Marketing Macabre Horror Summer Book List 2025

Marketing Macabre is proud to release our 2025 Horror Summer Reading List. Whether you are off from school or on vacation from work or serving time in a maximum security prison, it’s a perfect time to sit back with a tall glass of ice cold beverage and grab a book. Let the escapism begin with the written words of Mark Allen, Anthony M. Caro, Joe Boi, Christopher A. Micklos, Kenny Scott Guffey, Joe Davison, Eric Woods, Jared Johnson, S.J. Hermann, or Antionette Corvo.

ALPHA MALE is the second installment of Allen’s werewolf trilogy, which follows the events of the 2021 award-winning, BLOOD RED MOON. Allen describes the story. “The hero, Caleb Jacobsen, once again faces mortal enemies and fights to protect his mate, Marla, as they race to bring order to a chaotic werewolf world and quell a violent insurrection by ascending to a position Caleb does not want but feels morally compelled to claim: Alpha Male of the Global Pack.”
https://www.amazon.com/ALPHA-MALE-BLOOD-RED-MOON/dp/B0F1DF7JCV

CODE BLUE.
Former Army medic and PTSD survivor Ariel Arcardo thought she’d faced her worst demons. But on an ordinary night in the Hospital, the unthinkable happens—a code blue unlike any other erupts when a legion of otherworldly monsters are unleashed inside the hospital’s walls. Hallways twist into labyrinths of shadow and blood. Colleagues vanish. Patients transform. The hospital—her sanctuary—has become a living nightmare.
https://www.amazon.com/Code-Blue-Joe-Boi/dp/B0FDKPJC11/ref=sr_1_2?

Cogs in a Neon Globe: A Cyberpunk Noir Collection
These avant-garde tales weave a gritty tapestry of betrayal, defiance, and existential dread, following outcasts like Cal, a pill-fueled artist profiling the city’s freaks; Dolly, a cybernetic courtesan defying the syndicate captors’ chains, hunts a red-gloved killer stalking Love Dolls through the glowing globe’s seedy underbelly, unraveling a blood-soaked conspiracy; and Freddy, a burned-out assassin battling robots and his own doom. Perfect for Blade Runner and Neuromancer fans, this pulse-pounding neo-noir captures the unyielding cage of a dystopian future, where freedom is a dream for the daring.
https://www.amazon.com/Cogs-Neon-Globe-Cyberpunk-Collection/dp/B0F9Z3PPLQ

TICK TOWN
“The giant bugs are back with a gruesome vengeance! Lovers of the kind of monstrous plague the Guy N. Smith tradition loosed upon the world should find much to relish in this book.” — Ramsey Campbell, Master of Modern Horror (THE HUNGRY MOON, THE DOLL WHO ATE HIS MOTHER)

“TICK TOWN is a great throwback to the golden age of pulp horror paperbacks, books like THE RATS, SLUGS and BATS OUT OF HELL. Books that shaped a genre and gave so much enjoyment to so many. Books like this don’t come along very often so make sure you don’t miss it.” — Shaun Hutson, the British Godfather of Gore (SLUGS, EREBUS)
https://www.amazon.com/Tick-Town-Christopher-Micklos-ebook/dp/B0DVQ75Y6C

FLUCK
Pete seems like a typical person. Except he is far from normal….Pete is a vampire. Along with being a vampire, Pete also has a human girlfriend, Lauren. Now, Pete has made the centuries-long decision to choose Lauren as his bride.

The problem? He has to meet her parents and get their blessing first.
Join Pete and Lauren in this comedy about love, the undead, and….cats?
This is one adventure you don’t wanna miss sinking your fangs into
https://app.thebookpatch.com/BookStore/fluck/67ac98df-c518-473f-8baf-6a34f4a3c2aa?

MIKE STRONG FOR HIRE
JOURNEY INTO HELL
Valkyrie City is full of killers, mobsters, and thieves-and that’s just on the surface. In the city’s underbelly lurks something far worse. Generally, the citizens of Valkyrie City are blissfully unaware of the supernatural beings who live among them.

Harvard professor turned soldier Mike Strong returned from the battlefield a changed man. The evil he encountered gave him powers he never thought imaginable. Now he’s on a mission to rid his city of monsters, even if that means taking on a crime syndicate, a demon, and all the possessed contents of a haunted toy factory.

But if anyone is game: it’s Mike Strong. While he’ll earn his fair share of bumps and bruises, you should see the other guy…
https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Into-Hell-Mike-Strong/dp/164450524X

Hell’s Diner: 13 Devilish Delectables
Welcome to Hell’s Diner, where you will gorge on 13 devilish delectables. From appetizers to entrees to desserts, you will find yourself bloodthirsty for more! In “Derailed,” a haunted soul returns to the despondent town of Cedar Lake—one hundred years in the past. In “Hello Stranger,” hot coffee burns foreshadow a woman’s fiery day to come. “Find Me” plays with the laws of time and space as an amnesiac awakens in the woods, bloody and beaten…and searching for answers. In “Old Friends,” a man shows that cats aren’t the only creatures who have nine lives. And a writer is forced to “Enjoy the Ride” when he’s at the mercy of his car…and a dead radio DJ who wants him to remember what he’s done.
https://www.amazon.com/Hells-Diner-13-Devilish-Delectables-ebook/dp/B0DX9NDZ3S?

Terror Bay:
A Diehard Horror Story
In the quiet village of Walleye Bay, something evil is running deep in the heart of town. A string of grisly murders has left the town folk in a frenzy and the police are deadlocked on any leads. Terror Bay takes you into a very dark place over a span of Walleye Bay’s gruesome history and dares you to hold out hope.
https://myindieproductions.com/terror-bay-a-diehard-horror-story/?

Perfect Soul
Raised to be the PERFECT Daughter. To be the PERFECT Christian. To be the PERFECT Soul in a town of PERFECT sinners. Nikki was brought up to be the perfect daughter. Raised on the word of God by her parents, who kept her on the correct path with punishments if she strayed from her faith, Nikki was the perfect Catholic. A respected citizen in the small religious town of Perfect, Illinois, Nikki held firm to her beliefs. Until her heritage returned to claim her soul. Guided by mysterious entities who claim to be her true family, Nikki is shown the haunting secrets of not only the town she holds close to her heart, but also her parents and friends. Discovering that Perfect is a dark and twisted place, her faith is put to the test and sends her spiraling down a path of insanity, for which there may be no escape.
https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Soul-S-J-Hermann/dp/1693703327

Dirges In The Dark
When actress Cassidy May lands the lead in the story of Hellen Grimaldi’s life, she believes it could be the boost her career needs. However, the more she looks into the past of Hellen and the shocking events which led to her death, the more fearful Cassidy becomes about taking the role. Did Hellen truly summon demons during that fateful performance? Was Cassidy about to unleash the same hell that Hellen had? What dark forces were really at play behind the curtain?
https://corvoantoinette.com/product/dirges-in-the-dark/

Next up, Marketing Macabre is looking for films for it’s 2025 Horror Watch List.