Summer is quickly approaching! Which means, if you’re taking a vacation, you’ll want something else to do besides doom scroll on social media while riding in a car or waiting to board your flight, right? So, this is a list I’ve compiled of the best horror books I could think of to take on your travels.
Also, this goes without saying (hopefully), but if you’re driving I recommend the audiobook versions of the following titles!
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- Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror
- American Rapture by CJ Leede
- Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
- Below by Laurel Hightower
- Good Dogs by Brain Asman
- Fever House + The Devil by Name by Keith Rosson
- Which of These Horror Books Are You Taking on YOUR Next Trip…?
- EDITOR’S NOTE: Wait! There’s One More!!
This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you support the indie horror authors below by purchasing their books in any format, you’ll also be helping to support HorrorFam.com at no additional cost to you!
Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror
Are you a fan of scary stories about amusement parks, strange encounters during cross country drives, or the families who are determined to make good time – no matter what the cost?
If so, then you’ll dig the 14 terrifying tales of summer vacations gone wrong in this anthology from Grindhouse Press.
Buy Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror on Amazon.
American Rapture by CJ Leede
From CJ Leede, author of Maeve Fly, comes one of the most original apocalypse novels you’ll ever read.
A virus spreads across America that makes people go “feral” with lust. Sophie, a Catholic virgin, must navigate this newfound Midwest hellscape to reunite with her missing family.
American Rapture by CJ Leede manages to brilliantly balance pulling emotional punches with delightfully dark humor.
Buy American Rapture by CJ Leede on Amazon.
Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
I highly recommend the entire Clown in a Cornfield trilogy! While it doesn’t start off as a road trip story, by the time you’re through with the first entry in Adam Cesare’s very violent YA trilogy masterpiece, you’ll feel like you just went on a horrific epic journey.
Quinn Maybrook and her father move to Kettle Springs, a small town very stuck in the past. Mostly because the town’s mascot, Frendo the Clown, slaps on his preppie hat and goes on a homicidal rampage to eliminate anyone trying to modernize his home rather than faithfully restore Kettle Springs to its former glory.
As a bonus, there’s a film adaptation of Clown in a Cornfield coming to theaters May 9th if you want to catch a movie while you’re out of town!
Buy the Clown in a Cornfield trilogy by Adam Cesare on Amazon.
Below by Laurel Hightower
A recently divorced woman passing through the mountains of West Virginia starts experiencing weird electrical problems that leave her stranded. She meets a charismatic truck driver who offers to help her. While reluctant to put her trust in a stranger, she has very little choice if she wants to survive the night. Especially after a certain red-eyed creature makes an appearance.
Laurel Hightower really knocked it out of the park with her ability to build suspense. You might think twice about driving down dark roads after reading Below.
Buy Below by Laurel Hightower on Amazon.
Good Dogs by Brain Asman
A house full of werewolves is bound to spell disaster. In his debut novel, Brian Asman (author of the viral sensation, Man F**k This House) delivers an exciting and heartfelt story about how hard it would really be to live the life of a lycanthrope.
When the pack awakens to find that one of them messed up and left a severed leg in the backyard, den mother Delia must get her group to an abandoned town called Talbot in order to save them. Only, when they get there, they find something else more fierce than anything they ever thought about becoming.
Buy Good Dogs by Brian Asman on Amazon.
Fever House + The Devil by Name by Keith Rosson
Keith Rosson delivers a double dose of fast paced apocalyptic madness! Starting with Fever House — a severed hand causes havoc to gangsters, government agents, and the family of a rock star.
Every character jumps off the page and it feels like the terrifying zombielike “fevered” are right outside your door. This heart-stopping saga will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Hey, if you don’t believe me, just listen to what one of the biggest horror authors of all time said about these books:
“Fever House and The Devil by Name are exciting, suspenseful, horrifying, and written at a flurry-of-punches pace. Read them now and you can thank me later.”—STEPHEN KING
Buy the Fever House Duology (Fever House + The Devil by Name) by Keith Rosson on Amazon.
Which of These Horror Books Are You Taking on YOUR Next Trip…?
There you have it, Folks. I hope none of your vacations turn into actual nightmares. If they do, maybe you can pick up some survival tips from these fine works of fiction.
They might also help you get past being stuck traveling for hours with your family all crammed together in one vehicle. Just be safe out there. And let me know which of these horror books you packed for your trip!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wait! There’s One More!!
Per my guidelines for HorrorFam.com writers, AJ Spencer kept the spotlight on others – keeping all self-promotion exclusive to his author bio. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t share some news about a HorrorFam.com writer’s projects, if their news is related to their article’s topic! 😉
So, with that in mind, I wanted to let everyone know that AJ Spencer also has a new novel – Small Town Weirdos – coming out on July 16, 2025! I’ve been told that “the vibe is Napoleon Dynamite meets The X-Files” and it’s about a teen girl named Betty Harp, an aspiring crime scene photographer, who decides to take a crack at a local missing person’s case… and discovers a lot more than she bargained for!
Small Town Weirdos isn’t out yet, but this fictional horror comedy novel is anticipated to be a good read for older teens and adults. If you’re interested, keep an eye on AJ Spencer’s Author Page on Amazon for its release. —Lauren*
Cover images for the novels reviewed were provided by AJ Spencer. I layered a few of them or put them on colorful backgrounds to make them horizontal images instead of vertical ones. The featured image is a free stock photo from Pixabay that I colorized to look a lil spookier.
