Episode 41: Summer Scares 2025
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 (or email libraries@horror.org) 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