BOO-ked and busy: Canadians are reading way more horror this summer

Halloween is still a couple of months away, but it turns out ghouls, vampires, witches and other creatures of the night have been having a real page-turner of a summer.

Spooky season isn’t synonymous with October anymore; Canadians are reading more horror books this summer, with sales soaring nationwide.

Kristi Reilly, Curation Manager of Adult Books at Indigo, the largest and last remaining bookstore chain in Canada, tells Daily Hive that horror book sales jumped 26 per cent in June and July compared to last year. It seems readers of all ages are trading romantic beach reads for something a little more blood-curdling.

Indigo has been leaning into the Summerween trend to help Canadians “bring a little spooky-season energy into summer.”

It may sound like a TikTok trend that came out of nowhere. Still, the term actually dates back to a 2012 episode of the sci-fi mystery series Gravity Falls, when characters couldn’t wait until October to celebrate the holiday.

Smaller Canadian bookstore chains, like B.C.’s Black Bond Books, are also jumping on the Summerween bandwagon.

“Horror in general is a subject that has been creeping up, with several locations adding or expanding dedicated sections,” Buyer Jina Koolen tells Daily Hive. “All of our stores were briefed of this expected trend, and most locations leaned into it with dedicated displays.”

Koolen says that, across all of the company’s stores, horror book sales are up an average of 48 per cent this summer. The children’s Halloween section has made an early appearance and has been selling especially well, according to the owner.

Even indie bookstores have found a market in the macabre.

Several horror-specific bookstores have opened across Canada in the last five years, suggesting there’s a pretty healthy appetite for the genre, even as these brick-and-mortars compete with online giants like Amazon.

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Toronto’s Little Ghosts opened its doors in 2022, and owner Chris Krawczyk tells Daily Hive the shop is busy all the time, with spring and summer their busiest seasons.

Over in Calgary, Alliye Iriye, co-owner of Nocturne Books, says business has been strong since the store opened in November 2025. The province’s first horror-focused bookstore showcases just how vast the genre can be, with shelves spanning horror’s many subgenres and all corners of dark fiction.

“We have stayed quite busy throughout the summer months, and our customers’ enthusiasm for summer-themed horror has been palpable,” Iriye tells Daily Hive, adding that readers are no longer waiting until the end of October to crack open a spooky book and are instead keeping the pages turning all year long.

Chelsea McKee-Trenchard, owner of Raven’s End Books in Winnipeg, says the assumption that Halloween would be the busiest time of year is a common one among customers of her nearly three-year-old shop and community space.

“I do think that horror is losing a lot of its stigma, so there is an increase, overall, in popularity, which would also contribute to it being promoted earlier and earlier,” she tells Daily Hive.

And horror is certainly having a moment.

The genre has long been a hit in other forms of media. Still, its popularity seems to be growing even more, from blockbuster films like Obsession — the Curry Barker hit has now grossed an astounding $500 million worldwide — to binge-worthy podcasts like The Last Podcast on the Left. But when it comes to literature, horror has historically had a tougher time breaking through and earning the same respect as other genres — unless your last name is King, Jackson or Lovecraft, that is.

What horror books are Canadians reading this summer?

There’s something particularly fun about reading horror in the summer. Maybe it’s the contrast of sitting in the sunshine while reading something completely horrifying, or how a good scare feels more exciting when you’re not buried under a blanket in the dead of winter.

And it seems one Canadian city is embracing horror books more than most this summer.

Reilly shares that Edmonton is leading the way in 2026 for its share of horror sales, based on purchases across Indigo stores nationwide.

Among Indigo’s top-selling horror books of the year are The Caretaker by Canadian author Marcus Kliewer, Hollow by Canadian TikTok creator Celine Myers, and Tender Is the Flesh by Argentine writer Agustina Bazterrica.

Meanwhile, independent shops have their own horror hits.

Iriye says the three bestsellers at Nocturne this summer have been Slewfoot by Gerald Brom, Root Rot by Saskia Nislow and The Summer Fun Massacre by Canadian-American author Craig DiLouie.

Reading never needed a season, and as it turns out, neither does horror. If a scary story is what keeps you reading, there’s no reason to wait until October.

Are you one of the many Canadians enjoying a horror novel this summer? Let us know what you are reading in the comments below.