novel by the Bram Stoker Award–winning author Hailey Piper, following a couple whose search to spice up their sex life leads them down a path of madness.”
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. July 15th. “Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.”
House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama. August 12th. “A young woman is drawn into a dangerous game after being invited to the mazelike home of her childhood friend, a rumored witch, in this gothic horror set in 1986 Philippines.”
Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. July 29th. “The critically acclaimed author of the “crazily enjoyable” (The New York Times) Whalefall returns with an immersive, cinematic novel about five World War I soldiers who stumble upon a fallen angel that could hold the key to ending the war.”
Departure 37 by Scott Carson. August 5th. “Horror meets coming-of-age in this thrilling novel in which forgotten Cold War mysteries make a terrifying reappearance, from a writer Stephen King has called “a master.”
Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton. August 5th. “In this electric horror novel from the author of The Insatiable Volt Sisters, an exhausted mother thinks her newborn might be a monster. She’s right.”
The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw. July 22nd. “A deeply dark academia novel from USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw, perfect for fans of A Deadly Education and The Atlas Six who are hungry for something a little more diabolical.”
An Evil Premise by T. Marie Vandelly. August 12th. “From T. Marie Vandelly, author of the acclaimed horror novel Theme Music , An Evil Premise is a mind-bending, thrilling meta-novel about possession, insanity, and the lengths a writer will go to find inspiration.”
Bonus – three September ARCs I can’t wait to read:
The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi. September 30th. “Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers cringing, laughing, and guessing until the very last page.”
Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. September 9th. “A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel from the USA Today bestselling author.”
Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley. September 2nd. “It’s a Midsommar night’s Scream in this blood-soaked thriller set at a remote healing retreat from horror author Brian McAuley.”
Bingo!
This year I’m adding a few things to the mix. I’ve created my first Bingo card, and it was a lot of fun to make! Feel free to grab the image if you’d like to join in:-)
Book cover love!
Finally, I’d love to dedicate a couple of Fridays a month to horror cover/title lists, because I love covers and we need to show them off. Here are a few ideas:
- Books with creepy houses on the cover
- Scary creatures with teeth on the cover
- Tentacles on the cover
- Movie horror/found footage on the cover
- Meat
- Pink horror covers
- Green horror covers
- Books with “blood” in the title
- Spooky forests/trees on the cover
- Music horror books
- Pride horror stack (For June’s Pride Month)
Please join in if you’d like, and you can come up with your own theme too! These are just starter ideas.
There’s no formal sign-up, but let me know in the comments if you’d like to participate as well. Let’s have a horrific summer:-D
I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday, which was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog,
I see a few of the ones you picked that I have my eye on now, especially We Won’t All Survive so I already can’t wait to hear your thoughts about that one! 😀
I can’t wait to read it, plus it’s one of the few YA books I have on the list.
So many of these look good but I think the one I’m looking forward to most is The Bewitching. I’m curious about The Library at Hellebore too having read something else by the same author.
Enjoy your summer of horror 😀
I’m super excited for The Bewitching too:-)
I can’t remember if you’ve said in past years or not but do the horror books you read have to be new releases to join in? If they don’t I may try to fit in a few of the books from my high priority TBR within the genre(especially the Stephen King books I’d decided to try next). I won’t exclusively read horror but it could push me to get to a few. Scratch that I’ve seen your Bingo board so I’m guessing older is fine. I’ll make up a TBR for this and see how it goes.
It looks like you have some fantastic books to get to. I was already intrigued by a few and have just added four more to my TBR. I also loved The Bewitching and can’t wait to see your thoughts on it. I hope you enjoy all of these.
I love the inclusion of the Bingo board too. How fun!! I love the cover idea posts too
I’ll hopefully get a TBR sorted soon and tag you in it when I do. I’ll try to fit some cover posts in a little later in the summer too.
I hope you have a wonderful time and look forward to checking out all of your content.
I’m sorry I didn’t include that you can read ANY horror, so please read whatever you like! It’s really just for fun, and it started because of the amount of new horror releases I noticed coming out over the summer. Thank you Charlotte
Thanks for letting me know I hadn’t noticed that pattern but then I don’t read anywhere near as much horror as you. I’m hoping this will help get me into it a bit more (especially as it’s one or the genres I was hoping to check out more this year)
It’s such a broad subgenre, I really do feel there is something for everyone.
Ambitious as usual, Tammy! I think I’ll leave the horror to you, eh;) But good luck and have fun!!
Overly ambitious, lol. But it’s fun to look forward to:-)
I wouldn’t associate summer with horror, but I hope you enjoy yours! I went with my favorite summer reads over the last ten years.
Thanks!
I’m going to try to participate!
Oh cool! That would be awesome:-)
Have fun!
https://wordsandpeace.com/2025/06/03/top-ten-summer-books/
Thanks Emma!
I love your summer of horror list! And reading bingo cards are always so much fun. I definitely want to check out The Farm House and We Won’t All Survive. 😀
Thanks Lark! There are so many good sounding horror books to choose from:-)
Have fun! Horror is not for me.
Anne – Books of My Heart
Don’t worry, I’m not just reading horror this summer:-)
Well I hope you will have lots of fun Tammy!
I’m sure I will!
You know I love your summer of horror. I have a few, who am I kidding, a lot of these on my TBR. So I will do a couple of Friday covers this summer along with you. That sounds like fun. I also need to do the bingo board!
I’m so happy you’re going to join in:-)
No longer a big horror reader, and I think I’d be disappointed if “My Ex, the Antichrist” wasn’t as funny as it sounds 😉 Good luck and happy reading!
I hope to read My Ex soon, I’ll let you know!
My reading plans always seem to fall by the wayside far too quickly, but maybe I’ll seek a horror book or two over the summer. 🙂
I think my plans are too ambitious, but they always seem like fun when I’m thinking about them:-)
I haven’t read any of these, but I’m looking forward to a lot of them. 🙂 Happy reading!
Thanks Lauren!
These all look WAY too terrifying for me. I can handle light horror, but that’s it. I’m getting wimpy in my old age and way more prone to nightmares than I used to be. Have fun with your reading!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Thanks Susan! I still get nightmares even though I love horror:-)
Bingos are always fun!! And I am really curious about your bonus read plus The Library at Hellebore. They all sound pretty good!!
I hope you will have fun with all of your picks!!
Thanks Susy! There is a lot to choose from and I hope to read as many as possible.
I like the sound of this! I just might join in since it would help me prioritize some of the horror on my shelves.
Yes, please feel free to join! I’d love to see what horror you have on your TBR.
Ooh, I shall have to check out my forthcoming books and see which ones fit in!
Lynn 😀
Ooh such a great line up! I’ve already read My Ex, the Antichrist and it was awesome!!!
I’m not really horror reader but since I’ve been wanting to dip my toes in a bit it might be a good time for me to try to participate I love the topics for the cover fridays!
Just heard about this challenge and decided to jump in. I’ve been falling more and more in love with horror and this is the perfect challenge for summer. Thank you for hosting!
https://akernelofnonsense.wordpress.com/2025/06/22/summer-of-horror-2025-reading-challenge/