Looking for a beach read to throw in your bag this summer that’s less of a light breezy rom-com and more of a run-for-your-life fright fest? Horror fans, you’ve found your corner of the internet. While there is definitely a time and a place for a feel-good read during the summer months, sometimes you just want a book that serves as absolute nightmare fuel. Which is why there are so many horror books being published this June. Horror reads make the perfect summer companion. Here are some of our favorites coming out this month!
Marion by Leah Rowan (St. Martin’s, June 2)
If you’re a fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror film classic Psycho (or the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch), you’re going to love this feminist retelling. After stealing from her job in an effort to help her sister escape an abusive marriage, Marion is on the run. She didn’t anticipate running into a handsome innkeeper named Norm, and she certainly didn’t plan on him attacking her while she was in the shower. But she is ready to defend herself. Now not only is Marion a thief, she’s also a murderer. The road to rescuing her sister and herself is now more complicated than ever, but she’s also willing to do whatever it takes.
Muñeca by Cynthia Gomez (Putnam, June 2)
Natalia “Nati” Fuentes grew up with a mother who taught her the ways of witchcraft, but she’s put all of that behind her now. Or so she thinks. When she hears rumors that heiress Violeta Miramontes has mysteriously come down with a strange illness, Nati suspects dark magic. Knowing she might be the only one who can help and eager to collect the cash reward for doing so, Nati takes a job as Violeta’s caretaker. But the whole scenario becomes much more complicated when Nati falls in love.
Headlights by CJ Leede (Tor Nightfire, June 9)
Fans of The Shining and Longlegs will want to snag a copy of this new horror novel from CJ Leede, the author of Maeve Fly and American Rapture. Something strange is happening in Denver, Colorado. People are waking up on the side of the road with no memory of how they got there, and what’s more horrifying is that they’re wearing the skin of murder victims they have never met. As Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is pulled into the case, traumatic memories from his past come to the surface.
Slasher Summer by E.L. Chen (Crown, June 23)
For the 1980s slasher horror fans, there’s Slasher Summer, a story about seven former high school friends who reunite in their hometown of Cedar Lake Falls. This sleepy town was the shooting location of the cult horror classic Slasher. Now, the friends are staying in the cabin where the film was shot. It’s all fun and games until a real slasher shows up, wearing a mask and hungry for murder. Will the friends’ knowledge of slasher horror movie tropes be enough to save them from a real-life masked killer?
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Tillinghast by Clare Cavenagh (Viking, June 23)
Clare Cavenagh’s literary horror debut is the story of Stutley Tillinghast, a reclusive minister who lives in a remote parish in Rhode Island. He doesn’t like to think of himself as a monster, but he does have an insatiable thirst for blood, which makes him avoid human contact whenever possible. Then a girl comes looking for him. Her name is Sarah, and she looks eerily similar to the woman who made him the way he is. Not only does she share his surname, but she also seems to share his same sickness.
Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay (William Morrow, June 30)
Paul Tremblay’s sci-fi dystopian horror follows former gamer Julia Flang, who takes on a strange job for one of the world’s largest tech companies. She will chaperone a man across the country. The catch? The man might not be dead, but he is in a vegetative state, only able to move through the use of proprietary AI. Julia controls the man’s movements through a smartphone controller. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to her, the man is trapped in his own mind, experiencing mountingly, horrifying surreal visions.
The Summer of the Serpent by Cecilia Eudave (Soho Press, June 30)
Set during a particularly hot summer in Guadalajara in 1977, The Summer of the Serpent kicks off when a young girl encounters a “serpent woman” at a traveling fair and asks to know her future. The woman’s response is cryptic, but her words will remain with the girl and haunt her, her sister, and their entire neighborhood. The story follows a wide range of perspectives of people in the neighborhood through the most haunting summer any of them have ever experienced.
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