The Dead of Summer

The Dead of Summer is a young adult horror thriller series by Ryan La Sala, set on Anchor’s Mercy, a seemingly idyllic island where summer promises sunshine, familiar faces, and the comforting rhythms of a close-knit community. For Ollie Veltman, returning home after a year away should mark a fresh beginning. His mother has survived cancer, and they are ready to reclaim the happiness they have missed. But Ollie's former friendships have fractured in his absence, and the island he remembers no longer feels quite like home.

What begins as an uneasy homecoming gradually descends into a nightmare as something terrifying threatens the island's inhabitants. Beneath the picturesque coastal setting, danger spreads, trust becomes fragile, and survival demands more than anyone could have imagined. The isolation that once made Anchor's Mercy feel like a refuge becomes a source of mounting dread.

Told through shifting perspectives and found documents, the series combines intimate teenage relationships with escalating horror, exploring grief, fractured loyalties, and the terrifying speed with which an ordinary summer can unravel into chaos.