Summer of Night

Dan Simmons, the most under-appreciated novelist alive!!

This book is incredible! After reading the best of King, Koontz, Barker and others of their stature I had become over-saturated with the horror genre & had moved on to other types of novels (sci-fi in particular). After devouring Simmons' Hyperion series (one of the best sci-fi series I have ever read) I came across "Summer of Night". This book single-handedly rejuvenated my interest in (well written) horror. I carried this novel around with me everywhere I went for the 4-5 days it took me to read it. There are passages in this book that I will never forget! Simmons has the gift of taking the most ordinary things and scaring the absolute hell out of you with them! His verbal lyricism is beyond compare and he creates the most unbelievably vivid word pictures that at times you feel as if you're actually in the story with the characters! And unlike some horror authors Simmons pulls no punches - he willingly does whatever it takes to leave you breathless with fear. If you love great horror - READ THIS BOOK NOW!!

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

This is a reprint of a 1992 horror thriller

In 1960 in Elm Haven, Illinois, school's out for summer, but five twelve year old boys (Duane, Mike, Dale, Kevin, Lawrence and Jim) are happy to be free though they also know there is nothing to do. When Tubby the fourth grader vanishes, the friends investigate.

Jim believes Tubby never left the Old Central School. The recently ended school year was the last at the nineteenth century edifice. He climbs a façade and peaks into a window only to see a teacher who died six months ago. Shocked Jim falls breaking his arm.

Brothers Dale and Lawrence feel something dark hides in their closet. Their scornful mom looks, but the closet is empty. The monster moved under a bed. Dale enters the flooded the cellar finding Tubby's corpse floating there.

Duane researches old newspapers and finds a story about a Borgia Bell brought from Italy that allegedly had supernatural properties; it was placed in the Old Central School six decades ago. In a cornfield, a truck tries to run over Duane. His Uncle Art was about to provide information to the boys only he dies in a car cash while driving over a 100 MPH. Ghosts and other creatures attack the boys and their ally Cordie; as they conclude only destroying the Old School will save their lives.

This is a reprint of a 1992 horror thriller in which the kids recognize the danger while the adults snooze through life ignoring the warnings as children being children. The cast is solid as the gang of five and their female peer know the Old Central School hosts strange teachers, staff and activities. Summer of Night is an enjoyable throwback bumps in the night (and day) tale.

Harriet Klausner

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

I LIKE SCARY BOOKS

I have read and enjoyed Simmons science fiction before and I am so happy that he is writing horror books. This story was original and very scary. I will continue to read his books.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I slept with all the lights on for two days.

This is a wonderful book. The writer was able to give a level of depth to each of the characters. You can usually tell who is going to survive by the amount of time the author invests in them. Dan Simmons gives each of his characters enough time to make us really care about the outcome of each of their story.
And it is scary. The things that bump in the night and hide in the shadows are here. A great job and a jolly good read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

a classic horror story

as good as it comes. edge of your seat classic you cant put down. Cant wait to read the sequel a winter haunting

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

One of my all time favs

I read this book back in the late 80's and then a few years later read it again. AND I want to read it again now! It doesn't get any better than this. I't felt like I was right there with those kids in that special scary summer.I was spoiled from that book and still tell everyone that it is one of the best horror novels ever.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Yup, you should read this one, too!

After I finished A Winter Haunting, I got Summer of Night. Yes sir, there's some serious ghostal activity going on here. I had read Simmons' Hyperion and was surprised that he also does horror stories just as well. If you have not read the sequel, you should. This makes the charactors in the Winter book more fleshed out- literally. A very good book for reading at night. I highly recommend it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Chilling. A must read for any horror fans!

This book is one of the most epic horror stories I have read since King's It. Summer of Night weaves an epic tale of mystery and good old fashioned horror.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Excellent read

Love the adventure of the boys back in a time when riding bikes all over town was not dangerous. Enjoyed their adventure as much as the horror portion of the book. Highly recommend it!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Super scary

This book is fun. It is super scary and action filled. The Characters are pretty much one demensional and it has the typical happy ending. But never the less, This book is a must read. I promise you that you will find this book scary

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Must be read in conjunction with "Winter Haunting"

A pale imitation of Stephen King's "It", but as per usual Simmons' writing is smooth and is a very "comfortable" read.

The real value of this book is as lead into the much better "Winter Haunting" by Simmons. However "Winter Haunting" doesn't work unless one first reads this book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Summer of Night by Dan Simmons

One of the best novels I have ever read (3 times over a period of years). The summer vacation for the boys, the seemingly normal town they live in, all convey normalcy. However, the boys feel an evil in the town, something in the old schoolhouse they can't define, and find some weird, unsettling experiences happening to them. As you read the book, you can feel the evil, just as the boys do. The air is palpable with evil that must be found and eliminated. Dan Simmons puts a lot of surprises in this book and the boys are good boys whose only fault seems to be that they are the only ones aware of this pervasive evil. The reader also feels it too, on almost every page. When the evil is discovered, it will shock you and you won't be able to put the book down until the boys have destroyed one of the worst things you can possibly imagine to inhabit an outwardly normal appearing town. This book originally begins and even makes the reader feel the boys only imagine something wrong, but by the conclusion of the book, you have had the hell scared out of you. I think it is Simmons' best book.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Awesome!

This book was awesome! This book was very creepy. Loved every second of it. Cant wait to read a Winter Haunting, the sequel to Summer of Night. Thank you Dan Simmons!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Summer nostalgia with a haunting twist.

This book brings back to memory of my own lazy summer times with friends growing up togeather. The nostalgic way Simmons describes the settings of the boy's (not as in boy's bathroom: hehe read the book and you will understand this little remark) hanging around town and in the country side brings back vivid memories of my own carefree youth. Couldn't wait till summer was there. Waiting forever for that clock to hit 3:30 on the last class of the last day of school. And then Simmons throws in the horror mix. not with blood and guts at first but the way it is done is very scary. Not overdone with gore at all.(dont have anything against gore, I do like a book that tells about someone graphically getting there intestines ripped out) But this book is great. I will definitly be reading the sequel.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Where's the six star option?

This is truly my favorite book ever. I really relived my childhood through this book. The bike gangs, the baseball games, and dirt clod fights. Just kids being kids. Dan Simmons puts the story in your head with crystal clear images and extensive detail. There is no 'filler' pages in this book. Every sentence is a delight. Wish there were more books like this one. The characters are great and diverse, and you feel more like you live in Elm Haven with every page you turn. Please read this book. Effortless and enjoyable reading. The book is fun and exciting, with the good creepy parts.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amazing and Engaging

This is one of the very best books i have ever read. The characters are so well developed it is as if they are real people. You care about all of the boys. One thing that Dan Simmons does is he actually scared me. I have not been scared by a book since i read Stephen King's short story The Boogeyman over 20 years ago. And the scarey things in this book are the things that scared me as a kid. Excellent. Books this good truly come along once in a blue moon.

Best of the Best

I consume horror like air. It takes alot to scare me, but this book terrified me. Yes, it's that good.

Very Enjoyable!

Worth the read, especially if you are already a Simmons fan!

Disappointing

Make no mistake, I am a BIG Dan Simmons fan from way back. For instance, I loved Hyperion and Children of the Night. But I really struggled and suffered through this book. Nostalgic? Oh, yes, way too much so. He spends 100's of pages continuing to remind us, in great boring detail, what life was like in a small Midwest town in 1960, and what it was like to be an 11 year old boy there. He should have established the setting at the beginning, then dipped in from time to time to make certain readers were still thinking in terms of the quiet 1960's Midwest and innocent, untested 11 year olds. Mr. Simmons also went into too much detail, for instance, about the bike ride routes through town and/or through the countryside, or pickup baseball games, or playing soldiers in the woods. AND THE BOOK DID NOT SCARE ME! It literally pains me to be so negative, because I have so much reverence for Mr. Simmons. And I will contiune to read him. But I cannot recommend this book to anyone.

A reviewer

I love to read and especially love thrillers and was excited to read this book based on all the raving reviews. While reading I kept asking myself, huh? I just don't get it. It took FOREVER to finally start getting good and just when I thought it would get good, it just didn't. Not at all scary or even chilling. Very disappointed.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.