“Wait, Summer-what?”
“Summerween! The people of this town love Halloween so much, they celebrate it twice a year.”
“Summerween? Something about this feels unnatural.”
These are the words that are spoken at the start of a viral TikTok sound, which then launches into the dark lyrics of “West End Girls” by the Pet Shop Boys. Laid overtop are usually clips of Summerween celebrations, which range from watching horror movies with spooky snacks on a warm summer’s evening to extravagant pool parties decked out in Halloween decorations.
For some reason, Summerween has exploded into the mainstream this summer, despite first being introduced to the world way back in 2012 by the animated show Gravity Falls (specifically season 1, episode 12, which is appropriately titled “Summerween”). The show follows the supernatural adventures of 12-year-old twins Dipper (Jason Ritter) and Mabel Pines (Kristen Schaal) while they spend their summer break with their eccentric Grunkle Stan (Alex Hirsch) in Gravity Falls, Oregon.
The dialogue from the TikTok sound is taken from the start of the “Summerween” episode. Every June 22nd, the Halloween-loving residents of Gravity Falls decorate the town with Jack-o’-melons—watermelons are the summer substitute for pumpkins—to celebrate the seasonally strange event. Dipper decides he’s too old for trick-or-treating, but he’s forced to join in with Mabel and her friends after insulting the Summerween Trickster, an unsettling creature that threatens to eat them if they don’t deliver him 500 pieces of candy by the end of the night.
In an interview with Polygon, the show’s creator, Alex Hirsch, said that Summerween came to be because he needed “to excuse having a Halloween episode in a series set in the summer.” This is a level of commitment to Halloween that I wholeheartedly support. And as for the mash-up holiday taking off in 2024, Hirsch comments, “If I accidentally contrived a new holiday into existence through sleep deprivation and deadline sweat I will be shocked and really delighted.”
Summerween’s existence isn’t really in question, with the holiday having received coverage by The New York Times, Good Morning America, and USA Today. The focus of these pieces is mainly on the consumerist aspect of the holiday, with GMA largely promoting things you can buy (zombie popsicles, pumpkin inflatables, and ghost pillows, oh my!). Similarly, in the NYT article, Steven Kurutz declares that Summerween “seems to have been assembled, Frankenstein-style, out of social media’s insatiable need for content, retailers’ desire to drum up excitement in the dead zone of July and August and an enthusiasm among certain people for ghouls and goblins so strong that it cannot be satisfied by one holiday a year.”
While spookily aesthetic products certainly seem to be one driving force behind the recent TikTok trend, the focus of these articles on things that can be bought and then shown on social media is a rather superficial view of the core concept behind Summerween. While people can now go into stores to buy glittery skeletons and pink spiders to look fabulous at their Summerween BBQ (that they’ll then post about on Instagram), plenty of others simply reuse the Halloween decor they already have to create a spooky atmosphere for watching a scary movie or reading a horror novel.
The spirit of Summerween doesn’t lie in buying cute but creepy decor (although, sure, go ham on that if you want!). The fictional holiday has become reality, and has actually been steadily chugging along for years now—albeit largely unnoticed by mainstream eyes—without that consumerist drive. Fans of Gravity Falls have long been carving Jack-o’-melons to celebrate the spooky side of summer. And although it’s not directly related to the show, for the past few years YouTuber gabbyreads has been hosting a Summerween readathon, with BookTubers coming together online each July to read horror and thriller books.
So what is Summerween about, if it’s not to do with buying all of your Halloween decor in fun summer colors? At its most basic level, the holiday is simply about bringing the joy of Halloween into the summer season, be that decorating with skeletons, dressing up in costumes, or eating pumpkin-flavored treats. If Christmas lovers get to celebrate Christmas in July, then why can’t enthusiasts of all things spooky celebrate a bit of Halloween in summer? But along with the obvious horror vibes, there’s also a genuinely wholesome component to Summerween.
In the original Gravity Falls episode, Dipper is desperate to grow up and doesn’t want to put on a costume and go door-to-door for candy, but he’s coerced into it by the Summerween Trickster. Although there’s the fear that he’ll be eaten if he fails, he’s also essentially forced into enjoying and appreciating the simplicity, wonder, and wholesomeness of childhood for just a little bit longer.
Although trick-or-treating isn’t typically a part of real-life Summerween celebrations—partly because so many adults partake and partly because the neighbors would probably be extremely confused—there’s nothing stopping people from carving a scary face into a watermelon or baking a cake shaped like a ghost in July or August. These out-of-season indulgences may seem silly on the surface (although that doesn’t make them any less joyful in my eyes!), but both summer and Halloween can also be deeply nostalgic times of year, representing a kind of joyful, carefree freedom that can be hard to recapture once you’ve hit adulthood.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who looks back on Halloweens past with acute nostalgia. Although I’ve dressed up for Halloween as an adult, the costumes I wore as a kid can’t be beat. There was no better feeling than sorting through my candy haul at the end of Halloween night while still dressed as the Grim Reaper. A similar feeling comes from thinking back on childhood summer breaks, which felt endless at the time and were mostly comprised of playing and relaxing in the sun (well, I live in Scotland, so there were also a fair few reading-indoors-to-avoid-the-rain days too).
Summerween exists in a liminal space between summer and Halloween, allowing people to not only enjoy the best of both in the present, but also to look back at the past with a fond eye. The holiday is bound up in the wistfulness of knowing that both summer and Halloween are always over too soon, so why not enjoy them to the fullest anytime we can?
With the true meaning of Summerween now established, here are a few recommendations of things to read and watch if you want to get into the Summerween spirit before the days start getting colder. It goes without saying that the “Summerween” episode of Gravity Falls is essential viewing.
Books
We Ride Upon Sticks (2019) by Quan Barry — In late ’80s Massachusettes, a high school field hockey team start to engage in some witchy behavior by way of a devilish Emilio Estevez notebook.
The Saturday Night Ghost Club (2018) by Craig Davidson — A darkly nostalgic tale about a small group of misfit friends bonding over ghost stories during summer break.
The Elementals (1981) by Michael McDowell — This terrifying tale about a haunted house on the beach brings supernatural scares to the sun and sand.
Ghost Summer (2015) by Tananarive Due — This compelling and deeply empathetic short story collection is partly set in a small town in sunny Florida and features (literal and figurative) ghosts, as well as zombies, werewolves, and more.
Rules for Vanishing (2019) by Katie Alice Marshall — In search of her missing sister, a teenage girl walks a transient path through an otherworldly forest in this YA horror novel.
Until Summer Comes Around (2020) by Glenn Rolfe — Filled with perfect Lost Boys vibes (which is also a great pick for Summerween viewing!), this vampire novel features blood-soaked fangs and a seaside town setting.
Various Ray Bradbury books: check out Dandelion Wine (1957) if summer vibes are important to you, Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) if you’d like more autumnal spookiness, or The Halloween Tree (1972) if you think October 31st can’t come quickly enough.
Movies
The Halloween Tree (1993) — the animated adaptation of Bradbury’s story (starring Leonard Nimoy, no less) will likely stir up nostalgic feelings in you, even if it’s your first time watching it!
The Monster Squad (1987) — Universal’s Classic Monsters meet The Goonies in this film about a group of kids saving the world from a Dracula-led group of ghouls.
The ‘Burbs (1989) — Over the course of a weeklong staycation, a bored homeowner (played by Tom Hanks) becomes convinced that his new neighbors are a murderous cult; goofy comedy ensues.
Summer of 84 (2018) — A group of teenage boys on summer break think they’ve identified a serial killer in their town; mischief and mayhem ensue (but without the playful comedic tone of The ‘Burbs).
Stand By Me (1986) — Based on Stephen King’s The Body (which is also excellent), this classic Rob Reiner film is deeply nostalgic about childhood’s lazy-hazy-crazy days of summer. Depending on how you feel about clowns, King’s IT, with its creepy clown scares and coming-of-age trials and tribulations, is another fitting Summerween story and has been adapted twice, first as a miniseries in 1990 and then as two connected films in 2017 and 2019.
Addams Family Values (1993) — Wednesday and Pugsley, members of everyone’s favorite macabre family, have to endure the sunny indignities of a preppie summer camp in one of the plot lines of this family-friendly ’90s classic.
Friday the 13th (1980) — A group of teenagers are brutally murdered in this not-at-all-family-friendly classic summer camp slasher film.
Obviously, this isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list of Summerween recs—more of a starter kit for anyone who’s ready to dive into the joys of letting a little of the Halloween spirit into these long, balmy summer days and nights. Please share your own recommendations: books, movies, or anything that captures that elusive mixture of nostalgia, childlike wonder, and spooky thrills that remind us that even at the peak of summer, the dark promise of autumn is lurking off in the shadows, waiting for its chance…
