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Summer of Night (Seasons of Horror #1)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 5,708 ratings · 316 reviews

This masterfully crafted horror classic, featuring a brand-new introduction by Dan Simmons, will bring you to the edge of your seat, hair standing on end and blood freezing in your veins

It’s the summer of 1960 and in the small town of Elm Haven, Illinois, five twelve-year-old boys are forging the powerful bonds that a lifetime of change will not break. From sunset bike rid...more

ebook, 480 pages

Published July 5th 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published January 1st 1991)

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May 09, 2012 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of horror.

Shelves: horror

The thing that impressed me about this book was not so much Simmons' ability to scare, but to build characters and the world they live in. Simmons draws a map of this small town in your head so well that the reader can see everything that happens vividly. I read other reviews criticizing the time the story takes to develop, but I feel that this is one of the strengths. It is a couple hundred pages in before something scary actually happens. By this time, the reader is anticipating these events,...more

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Nov 01, 2010 Maciek rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books, horror, disappointments, own-in-hardcover, big-tomes, read-in-2010, reviewed

Summer Of Night is a bloated book (I have a 500 page hardcover) that could really, really use some good editing. Dan Simmons clearly has good intentions, but most of them are lost in complete staleness and cliches of the plot.

So far, one of my favorite books I've re-read this year has been King's IT, which I consider one of his true masterpieces. After finishing Summer of Night, I can't help but think that Dan Simmons also shared my enthusiasm and sat down to write his own IT. Ultimately, though...more Summer Of Night is a bloated book (I have a 500 page hardcover) that could really, really use some good editing. Dan Simmons clearly has good intentions, but most of them are lost in complete staleness and cliches of the plot.

So far, one of my favorite books I've re-read this year has been King's IT, which I consider one of his true masterpieces. After finishing Summer of Night, I can't help but think that Dan Simmons also shared my enthusiasm and sat down to write his own IT. Ultimately, though, he failed to recapture the magic which King did so effortlessly.

What could have been a beautiful coming of age novel turned out to be little more than a B-movie horror with all the traditional staples: haunted schools, posessed objects, creatures taking over people's bodies (there's even darkness that creeps under the bed!). The book moves with a snail pace and even when something finally happens, there's not enough suspense or interest to turn the page to see the resolution. Simmons overuses cliffhangers (sometimes several times per chapter) and makes such amateurish mistakes like starting several sentences with the character's name - one after another.

As the plot (slowwly) moves along, the children start recognizing what's happening in their town. What's more, they finally decide to fight the creeps with Holy Water (Salem's Lot anyone?) and when the final confrontation arises they are all gun trottin' little rambos. What's the worst, none of this is even remotely scary, and I dare to say that the interest that's set up in the opening chapter (which is a quite neat Shirley Jackson tribute) completely wanes at the end, as the novel reaches utter mediocrity.

Reviewers compared Summer of Night to classics like Boy's Life and the mentioned IT; it's like comparing a wheelbarrow to a handsome muscle car. Simmons had some interesting ideas, but ultimately lacked someone who would point him in the right direction as to wherre to go with all these things - then it might have turned out to be a great novel. That's unfortunately not the case.

I really wanted to like it.(less)

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Feb 05, 2013 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: supernatural-horror

All Dan Simmons fans know that he can write successfully in any genre he chooses and that he likes to mix horror into various other genres. Here is his YA/horror novel. It's a bit too horrific, profane, violent, sexy and grim to actually appear in the YA section of any bookstore, though, what with all the guns, swearing, incipient sexuality amongst eleven year-olds, kiddie-crime and gruesome, well, horror. Which is, of course, why it's great and worth any eleven-year-old's time (or that of any o...more All Dan Simmons fans know that he can write successfully in any genre he chooses and that he likes to mix horror into various other genres. Here is his YA/horror novel. It's a bit too horrific, profane, violent, sexy and grim to actually appear in the YA section of any bookstore, though, what with all the guns, swearing, incipient sexuality amongst eleven year-olds, kiddie-crime and gruesome, well, horror. Which is, of course, why it's great and worth any eleven-year-old's time (or that of any older person, for that matter). Of course nightmares might be expected because it's so scary but those might not be confined to the 11-year-olds, either.

All the protagonists are 11 except for one who is younger and they are up against something ill-defined, sinister and extremely dangerous - but they don't know that when they decide to investigate the disappearance of a class-mate on the last day of school before the summer of 1960. Of course, being a YA novel, the kids need to solve the problems without the help of adults, a perennial plot-constraint/difficulty of the genre that Simmons deals with superbly. First of all, his choice of setting in small-town Illinois, 1960, is great because it solves most of the problem on its own; kids then ran rampant without supervision for entire days, went camping without adult accompaniment and went wherever they wanted that was within range of their bikes and energy. In our disappearance-investigating kids' small town of Elm Haven, this includes a wide range of locales, such as farmland, woodland, the town dump and the railroad/way. Private gun security in the USA back then seems to be similar to that of today i.e. non-existent and all the kids seem to have been taken shooting by their fathers...

The characterisation is excellent, which is good because there is a mob of kids who get more and more involved in an increasingly dangerous and malicious series of supernatural encounters and they need to be well differentiated from each other. There is, however a slight flaw, which is the writing itself. Generally speaking it is the evocative, atmospheric prose one expects from Simmons, but just occassionally, scattered through-out the book are individual sentences that stand out glaringly as bad - and easily corrected. A minor annoyance in a novel that manages to capture the nostalgia for childhood summer vacations/holidays from school, the fears, concerns and bonds of school-children and the spookiness and dread inspired by the inexplicable events occurring exceedingly well.

Which leads me to say which genre I think this book belongs to: yes, I already claimed it is Simmons' YA novel but I also believe it is his Ray Bradbury novel. Its resemblances to both Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes are striking: small-town Illinois setting, nostalgic look back at childhood summers, unexpected tragedy and evil, nostalgia for old horror films and stories, wannabe writers...

This book perhaps starts slowly but it ramps up to a gripping and terrifying experience and is never dull. It foreshadows later Simmons works such as Drood and The Terror in narrative and thematic approach. It also doesn't suffer from the bane of Simmons' books; mood-destroying/tedium inducing lit.crit. essays.

Great stuff.(less)

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Jul 16, 2011 Debra rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-supernatural, sai-king-recommends, series

Stephen King book blurb says: "If Summer of the Night isn't the best horror novel of the last five years, it is surely one of the best three - a gorgeous and terrifying story of five boys who come face to face with a monstrous entity during an enchanted Illinois summer thirty years ago. Simmons writes like a hot-rodding angel, loading his American nightmare with scares, suspense, and a sweet, surprising nostalgia. This is one of those rare must-read books, easily surpassing Clive Barker's Books...more Stephen King book blurb says: "If Summer of the Night isn't the best horror novel of the last five years, it is surely one of the best three - a gorgeous and terrifying story of five boys who come face to face with a monstrous entity during an enchanted Illinois summer thirty years ago. Simmons writes like a hot-rodding angel, loading his American nightmare with scares, suspense, and a sweet, surprising nostalgia. This is one of those rare must-read books, easily surpassing Clive Barker's Books of Blood. I am in awe of Dan Simmons."

This book was written in 1991. I have to believe there were many better horror novels around that time, including Stephen King's! I just can't agree with sai King on this one. It wasn't awful, but it certainly wasn't great. I hate to disagree with King cause he's the MAN, but geesh... maybe he was paid A LOT for this blurb? Shaking head in wonder.

I can't agree with anyone who has reviewed this book and compared to Stephen King's IT and found this one superior. WHAT? No way, Jose! IT was in all ways superior to Summer of the Night. I think Mr. Simmons was trying to create his own version of IT, but fell short. Now, don't get me wrong; I think Dan Simmons is a great writer and his recent stuff rocks. But this one... well...

Ok, let's talk about continuity and repeated text galore! For example he mention's that Dale's basement has flooded 4 times in 4.5 years; several chapters later he says that the basement has flooded 2 times in 4 years. He also mentions that the same basement has no windows two different times. Another time he mentions that Lawrence usually wanted to hold his older brother's hand while falling asleep, but most of the time Dale told him no. He mentions the same thing almost verbatim later in the book. Simmons does this several times... I guess it's nice he wants to remind us of something he told us earlier in the book, but it really annoyed me.

Also, there is one boy in the group that sets out to fight the evil in their town that has never actually witnessed a supernatural event. All the other characters have seen stuff and experienced stuff that scares the bejesus out of them, but not Kevin? Why does he even believe his buddies when they share their experiences? He character is very under-developed so you have no idea why he buys into participating in life-threatening plans, when he has no first-hand experience of what has been going on.

And why did a key character get killed off early in the book; the most well fleshed-out character of them all? Why take the time to get us so invested in him and then eliminate him?

I did find that Dale's and Mike's characters were well-developed, but didn't really buy Kevin's and Jim's. Lawrence was somewhere in between, but why was he often alone in the brothers' shared room when he was sooooo afraid of is under his bed? No way would he EVER be in that room alone, even in daylight.

An HOW could any of these boys experience periods of "normal" boyish moments like searching for a buried cave, playing hours of baseball, etc. when they all knew they were in grave danger at any time of the day and night? I'd be sticking close to home and worrying myself sick!

Just too many things didn't work for me with this book. It took me longer to read than my usual fast pace, and it wasn't plausible. It did have some creepy parts and the premise was good, but otherwise I just wouldn't recommend this to others.(less)

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Apr 25, 2008 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I know many will call it blasphemy, but this book put Simmons ahead of King in my mental list of great horror authors. "Summer of Night" is closest in story to "It" only without the haphazard ending (and 400 pages shorter). When you pick this book up at the store, you will notice that it is a thin book, and make the same assumption that I did, which was that I was about to read a 200-300 page story. About 100 pages in, it dawned on me that there was still a long way to go, flipping to the back I...more I know many will call it blasphemy, but this book put Simmons ahead of King in my mental list of great horror authors. "Summer of Night" is closest in story to "It" only without the haphazard ending (and 400 pages shorter). When you pick this book up at the store, you will notice that it is a thin book, and make the same assumption that I did, which was that I was about to read a 200-300 page story. About 100 pages in, it dawned on me that there was still a long way to go, flipping to the back I discovered that the "light read" I had picked out was actually 600 pages exactly, written on what appears to be rice paper it is so thin, and every page is about to crawl over the margins (if you can call typing to the end of the paper a margin). There is no wasted space in this book either; chapters begin on the same page as the last chapter ended, with only a few returns in between and a chapter heading. Prepare yourself for a lot of reading... now the good news... every page is wonderful.

I compare this book to "It" in the sense that it is about a group of young children, most of which are 10-11 but there is a younger brother at the age of 8. These boys (and girl when she shows up) are the only ones who know that something is terribly wrong in their little home town. The setting is a very rural small town surrounded by cornfields... it takes place in 1960. The boys are all instantly likeable and are very real. I listen to the descriptions of Lawrence, the little brother, and he is my youngest son to a "T." Each of the boys is different, has different living situations, and none of them are some sort of magical superman who wrestles monsters with superhuman ability.

The tale is patient and brooding, slowly building to a terrifying crescendo; starting with the disappearance of a child on the last day of school, followed by sounds under the beds, faces peering in windows, and growing with ferocity from there. As you read your stomach will churn and your heart will race as you pray for the survival of the children. How can they stand against these dark forces? I read all 600 pages in 2 nights, hating to give it up on the first night, but work forced me to have to sleep. Odds are that you will want to read all 600 pages in one sitting, it's that hard to put down... you will find yourself worried about those little boys all day until you are able to finish the book. I highly recommend it for anyone who was afraid of the basement, the creatures under the bed, walking through cemeteries, the bathrooms in the basement of dark and ancient buildings, or of the faces in your windows at night.(less)

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Nov 08, 2012 Perry Whitford rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer of Night is a horror story set in rural Illinois and focussed around a creepy, condemned school called Old Central, where the boarded up belfry houses a cursed artifact called "the Borgia Bell" and the teachers seem to commune with the dead. A group of pre-teens adventurers calling themselves the Bike Patrol decide to investigate when I chubby misfit goes missing on the last day of school...

Simmons captures the budding intimacies and rivalries of his young cast very well, but the rites of...more

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Aug 06, 2009 Debbie Lake rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

This tale is reminiscent of Stephen King's It and The Body. It involves a group of children dealing with strange events occurring in their town (Elm Haven, IL) in the summer of 1960. The story starts off with the last day of school and the last day for this building. Old Central is going to be closed down and probably demolished. As the children impatiently await the bell that will release them to freedom, one child (Tubby Cooke) disappears. [return][return]In the course of the next week the gro...more This tale is reminiscent of Stephen King's It and The Body. It involves a group of children dealing with strange events occurring in their town (Elm Haven, IL) in the summer of 1960. The story starts off with the last day of school and the last day for this building. Old Central is going to be closed down and probably demolished. As the children impatiently await the bell that will release them to freedom, one child (Tubby Cooke) disappears. [return][return]In the course of the next week the group of young boys (occasionally joined by Cordie Cooke, the sister of Tubby), begin to experience very strange events. Several see the figure of a WWI doughboy who follows them and seem to be haunting the grandmother of one of them. One of the group is almost run over by the Rendering Truck driven by the former school janitor. Other strange events take place and it ultimately piques the group's curiosity and causes them to investigate some of the weird happenings. Interspersed with these supernatural events are the typical things an 11 or 12 year old experiences - bullies, searching for buried treasure, noticing girls for the first time and enjoying an outdoor movie on a summer night. [return][return]As the book goes on things take a more deadly turn and the boys start to become truly afraid. What is haunting the school? What is the doughboy after? What is causing the odd tunnels under various structures? As the boys draw closer to the core of the mystery, people who can answer their questions about the town's history begin getting killed or disappearing. As the story draws to its eerie finale, the reader is never sure who will make it to the end.[return][return]This book is a good read but has some inconsistencies that distracted me. Memo, Mike O'Rourke's ill grandmother, is initially described as his maternal grandmother but later in the story possesses family photos and artifacts that would make her seem to be his father's mother. Some of the characters are not fully fleshed out. Jim Harlen and Kevin Grumbacher seemed so incidental to the story that they might not have existed at all. The fact that no one but this children notices the goings on calls for a bit of a suspension of disbelief. I also didn't feel that the reason behind all of this was explained. Why were the WWI soldier and the dead teacher the only two brought back from the dead? How did the teachers find the evil in the school? Why did nothing happen before? I wish some of these areas had been given more detail. Despite that, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of King's It.(less)

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Jan 16, 2008 Blake rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Blake by: my dad, i think

I've read this book twice. There's something about young kids battling great, dark, unknown forces that always gets my blood pumping. the secret world of youth/innocence in the context of supernatural, otherwise invisible dimensions. how adults lose their seeing eyes perhaps because they're afraid of that which they can't comprehend, or that which they deny. there are a few chilling scenes in this book that still return to me every now and then. i probably love this book in the same way i love t...more

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May 01, 2013 Art Griswold rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 04, 2013 Bandit rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once in a while there comes a book that completely lives up to all its hype and great reviews, a book that transcends genres by not just being a great horror story, but a great novel, a great work of fiction. Summer of Night is one of those books. Epic in scope, massive and thoroughly awesome in every way. The author perfectly captures the freedom and excitement of being a kid during the summer. It's well written and genuinely scary in parts. The pages and characters come to life with cinematic...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Travis Mead rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer of night is one of those books that I read and read again. I think I've read four or five times at least. The charcters are so life-like, so genuine that they just breath and you don't want to let them go.
Set in 1960, it crys back to what summer was like before video games and cable TV sucked all the excitment and wonder out of childhood. Having the majority of my childhood spent before 1980(or as I think of it pre Atari and HBO.) I remember hot long nights riding bikes, digging in open...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Scott Rhee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love Dan Simmons! This guy can write, and not only can he write but he can tell a great story in any genre. Whether he's writing science fiction, fantasy, horror, or mystery, Simmons never forgets that character is what drives the story and plot. "Summer of Night" is one of his earlier novels, and it's heavily reminiscent of some of Stephen King's and Peter Straub's early works in that the main characters are young children facing unbelievably horrible things that the adults in the story are u...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Manuel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just recently read the book “Summer of Night”, by Dan Simmons. I was told by a friend that it was similar to Stephen king’s “It” in the sense that it an recurrent involves a group of young kids, back in the early 1960’s who join together to fight ancient evil that is awakening to prey upon the townsfolk. Fair enough, but that is where the similarities end. This book stands on its own as a classic of the “horrors of childhood” genre.
Basically, without giving too much away, there is an evil enti...more I just recently read the book “Summer of Night”, by Dan Simmons. I was told by a friend that it was similar to Stephen king’s “It” in the sense that it an recurrent involves a group of young kids, back in the early 1960’s who join together to fight ancient evil that is awakening to prey upon the townsfolk. Fair enough, but that is where the similarities end. This book stands on its own as a classic of the “horrors of childhood” genre.
Basically, without giving too much away, there is an evil entity that has recruited a few of the locals: a school principal, a teacher, the driver of a rendering truck, and a few animated corpses to pave the way for its apocalyptic scheme. Kids start disappearing or ending up dead then later reappear as puppets of this entity that resides in a bell that is kept in the building of the local grade school that has just been shut down for good at the end of the school year.
The main characters, a group of misfit kids (apparently based on Dan Simmons, his brother, and their childhood friends), decide to investigate the disappearance of one of their classmates and stumble upon the dark truth and against all odds decide to fight it since the adults seem to be oblivious of what is really going on. One poignant scene that drives home this disparity is when one of the boys, Mike O’Rourke, a choir boy, tries to confide in his mentor, Father Cavanaugh, a no nonsense priest whom he has befriended. The priest initially tries to talk the boy down and allay his fears by offering more realistic alternatives for some of the things he’s been experiencing. Even so, he decides to humor Mike who seems sincerely frightened, by agreeing to follow him to the cemetery where one of the animated corpses, a World War I dough-boy who used to be an unwelcome suitor of his grandmother when she was younger and now haunts her outside of her window late at night, is buried. At first, there is nothing at his grave-site but some disturbed earth which “Father C” tries to brush off as cemetery upkeep. Just as they’re ready to leave, Mike spots a white face in the shadows, so the priest tries to call out what he believes is a prankster trying to spook them, but soon finds that he is horribly misguided in this assessment.
The book started a little slowly, while Mr. Simmons sets the story up, but just past midway or so, things begin to really get interesting, with the last hundred pages or so culminating in a really exciting dénouement. I would love to see a movie version of this as there are some truly weird and spooky images throughout this book. I understand that there is a sequel called “A Winter Haunting”, which deals with one of the main characters, the young Dale Stewart, now an adult, dealing with the mental and emotional scars from the events of that summer and how they have affected his life. Another book which is not quite a sequel but takes place within the “Summer of Night” universe is “Children of the Night” a modern day vampire yarn that features, in a supporting role, Mike O’Rourke, the altar boy, grown up and become a priest.
Here is a link to a page where Dan Simmons actually posted some personal photographs from his youth showing some of the spots in his hometown that inspired the day-to-day detail for the book as well as photos of him, his brother and their playmates who were the models for the characters in the book: http://dansimmons.com/about/snapshots...(less)

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May 25, 2012 Jake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ever wanted to read a Stephen King novel that DOESN'T have a shitty ending? Here ye go. Simmons manages to cram together everything cool about Stand By Me and It with none of the bloat, while throwing in a little bit of The Sandlot and a whole lot of balls. Main characters die suddenly and savagely. Sixth-graders murder people. Hundreds of shots are fired. And everything makes sense in the end. But not, y'know, TOO much sense. It's a damn good, creepy time.

If I HAD a gripe, it would be that the...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Roberta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007

Pochi avvenimenti nella vita di un essere umano - almeno, di un essere umano di sesso maschile - sono liberi, esuberanti, infinitamente estensibili e potenzialmente ricchi come il primo giorno delle vacanze per un ragazzo di undici anni. L'estate si apre davanti a lui come un grande banchetto, e i giorni sono pieni di tempo lento e ricco, di cui gustare ogni portata.

Dan Simmons è apprezzatissimo per la sua saga fantascientifica di Hyperion, ma in realtà si è cimentato in molti generi, fra cui an...more Pochi avvenimenti nella vita di un essere umano - almeno, di un essere umano di sesso maschile - sono liberi, esuberanti, infinitamente estensibili e potenzialmente ricchi come il primo giorno delle vacanze per un ragazzo di undici anni. L'estate si apre davanti a lui come un grande banchetto, e i giorni sono pieni di tempo lento e ricco, di cui gustare ogni portata.

Dan Simmons è apprezzatissimo per la sua saga fantascientifica di Hyperion, ma in realtà si è cimentato in molti generi, fra cui anche l’horror e l’hard boiled. Non famosissimo – almeno mi sembra – in Italia, L’estate della paura è stato ripubblicato recentemente da Gargoyle. In realtà io l’ho letto nell’edizione originale (ma non sono riuscita a trovare una foto decente) pubblicata da Mondadori.

Il romanzo, ambientato in un paesino dell’Illinois negli anni ’60, racconta la storia di un gruppo di ragazzini e di una scuola, la Old Central School, in cui sta succedendo qualcosa di strano e di poco raccomandabile. I cinque amici indagando su alcuni strani avvenimenti incappano in qualcosa molto antico e molto pericoloso, e dedicano l’estate al tentativo di sconfiggerlo.

La trama ricorda alcuni dei migliori romanzi horror di King, ma lo stile e lo svolgimento sono completamente diversi. Fra L’estate della paura e It preferisco senza dubbio il secondo, ma non mi posso esimere dal chiedermi se questa preferenza non dipenda semplicemente dal fatto che ho letto It ad un’età in cui era molto più facile lasciarsi affascinare da un romanzo di questo genere.

I protagonisti del romanzo di Simmons non sono sempre ben delineati, e la loro caratterizzazione, anche nei casi più riusciti, è data molto dalla presenza di un narratore. Nei dialoghi però le differenze caratteriali tendono a sfumare e a non risultare molto chiare. La trama non è particolarmente originale, ma d’altronde ho letto pochissimi libri horror che meritassero questo aggettivo, e non in tutti i casi l’originalità era positiva.

In conclusione direi che è un buon romanzo, che non tenta di impressionare nessuno né di fare qualcosa di particolare, se non regalarci qualche ora di buon relax (più o meno, visto l’argomento) e ci riesce benissimo. Inoltre, personalmente ho trovato dei punti molto poetici e ho adorato il personaggio di Duane, un ragazzino apparentemente stupido ed insignificante, in realtà dotato di un’intelligenza e una curiosità intellettuale molto superiori alla media. Per non parlare della sua famiglia, composta da un padre e da uno zio falliti secondo tutti i parametri vigenti, ma interessantissimi ed affascinanti. Impagabile il ricordo di Duane della sua “prima volta” nella piccola biblioteca pubblica:

Duane aveva quattro anni, quando lo zio Art lo aveva portato alla biblioteca per iscriverlo ai suoi prestiti.
La signorina Moon aveva aggrottato la fronte, scosso la testa e guardato il ragazzino grassoccio che si era presentato alla sua scrivania. - Abbiamo pochi libri illustrati, signor McBride. Preferiamo che i parenti dei... ehm... pre-lettori usino le loro tessere, quando prendono i libri per i bambini.
Lo zio Art non aveva detto niente. Aveva preso dallo scaffale il primo volume che gli era capitato in mano e l'aveva consegnato a Duane. - Leggi - aveva detto.
- Capitolo primo, la mia nascita - aveva letto Duane. - Che io risulti l'eroe della mia vita o che quel ruolo risulti occupato da chiunque altri, di queste pagine non posso fare a meno. Per iniziare la mia vita dall'inizio della mia vita, annoto di essere venuto al mondo (come mi è stato detto e come ritengo essere) un venerdì, scoccata la mezzanotte. Mi è stato fatto notare che l'orologio si è messo a...
- Basta così - aveva detto lo zio Art, rimettendo il libro nello scaffale.
La signorina Moon aveva aggrottato la fronte ancor di più e s'era messa a cincischiare la catena degli occhiali, ma alla fine aveva intestato la tessera a Duane McBride.

A voi tutti il compito di indovinare l’incipit letto da Duane. In realtà è semplice, io l’ho riconosciuto quasi subito e poi ho controllato. Il Duane bambino che riesce a leggere così bene mi ricorda tanto il personaggio Matilda (nell'omonimo bellissimo libro) di Roald Dahl.(less)

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Aug 02, 2011 Pamela rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(This was a goodreads give-away.)

I was so excited when I got this book. I had never read any of Simmons' work, but looking at the back cover, I was definitely impressed. Hugo Award. World Fantasy Award. Bram Stoker Award. Shirley Jackson Award. NYT bestsellers.

And since this is a reprinting, there won't be any of those pesky little things that come from sloppy editing.

Oh Wow!

Cracked it open and got ready to be Scared with a capital S.

Did not expect to be Bored with a capital B.

Did not expect to...more

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May 07, 2011 Bob Price rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I was a child, I hated my elementary school. Hated it. I, along with my friends, all had dreams of seeing our school in flames. But my school had nothing on Old Central, the central location of Dan Simmons work Summer of Night .

This is the one of the best horror books I've read in quite some time, and much better than anything Stephen King has published in the last ten years or so.

In Simmons' world, horror lurks for young people in small town Illinois. When I originally read the descript...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookcrossed-or-otherwise-set-free, 2006

In the summer of 1960 in Elm Haven, Illinois, five 12-year-old boys forge the powerful bonds that a lifetime of change will not break. An ancient, sinister evil lurks in the dark, and when a long-silent bell peals in the middle of the deepest night, the people know it marks the beginning of terror. Now Mike, Duane, Dale, Harlen, and Kevin must wage a fraternal war of blood against an arcane abomination. (cover blurb)

Anyone who knows my taste in books will tell you I believe Dan Simmons can do no...more

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Oct 02, 2010 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Did you know that the monster under the bed is real? So is the one in the closet. As for that creepy school janitor, there is a very dark reason he is so creepy.

This is my second taste of Dan Simmon's work, one that leaves me ready to kick myself for not finding him sooner. He's been at it for a while now-this book dates from 1991-but he flew under my radar until I recently read the very excellent The Terror, and now this.

Simmon's ability to pack 600 pages rich with detail is easily to that of S...more Did you know that the monster under the bed is real? So is the one in the closet. As for that creepy school janitor, there is a very dark reason he is so creepy.

This is my second taste of Dan Simmon's work, one that leaves me ready to kick myself for not finding him sooner. He's been at it for a while now-this book dates from 1991-but he flew under my radar until I recently read the very excellent The Terror, and now this.

Simmon's ability to pack 600 pages rich with detail is easily to that of Stephen King, and his sense of history is considerably better. While King's forte is the popular culture of the present, Simmons handily blends a period piece set a generation set 50 years ago with a web of historical details stretching all the way back to ancient Egypt by way of Aliester Crowley and the Borgia popes. He delivers this to us in a story seen from the perspective of children.

We first meet our young heroes in the last few minutes of their last day in the 6th grade. They story unfolds during the summer that follows, a summer that for most American kids is arguably the last real summer of childhood before puberty and the struggle toward adulthood sets in. The year is 1960, perhaps the last summer of America's childhood before social struggles and technological change would set our country on its path toward our modern age. The evil, and there must be evil in a horror novel, is a thousand years old. I cannot say much more without spoiler warnings.

Being a story of small town children fighting an evil that has lurked at the heart of their town for generations, Summer of Night invites onvious comparisons to Stephen King's It. To this I can only say that King's story was from the perspective of kids who were somewhat of the 'social outcasts of their town, while Simmons' story is more from the perspective of an average child's experience. I would advocate judging each novel by its own merits and avoid making the obvious comparison.

The childhood perspective, Illinois small town setting and time period also invites comparison to Ray Bradbury's classic Something Wicked this way Comes. Any real comparison is superficial at best. Bradury's book was often allegorical, while Simmons' opts for realism. Bradbury would often pause the action to wax lyrical about the magic of childhood, while Simmons leaves the lyrics unwaxed as he describes the lives of the children through the action, and leaves it to the reader to recognize the magic. Between the two writers I cannot help but believe that Simmons would appeal more to a modern reader's sensabilites.

Sorry to go on so long, but this was one of the best reads I've had in a while.(less)

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Aug 28, 2010 Victoria rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-in-a-series, child-narrator, horror, mystery-thriller

Genuinely frightening!! Truly, I found this book to be amazingly impressive. I can't believe that it was never made into a film! Since Stephen King is considered to be the "King of Horror", I have to say that I have found this book to be much scarier, more suspenseful, with more sympathetic characters, more detailed setting and with a much more unique plot than anything I have read by King or anyone else in th genre for that matter. Though long, the last half of the book moved at breakneck speed...more

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May 02, 2010 Kasia S. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer of Night was one of the most incredible books I have ever read and mind you it's not because I'd rather read a book on a Friday night than party, much to my boyfriends dismay as I so often do.

Dan Simmons wove a masterful tale of 1960's Illinois with its cozy little town and streets, Saturday outdoor movies and the kids who were the true heroes of the story. It reminded me of Goonies in places as we quickly grow to like Dale and his younger brother Lawrance, Mike, Duane and Kevin and Jim H...more Summer of Night was one of the most incredible books I have ever read and mind you it's not because I'd rather read a book on a Friday night than party, much to my boyfriends dismay as I so often do.

Dan Simmons wove a masterful tale of 1960's Illinois with its cozy little town and streets, Saturday outdoor movies and the kids who were the true heroes of the story. It reminded me of Goonies in places as we quickly grow to like Dale and his younger brother Lawrance, Mike, Duane and Kevin and Jim Harlan, friends, schoolmates and brave, lovable kids who have turned this book in a magical tale that swept in front of my eyes. I have never read a more real story that has horror, fantasy and people dying feeling as real as this tale. The characters all stand out in their own way, so clear, so precise so pristine that when bad things happened to some of them, I had a tissue dabbing my eyes. The book is long, counting 600 pages but I know I will read it over again in a few years and I'm sure it will taste even better, just like leftover dinner with the deepening flavors and spices.

The story itself is around a school called Old Central, where Tubby, a not so god kid disappears on the last day. It's a huge old building that is going to be closed down as all the kids are supposed to go to a new school. Dale, Lawrance, Mike, Duane, Kev and Jim all go to the same school but they are very young, around 11 yrs old, some younger, some tad older yet they are real kids; at times with bratty tough attitudes, yet Simmons doesn't pretend to sketch out a superhero in a child's body, he takes each characters and builds on it making them as real to me as my own family. I grew to love each one of them as they enriched my book with their plans to find the missing kid. As the kids started to piece together what was going on, very bad things started to happen. Unusual dark forces such as walking corpses and black worms polluted their world as sun settled and sent real life terror that was really more terrifying than any other horror book I have ever read. I laughed, cried and even took a day of from work just to sit and read this book as it slowly and beautifully unfolded its mysteries to me.

Dan Simmons used the most intense, sublime and imaginary language to spin his tale, that I have never read before in a scary book. I could feel the first day of summer, the sunshine, the happiness and the approaching gloom with the kids he so intensely described. I could probably use every single one of his sentences as a quite but when he said this about the evil things my hair really stood straight, as it was true: "Beyond the cone of light, large things circled and waited". Evil did strike at night but made some terrifying appearances at day time. When the kids run into mysterious soldiers, butchered animals in a barn with human sacrifices, mysterious holes in the ground, random neighbours dying with cries of terror on their face they know that nothing is imagined and that It wont go away unless they stop it.

So don't miss this glorious story, but have some time to read it and don't miss the sequel that follows where the ending stopped years in the future, its called A Winter Haunting and I cant wait to read it! (less)

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Mar 20, 2013 Justin Newman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wanted to drop in a somewhat positive review of this novel since it seems that many readers find many bones to pick with it. I'm not exactly sure why all the negativity seems warranted, especially since Simmons spins such a great tale of both terror and growth.

Yes, there are similar elements to the almighty IT, but this novel has a much lighter feel to it (as should be expected) and is every bit as much a coming of age novel as it is a horror. This is perhaps why I enjoyed it as much as I did...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Tanja Seppä rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I loved the first half of this book, much of it carried by the first chapter and its atmosphere building description of the creepy old school. Further enhancement was brought by a brilliant fat kid - an oxymoron, you would think, but it's not - who researches a mysterious bell donated to the school. Anyway, it all starts on the last day of school before summer. One of the children has found a passage way behind the boy's toilet and he doesn't return alive. The school claims he ran away.

The eleve...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub

Few things have ever lead me to be envious of those raised in the Midwest. Sure, the allure of the farm and vast expanses of surrounding land sounds a bit dreamy, but the more overpowering feeling of isolation and agoraphobia usually take precedence. This book was enthralling, even though it's location was somewhere I had never desired to go. The lives of these children is felt throughout the book and their struggles,nervousness and fears are mutually experienced. This is my first Dan Simmons bo...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Roy Elmer rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Let me think. I read Hyperion, Simmons' sci-fi masterwork and I was blown away by it, I thought it was brilliant and I gave it five stars. I didn't want to read Fall of Hyperion just yet, as I worried that I didn't want it all to end so quickly, so I thought I would try out some highly rated horror of his first. I really wish I hadn't.

This novel, 550 pages long, should have been a novella, it was hideously bloated, with page after page of wasted nothingness and huge amounts of repetition of basi...more

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Mar 15, 2011 Esme rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-fantasy-scifi

"Summer of Night" ("Sommer der Nacht") ist nicht nur ein Horror-Roman, sondern auch ein Roman über das Erwachsenwerden: Die herbeigesehnten Sommerferien verwandeln sich in einen Alptraum.

Im ersten Kapitel stellt Dan Simmons die Old Central School als Ursprung des Horrors, der die kleine Stadt Elm Haven heimsuchen wird, vor.
Es entspinnt sich eine Mischung aus ausgelassenen Spielen und Abenteuern - kindlichen Ängsten vor der Dunkelheit und dem, was unterm Bett lauert und dort lauert wirklich etwas...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Ella rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First review, Nuub on the site. But what I wanted to say for this book, immediately when I saw it, was that I read it when I was 12 years old. I did not know what it was about, I think I was sold on the then cover, which looked fantasy-ish. And here is why I gave it 5 stars - to this day, TWENTY years ago, I still remember being scared shitless by a particular scene he wrote of something chasing the boys through the corn fields. I FELT their fear, I was hyper-ventalating I felt it so bad. I was...more

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Oct 22, 2007 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: favorites

Similar in intensity and enjoyability, as well as roughly in plot, to Stephen King's IT, Summer of Night is over 600 pages of delightful, entertaining horror fiction. Simmons' character development is what makes this book stand out from many of its peers, and his ability to transport even the most jaded reader into the fictional town of Elm Haven, IL, is truly impressive.

Highly recommended!

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Jun 02, 2012 Peter Molnar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dan Simmons's coming-of-age horror novel "Summer of Night" exquisitely explores the benchmarks of childhood through its chronicling of the last summer of "youth" shared among five friends in an Illinois town. I was not surprised to find that the characters were actual composites of the writer's childhood friends. The way in which he spins a nightmare around them so expertly that the immediately recognizable concerns of a twelve-year old (first kiss, the day's adventures, you bike) are mingled am...more

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Nov 11, 2011 Seamus Thompson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A good friend of mine sent me a copy of Summer of Night a few years ago while I was going through a rough stretch. He thought it would be a fun distraction, a good book to read to take my mind of my problems. It was that and much more.

Summer of Night was the third Dan Simmons novel I read (I've since three or four more since) and is by far my favorite. Simmons is a versatile writer who has written horror, sci-fi (the Hyperion series), mystery/thrillers. While the quality of these novels varies w...more

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About Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1948, and grew up in various cities and small towns in the Midwest, including Brimfield, Illinois, which was the source of his fictional "Elm Haven" in 1991's SUMMER OF NIGHT and 2002's A WINTER HAUNTING. Dan received a B.A. in English from Wabash College in 1970, winning a national Phi Beta Kappa Award during his senior year for excellence in fiction,...more Dan Simmons was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1948, and grew up in various cities and small towns in the Midwest, including Brimfield, Illinois, which was the source of his fictional "Elm Haven" in 1991's SUMMER OF NIGHT and 2002's A WINTER HAUNTING. Dan received a B.A. in English from Wabash College in 1970, winning a national Phi Beta Kappa Award during his senior year for excellence in fiction, journalism and art.

Dan received his Masters in Education from Washington University in St. Louis in 1971. He then worked in elementary education for 18 years -- 2 years in Missouri, 2 years in Buffalo, New York -- one year as a specially trained BOCES "resource teacher" and another as a sixth-grade teacher -- and 14 years in Colorado.

ABOUT DAN
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His last four years in teaching were spent creating, coordinating, and teaching in APEX, an extensive gifted/talented program serving 19 elementary schools and some 15,000 potential students. During his years of teaching, he won awards from the Colorado Education Association and was a finalist for the Colorado Teacher of the Year. He also worked as a national language-arts consultant, sharing his own "Writing Well" curriculum which he had created for his own classroom. Eleven and twelve-year-old students in Simmons' regular 6th-grade class averaged junior-year in high school writing ability according to annual standardized and holistic writing assessments. Whenever someone says "writing can't be taught," Dan begs to differ and has the track record to prove it. Since becoming a full-time writer, Dan likes to visit college writing classes, has taught in New Hampshire's Odyssey writing program for adults, and is considering hosting his own Windwalker Writers' Workshop.

Dan's first published story appeared on Feb. 15, 1982, the day his daughter, Jane Kathryn, was born. He's always attributed that coincidence to "helping in keeping things in perspective when it comes to the relative importance of writing and life."

Dan has been a full-time writer since 1987 and lives along the Front Range of Colorado -- in the same town where he taught for 14 years -- with his wife, Karen, his daughter, Jane, (when she's home from Hamilton College) and their Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Fergie. He does much of his writing at Windwalker -- their mountain property and cabin at 8,400 feet of altitude at the base of the Continental Divide, just south of Rocky Mountain National Park. An 8-ft.-tall sculpture of the Shrike -- a thorned and frightening character from the four Hyperion/Endymion novels -- was sculpted by an ex-student and friend, Clee Richeson, and the sculpture now stands guard near the isolated cabin.(less)

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Books by Dan Simmons

The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #2)

The Rise of Endymion (Hyperion Cantos, #4)

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