It's time to talk about Summer Scares again and I'm so thrilled to be joined by author Jennifer McMahon and Konrad Stump to talk about this year's books and how to get involved. 

Summer Scares Guide

Books Mentioned: 

• A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock 
• Never Whistle at Night edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C Van Alst
• Maeve Fly by CJ Leede
• What We Harvest by Ann Fraistat
• Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng
• Our Shadows Have Claws edited by Yamile Saied Mendez & Amparo Ortiz
• Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen
• It Came From the Trees by Ally Russell
• This Appearing House by Ally Malinenko

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Full episode available on Patreon

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In the car, I just can't wait to pick you up on our very first date! Chelley is on the podcast and we are talking about First Date!

 

 

Happy Twin Peaks Day! Angela Sylvaine and I are talking about what you should read to scratch that very specific Twin Peaks itch. 

Remember Dale Cooper said, "every day, once a day, give yourself a present," so I think you should treat yourself to a book....

Books Mentioned: 

Cold Snap by Angela Sylvaine 

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch

Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost 

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll 

House of Beth by Kerry Cullen

Pretty Little Dead Girls by Mercedes Yardley

Pines by Blake Crouch (Wayward Pines #1)

Welcome to Night Vale by Jeffrey Cranor 

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennet

Let the Woods Keep Our Bodies by E.M. Roy

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney GOuld

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

I'm Thinking of Things by Iain Reid

Rouge by Mona Awad

All's Well by Mona Awad

Bunny by Mona Awad

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

Uzumaki by Junji Ito

My Death by Lisa Tuttle

Twin Cheeks: Agent Boober Gets Me Off by Chuck Tingle

Lenore: The Cute Little Dead Girl 

 

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We are heading to the bayou and letting the good times roll with Anna Dupre this week, as we are talking about horror set in Louisiana. 

Books Mentioned: 

• The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
• Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
• Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite
• This Cursed House by Del Sandeen
• North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud
• Of Flesh and Blood: The Untold Story of the Cajun Cannibal by NL Lavin & Hunter Burke
• Wounds: Six Stories from the Borders of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud
• Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell
• Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw
• Pay the Piper by Daniel Kraus
• Rootwork by Tracy Cross

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What nightmares are hiding behind manicured lawns and white picket fences? Stoker-Award Winning author and Queen Weenie herself, Emily C. Hughes is here to help me talk about what makes suburban horror so scary. I rant about The Stepford Wives and more.

Movies/Shows Mentioned:

• Blue Velvet
• Stepford Wives
• The Burbs
• I Saw the TV Glow
• Safe
• Donnie Darko
• Edward Scissorhands
• Virgin Suicides
• “Arcadia” – X- Files episode
• It’s Always Sunny – suburban horror episode
• It Follows
• Carrie
• Get Out
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers
• Buffy
• Twin Peaks
• Stranger Things
• Addams Family

Books Mentioned:

• The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste
• The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste
• Real World by Natsuo Kirino
• Linghun by Ai Jiang
• The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy
• We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado
• Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan
• A Better World by Sarah Langan
• The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
• Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
• Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
• Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
• My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
• How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
• Model Home by Rivers Solomon
• The September House by Carissa Orlando
• The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

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In Shadyside Hospital, the people are dying .....to get out! 

Okay, doesn't that sound like we should be talking about a slasher? Well, people are getting murdered, but first Laurie will  have to dive headfirst into a dark conspiracy at the heart of the hospital where she's been volunteering. HIPAA violations all over the place! 

Full episode available on Patreon. 

Courtney Summers is back on the podcast to talk about the re-animation and adaptation of her 2012 young adult novel, This is Not a Test.

Books Mentioned:

• This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
• Ring by Koji Suzuki
• “The Birds” by Daphne DuMaurier (From After Midnight)
• Under the Skin by Michel Faber
• Who Goes There by John W. Campbell
• I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
• Foe by Iain Reid
• Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
• The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
• The Ruins by Scott Smith

Chilling Obsession: The Wolf of Snow Hollow

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So this is the new year

Welcome to 2026 listeners, it's looking like we are in for another great year of horror full of fresh voices and terrors.

It's the perfect time to join the Books in the Freezer Reading Challenge. 

Books Mentioned: 

• This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
• Pig Wife by Abbey Luck
• A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
• I Will Kill Your Imaginary Friend for $200 by Robert Brockway
• Mama Came Callin' by Ezra Clayton Daniels
• Cruelty Free by Caroline Glenn
• Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaeffer
• The Body by Bethany C. Morrow
• For Human Use by Sarah G. Pierce
• How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson
• Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
• Dollface by Lindy Ryan
• Greedy by Callie Kazumi
• Dead First by Johnny Compton 
• First Date by Gemma Amor
• Sweetside Motel by E.L. Chen
• You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado
• Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran
• Wretch: or the Unbecoming of Porcelain Khaw by Eric LaRocca
• Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson
• Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas
• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
• Molka by Monika Kim
• Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman
• The Seventh Sister by Dawn Kurtagich
• Odessa by Gabrielle Sher
• The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
• Shy Girl by Mia Ballard
• Not Your Final Girl by Mikayla Randolph
• Accumulation by Aimee Pokwata
• Make Me Better by Sarah Gailley
• Femme Feral by Sam Beckbessinger
• Headlights by CJ Leede
• Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay

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Full episode available on Patreon

Angela Sylvaine, horror author and the internet's favorite Cheerful Goth has stopped by Fear Street to talk about what is going on in the Secret Bedroom in Lea Carson's house. We talk about Benetton sweaters, VHS rental problems, Victorian ghost girls and more

2025 has come to an end, so that means it’s time to break down our standout reads of the year. I am joined by my friend, fellow podcaster and reviewer, Anna Dupre of the Anna Rose Reads Podcast. This was a year full of cannibalism, sweeping historicals, and weird little horny books, so a great year!

Books Mentioned: Short Story Collections/ Anthologies

• Teenage Girls Can Be Demons by Hailey Piper
• Mystery Lights by Lena Valencia
• You Glow in the Dark by Liliana Colanzi (translated by Chris Andrews)
• The Poorly Made and Other Things by Sam Rebelein
• Oddbody by Rose Keating
• PUNK goes HORROR: A Mixtape Anthology edited by William Sterling
• It’s the End of the World As We Know It: New Tales from Stephen King’s Stand edited by Brian Keene and Christopher Golden

Graphic Novels

• A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll
• Saint Catherine by Anna Meyer
• Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Hogarth

Young Adult Horror

• Showstopper by Lily Anderson
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• The Overnight (#3) by RL Stine

Middle Grade Horror

• Ride or Die by Delilah S. Dawson 
• Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave by Ally Russell
• Another by Paul Tremblay
• Broken Dolls by Ally Malinenko

Non-Fiction

• Sick Houses: Haunted Homes and the Architecture of Dread by Layla Taylor
• There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
• Scream With Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism by Eleanor Johnson
• The Midcentury Kitchen: America’s Favorite Room, from Workspace to Dreamscape, 1940s-1970s by Sarah Archer

Non-Horror

• Blob : A Love Story by Maggies Su
• The Favorites by Layne Fargo
• The Wedding People by Allison Espach
• Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan

Horror Novella

• Spread Me by Sarah Gailley
• The Film You Are About to See by Hailey Newlin

Horror Debut

• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
• The Lamb by Lucy Rose 
• House of Beth by Kerry Cullen 
• Good Boy by Neil McRobert   

Horror Novel

• Blood On Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen
• Immaculate Conception by LIng Ling Huang
• When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
• Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
• Play Nice by Rachel Harrison 
• Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
• Of Flesh and Blood: The Untold Story of the Cajun Cannibal by NL Lavin and Hunter Burke
• Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi Demeester
• What Hunger by Catherine Dang
• Itch! By Gemma Amor
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• King Sorrow by Joe Hill

Final Girl Song

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I was joined by author Jenny Kiefer to talk about her latest novel Crafting for Sinners and locked room horror stories

Books Mentioned: 

• Crafting for Sinner by Jenny Kiefer
• The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica
• Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
• The Troop by Nick Cutter
• The Handyman Method by Andrew F. Sullivan and Nick Cutter
• Exiles by Mason Coile
• Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy
• How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold
• We Need to Do Something by Max Booth III

Final Girl Song

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Merch is finally available! Join the Reading Challenge! How to support Books in the Freezer

We are on Patreon! Check us out! There’s a lot of fun going on in the Patreon community. At the Final Girl level you can get episodes early and find out about topics and guests beforehand. Axe-Wielding Maniacs get to be part of a Voxer group chat and join in Netflix movie nights. Malevolent Spirits get everything that’s been mentioned and bonus episodes!

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