Summer is here, that means Summerween has begun! I decided to make myself a little summer slasher inspired reading list to see me through until Autumn starts at the end of September. Most of books are set during the summer, I couldn’t find the time of year when two of them are set but that’s alright! I just wanted to make sure to pick books not set during October/Halloween time and to just enjoy reading slasher novels in the sunshine.

You can also check out my Summer Slashers reading list on Goodreads.

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones is most known in the horror community for The Only Good Indians and more recently for The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. I’ve not seen many people discussing the Indian Lake trilogy, for which My Heart is a Chainsaw is the first instalment. Set in a small mountain town in Idaho 50 years after the Camp Blood tragedy, a masked slasher has returned to Terra Nova!

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Inspired by classic horror slasher movies, The Final Girl Support Group follows the women who faced their killers and escaped but are now left with the trauma and pain from that experience. I was very intrigued when I saw the concept for this novel. It has got generally mixed reviews, though I recently finished Hendix’s My Best Friend’s Exorcism and really enjoyed it. Hopefully I get on with this book as well!

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Clown in a Cornfield is slowly but surely becoming a modern YA horror classic! It reads exactly like a teen horror flick but with characters that have actual personalities. I read this last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. The movie? Not so much. Too much of the book’s core story was changed as well as reducing the characters down to caricatures of themselves. Maybe after this re-read I’ll make a full book vs movie post. 🤔 You can already guess the premise. Clown, cornfield, soon to be dead teens… It’s great fun!

Body Count by Codie Crowley

I discovered Body Count through Codie’s Instagram! I’d been following her for a while as her outfits are amazing and she posts cool stuff about living in Salem, Massachusetts. Body Count is a sapphic slasher exploring what happens when a monster wants to collect the payment due on your debt, while at a crazy beach party, celebrating prom with your mates.

Kill River by Cameron Roubique

One of the highest rated slashers I found on several Goodreads lists. Many of the reviewers described it as one of the best novelised 80s inspired slashers they’ve read. Set in 1983, Kill River follows a group of young teens who discover an abandoned water park, only to find something sinister waiting in the water.

Slasher Summer by E.L. Chen

This is a 2026 debut, so glad to see slashers are still getting love in publishing! It came out in the US yesterday (23 June) and is due to be released in the UK August 13th, which is when I will be picking it up. Slasher Summer follows a group of friends who return to their home town, put on the map for being the filming location for the campy 80s movie Slasher. During their reunion, a masked individual is seen, seemingly recreating the killer from the movie and the friends find themselves in grave danger.

Summer Camp for Slasher Victims by Matthew Mercer

A loosely similar concept to The Final Girl Support Group, this novel follows Annie, as she becomes a camp councillor at her grandfather’s, you guessed it, Summer Camp for Slasher Victims, known as Camp Safe Woods. The kids attending the camp are all recovering from traumatic and violent crimes they witnessed and the camp aims to provide outdoor recreation and healing during the summer. Little do Annie and the campers know, there is a slasher on the loose.

View this post on Instagram