Summerween is a relatively new phenomenon that takes place on July 31st. Originally originating from a 2012 episode of the Disney show Gravity Falls titled Summerween, where the town celebrates a second Halloween in the summer due to their intense love of the holiday. Since the early 2020s, Summerween has seen a steady increase in celebrators with their pool parties, jack-o-melons and haunted BBQs. With our die-hard horror fans at the library, we had to highlight some of the best Summerween picks Kanopy and Libby have to offer for this spooky summer season.
Kanopy Picks:
For those unfamiliar with Kanopy, it is our on-demand video streaming platform that offers films, TV shows, educational videos, and documentaries. Each of our patrons is allotted 25 tickets per month, and each piece of content is assigned a ticket value. Our patrons can use as much content as they want each month with their tickets, and every month their ticket allotment will reset to 25 again. Kanopy’s horror section has a seemingly never-ending page of subgenres with scrolling menus of perilous picks for you to explore. Here are a few that would make for the perfect Summerween movie night.
Midsommar (2019)
This modern folk horror ditches the dark and serves its scares in the daylight—trading jump scares for a twisty psychological exploration of grief, gaslighting, and toxic relationships. Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are a young American couple in a relationship on the brink of ending, but when Christian decides to end things, a family tragedy keeps them together. To help her navigate her grief, Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends as they travel to a remote Swedish village to attend a once-in-a-lifetime Midsommar festival. However, what begins as an idyllic summer getaway turns sinister as the strange villagers invite the group to participate in increasingly unnerving festivities.
The Wicker Man (1973)
This is another folk horror—but this one comes from Kanopy’s classic film collection. From 1973, this film follows a Sergent Howie (Edward Woodward), a devoutly Christian police sergeant who visits Summerisle, an isolated Scottish Island, in search of a missing child. In the village the Sergent finds a community that teaches Christianity in passing, choosing to practice ancient beliefs of distant places and forgotten days. What starts as a routine investigation quickly becomes a terrifying nightmare for this devout follower of god. Often celebrated as the Citizen Kane of Horror this film is widely regarded for its tension, musical score, and vibrant sunlit aesthetic—perfect for your next Summerween!
X Horror Trilogy (X, MaXXXine, and Pearl)
The X Horror Trilogy starring Mia Goth spans three separate time periods (X: 1979, Pearl: 1918, and MaXXXine: 1985) and explores themes of ambition and exploitation. In X, a group of young filmmakers set out to create an adult film in rural Texas. However, when their reclusive elderly host, Pearl, catches them in the act, the cast then needs to fight for their survival. In Pearl, viewers can see the origins of X’s villain Pearl as she fights madness in her longing to escape her family’s farm during the war to become a film star. MaXXXine completes the trilogy with a direct sequel to X where Maxine Minx, the sole survivor from the 1979 farmhouse massacre, attempts to build a legitimate film career. However, her plans are complicated by a string of grisly murders that threaten to reveal her sinister past.
Carrie (1976)
What screams the beginning of summer better than prom? In this chilling adaptation of Stephen King’s best-selling novel, Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a withdrawn and sensitive loner who faces taunting from her classmates as well as emotional and religious abuse from her mother. This leads her to realize she has telekinetic powers and, when her classmates take things too far at prom, she shows the world the extent of what her powers can truly do.
Libby Picks:
For patrons not familiar with Libby (powered by OverDrive), it is one of our online resources that hosts eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines. Our patrons can check out 5 items at a time for 14 days and place up to 10 items on hold for later. Our Libby collection has a hefty horror section full of harrowing reads. Here are a few stories that are sure to pack your Summerween with scares!
Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters
This unsettling horror, set in two different summers, is available in eBook format. In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club, a group of preteens obsessed with all things macabre. They’d gather in the woods and tell each other stories about serial killers, creatures of the night, and imaginary monsters like the Red Lady—a vengeful spirit of a witch killed centuries before. Heather knew they were just stories until her best friend Becca insisted the Red Lady was real and she could prove it. That insistence ended up getting her killed. Thirty years later, and Heather didn’t tell anyone what had happened that summer night—that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. That is, until a necklace arrives in the mail for her. The same necklace Becca was wearing when Heather killed her.
It by Stephen King
A classic of summer horror, Stephen King’s It is available in both eBook and eAudiobook. The seven preteens first stumbled upon the horrors when they met in the town of Derry Maine. Derry is a small community, much like your own, except it is filled with unexpected horrors including an evil entity the group calls It which exploits the fears of its victims by shapeshifting while hunting its prey. Now they are back thirty years later to honour their childhood promise, finish what they started, and ensure It will not kill again.
Slewfoot by Brom
This historical fiction horror set in Colonial New England is available in eBook format. In 1666 an ancient spirit awakens in a dark wood The wildfolk call him Father, but the colonists him Slewfoot, Demon, and Devil… When a spirited Englishwoman, Abitha arrives at the puritan colony, she becomes quickly widowed when her husband dies of mysterious circumstances. An outcast to the pious puritan society, she becomes an exile fighting for her farm and freedom without anyone to help her but Slewfoot. The combination of dark folklore, religious trauma, feminine fury, and long nights in the New England countryside makes this the perfect read for Summerween!
The Forest of Missing Girls by Nichelle Giraldes
The forest is a cruel and unforgiving place in this suspenseful horror which is available in both eBook and eAudiobook format. Lia Gregg had always hoped she would outgrow her fear of the woods surrounding her childhood home as the dark menacing trees have long been the site of whispered legends of disappearances of girls just like her. However, after a breakup sends an adult Lia back to live with her family, the forest seems more foreboding than ever. After a teenage girl goes missing and her childhood fear becomes a terrifying reality, Lia digs into the disappearances and begins to confront the secrets lurking in the trees.
Whether you’re new to the Summerween scene, or a seasoned vet, come see us at the library for more book and movie recommendations to keep those summer scares coming!
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