In celebration of Friday the 13th, the Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with Booklist, Book Riot, iREAD, and NoveList®, a division of EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), announced the eighth 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.

Every year, three titles are selected in each of three categories: Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade. For 2026 those selected titles in the NLS collection are:

For more information check out the Summer Scares Resource page

Adult Selections:

BOTANICAL DAUGHTER by Noah Medlock (DB 121045)

NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT ed. Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst (DB 117262, LB 0000588)

MAEVE FLY by CJ Leede (DB 116087)

Young Adult Selections:

WHAT WE HARVEST by Ann Fraistat (DB 109782)

GORGEOUS GRUESOME FACES by Linda Cheng (DB 117987)

OUR SHADOWS HAVE CLAWS: 15 LATIN AMERICAN MONSTER STORIES ed. Yamile Saied Méndez and Amparo Ortiz (DB 111270)

Middle Grade Selections:

IT CAME FROM THE TREES by Ally Russell (DB 124983)

THIS APPEARING HOUSE by Ally Malinenko (DB 111062)