Slasher Summer
A Novel
- Themes
- Slasher horror, Reunion and old friendships, High-school identity
- Pacing
- Fast
Who it’s for
- For readers who enjoy campy 1980s slasher-film homages.
- For readers drawn to stories about old friends confronting who they were in high school.
Where it sits
- 98%Slasher Horror
- 64%Suspense
- 55%LGBTQ+ Fiction
How strongly BookFrontier reads the book as belonging to each subject.
Nearest books
Closest matches from our semantic model, which compares what books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
The Ghost WomenJennifer Murphy59% match
PolybiusCollin Armstrong60% match
The AnniversaryAlex Finlay59% matchShares Suspense
No Rest for the WickedRachel Louise Adams, Jeremy Carlisle Parker58% matchShares Suspense
Plain Bad HeroinesEmily M. Danforth, Sara Lautman62% match
The Only One LeftRiley Sager62% matchShares Suspense
It's Not HerMary Kubica61% matchShares Suspense
Your Favorite Scary MovieAshley Cullins61% match
For younger readers: Most Likely to Murder, All (dead) Girls Lie, The Spiral Key
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Join the waitlistAbout this book
In this campy love letter to the slasher films of the 1980s, seven friends reunite for a weekend of fun—only to be hunted down by a cold-blooded killer. But the real horror is not being able to escape who you were in high school. . . .
This stunning paperback features vibrantly designed stenciled edges!
The sleepy town of Cedar Lake is best known as the shooting location of the campy ’80s horror flick Slasher.
Continue reading
In high school, preppy Patrick, jock Jason, cheerleader Tiffany, stoner Freddy, goth Jennifer, and nerdy Mikey had played the cast of Slasher during midnight showings, with virginal Carrie as the Final Girl, of course.
Years later, the friends reunite at the remote cabin where Slasher was filmed. They’ve changed since high school—Carrie found a boyfriend, Patrick came out, Mikey bulked up, and, well, Freddy’s still stoned—and they’re looking forward to a weekend to catch up. But when night falls, and the eponymous masked killer is spotted, the reunion takes a deadly turn. The friends discover their tires deflated and the phone line disconnected, and soon they’re being stalked by a mysterious assailant. Is someone trying to make their Slasher experience as authentic as possible?
One thing is for sure. Before the night is over, they each will have to take on the role they thought they'd left behind.
Publisher details
Publisher categories
- Slasher Horror
- Suspense
- LGBTQ+ Fiction
- Authors
- E. L. Chen
- Publisher
- Crown
- Published
- June 23, 2026
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Slasher Horror