It’s time for Summer Scares, and the popular horror-reading program is in fine form again. Shelf Care host Susan Maguire spoke to librarian Becky Spratford, author Kendare Blake, and Booklist’s Julia Smith about this year’s selections for adult, teen, and middle-grade readers; transgressive horror; and Hellmouth Pokémon, as you do. She also spoke to Jocelyn Codner and Carina Stopenski, both of the Horror Writers Association’s Library Advisory Council, about the Summer Scares program guide, why libraries should serve horror readers, and what they’re reading and loving.

Here’s what we talked about:

Summer Scares Resource Page

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead, by Kristen Simmons

iRead Summer 2025: Level Up at Your Library

The Getaway, by Lamar Giles

Devils unto Dust, by Emma Berquist

Reprieve, by James Han Mattson

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes, by Eric LaRocca

The Luminous Dead, by Caitlin Starling

Summer Scares webinars: for Adult, YA, and Middle Grade

All These Bodies, by Kendare Blake

In Every Generation, by Kendare Blake

Summer Scares Program Guide

HWA Young Adults Write Now scholarship

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Stoker Con 2025 Librarians’ Day

Stag Dance, by Torrey Peters

Detransition, Baby, by Torrey Peters

It Came from the Trees, by Ally Russell

Hide and Seeker, by Daka Hermon

Ravenous Things, by Derrick Chow

Eerie Tales from the School of Screams, by Graham Annable, art by the author

Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake, illustrated by Jon Klassen

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest, by Aubrey Hartman, illustrated by Macin Minor

Bad Badger: A Love Story, by Maryrose Wood, illustrated by Giulia Ghigini

Reluctant Witch, by Melissa Marr