Fans of the golden age of slasher movies may want to pre-order Slasher Summer, a new horror novel from E.L. Chen that aims to pay loving tribute to 1980s slasher classics.
In Slasher Summer, seven friends reunite for a weekend of fun in their sleepy hometown, Cedar Lake, best known as the shooting location of the ’80s horror flick Slasher – only to be hunted down by a cold-blooded killer. 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, they gather at the remote cabin where Slasher was filmed, 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.
Before the night is over, they each will have to take on the role they thought they’d left behind, discovering that the real horror is not being able to escape who you were in high school.
What’s the twist? Author E.L. Chen set out to “interrogate the stereotypes and identity issues embedded in classic slasher films, radically rewriting its rules in a campy love letter to the slasher films of the 1980s that still honors the genre’s blood-soaked legacy.”
“The story begins as an affectionate homage to ‘80s slashers,” the press release continues, “but as the bodies begin to fall, Slasher Summer subverts one of horror’s oldest tropes and this time, queer and marginalized characters are among those who endure, adapt, and survive.
“Slasher Summer is a retro slasher movie in book form,” raves Sadie Hartmann, author of 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered. “It has all the summer camp vibes, brutal kill scenes, and a wicked twist on Final Girl mythology. It’s bloody, clever, and just psychologically nasty enough to keep you side-eyeing everyone on the page.”
“Slasher Summer is a bloody Valentine love letter to slasher films and asks the question: What if the cast of The Breakfast Club ended up in the world of Scream? It’s a terrifying and exhilarating deconstruction of the subgenre that’s chock-full of the devilishly clever easter eggs horror fans love,” says Ian Rogers, author of Every House Is Haunted.
Slasher Summer will be released on June 23, 2026.
E. L. Chen is also the author of Sweetside Motel and One of Us Is Already Dead.
