Meet This Year’s Slate of Summer Scares Selections for Adults, Teens, and Tweens

In celebration of National Library Lover’s Day, the Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership in partnership with Booklist, Book Riot, iREAD, and NoveList®, a division of EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), is delighted to announce the seventh annual Summer Scares reading list, which includes titles selected by a panel of authors and library workers and is designed to promote Horror as a great reading option for all ages, during any time of the year. 

“Is anyone else already missing Halloween? Is anyone else already dying for summer? Well, great news! SUMMER SCARES combines both of our loves with a carefully curated list of horrifying books, giving you the perfect excuse to read chilling tales in hot weather! (If indeed you needed an excuse),” said #1 New York Times Bestseller author Kendare Blake, this year’s Summer Scares spokesperson. “I am so excited about every one of these books; they’re creepy and delightful, brutal and terrifying, inventive and just plain good reads. The committee has done a bang-up job—there’s truly something here for everyone, but why not try them all? Young or old(er), the time has come to fill your scary reading lists.” 

Every year, three titles are selected in each of three categories: Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade. For 2025 the selected titles are: 

Adult Selections

• Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca (Titan Books, 2022) 

• Reprieve by James Han Mattson (William Morrow, 2021) 
• The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling (Harper Voyager, 2019)

Young Adult Selections 

• Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist (Greenwillow, 2018) 

• The Getaway by Lamar Giles (Scholastic Press, 2022) 

• Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons (Tor Teen, 2023)

Middle Grade Selections 

• Eerie Tales from the School of Screams by Graham Annable (First Second, 2022)
• Ravenous Things by Derrick Chow (Disney Hyperion, 2022) 

• Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon (Scholastic Press, 2020) 

Summer Scares aims to introduce Horror titles to school and public library workers so they can start conversations with readers that extend beyond the books on each list and promote reading for years to come. In addition to the annual list of recommended titles, the Summer Scares Programming Guide, produced each year by the Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library—free for any library to access—is back with the tools libraries need to connect with their patrons. 

“The 2025 guide, developed by the HWA’s Library Advisory Council, is the library worker’s roadmap to providing exciting and meaningful experiences for their patrons through Summer Scares, whether they’re putting up book displays, hosting author events, or planning an entire Summer Scares program series,” states Konrad Stump, co-creator of the programming guide. “We are also excited to enhance our partnership with iREAD by selecting one title in each age group that fits iREAD’s 2025 theme, “Level Up at Your Library,” as well as creating sample partner programs with their input.” The guide will be available beginning March 1, 2025, on the Summer Scares Resource page at https://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html 

Along with the guide, the Summer Scares committee will work with both the recommended list authors and Horror authors from all over the country to provide free programming to libraries. Any library looking to host horror-themed events any time of year is encouraged to email [email protected] to get started. 

Booklist is helping to kick off Summer Scares 2025 in March with a series of three, free webinars with this year’s featured authors in conversation with committee members: 

• Monday, March 10, 2025, at 2 p.m. Eastern, featuring our Middle Grade authors and moderated by Julis Smith 

• Thursday, March 20, 2025, at 2 p.m. Eastern, featuring our Young Adult authors and moderated by Kendare Blake 
• Monday, March 24, 2025, at 2 p.m. Eastern, featuring our Adult authors and moderated by Becky Spratford

Each webinar lasts one hour. Anyone may register to participate for free at https://www.booklistonline.com/webinars. Recordings will be available for on-demand viewing after the live events at https://www.booklistonline.com/webinars-archive. 

All are welcome to join the Summer Scares committee and featured authors at the HWA’s Librarians’ Day, taking place in person on Friday, June 13, 2025, in Stamford, CT as part of StokerConⓇ. Details at: https://www.stokercon2025.com/ 

The HWA is a non-profit organization of writers and publishing professionals and the oldest organization dedicated to the Horror/Dark Fiction genre. One of the HWA’s missions is to foster an appreciation of reading through extensive programming and partnerships with libraries, schools, and literacy-based organizations. 

The 2025 Summer Scares program committee consists of author Kendare Blake, HWA Library Committee Co-Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump, as well as academic library director Carolyn Ciesla, Book Riot Editor and YA specialist Kelly Jensen, Booklist Editor and Middle Grade specialist Julia Smith, and Manager of Reader Services at NoveList Yaika Sabat.

For more information about the Summer Scares reading program, including committee member bios and how to obtain promotional materials and schedule events with the authors/committee members, please visit The Summer Scares Resource Page (https://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html) or email HWA Library Committee Co-Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump at [email protected].