Cedar Mills – Dylan James
Creature horror
Seeking to understand the recent deaths and disappearances in their town, a disgraced homicide detective and a group of grieving high schoolers unwittingly join forces.
But what this ragtag bunch of answer-seekers find will not only force them into a fight to save themselves and their town, but all of humanity as we know it.
Welcome to Cedar Mills.
“Its green skin resembled bumpy tree bark and its mouth was an open vortex of jagged teeth.”
December Park – Ronald Malfi
Psychological horror
In the fall of 1993, fifteen-year-old Angelo Mazzone sees his first dead body. The murder is linked to the Piper, the possible abductor of three other children, who haven’t been found, over the past few months.
Some people in town say the woods are haunted, but Angelo and his friends head in anyway, to search the darkness for a monster.
What they find there will change who they are, and everything they once believed in.
“In the fall of 1993, a dark shadow fell over Harting Farms. Newspapers called him the Piper…”
The Terror of Willow Falls – Jay Bower
Folklore horror
Thirteen-year-old Joey Speight’s life is turned upside down when his family moves from Chicago to the sleepy river town of Willow Falls to live with his mysterious great-grandmother, Ruth. Relocating to a new town is tough enough, but the whispers of a horrifying creature called the Eyebiter that feasts on the eyes of its victims make Joey question the safety of his new home.
Along with his new friend Len, Joey digs into the town’s dark past. He uncovers a chilling history drenched in blood, dating back centuries. A cryptic journal from his great-grandmother’s family reveals connections to the town’s origins and Joey must face his fears to embrace a destiny he never wanted.
“…there are all kinds of things here in the park, and then there’s the Eyebiter.”
Amongst the Mists – M.L. Rayner
Wilderness horror
It was the most anticipated summer break of their young lives.
For Bran Lampshire, that summer of 1986 would be far different. The lure of a wilderness adventure sends him and his friends on a troublesome journey that would see them far from home and into the isolated shadows of the Sleathton Estate.
In a forgotten land where nature thrives, an unexplained mist settles upon the shaded grounds. And stories were told of events so chilling, they were forcibly buried over time.
Lose yourself beneath the endless trees. And discover that legends are sometimes so much more than ghost stories.
“It was the strangest of occurrences. So strange she was doubtful it had even happened.”
Wasps in the Ice Cream – Tim McGregor
Witch horror
Summer 1987: Mark Prewitt’s only priority is to avoid his dad’s new wife and waste time with his friends, but idle nights are the devil’s playground. When his friends decide to pull a cruel prank on the reclusive and strange Farrow sisters, Mark regrets caving in to peer pressure.
Wanting to make amends, Mark is drawn into the mysterious world of the Farrow girls, finding a kindred spirit in the middle sister, George. She is unlike anyone he’s ever known; a practicing witch who uses folk magic to protect her family. They bond over books, loneliness, and homemade spells. She even invites Mark to join a séance to contact her dead sister, who died under mysterious circumstances.
Keeping their relationship secret, Mark learns that living a double life in a town this small is impossible. When the secret is exposed, and his friends plot to punish the witch sisters for stealing one of their own, Mark is forced to choose between these two worlds.
“Most people know the ice cream is bad and stay away, but some people stop in – older folks or dumb kids who don’t know any better.”
Lost Man’s Lane – Scott Carson
Psychological horror
Marshall Miller would’ve remembered her face even if he hadn’t seen it on a MISSING poster.
When a young woman goes missing in his small town, the investigation hinges on Marshall’s haunted sighting of her, crying in the back seat of a police car driven by a cop named Maddox.
There’s only one problem: no local cop named Maddox exists.
But the speeding ticket he handed to Marshall certainly does.
Dealing with police and media is heady stuff for a teenager, the son of a single mother, but Marshall is sure he can handle it, until the shocking day when his reliability as a witness implodes.
Now scorned and shamed, he finds unlikely allies as he confronts the ancient secrets behind his small town’s peaceful façade, and learns the truth about his own family.
“I made it four miles before the colored lights came on behind me.”
Dead End Tunnel – Nick Roberts
Psychological horror
Maverick Hall has spent years trying to forget the chilling events of his thirteenth birthday in the summer of 1999. That fateful night, he and his best friends ventured through a seemingly innocuous tunnel on their bikes, a journey from which not all of them returned.
Now, as an adult, Maverick is haunted by a sinister force that compels him to return to his old neighborhood, a place shadowed by secrets, deceit, and an unsettling sense of death.
Drawn back against his better judgment, he must face the dark forces that have lurked in waiting, eager for his return.
As Maverick confronts the shadows of his past, he finds himself entangled in a web of mystery that threatens not only his sanity but his very survival.
“There exists in me a curiosity to examine the past, but then reason steps in and saves me from myself.”
Within the Woods – Tony Urban
Supernatural horror
For 12-year-old Garrett and his four best friends, the summer of 1989 is supposed to be unforgettable. Games at the carnival, riding bikes on back roads, renting movies to watch in their clubhouse. It’s as close to perfect as a boy’s life could be, until Garrett’s older brother vanishes.
And then things get weird. Really weird.
Something is wrong in Sallow Creek, Pennsylvania.
Something is changing their neighbors, infecting their families.
Something is coming for them.
“…not even a second later the light enveloped him, and all the boy could think or feel or comprehend was pain.”
Ghoul – Brian Keene
Supernatural horror
There is something in the local cemetery that comes out at night. Something that is unearthing corpses and killing people.
It’s the summer of 1984 and Timmy and his friends are looking forward to no school, comic books, and adventure.
But instead, they will be fighting for their lives.
The ghoul has smelled their blood, and it is after them. But that’s not the only monster they will face this summer.
“In the darkness, Prince sang, but only the dead were around to hear it.”
PillowFace – Kristopher Rufty
Slasher horror
Twelve-year-old Joel Olsen loves all things devoted to horror. Movies, comics, books, and of course his true passion, special effects. Being raised by his older sister Haley after the sudden death of their parents, Joel is in a world truly of his own.
At the launch of summer vacation Joel finds lying bloodied and near death in his backyard a masked man that is the epitome of what he adores. A flesh and blood slasher maniac! When he invites the masked man into his home to recover from his wounds an unexpected friendship is born, but Joel quickly realizes he’s actually become involved in a true to life horror tale that he’ll be lucky to survive.
This maniac known as Pillowface is not only an uncontrollable killing machine, but he also has others searching for him, and they will go to great and bloody lengths to find him.
“Dawn couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.”
Straight on ‘til Morning – Christopher Golden
Dark fantasy horror
It is the summer after eighth grade, the last three months of freedom for Kevin Murphy and his friends before they begin high school. The last chance to hang at the mall and goof off. And Kevin’s last chance to confess his unrequited love for Nicole French.
But Nikki has a new boyfriend, a rough eighteen-year-old named Pete Starling. Kevin knows Pete’s no good for Nikki. And now Pete and his gang have taken Nikki away.
To rescue her, Kevin and his friends must follow them into a land they were never even meant to know about. A life they cannot imagine.
A place from which they may never return.
“In the summer of 1981, not long after his fourteenth birthday, Kevin Murphy learned that he wasn’t bulletproof.”
Haven – Tom Deady
Monster horror
In 1961, the small town of Haven thought they’d gotten rid of their monster.
After a series of child killings, Paul Greymore was caught carrying a wounded girl. His face, disfigured from a childhood accident, seemed to confirm he was the monster the community hoped to banish. With Paul in prison, the killings stopped.
For seventeen years, Haven was peaceful again. But Paul served his time and has now returned to Haven, the town where he grew up, and the scene of his alleged crimes. Paul insists he didn’t commit those crimes, and several townspeople believe him including the local priest, a young boy named Denny, and his best friend Billy.
Trouble is, now that Paul is back home, the bizarre killings have started again, and the patterns match the deaths from Haven’s past. If Paul isn’t the killer, who is?
Or WHAT is? An unlikely band of adventurers attempts to uncover the truth, delving into long-hidden tunnels that might actually be inhabited by a strange, predatory creature.
“It wouldn’t be until years later that Paul would see a likeness of himself in a moved called A Nightmare on Elm Street.”
IT – Stephen King
Supernatural horror
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness.
But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children.
Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers.
“The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years – if it ever did end – began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.”
