When I was a child, I spent long weekends and lazy summers wandering the aisles of my father’s video rental store. Remember those? This is where my love for storytelling began. My sisters and I got first dibs on new releases as they came out and had endless access to beloved classics. Even back then, I had a soft spot for horror films and thrillers, making it a mission to watch as many as possible.
This love for scary movies inspired my latest thriller, Smile for the Cameras. The story centers on Ella, an actress who gained fame for her role as the final girl in the slasher flick Grad Night. Ella returns to the original location where the film was shot—a secluded cabin in the Tennessee mountains—to participate in a documentary about the making of the movie. Life soon begins to imitate art when a masked killer, dressed as the famous villain in Grad Night, starts targeting Ella and her castmates.
Smile for the Cameras, which leans into horror tropes viewers came to love in the nineties and early aughts, is the perfect summer read for fans of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Here are some more book recommendations that mirror the vibes of famous horror movies. Add these to your spooky summer reading list!
If you love Midsommar, read The Midnight Feast…
If you’re a fan of Ari Aster’s Midsommar, you should check out Lucy Foley’s latest release about an opulent resort in England. Much like the vibrant festival setting of Midsommar, the idyllic grounds in The Midnight Feast appear, at first, like a daydream: boutique cabins nestled in the woods, the restless sea just beyond the cliffs. The Manor, a destination designed for renewal and luxury, is soon eclipsed by the dark aura that surrounds the place and its inhabitants. Both stories take a mesmerizing look at tradition, loyalty, and personal grievances begging for retribution.
If you love The Amityville Horror, read Home Before Dark…
Everyone loves a good ghost story, and Stuart Rosenberg’s The Amityville Horror is one of the most recognized. The infamous haunting of the Lutz family has seen numerous adaptations over the years, and fans of the franchise will love Riley Sager’s Home Before Dark. Maggie’s parents gained notoriety when they fled Baneberry Hall in the middle of the night, raving about evil spirits and supernatural events. Twenty-five years later, Maggie returns to the haunted estate with hopes of renovating the property and exposing what happened to her family all those years ago. This dual-timeline thriller is eerie, tense, and will keep you reading late into the night.
If you love Poltergeist, read Incidents Around the House…
Another haunted house story, Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist, made an entire generation terrified of television static thanks to young Carol Ann’s encounters with the menacing spirits that reside in her home. Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House takes on a similar storyline and introduces readers to one of the most frightening antagonists I’ve read in years: Other Mommy. Told from eight-year-old Bela’s perspective, the book focuses on a family trying to protect themselves from a malevolent entity. This novel is unique, emotional, and terrifying.
If you love Zodiac, read Chasing the Boogeyman…
Fans of David Fincher’s Zodiac, a film inspired by the hunt for the notorious serial killer, or any true crime, for that matter, will devour Richard Chizmar’s brilliant take on metafiction, Chasing the Boogeyman. Set in the eighties, Richard, a recent graduate determined to launch his writing career, becomes enthralled by the apparent serial killer that seems to be stalking his quaint Maryland hometown. Readers will feel like they’re following along with their favorite true crime documentary in this inventive, coming-of-age story.
If you love Hereditary, read My Darling Girl…
Part family drama, part possession story, Hereditary is one of the more chilling films to come out in recent years (and Ari Aster’s second movie to make this list). Jennifer McMahon’s My Darling Girl bottles that same sense of dread. Against her better judgment, Alison agrees to care for her estranged mother, Mavis, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Strange events soon befall Alison and her family, forcing her to question what dark forces her mother might have ushered into their home. Hereditary and My Darling Girl feature domineering mothers, daughters in search of peace, and unsettling proof that family curses are difficult to break.
If you love The Twilight Zone, read We Used to Live Here…
The Twilight Zone is most famous as a television show (unless you count the 1983 movie adaptation produced by famous directors like Steven Spielberg), but I’m willing to bet that if you’re a fan of horror and psychological suspense, you’re also partial to Rod Serling’s classic anthology series. When I read Marcus Kliewer’s We Used to Live Here, I felt like I was in the thick of a Twilight Zone episode. The novel centers around a young, queer couple who’ve recently purchased a house. Their lives are thrown into chaos when the home’s previous residents visit and ask to look around. This novel is unsettling, entertaining, and addictive.
If you love The Shining, read The Last Room on the Left…
It feels like cheating to add The Shining to this list, as Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic masterpiece is based on Stephen King’s famous novel of the same name. Every horror lover should read the source material and compare it to the film, as each rendition is masterful in its own way. If you want a similar story with a modern twist, I’d recommend Leah Konen’s The Last Room on the Left. Kerry takes a job as a caretaker for a hotel in the Catskill Mountains. Her plans are thwarted when she finds a dead body on the grounds in this feminine take on a writer isolated from the world being haunted by ghosts from within.
