You probably associate scary movies with October more than June and July. Rightfully so—there’s just something about the crisp air and fallen leaves. But summer is also a perfect setting for a scary movie binge. Thanks to #summerween popping up all over my news feeds, I’ve been getting in the spooky mood. Frankly it’s too hot to do much else but watch movies in the AC.

Here are a few of my recommendations for watching (and two fun books). Not all of these take place during summer, but I still think they work for getting into the nearly-Halloween vibe.

Friday the 13th (1980)

There are no less than 4,700 slashers (I assume), but when I think of the category I always think of the three classics first: Halloween (my favorite), A Nightmare on Elm Street (the scariest IMO), and Friday the 13th. The latter’s summer camp setting is just what you need for a summer slasher series. And if you’ve somehow made it this far and have never seen it, you might be in for a surprise at the reveal.

I haven’t seen all of the franchise’s sequels, but I highly recommend reading all of writer Scott Meslow’s recaps that he did every Friday the 13th from 2014 to 2020.

Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021)

I recently saw the first two installments of the Fear Street franchise based on R.L. Stine’s series of young adult horror books. I particularly liked part two, which also takes place at a summer camp. And it stars Sadie Sink for anyone going through Stranger Things withdrawals.

The Lost Boys (1987)

Some 80s movies are far cheesier than you remember on a modern rewatch. The Lost Boys is not one of those movies. This one gets better with time. It’s vampires done right with an attractive cast, motorcycles, and a boardwalk setting that’s ideal for warm summer night watches. It’s also a great movie for people who aren’t big fans of traditional horror and it reminds me how unlucky I am to have missed the 80s.

Summer of ‘84 (2018)

Old horror movies can be cheesy and new horror movies are often worse, relying so much on CGI that what should be scary becomes comical, or they’re plotless with excessive gore and torture. Not all, of course, but for at least a while in the 00s and 2010s it felt like we couldn’t get a string of good thrillers. But Summer of ‘84 truly felt like it came out in 1984 instead of 2018. It’s creepy but not terrifying, following four friends investigating their police officer neighbor, who they suspect is the serial killer on the loose in their neighborhood.

It (1990 and 2017)

The It mini-series from 1990 scared me for years, thanks to Tim Curry’s perfect Pennywise execution. It’s also a testament to the use of practical effects being far scarier than CGI. While the 2017 and 2019 part one and two movies are among some of the better remakes out there, keeping the spirit of the original with a terrifying performance from Bill Skarsgard, there is at least one moment where the CGI became far too comical to be taken seriously. Still, the tale about a group of preteens spending their summer fighting a child-eating clown and then returning as adults to finish him off is a must watch.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Unfortunately, I tend to think of Scary Movie first when I think about I Know What You Did Last Summer, but that’s of no fault to the movie itself. It’s just cheesy enough to lend itself perfectly to parody. But it’s a 90s movie worth revisiting. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, who also wrote the absolute perfection that is Scream (see below).

Goosebumps (1995)

As much as I love scary movies, I actually don’t. I’m jumpy as is, and if something is really scary, I won’t sleep for a week and will spend at least the next 6 months scared being home alone. But sometimes you just want to watch something a little creepy to get into the spooky vibe. The Goosebumps series, though meant for kids, was thoroughly enjoyable on a recent rewatch and brought back so much nostalgic memories of childhood. Whether it’s just you or you and your kid, these are just fun.

Scream (1996)

Scream has nothing to do with summer but it’s one of those movies I'll always recommend forever. Just watch the damn thing.

Book Recommendations

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

I’ve found that basically anything Grady Hendrix writes, I devour in hours. He’s mastered the combination of creepy and campy and in My Best Friend’s Exorcism, you get 80s horror meets coming of age meets complicated female friendships. There is a movie adaptation, but I don’t think it did nearly enough justice to Hendrix’s writing.

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

I just finished The Night Shift and thought it was a fun, thrilling read. It mostly takes place in 2015, following the investigation of a murder at an ice cream shop, but that murder eerily resembles a murder at a Blockbuster in 1999. I wished more of the book was in 1999 instead of present day, but it was still fun.

👑 After being terrified by Insidious in high school, I went on an extended horror movie hiatus. There were a few mild ones here and there until I gathered the courage to watch Hereditary, which premiered on June 8, 2018. Not only is Hereditary terrifying, but it’s deeply sad, wrestling otherworldly possession as well as mental illness and complicated family dynamics. Toni Collette should have won an Oscar for her performance—her banging her head against the attic door plays on repeat in my mind.

👹 Gremlins: People always debate if Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not, but Gremlins, though released during summer on June 8, 1984, is definitely a Christmas movie. This PG horror comedy is fantastically weird and funny even today. Little monsters smoking and drinking in a bar? Amazing.

🎷 St. Elmo’s Fire: I am nothing if not a stan for this era’s coming of age movies, usually featuring some rotation of Brat Pack members (I only just learned, thanks to Andrew McCarthy’s documentary, that they hated this title). St. Elmo’s Fire, released June 28, 1985, is among my favorites. Is it kind of a mess? Yes. But Rob Lowe’s haircut and Demi Moore’s amazing raspy voice more than make up for it.

🐕 Scooby Doo: I am typically anti live-action movies, but Scooby Doo, released on June 14, 2002, does it right. I loved it as a kid and still love it today. The casting? Perfection. Spooky Island location? Perfection. Even Scoob’s CGI is done perfectly—it doesn’t need to look like a legit dog who talks, it’s supposed to be zany.

⬛ The Sopranos Finale: I was young when the Sopranos was airing on HBO, but I still watched many episodes by just being in the room when my parents watched it each week. I feel lucky to have seen the June 10, 2007 finale in real time. It’s a fairly basic scene that is filled with such intensity that you have anxiety the whole time. And then it ends. I still remember the yells, which were happening in homes all across the country, as people thought the cable cut out or someone sat on the remote. "You probably don't even hear it when it happens, right?”

📱iPhone: Sales for Apple’s first iPhone started June 29, 2007. Before then, I remember a world where cell phones were unique and fun with pop out keyboards, interesting shapes and fun colors. After, we were left with just glass and metal slabs.