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Summer Scares Reading Program

Summer Scares Reading Program

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Read more horror!

Art by Evangeline Gallagher

Summer Scares is a free reading program designed for librarians to encourage reading horror all year and at any age. Each year, new books are selected for adult, teen, and middle-grade readers, and a free programming guide is written to accompany these titles. Summer Scares is affiliated with the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and partners with Book Riot, Booklist, iREAD, and NoveList.

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Jennifer
McMahon

2026 Spokesperson and New York Times Bestselling Author​

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RA for All:
Horror

Horror blog by librarian and HWA Library Committee Co-Chair Becky Spratford

 

Home of all Summer Scares news, announcements, and archives

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Programming
Guide: 2025

Free guide to the 2025 book selections, by librarians and for librarians

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​2026 guide coming soon...

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2026 Book Selections

Adult

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Maeve Fly

By CJ Leede

A Botanical Daughter

By Noah Medlock

Never Whistle at Night

Edited by Shane Hawk &

Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

Young Adult

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Our Shadows Have Claws

Edited By Yamile Saied Méndez & Amparo Ortiz

What We Harvest

By Ann Fraistat

Middle Grade

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Garlic & the Vampire

By Bree Paulsen

It Came from the Trees

By Ally Russell

This Appearing House

By Ally Malinenko

Partners

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