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) |
