10 Scariest Summer-Based Horror Novels Ever

Magic realism isn’t usually something that you find in a horror novel, but that’s the beauty of Boy’s Life: it’s like nothing you’ve ever read before. It’s a book that at one moment can leave you feeling scared then in another whisk you off to your youth, back when ginormous mythical fish did exist and adults were an enigma. At the heart of Robert McCammon’s novel is Cory, a boy cycling giddily through 1960s America during a period of mass upheaval – the book is set in the fictional Alabama working town of Zephyr, a place of dark secrets and racial segregation - and saddled with a dark, deadly murder to solve.

McCammon’s skill in scaring his readers is by making what should be a relatively highly-charged situation downright scary, where a chasing car takes on a monstrous form, a pet monkey becomes a skulking threat to the town and the local hoods might as well be demons.

This created world is one that feels like we’ve all lived in before but, most importantly, one that we still would like to live in. The main murder plot is one that is expertly constructed and comes with a strong payoff, but the memories you take away from this one are the images and events we see through Cory’s eyes.