Spooky Horror Books for a Supernatural Summer

After Kylie Galen goes to the wrong party surrounded by the wrong people, her mom sends her to Shadow Falls, a camp for troubled teens. It doesn’t take long before Kylie realizes that her fellow campmates are more than just “troubled." They’re vampires and werewolves and other supernatural creatures.

Kylie is horrified to be there, but meeting half-fae Derek and werewolf Lucas makes things a little better. But the more time she spends at camp, the more Kylie starts to realize that maybe Shadow Falls is the only place she’s ever truly belonged.

On the last day of school before the summer of 1960, twelve-year-old Tubby Cooke vanishes. His friends can’t accept that he’s just gone, and as they search for him, they discover other kids who have disappeared from Elm Haven. 

And then there are the other weird things they found. Sinkholes, a stranger wearing a uniform from WWI, and a strange truck that seems to follow them wherever they go. 

There’s something evil lurking in their small town. And it’s up to four young boys to stop it.

When it comes to family vacations, Anna knows all she can do is tread lightly and survive. Easier said than done. She’s always stood out from the rest, so much so that even asking a simple question can spark trouble. 

Her mother questions her every life choice and her dad would rather be left alone. But when they all arrive in the tiny remote villa things immediately start going wrong. 

Noises happen at night, the local villagers whisper ominous warnings, and then there’s the actual dark and violent history of the villa itself.

A pivotal part of summer is telling scary stories around the campfire. Tananarive Due’s debut collection of short fiction includes a novella and fifteen short stories.

In every story we travel to Gracetown, Florida, a town haunted by ghosts of its past—both literally and figuratively. Everyone there is touched by Otherness. And in the end, you will be too.

After his twin sister dies under tragic circumstances, Mars is driven to find out exactly what happened. To do that, he has to go back to the one place he swore he’d never return to: the prestigious Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy. 

His genderfluidity never fit with their old-fashioned gender roles and traditions, but Caroline loved spending her summers there. Mars knows if he wants answers, he has to befriend the beautiful and terrifying group Caroline was friends with. 

But the longer he’s at the camp, the more Mars starts to feel strange. His memories falter, the bucolic setting begins to smell of decay, and the most terrifying discovery of all is when he realizes something is hunting him.

It’s a quiet, summer day for seven year old Wen and her dads, Eric and Andrew. They’re vacationing in a remote cabin where their closest neighbors are more than two miles away. 

Ideal if you want to relax. Less than ideal if you need help. When a stranger appears in their driveway, he tells her that nothing that’s going to happen is her fault.

Then three more strangers appear, each carrying menacing objects. As she runs into the house to get her dads, she hears one last ominous warning. The strangers know they don’t want to let them in. But they insist that they need the family’s help to save the world.

Six months ago, Andrew and Eddie were inseparable. That was before Eddie went to Vanderbilt. Before he committed suicide days before Andrew was supposed to join him. 

Now, all Andrew has is a roommate he doesn’t know, friends he doesn’t want, and a ghost whispering about revenge while his wrists bleed.

All Andrew wants is to discover the truth about why his friend died. But the more he digs, all he uncovers are dark secrets and lies. As he spends his days and nights wrapped in Eddie’s complicated life, the more Andrew loses himself. 

And if he isn’t careful, the phantom who hungers for him, just might find a way in.

Timmy Graco is looking forward to summer vacation. All he sees are days where he gets to take it easy and hang out with his friends. He never imagined he’d spend it fighting for his life against a nightmarish creature no one believes is real. 

A creature unearthing fresh graves in the cemetery. A creature who wants nothing more than to devour Timmy and his friends. 

If Timmy hopes to see September, he’s going to have to find a way to conquer the Ghoul once and for all. 

Devin Jones hopes that working a summer job at the amusement park Joyland will help him recover from a broken heart. Instead, he stumbled on a dying child, the legacy of a brutal murder, and some dark truths about what comes after you die.

If he somehow survives the summer, his life will never, ever be the same.