Jane Schoenbrun’s latest movie, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, has horror fans and critics buzzing. I love the film’s tongue-in-cheek critique of the horror genre, slasher films, and the recent obsession with “elevated horror.” I love the sapphic romance, and I can’t get enough of the creepy, abandoned summer camp setting.
It’s no surprise that with all of the buzz, we’re all looking for some way to take a trip back to Camp Miasma after we leave the cinema. While these three horror books might not star Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder, they are deliciously queer and set in creepy summer camps that will haunt your dreams.
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
The Aspen Conservancy is an exclusive summer academy that Mars never attended because of the camp’s rigid gender-role rules. But his twin sister Caroline loved her time there. Now Caroline has died under mysterious circumstances. Looking for answers, Mars takes his sister’s place at the camp and seeks out his sister’s friends, The Honeys. Mars is certain the Honeys had something to do with Caroline’s death, but the more time he spends at the Aspen Conservancy, the more he loses his grip on reality.
Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis
Have you ever dreamed of attending a queer summer camp for the horror-obsessed? This camp was the former family farm of Thomas Baker, better known as the North Point Killer. Now it’s been converted into an overnight horror camp for queer Black teen girls. After Thomas confesses to murdering his wife, his daughter Temple heads to the camp as a counselor to try to find her mother’s body. Temple’s goal is to keep a low profile and get in and out. That was before campers started turning up dead. Is one of her father’s “fans” recreating the murders? Or is there some other kind of threat hidden in the woods?
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
Camp Mirror Lake is a full-contact, immersive horror camp experience that slasher fans flock to. The camp reenacts horror movie lovers’ favorite cult slasher film, complete with a final girl. That final girl is played expertly by our protagonist, Charity Curtis. But just when Charity is getting to wrap up the final weekend of the season at Camp Mirror Lake, things start to go terribly wrong. Coworkers start disappearing, and people end up dead. Now Charity will have to survive the night and unmask a real killer.
Looking for more summer camp horror novels? Check out these 10 summer camp horror novels to keep you up past lights out!