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. This season will see premieres from movies like Jordan Peele’s Nope, The Black Phone starring Ethan Hawke and A24’s Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, all of which are highly anticipated among fans of the genre.

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 more 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.

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6 Midsommar (2019)

     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.

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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.

5 Us (2019)

     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.

RELATED: Jordan Peele Explains Meaning Behind Nope Movie Title

4 I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

     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.

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)

     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. It’s also a five-movie franchise, meaning there’s a whole universe to explore if you’ve never seen the movies.

RELATED: These Are the Best Classic Scary Movies Streaming on Shudder

2 Friday the 13th Franchise (1980-2009)

     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.

1 The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

     Lionsgate / Universal Pictures

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 so 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.