10 Summer Horror Movies Guaranteed to Give You Chills

Summer vacation should be a time for kicking back, hitting the beach, and soaking up some sun. But in horror movies? Those perfect sunny days and warm starlit nights are just the setup for some seriously twisted terror. There’s something extra disturbing about watching paradise turn into a nightmare.

From blood-soaked summer camps to picture-perfect beach towns gone wrong, filmmakers love turning our dream vacations into absolute hellscapes. Just when characters should be having the time of their lives, they’re running for dear life instead. These summer nightmares have become some of the most unforgettable horror flicks ever made. Let’s dive into the best ones…

Related: Top 10 Horror Novels to Read This Sweltering Summer

10 I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Before there was Ghostface asking “What’s your favorite scary movie?” there was a hook-wielding fisherman leaving ominous notes for four friends who covered up a deadly hit-and-run. Set in a coastal town during the summer after high school graduation, this late-90s slice of teen horror turns beaches, boardwalks, and boats into scenes of mounting dread. Despite its mediocre 52 Metascore, I Know What You Did Last Summer struck a chord with audiences and has been praised for capturing the seaside ambiance and the horror lurking beneath quaint exteriors. With its cast of teen heartthrobs (Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr.), the film perfectly encapsulates that 90s slasher revival vibe while delivering a pretty solid message: karma’s a b*tch, especially when it carries a giant hook.

9 Summer of ’84 (2018)

Remember when summer meant riding bikes around the neighborhood, building forts, and … suspecting your neighbor might be a serial killer? This nostalgic thriller follows a group of teenage friends who become convinced the friendly neighborhood cop is actually kidnapping and murdering local boys. Set during a sticky suburban summer, Summer of ’84 uses its seasonal setting to blend coming-of-age adventure with increasingly dark suspicions. What starts as the kids’ exciting summer mystery gradually morphs into something dangerous. Unlike many horror films that rush to the blood and guts, this one slow-burns its way to dread, making the payoff all the more effective. It’s like The Goonies meets Rear Window, but with a much darker ending that might leave you eyeing your neighbors differently at the next block party barbecue.

8 Us (2019)

Jordan Peele took the concept of “running into yourself on vacation” and turned it into absolute nightmare fuel. The Wilson family’s beach getaway to Santa Cruz spirals into chaos when their doppelgängers show up with scissors and really bad attitudes. The film opens at a beachside carnival and uses the contrast between the sunny beach world and the shadowy tunnels beneath to create a perfect metaphor for America’s buried traumas. With Lupita Nyong’o delivering an absolutely haunting dual performance, this film proves that sometimes the monsters we need to fear most are the parts of ourselves we’ve tried to forget. Plus, it might make you think twice about visiting Santa Cruz.

7 Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Even hardcore horror fans who think they’ve seen it all still talk about that ending. This cult slasher follows the painfully shy Angela Baker at Camp Arawak, where seemingly normal summer activities like swimming and baseball games become backdrops for increasingly brutal murders. Despite its B-movie budget and sometimes questionable acting, Sleepaway Camp has earned its place in horror history, with its strong characters and memorable plot twists. That’s putting it mildly. The film also tackles bullying and gender identity in ways that were pretty groundbreaking for 1983, even if some aspects haven’t aged particularly well. But that final reveal? It’s seared into the brain of anyone who’s seen it—the kind of shock that makes you question whether you really saw what you think you saw.

6 The Burning (1981)

Camp Blackfoot’s caretaker Cropsy wasn’t exactly winning any personality contests even before some kids’ prank left him horribly burned. Years later, he returns to a summer camp armed with garden shears and a serious grudge. The Burning features all the summer camp classics—canoeing trips, practical jokes, awkward teen hookups—all eventually interrupted by brutal murder scenes. What sets this one apart from the typical camp slasher is make-up artist Tom Savini’s impressive practical effects and surprisingly well-developed characters, earning it a respectable 42 Metascore. It’s also kind of wild to spot future stars Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and Holly Hunter in early roles, just hanging out at camp before Cropsy shows up to ruin everyone’s summer. The film serves as a good reminder that camp pranks can have serious consequences—though usually not quite this extreme.

5 The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Nothing ruins a family road trip like cannibals. Wes Craven’s desert nightmare strands the Carter family in the middle of nowhere after their car breaks down, leaving them at the mercy of a clan of deformed killers who view them as their next meal. The relentless Nevada sun makes everything more desperate; there’s nowhere to hide, water is scarce, and help isn’t coming. The Hills Have Eyes shows just how quickly the veneer of civilization can crack when people are pushed to their limits. Let’s just say it’ll make you triple-check your car before heading through any remote areas on your next summer drive.

4 Friday the 13th (1980)

Nothing says “summer horror” quite like horny camp counselors getting murdered one by one at Camp Crystal Lake. Despite a measly 22 Metascore, Friday the 13th became a cultural phenomenon that spawned more sequels than anyone can keep track of. The summer camp setting hits all the right notes—isolated cabins, skinny dipping in the lake, telling ghost stories around the campfire—before things go horribly, violently wrong. Sure, the original doesn’t even have Jason in his hockey mask (that came later), but it established the template that countless summer slashers would copy for decades. The lesson? Maybe working as a camp counselor isn’t the best summer job after all.

3Jaws (1975)

Spielberg’s classic is basically the reason some of us still get nervous swimming in the ocean. Set in the beach town of Amity Island during peak tourist season, Jaws follows Chief Brody as he battles not just a massive man-eating shark but also stubborn town officials who care more about tourist dollars than people getting eaten alive. With that iconic dun-dun-dun-dun score and some genuinely terrifying moments (despite the mechanical shark that barely worked half the time), it’s no wonder the film scored an 87 Metascore and 8.1 IMDb rating. Jaws taps into that creeping feeling that something’s watching you from below when you’re swimming. Beach day, anyone?

2 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

You can practically feel the sweat dripping in Tobe Hooper’s horrific masterpiece. Five friends on what should be a fun summer road trip end up crossing paths with the Sawyer family—including chainsaw-wielding Leatherface—and, well, things get messy. The scorching Texas heat cranks the terror up to eleven, making everyone’s nightmare even more unbearable. Shot like a documentary on a shoestring budget, this film still packs a punch nearly 50 years later with its 91 Metascore. The most disturbing part? No supernatural monsters here—just humans being absolutely terrible to other humans. Sometimes the scariest monsters are the ones who could actually exist.

1 Midsommar (2019)

Breakups suck, but at least most of them don’t end with someone being sewn into a bear carcass and burned alive. Ari Aster’s daylight nightmare flips the script on horror by setting almost every terrifying moment under the bright midnight sun of Sweden. A group of American students visit a secluded commune for their midsummer festival, not realizing they’re walking into something way darker than flower crowns and folk dancing. With its 72 Metascore, Midsommar has been lauded for its beautiful cinematography. But, beneath all that is a brutal exploration of grief, toxic relationships, and how sometimes the scariest cults are the ones that smile the most. Who needs darkness when sunshine can be this horrifying?