8 Horror Books to Read Before the End of Summerween
Ahead of the release of his new book Ghost Month, Simon Wroe has curated a spooky reading list to work through before the fall
by Simon Wroe 18 August 2026
Warner Bros.
Penance – Eliza Clark
More horror in the sunshine in this story of murder among a group of teenage girls in a run-down British seaside town. A decade after 16-year-old Joan Wilson is set on fire, a journalist compiles an account of the crime from research, interviews with witnesses, and chilling correspondence with the killers themselves.
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed – Mariana Enríquez
Short stories in the South American gothic mode. Family betrayals, missing children coming back from the dead, witchcraft, fetishes, and terrible curses. Buenos Aires becomes a claustrophobic, nightmarish city, where everything threatens to spill into madness.
In the Cut - Susanna Moore
Sexy, sultry, utterly distinctive. An English teacher navigates her darker sexual urges and her fear of men as a killer stalks the streets. Threat and horror lurks in every potential encounter — and that ending is one of the most haunting in all of literature.
The Ruins – Scott Smith
Set among the Mayan ruins of Mexico, this is the ultimate summer holiday-gone-very-wrong story, as a group of friends unleash ancient evil. "It does for Mexican vacations what Jaws did for New England beaches in 1975," said no less authority than Stephen King.
Decomposition Book – Sarah Van Os
Another holiday gone wrong, though there's something grimly sweet about this tale of a woman making friends with a corpse she finds behind her parents' lake house, via the corpse's diary. A story of trauma and survival — and the ungainly mechanics and manifold problems of corpse-hording.
My Heart is a Chainsaw – Stephen Graham Jones
In the first book of the meta-slasher “The Indian Lake” trilogy, horror expert Jade Daniels is convinced her rapidly gentrifying lake town is becoming prey to a killer. Will the arrival of the Final Girl, and Jade's unifying theory of slasher films, save the town from a bloody fate?
My Best Friend’s Exorcism – Grady Hendrix
Campy, 80s fun. High school sophomore Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade — then Gretchen starts acting... different. Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? Mean Girls with demonic possession and Phil Collins: who could resist?
Come Closer - Sara Gran
A superior demonic possession tale, where the taking-over happens gradually and in broad daylight, in a comfortable loft apartment, in a settled relationship, in a successful office job. Our narrator is swallowed piece by piece, in front of our eyes, in this chilling, brilliant short novel.
Bonus: Ghost Month – Simon Wroe
Every September, the spirits of the dead return before vanishing four weeks later in a puff of green ash. This year, four strangers prepare for visits from their dearly departed. The holiday forces them to confront all the things that haunt them, not just their dead. As suppressed truths emerge from the shadows, each of them will end Ghost Month changed in ways they never imagined. The new novel releases August 27th from Faber.