If you love the horror genre, you’ll want to check out our list of Top 5 New Horror Novels to Read This Summer! Not everyone wants a gushy romance or cozy mystery to read on the beach or late at night in your kind of creepy hotel room. Here are the Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer. Whether you have a beach trip planned or you will be staying home, these novels will keep you up late into the night.
Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer
1. We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough (Releasing on 5/20/25)-
One of the most anticipated horror novels of the year is Sarah Pinborough’s We Live Here Now, starting off our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer. We Live Here Now is a psychological horror story about Emily and her husband Freddie, who have just moved after a horrible accident that almost killed Emily. Emily has an eerie feeling from the start and strange noises and things moving around the house make her believe there is a sinister presence on the third floor.
Emily’s husband, however, doesn’t see or hear anything strange, and because her medications can cause hallucinations, Emily is on her own trying to figure out the mystery, which she soon decides has something to do with someone who was murdered in her house. If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers and ghost stories, We Live Here Now offers the perfect blend and belongs on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer.
2. Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin (Released 4/22/25)-
Little Shop of Horrors for a new generation of horror fans, Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin, is next on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer. After some devastating losses, Shell Pine returns to her hometown and gets a job at a florist shop.
The flowers aren’t all that’s beautiful within the shop; so is the mysterious shop owner Neve, but Shell soon finds out there is a terrible secret hidden away in the back room, a sentient orchid that is hungry and has plans of its own. If you are a fan of creature feature horror, then Eat the Ones You Love is a must-read on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer.
3. Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito (Released on 2/4/25)-
Are you into gothic horror? Whether you are or you aren’t, you won’t want to miss the next novel on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer, Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito.
Selected as one of the most anticipated novels of 2025 and picked up by A24 to be adapted into a film starring Margaret Qualley, Victorian Psycho will take you down a dark path following Winifred Notty, a governess for the Pounds family, has good intentions to care for her charges Drusilla and Andrew, but she has a hard time suppressing her dark compulsions and gets entangled in a twisted web within the Pound family dynamics. Take this eerie novel on a long airplane ride or a cruise, you won’t be disappointed, that is why Victorian Psycho gets a place on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer.
4. The Unseen by Ania Ahlborn (Releasing 8/19/25)-
For late summer reading, next on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer is The Unseen by Ania Ahlborn. A creepy family horror, the unseen meets Isla Hansen, who is grief-stricken by a terrible loss, when an orphaned child shows up on the doorstep of her secluded Colorado home.
Feeling compelled, she allows the child to stay, but shortly after, her husband and children start to notice eerie things, suggesting something sinister is going on with the child. The novel is full of suspense and tension as the family realizes something is terribly wrong with the peculiar child. For horror fans, The Unseen no doubt deserves a spot on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer.
5. Never Flinch by Stephen King (Releasing 5/27/25)-
Now, what list of Top 5 Horror Novels to Read This Summer would be complete without a new release by horror phenomenon, Stephen King? Never Flinch is a much-anticipated novel by the horror favorite. When the Buckeye Police Department receives a mysterious letter threatening the lives of thirteen innocent people and one guilty person, in retribution for the life of an innocent man, Detective Izzy Jaynes teams up with private investigator, Holly Gibney, for help.
Holly is also serving as a bodyguard for women’s rights activist Kate McKay, when her stalker with an opposing belief system begins to frighten her. Stephen King fans will know that Holly Gibney is a much-loved character first introduced in his Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch). King expressed that he fell in love with Holly’s character and featured her in other novels, including one with her as the main character entitled Holly. By introducing beloved Holly Gibney once again and providing a riveting storyline, Never Flinch is a must-read on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer.
For all the horror lovers out there, these Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer are sure to please. Featuring ghost stories, creature features, gothic horror, psychological family horror, and a new release from a horror classic great, there is something for every taste on our list of Top 5 Best New Horror Novels to Read This Summer. Tell us what you think of these new releases and if you will be reading one of them during your summer break.
