While the horror genre is often synonymous with Halloween and fall, summer is another great time to tune in for a good scare. Some of the best horror movies take place in the summer, and some of the most notable tropes occur in a summer environment. Like renting a deserted cabin in the woods with your friends, staying at a murderous summer camp, or taking a creepy road trip down empty country roads.

The summer months are also the perfect time for big movies to hit the screen, hence the summer blockbuster. The Boogeyman and Insidious: The Red Door have already been released and audiences are eagerly anticipating the release of both Meg 2: The Trench, starring Jason Statham, and Talk To Me. James Wan and Jason Blum even discussed the merits of summer horror movies as a nice alternative to big blockbusters.

Update July 7, 2023: In honor of the opening of Insidious: The Red Door, we've added even more great summer horror films to watch.

In the meantime, though, there are plenty of horror movies that are perfect for the summer months. Whether the plot takes place primarily in the summer or the film just radiates a warm movie night vibe, there are several options, both classic and modern. In anticipation of the upcoming horror movies debuting this summer, here are some of the best horror movies to watch during the warmer months.

10 Midsommar (2019)

Florence Pugh surrounded by flowers in Midsommar
A24

When A24's horror/thriller Midsommar premiered in 2019, it was an extremely unique addition to the genre. It's about a couple that travels to Sweden to participate in — what they thought — would be an idyllic summer festival. But it turns out to be a very violent and equally bizarre cult gathering.

It's a longer movie, coming in at about two and a half hours long, but it doesn't feel like it. The movie, which was directed by Ari Aster (Hereditary), interestingly blends suspense, terror, and stark imagery that grips your attention and doesn't let go. Midsommar is an extraordinary horror movie to enjoy in the summertime. The lush, rural landscape where the movie is set feels like a place you'd want to visit in mid-July on vacation. Something about a horror movie set against a bright, nature-filled environment feels like a perfect addition to the summer watch list.

9 Jaws (1975)

Art for Jaws
Universal Pictures

Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, Steven Spielberg's 1975 masterpiece Jaws is undeniably one of cinema's most quintessential summer blockbusters and the ultimate horror staple for the season. Audiences all across the world were absolutely terrified to hit the beach and wade into the unknown ocean waters, in fear that the man-eating great white shark would attack just as it did in the '70s classic.

Related: Jaws: Why the Original Blockbuster is the Ultimate Summer Horror Film

The chilling Spielberg hit famously centered on a New England summer resort town that is plagued by a blood-thirsty shark targeting unsuspecting swimmers and beachcombers. Jaws made quite the first impression upon its worldwide release, leaving moviegoers on the edge of their seats as the animal ruthlessly stalked its prey; they nearly came out of their skin when a bloated, decomposing corpse popped up on the screen during an iconic jump scare that has since gone done in movie history.

8 It (2017)

Pennywise holding a red balloon from 2017's It adaptation
Warner Bros. Pictures

While a demented, ancient evil entity with a penchant for red balloons might not exactly scream summer vibes, the 2017 adaptation of the Steven King classic It is jam-packed full of spine-tingling visuals, ominous suspense, and plenty of thrills and chills. The smash hit supernatural horror flick centers on a tight-knit group of seven adolescents known as The Losers, who are terrorized by the deranged and sadistic Pennywise over their summer break in June 1989.

Bill Skarsgård took on the role of the unhinged and twisted killer clown, a character formerly portrayed by Tim Curry in the 1990 miniseries. When discussing his approach to embodying the legendary King antagonist, Skarsgård once revealed, "It's such an extreme character. Inhumane, It's beyond even a sociopath, because he's not even human. He's not even a clown. I'm playing just one of the beings It creates." It dominated the box office and the film's overwhelming success led to the equally-terrifying sequel It Chapter Two, though audiences couldn't quite look at a floating balloon the same way again.

7 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Bryanston Distributing Company

Hot Texas weather sure gives summer vibes, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre certainly plays off that. The film set the template for the slasher movie genre that would later be perfected by Halloween, but what is notable about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is how much of the movie uses the blistering hot Texas sun as set dressing. It is blistering on the characters and the audiences and makes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as great of a summer horror movie as it is a Halloween staple.

6 Us (2019)

Lupita N'yongo in Us
Universal Pictures

When Jordan Peele (Key & Peele) made his directorial debut in 2017 with Get Out, he established himself as a deep and powerful force in the movie world. So when he followed up with Us two years later, people were waiting with anticipation to see what he'd do next. Luckily, Us did not disappoint one bit.

On the surface, it's about a family who returns to a Santa Cruz beach house that the matriarch of the family, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o), spent time at as a child. It's supposed to be a fun summer getaway for the family, but Adelaide is haunted by traumatic experiences from her childhood that she encountered at that same beach. Throughout the trip, Adelaide is weighed down by this fear that something bad is going to happen and that they shouldn't be there. Suddenly, four masked strangers — who actually turn out to be twisted doppelgängers of her and her family — attack them. The movie is much more than that. In typical Peele fashion, the content has far more depth than what meets the eye, and manages to make thought-provoking political statements while simultaneously scaring you.

Us makes the list because, in a loose way, it follows the "summer vacation gone wrong" horror movie trope. The background of Santa Cruz gives the movie a warm feeling, even though the location really doesn't have much to do with the overall plot. Aside from that, it's just a great movie and now is the perfect time to re-watch Peele's horror films as his new release, Nope, prepares to hit theaters this summer.

5 The Purge Franchise (2013 to Present)

The Purge Election Year
Universal Pictures

The Purge franchise is an interesting one, as what makes it a summer movie franchise it's is its release date. Every entry in the Purge series was released during the summer movie season, making it instantly tied with the season. The Purge opened on June 7, 2013, with The Purge: Anarchy on July 18, 2024. The following three films were released over the 4th of July weekend with The Purge: Election Year on July 1, 2016, The First Purge on July 4, 2018, and The Forever Purge on July 2, 2021.

The Purge films focus on an alternate future where one day of the year, all crime is legal for 12 hours, allowing for society to unleash the worst aspects of itself. While on the surface, they are simple slasher movies, they are filled with satire and political commentary. A sixth Purge film is currently in development.

4 I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

I Know What You Did Last Summer
Columbia Pictures

Even just for the name alone, I Know What You Did Last Summer is a great horror movie for summer. It's a chilling story about a group of friends who run over a fisherman, dump his body in the water, and flee the scene, swearing to never tell anyone about what happened. A year later, one of the friends (Jennifer Love Hewitt) receives a letter from an anonymous source who says they know about the crime.

Related: 10 Slasher Horror Movies with Perfect Killer Reveals

This 1997 slasher is a classic for fans of the genre and — given the plot — is a great summer scare. The sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, followed in 1998 with much of the original cast returning. It was also revived in 2006 with I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer; however, it wasn't well-received, and holds a low 20% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. I Know What You Did Last Summer was also recently re-imagined as a TV series in 2021. It brought a new cast, characters, location, and concept. But, after receiving mixed reviews, it was canceled after just one season.

3 Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Sleepaway Camp
American Eagle Films

Sleepaway Camp is an underrated slasher classic from the 1980s that utilizes the "psycho killer on the loose at a rural summer camp" trope. In a way, it's a lot like the more popular Friday the 13th franchise, except it's a little more low budget, which just adds to the '80s feel. Despite initially being negatively compared to the groundbreaking 1980 slasher classic, Sleepaway Camp has since gone on to establish a cult following and has been retrospectively appreciated for its epic twisted ending and the overall handling of gender identity. It's also a five-movie franchise, meaning there's a whole universe to explore if you've never seen the movies.

2 The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Cabin in the Woods
Lionsgate

The 2011 horror movie The Cabin in the Woods is about a group of college friends who take a remote vacation to a wooded cabin where they are picked off one by one by zombies and other horrific monsters in the woods. What's unique about The Cabin in the Woods is that there's much more than meets the eye.

The terrifying happenings at the cabin are actually being controlled by scientists, watching everything unfold from a remote location. This twisted social experiment adds another layer to the scare-level of the movie and makes it one of those features that you can't look away from, because you're fully captivated and waiting for the next scene.

If you're not really paying attention, it can get a little confusing and there are loads of references and underlying themes to pick up on. This makes it the perfect horror movie to watch with friends on a summer night-in, and then you can stay up for hours after discussing theories and what happened.

1 Friday the 13th Franchise (1980-2009)

Friday the 13th Part 3
Paramount Pictures

Friday the 13th is a classic and perfect for any summertime horror movie night. Premiering in 1980, the Friday the 13th franchise introduced the world to the brutal, hockey mask-wearing killer Jason Voorhees as he terrorized the camp counselors at Crystal Lake throughout these films. The original has the perfect blend of gore, suspense, and even cringe that makes a slasher flick what it is.

The franchise is also pretty massive, yielding plenty of content to get you through the entire summer. With 12 movies in the franchise, there is the original storyline, spin-offs like Freddy v. Jason, and even a 2009 reboot of the original that are just waiting to be binge-watched.