Cool down this summer by sending shivers down your spine!
If you're looking for alternative summer reads, check out these quick mystery and horror books. They're the perfect contrast to a beach day or addition to a spooky cabin trip.
Lets Split Up
Bill Wood
When hot "it-couple" Brad and Shelley are brutally murdered in a manor on the edge of town, a group of teen friends investigate.
Set in Sanera, a small community in California where rumour spreads as fast as the fire on the day of the killings, the theory is the old ghoul who haunts the house after his own murder has finally taken revenge. As Cam, Jonesy, Amber and new-girl Buffy investigate, the rumour feels closer to the truth than they ever dared think possible, and as they enter the mansion themselves, the idea of splitting up to find evidence will prove to be either the best ... or worst decision of all...
Clown In a Cornfield
Adam Cesare
When Quinn and her father move to a tiny town with a weird clown for a mascot, they're looking for a fresh start. But ever since the town's only factory shut down, Kettle Springs has been cracked in half.
Most of the town believes that the kids are to blame. After all, the juniors and seniors at Kettle Springs High are the ones who threw the party where Arthur Hill's daughter died. They're the ones who set the abandoned factory on fire and who spend all their time posting pranks on YouTube. They have no respect and no idea what it means to work hard.
For the kids, it's the other way around And now Kettle Springs is caught in a constant battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It's a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until one homicidal clown with a porkpie hat and a red nose decides to end it for good.
The Midnight Game
Cynthia Murphy
Six strangers. One night. But how many survivors?
When a group of six strangers who have only ever spoken on a creepy Deddit thread decide to meet IRL, they have one plan in mind: they are going to play The Midnight Game and summon the Midnight Man.
Rules of the game are simple: Do not turn on the lights. Do not go to sleep. Do not leave the building.
And once you start the game, you must finish it—there's no other way out...
The Saturday Night Ghost Club
Craig Davidson
Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls--a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place--Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the "Saturday Night Ghost Club." But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly lighthearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined.
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Death at Morning House
Maureen Johnson
The fire wasn’t Marlowe Wexler’s fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. Akilah, the girl Marlowe has been in love with for years, will never go out with her again. No one dates an accidental arsonist.
With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that’s how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It’s easy enough, giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition.
About the Author
Jacqueline is a Circulation Clerk in the Adult Library who started in 2024. She enjoys reading epic fantasy books and cozy rom-coms; and believes the best way to read is with the physical book and the audiobook together. When she’s not reading she also loves going to the movies.
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