Get Spooky With These 5 Summerween Reads

Happy Summerween! It’s a trend that got its start in the past few years of celebrating Halloween in summer. I compiled a short list of books that are spooky and somewhat scary (without being too intense) to enjoy during the Summerween season.

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Fly By Night

Fly by Night tells the story of Dee, who suspects a magical creature may be responsible for her sister’s mysterious disappearance. But in her investigation, she discovers that the culprit may be less supernatural than she fears. 

This is an interesting and unique mystery graphic novel that puts a different spin on urban legends. What if a creature that was rumored to be lurking in the woods came to be true? Dee finds out firsthand as she tries to piece together the clues for her sister’s disappearance. I loved the thriller aspects in this story which kept me guessing and weary of characters that I deemed as suspicious. I wasn’t sure who to believe and the overall suspense aspects kept me entertained.

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Camp Twisted Pine

Eleven-year-old Naomi loves all things outdoors—birds and beetles, bats and bunnies—in theory. She explores nature in the best possible way: the cold, hard facts in books. So when her parents’ announcement of their impending divorce comes hand in hand with sending Naomi and her younger twin brothers to summer camp while they figure things out, it’s salt in the wound for Naomi and her avoidance of hands-on experience.

Camp Twisted Pine could be worse. The counselors are nice, and Naomi likes her cabinmates, especially Jackie, whose blunt personality and frank dislike of the camp draws Naomi in quickly. Jackie is also hard of hearing and uses a hearing aid, and the girls quickly develop a routine of sign language lessons in their free time, which Naomi sees as a welcome break when all the s’mores-making and nature walks get to be a bit much.

But the campers aren’t the only ones who roam the grounds of Camp Twisted Pine. When people start to go missing, including Jackie, Naomi has to find a way to save everyone—and herself. Her practical knowledge of the outdoors may still be rudimentary at best, but she has years of studying and the scientific method to fall back on. Can Naomi identify and stop the dangerous predator before it’s too late?

Camp Twisted Pine is delightful spooky and a solid summer camp story! It has just the right amount of horror elements for its intended middle-grade audience without it being too scary. I enjoyed the novel’s setting of an eerie forest where danger may be lurking in the shadows. It was interesting to see the world building around the setting and learning about the mysteries of the land as the truth becomes unraveled. Readers get to put on their detective hats to follow clues and the way a very famous cryptid is used in the story gives its original urban legend a unique twist. Though the novel is not as scary as I thought was lighthearted I think it makes a solid summer camp story.

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Dreamer

Vera has unusual dreams – anything she dreams comes alive. Dream Traveling, her family calls it. Doing it all her life, Dream Traveling doesn’t affect Vera as much as it used to. She has her rules and her methods – as long as she follows them, all is fine.

Until she sees something she discovered she couldn’t handle. Now, her dreams are plagued by The Hunter, a deadly character that wants nothing more than to haunt her mind and leave behind a bloody spree. Vera must find a way to get The Hunter out of her head before he makes sure she never wakes up again.

So much for “sweet dreams”.

This novel was so suspenseful from beginning to end. Multi Mind keeps the reader hooked into the story and it’s full of interesting characters and a unique concept. I’ve read many books with dream traveling as a concept and I appreciate how the author makes this concept into their own. Vera not only travels the dream world but also interacts with it physically. This book has elements of a thriller, horror, and sci-fi thrown in. This blend of genres made the book an immersive reading experience.

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The Woods Are Always Watching

Best friends Neena and Josie spent high school as outsiders, but at least they had each other. Now, with college and a two-thousand-mile separation looming on the horizon, they have one last chance to be together—a three-day hike deep into the woods of the Pisgah National Forest.

Simmering tensions lead to a detour off the trail and straight into a waking nightmare … and then into something far worse. Something that will test them in horrifying ways.

Reading The Woods Were Always Watching was similar to watching a horror film that takes place in the woods. As the trip becomes more intense their friendship is so strained that they grasp at straws to see if can even be repaired at this point. This book reminds me of all reasons I personally don’t like camping in the woods but I could appreciate the beauty of their surroundings of nature but also was aware that something could go bad in an instant. It was very predictable and I think the heavier focus on the novel was the friendship aspect between Josie and Neena and dealing with change and story survival. But it still manages to be a suspenseful read with a very spooky atmosphere.

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Jill and the Killers

Returning to school after the unsolved disappearance of her mother, teenager Jill Estrada can’t wait for things to return to normal . . . even as her friends become obsessed with Box Killers, a true-crime subscription game where each month’s “unsolved case” is custom-tailored to the life of its player. There’s only one catch: Jill’s game seems to be all too real—and when her clues begin to connect the dots to a very real series of disappearances in her hometown, Jill and her friends must conquer their fears and own personal struggles to solve the case.

But can they find the killer before one of their own becomes the next victim?

Jill and the Killers felt like true crime mixed with amateur sleuthing. While it sometimes keeps a light-hearted vibe, the story never fails to remind the readers and cast of characters of the grave danger lurking around the corner. I love a good mystery and this one gets pretty intense without going too much over the top as some other thrillers do. But it manages to be gritty enough to not classify itself as a cozy mystery. I liked that the story played into the mystery game-style trope and how the progression of the game allows the reader to become more acquainted with each character. What stood out to me was the artwork and how it added a layer of vibrancy to the story.

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What books are on your Summerween watch list? Let me know in the comment section and share some recommendations as well!