Programming Guides
Each year, a free Summer Scares Programming Guide created by HWA Library Committee Co-Chair Konrad Stump and the Springfield-Greene County Library. Stump states that the guide is "packed with everything library workers need to engage their communities with these great titles, including an iREAD partner title in each age group. From ideas for author events, partner programs with University of Pittsburgh Library Systems, book discussion groups, and much more, this guide is the library worker’s roadmap to creating exciting and meaningful experiences for their patrons through Summer Scares that they can use as a jumping off point for future horror-themed programming.”
The Summer Scares logo and graphics are also available for download.
2026
Coming March 1, 2026...
2025
Adult Titles:
The Luminous Dead, by Caitlin Starling
Reprieve, by James Han Mattson
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes, by Eric LaRocca
Young Adult Titles:
Devils Unto Dust, by Emma Berquist
Find Him Where You Left Him Dead, by Kristen Simmons
The Getaway, by Lamar Giles
Middle Grade Titles:
Eerie Tales from the School of Screams, by Graham Annable
Hide and Seeker, by Daka Hermon
Ravenous Things, by Derrick Chow
2024
Adult Titles:
Jackal, by Erin E. Adams
This Thing Between Us, by Gus Moreno
Such Sharp Teeth, by Rachel Harrison
Young Adult Titles:
All These Bodies, by Kendare Blake
Dead Flip, by Sara Farizan
#MurderTrending, by Gretchen McNeil
Middle Grade Titles:
My Aunt Is a Monster, by Reimena Yee
The Nest, by Kenneth Oppel
Ophie’s Ghosts, by Justina Ireland
2023
Adult Titles:
Catherine House, by Elisabeth Thomas
The Merry Spinster, by Daniel M. Lavery
Ring Shout, by P. Djèlí Clark
Young Adult Titles:
In the Shadow of Blackbirds, by Cat Winters
Mooncakes, by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
Squad, by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle
Middle Grade Titles
Living Ghosts and Mischievous Monsters, by Dan SaSuWeh Jones
Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden
A Small Zombie Problem, by K.G. Campbell
2022
Adult Titles:
Coyote Songs, by Gabino Iglesias
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, by Emil Ferris
The Remaking, by Clay McLeod Chapman
Young Adult Titles:
Agnes at the End of the World, by Kelly McWilliams
Clown in a Cornfield, by Adam Cesare
The Companion, by Kate Alender
Middle Grade Titles:
Beetle & the Hollowbones, by Aliza Layne
The Forgotten Girl, by India Hill Brown
Scary Stories for Young Foxes, by Christian McKay Heidicker
2021
Adult Titles:
The Cipher, by Kathe Koja
Frankenstein in Baghdad, by Ahmed Saadawi
The Hunger, by Alma Katsu
Young Adult Titles:
The Diviners, by Libba Bray
The Marrow Thieves, by Cherie Dimaline
Undead Girl Gang, by Lily Anderson
Middle Grade Titles:
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, by Hal Johnson
Ollie's Odyssey, by William Joyce
Whichwood, by Tahereh Mafi​
2020
Adult Titles:
The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle
In the Valley of the Sun, by Andy Davidson
She Said Destroy: Stories, by Nadia Bulkin
Young Adult Titles:
The Agony House, by Cherie Priest
Daughter Unto Devils, by Amy Lukavics
Labyrinth Lost, by Zoraida Córdova
Middle Grade Titles
Case File 13: Zombie Kid, by J. Scott Savage
Hoodoo, by Ronald L. Smith
Spirit Hunters, by Ellen Oh
2019
No written guide for this year. See RA for All: Horror for resources.
​Adult Titles:
Earthworm Gods, by Brian Keene
Mongrels, by Stephen Graham Jones
My Soul to Keep, by Tananarive Due
Young Adult Titles:
Devil and Winnie Flynn, by Micol Ostow
Rotters, by Daniel Kraus
Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, edited by April Genevieve Tucholke
Middle Grade Titles:
Doll Bones, by Holly Black
The Jumbies, by Tracey Baptiste
Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll