It’s a wrap on Summer of Horror 2026! I had a lot of fun, and it was even more fun having so many bloggers participate this year. Thank you thank you to everyone!
This summer I read and reviewed thirteen horror books, which I’m very happy about. Below are those books and links to my reviews. I was also surprised that I was able to come up with so many lists and cover love posts, since I didn’t really have any specific plans going into the event. Those are also linked below.
Keep reading for some ideas I have for next year’s event! I hope to be much more organized!
Horror books read this summer:
Worry Box by Chris Panatier
The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus
Carry Me To My Grave by Chistopher Golden
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
The Summer Fun Massacre by Craig DiLouie
The Calamities by Chuck Wendig
It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo
A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-young
Devil Inside by Clay McLeod Chapman
If We Survive the Night by Jo Salazar
Bestiary by Patrick Rutigliano
Headlights by C.J. Leede
Small Town Slasher by Stephanie Rose
Horror lists:
Five Horror Themed Bookstores I’d Love to Visit
Strange Appetites – Horror Books With Cannibalism and Other Questionable Easting Habits
Best Horror Books of 2026 So Far
Eight Horror/Thriller Books Set In Motels
Workplace Horror – Twelve Books Where the Characters Wonder “Why Did I Take This Job?”
20 Upcoming Queer Horror Books for June Pride Month 2026
Eight Books With The Haunted/Possessed Doll Trope
Cover Love:
Bloody Good Covers – Horror Covers With Dripping Blood
A Bunch of Upcoming Horror Books With Yellow Titles
Horror Books With the Word “Ghost” in the Title
Fifteen Horror Books With “Handwriting Font” Titles
What to expect in 2027:
You would think I’d be exhausted after three months of concentrating on horror, but I’m already making plans for 2027! This year didn’t have much structure, it was sort of “do whatever you want that’s horror related.” Next year I’d like to have some more structured plans so participants can have a roadmap if they want. Here are some things I’d love to add to the event:
Read Along – I would love to have a group book (or two!) to read together. I’m not sure how that would work, since I’ve neither hosted nor participated in a read-along myself, but it sounds like fun! Maybe we could do one classic horror book and one more contemporary horror book. I may even ask for a volunteer to help me manage it! Let me know if this sounds like a fun thing to do! And I think it would be fun to have participants suggest and vote on the final books.
Horror bingo – I did this last year, and I’m bringing it back next year for sure!
Specific prompts for book lists and cover love lists – Another thing I did last year was “Color Cover Love,” where I chose a color each week and made a list of books with covers in that color. I kind of missed it this year, so next year for sure I’m bringing it back, probably with a schedule so it’s easier to plan ahead.
Sign-ups and links for posts – I’m definitely going to organize these two things better next year. I was surprised by all the participation this year, and I wasn’t prepared for how much time it would take to round up links for everyone’s posts each Sunday. I’m going to explore “linky” software and see if there are any good ones.
And more! Let’s see what else I can think of in the next nine months:-)
Other books read in August:
Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst
Glad you had a successful Summer of Horror!!
Thank you!
I might be up for a readalong, but we’ll see as I’ve never done one either, and this summer was a bit of a nightmare plans-wise. But with my interesting views on horror it could work out quite well. Either way glad you had a good summer of horror!!
I’d love you to participate!
I’m happy Summer of Horror was a success š The ideas for next year sound fun, I would definitely do a read along.
Oh cool. I figure a read along would be fun, even if you don’t want to participate in other ways:-)
It was a great 3 months and I can’t wait for whatever we do next year!
Thank you for being such a great participant! I can’t wait for next year:-)
You sure have a lot of energy left! I can’t commit to long and time-consuming events anymore (not that I’ve done it much in the past), but since I do read a lot of horror nevertheless, I was thinking of maybe simply linking up with my reviews and visiting the other participants’ blogs next year…unless I do what I did in 2025 and take a summer-long hiatus LOL.
LOL I do like planning ahead:-) And I’d love to have you link up your reviews, there’s no rules about how much you need to participate:-)
Congrats on a terrific summer of horror!!
Thank you!
I had such a blast this summer and am hoping to get up one horror review today (of course, it isn’t like I don’t post all year around). I really liked doing some movie and TV show posts this year and had fun visiting everyone else.
A read-along sounds fun and if you need any help, let me know! You could always set up a discord chat and have an area for certain chapters so people could jump in, discuss and converse about those before moving on.
Also thinking next summer I would like to do a Summerween Pet costume post with the boys. Thought about it too late time around.
I’m so glad you had fun! We’ll definitely talk about the read along, I’ve never used Discord, lol but it sounds like a great idea. I love the pet costume idea!
You read so many great ones! I typically save horror for the fall, but now I feel like next summer things will be different!
I hope you join in next year:-)
Oh I like the idea of a readalong, though I usually suck at keeping up or sticking to it, but I think it’d work great for a horror book. There’d be lots to discuss.
I’m a little nervous to do a read along since I’m not a “group” person, lol. But hey why not!
I have experience with Read-alongs and linkys, so email me if you have any questions.
Thanks Anne! I will probably do that:-)
I intend to join nextyear! I think it’s the perfect way to ramp up for fall spooky time! I love read-alongs. š
Yay, I’m so glad!
I had a lot of fun with Summor of Horror! Thanks for hosting!
Wow, you’re really getting serious for next year! š
This was so much fun to follow! I got so many books on my TBR from it!!
Had such a great time! I would love to do a readalong with other bloggers for the event. I would still participate even if I’ve already read the book. Looking forward for more horror fun already!
I enjoyed participating! Thank you so much! It was nice not having to save ALL my scary books for Readers Imbibing Peril. Got a nice jumpstart into it. lol
I’m so glad you made this post, because I really need to catch up on all your reviews!! I love your ideas for next year so far, I’d love to try to finally participate in more things, sounds like a ton of fun. š
I love how Summer Of Horror is taking off, its wonderful to see. And you got to so many books over the summer too. Its a shame two were such letdowns but I’m glad the rest were hits.
A read along sounds fun. I have my first ever one starting tomorrow – taking part in it, not hosting – so I can let you know how it works afterwards if you’d like. I’m looking forward to the return of bingo too.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with for next year’s event. It all sounds like such fun.
This all sounds great and I will definitely be on board – and hopefully much more organised next time.
I would also be happy to join a readalong – although it depends on the book, I’d prefer to read something that I haven’t read before so will have to wait for the contenders š Having taken part in readalongs before it can be a good idea for different participants to come up with some of the questions – that way it wouldn’t all fall to you. So,
Lynn š
It seems like you had a great Summer! And I love all your plans for next year!!