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The Roger Huntington Saga #1
The Summer I Died: The Roger Huntington Saga, Book 1
So much screaming. When Roger Huntington comes home from college for the summer and is met by his best friend, Tooth, he knows they're going to have a good time. A summer full of beer, comic books, movies, laughs, and maybe even girls. So much pain. The sun is high and the sky is clear as Roger and Tooth set out to shoot beer cans at Bobcat Mountain. Just two friends catching up on lost time, two friends thinking about their futures, two friends-- So much blood. --suddenly thrust in the middle of a nightmare. Forced to fight for their lives against a sadistic killer. A killer with an arsenal of razor sharp blades and a hungry dog by his side. So much death. If they are to survive, they must decide: are heroes born, or are they made? Or is something more powerful happening to them? And more importantly, how do you survive when all roads lead to.death!
217 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
405 people are currently reading
26800 people want to read
About the author
Ryan C. Thomas
55 books405 followersI am the author of the novels The Summer I Died, Ratings Game, Born to Bleed, Salticidae, Undead World of Oz, Hissers and more. I hope to learn a lot from the readers on this site, and get some good book recs in the process. Thanks!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,365 reviews
July 20, 2023
⛧⛧⛧⛧
"𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬."
Do you like rollercoasters? I love them: The slow pace at the beginning that builds up to a cliffhanger of speed, the view from atop, and of course, the adrenaline. However, every time I take a ride on one, it triggers my vertigo, and I ask myself: Why the hell did I sign up for this? Right before my chatty consciousness manages to spit more doubts into the ether, it happens. My favorite moment, the one that takes my breath away. It starts with a brief pause, silence, a sigh, and then, a sharp-angled, endless speed dive straight into the abyss. A tranquility tinged with terror.
Reading 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐝 felt like riding a spewing blood rollercoaster. This is one of the best extreme horror books I've read in a very long time. What started with a slow, almost flawless build up of the story and characters' development, ended up taking a sharp turn straight into the uttermost parts of what appeared like a more gory version of Dante's Hell of the Violent and Bestial, with a slight touch of Ed Kemper to it.
The story revolves around Roger and his best friend, Tooth. All they wanted was to hang out during summer break. I guess they should have taken notes while watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre of what the future holds for those who trespass.
A learning curve has been served on a bloody plate, dipped in razorblade chaos and bone-deep mayhem.
One of the things I love the most about this book is how brilliantly crafted and compelling the build up of both drama and suspense are, along with the focus on the brave friendship in the midst of a gritty nightmare. I breezed through these corridors of pain even during a brief mental vertigo moment thanks to Ryan C. Thomas's prose. The way he made me care about the main characters, along with the additional reflective moments of what once was and the longing and grief for what will never be again, added more dimensions and depth to what could've easily been just another mediocre torture porn horror story.
Thomas weaved a darkly disturbing, extremely violent tale that is not for the faint of heart. I'd suggest taking that into consideration before taking this wild ride. You might want to bring an emesis bag with you just in case.
"𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬."
Do you like rollercoasters? I love them: The slow pace at the beginning that builds up to a cliffhanger of speed, the view from atop, and of course, the adrenaline. However, every time I take a ride on one, it triggers my vertigo, and I ask myself: Why the hell did I sign up for this? Right before my chatty consciousness manages to spit more doubts into the ether, it happens. My favorite moment, the one that takes my breath away. It starts with a brief pause, silence, a sigh, and then, a sharp-angled, endless speed dive straight into the abyss. A tranquility tinged with terror.
Reading 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐝 felt like riding a spewing blood rollercoaster. This is one of the best extreme horror books I've read in a very long time. What started with a slow, almost flawless build up of the story and characters' development, ended up taking a sharp turn straight into the uttermost parts of what appeared like a more gory version of Dante's Hell of the Violent and Bestial, with a slight touch of Ed Kemper to it.
The story revolves around Roger and his best friend, Tooth. All they wanted was to hang out during summer break. I guess they should have taken notes while watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre of what the future holds for those who trespass.
A learning curve has been served on a bloody plate, dipped in razorblade chaos and bone-deep mayhem.
One of the things I love the most about this book is how brilliantly crafted and compelling the build up of both drama and suspense are, along with the focus on the brave friendship in the midst of a gritty nightmare. I breezed through these corridors of pain even during a brief mental vertigo moment thanks to Ryan C. Thomas's prose. The way he made me care about the main characters, along with the additional reflective moments of what once was and the longing and grief for what will never be again, added more dimensions and depth to what could've easily been just another mediocre torture porn horror story.
Thomas weaved a darkly disturbing, extremely violent tale that is not for the faint of heart. I'd suggest taking that into consideration before taking this wild ride. You might want to bring an emesis bag with you just in case.
November 19, 2011
That is significantly understating the effect this book had on me. I finished it last weekend having been reduced to a shocked, emotionally shredded child who suddenly didn’t feel comfortable with the world around me. Since that time, I've mostly recovered from the experience though there are aspects of the story that may never completely leave me. In light of the above, I want to be careful in my recommendation of this book to others (there’s a verbal ink blot test below that may help).
This book is troubling, depraved, graphic and unrelenting in its brutality, and there are passages and events that WILL affect you, possibly significantly. However, this book is also superbly crafted and deftly told by a writer who has earned my deep respect for creating this dust-jacket wearing nightmare of terror.
Before I continue, here is a quick tour of the set up.
PLOT SUMMARY
Roger and Tooth are best friends. Roger is home from college for the summer and is staying at his parent's with his sister while mom and dad are on vacation. Tooth is Roger's intelligent, thrill-seeking best friend who drinks way too much (a legacy from his alcoholic father) and, at 20 years of age, sees no way out of the dead end life he has carved for himself.
One day, Roger and Tooth are target shooting in secluded woods miles outside of town. As they're getting ready to leave, they hear a woman screaming. They decide to investigate…and find the most unimaginable nightmare you can possibly conceive of waiting for them.
From there...non-stop horror.
THOUGHTS
This story is gut-wrenching...as unfiltered and unwavering a depiction of torture and sadism as you are likely to find. For those that have read American Psycho, there are scenes in this novel that rise to the level of depravity depicted in the most graphic passages from Ellison’s novel. However, what makes this story’s violence so much harder for me to handle is that I truly cared for both Roger and Tooth by the time the horror began.
That is a critical difference because, as callous as it may sound, watching a stranger get shot, while traumatic, does not compare emotionally with watching a loved one suffer the same fate. That is the darkest, most painful aspect of this story. We care desperately about the victims and it makes the telling of their fate so much worse.
So, is this or is this not torture porn?
This is a tough one for me because I am NOT, I repeat NOT, a fan of movies that seem to revel and bask in torture and/or sadism (e.g., the Saw movies, Hostel, etc.). However, I have enjoyed (probably not the most apt term) some movies that are deeply disturbing and have significant violence in them because I thought they were terrifying (and isn’t that why we watch them). An examples of this kind of movie is The Strangers which freaked me out.
So back to the question…is this torture porn? Well, if torture porn is defined as a novel where violence and torture are a central component of the plot than The Summer I Died is clearly torture porn. Torture and violence are key ingredients. However, the non-torture, non-violent elements of this are so well done and the prose is so engaging that I have struggle bestowing what I feel is a derogatory label on it.
I guess that will have to do as a non –answer.
Roger and Tooth are wonderful characters. Their relationship is real and genuine and pitch-perfect. This makes the horror of their ordeal difficult for me to adequately describe because you need that sense of attachment to fully comprehend it. Even more impressive is that the bonds of friendship between the two reaches new levels of strength AFTER the nightmare begins.
I’m not going to give away spoilers but there is a point in the story when, as a reader, you are gasping for breath, begging for a pause in the narrative to be able to gather yourself. However, instead of any reprieve, the author devilishly introduces a new element into the story that rips away the last vestiges of sanity and makes you suddenly cognisant that the horror is inexorable and that you are treading territory you've not walked before.
Full stop...
Now, the above paragraph is a decent Rorschach Test to assist you in deciding whether you want to read this. If the curiosity for what happens outweighs your sense of dread…than enter reckless reader, but remember my warning. Alternatively, if your “squeamish sensor” is going off like a police siren, than you may want to skip this one and save yourself the night terrors that may follow.
My final word on the book (again without a spoiler) is the ending. It was PERFECT. I can not adequately express how impressed I was with the author’s ability to find a way to bring a sense of uplift to this unrelentingly brutal tale. The ending was as shocking in beauty as the new element referenced above was in its vileness.
For me, it was the ending that raised this book to among the ranks of among the best “horror” experiences of my literary life. While I found much of the last half of the book tough to stomach and did not “enjoy” it, the narrative engaged me to exhaustion and made me feel at a level few books have. When the author gifted me with the end, he made it a profound statement on friendship and the strength of bonds between people that I think makes this worth experiencing.
Bravo, Mr. Thomas. Well done, sir.
Thus, 5.0 stars and my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION…but with the caveats above as you must be able to tread the darkest, most depraved corners of the human experience.
September 4, 2022
Full review available at The Mort Report:
https://www.uncomfortablydark.com/bla...
You need three words to describe this book:
BRU-FUCKIN-TAL!!
“We had set out to shoot beer cans and smoke weed, just two friends trying to hold onto a childhood that was slowly disintegrating with age.”
Every now and then, every reader gets the urge to just go back to the classics. This is an itch that was long overdue a scratching.
Look up a list about the best extreme books and you will find this one on there – or you should, if the list-maker did their homework. Which brings me to one of the books that has been on my wish list the longest – ever since I learned about extreme and Splatterpunk horror.
And, man, this one deserves its spot in spades. From the 30% mark this story is one, long adrenaline rush. Before 50% you will have lost hope for these characters. They are fucked: There is no way out of this.
Then comes a glimmer of hope…but there is so much more story left to read, so…
The way this author keeps you in suspense throughout is nothing short of brilliant. If you are a fan of this genre and you haven’t read this one yet, you are missing out. For me, this one gave me the same rush as Ketchum’s OFF SEASON – It is that damn good!
5 and a half stars!
https://www.uncomfortablydark.com/bla...
You need three words to describe this book:
BRU-FUCKIN-TAL!!
“We had set out to shoot beer cans and smoke weed, just two friends trying to hold onto a childhood that was slowly disintegrating with age.”
Every now and then, every reader gets the urge to just go back to the classics. This is an itch that was long overdue a scratching.
Look up a list about the best extreme books and you will find this one on there – or you should, if the list-maker did their homework. Which brings me to one of the books that has been on my wish list the longest – ever since I learned about extreme and Splatterpunk horror.
And, man, this one deserves its spot in spades. From the 30% mark this story is one, long adrenaline rush. Before 50% you will have lost hope for these characters. They are fucked: There is no way out of this.
Then comes a glimmer of hope…but there is so much more story left to read, so…
The way this author keeps you in suspense throughout is nothing short of brilliant. If you are a fan of this genre and you haven’t read this one yet, you are missing out. For me, this one gave me the same rush as Ketchum’s OFF SEASON – It is that damn good!
5 and a half stars!
July 26, 2022
I rented a cabin in the middle of nowhere to read horror books, including 'The Summer I Died', and posted the terrifying video on YouTube, check it out: https://youtu.be/QMm7TZZkmS0
May 27, 2015
Holy crud. Not for the squeamish at all..like a train wreck though..you just can't look away.
October is my month for horror books and this one fit that bill with bells on.
August 25, 2022
Extreme to the Max!
Backstory:
Roger Huntington and his friend, Tooth just want to hang out together and have a good time, but when they stumble onto property where they shouldn't be trespassing they find out quickly that not all property owners are "friendly folk" and the two friends will learn quickly that sometimes it is better not to wander away from home as what lies in wait for them with this property owner is something worse than they could ever have imagined!
That is about all I can give on a backstory without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more you will need to read this book!
Thoughts:
I have been seeing this book come across my friends reading feeds for awhile and decided to finally step into this book to see what all the fuss was about. I was pleasantly surprised with the way this story grabbed me as it is not only of the horror variety but goes totally into the "extreme horror" realm which made me grab my gore suit as this book is not only intense but it is super extreme.
I was not expecting so much brutality that lies within this story and I have read lots of extreme horror before but with this book it just seemed the suspense and tension was so tight it was like razor wire through most of the book until that wire is so taut it draws blood and gore!
I have literally found a new author to explore and I noticed that this book is the first in trilogy so I will be continuing on with the second book at some point. I do have more books by this author on my kindle so I will be checking out those books down the line as well. Giving this book four "Killer Thriller" stars!
For images of this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/...
Backstory:
Roger Huntington and his friend, Tooth just want to hang out together and have a good time, but when they stumble onto property where they shouldn't be trespassing they find out quickly that not all property owners are "friendly folk" and the two friends will learn quickly that sometimes it is better not to wander away from home as what lies in wait for them with this property owner is something worse than they could ever have imagined!
That is about all I can give on a backstory without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more you will need to read this book!
Thoughts:
I have been seeing this book come across my friends reading feeds for awhile and decided to finally step into this book to see what all the fuss was about. I was pleasantly surprised with the way this story grabbed me as it is not only of the horror variety but goes totally into the "extreme horror" realm which made me grab my gore suit as this book is not only intense but it is super extreme.
I was not expecting so much brutality that lies within this story and I have read lots of extreme horror before but with this book it just seemed the suspense and tension was so tight it was like razor wire through most of the book until that wire is so taut it draws blood and gore!
I have literally found a new author to explore and I noticed that this book is the first in trilogy so I will be continuing on with the second book at some point. I do have more books by this author on my kindle so I will be checking out those books down the line as well. Giving this book four "Killer Thriller" stars!
For images of this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/...
May 27, 2015
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
WARNING: IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH, RUN AWAY FROM THIS REVIEW AND NEVER LOOK BACK!
If you’re like me and your idea of a great date movie is something like this . . .
over something like this . . .
Okay, that’s kind of a lie. There’s always room in mybed life for some more Ryan Gosling. For the most part, though, I’m down for a slasher movie over a “chick flick” any day of the week. If you can’t ever seem to meet your annual quota of gore either, The Summer I Died is probably the book for you.
"I would wake up soon. I knew I would because this stuff only happened in dreams."
The story begins like so many other horror stories. Two friends reunite for the summer after one has gone away for his first year of college. They have planned out a couple of months of (fairly tame) debauchery, beginning with a little road trip to the sticks where they can shoot some beer cans. Y’all know what happens when you go to the boonies, right????
followed by . . .
Well, yeah. Sometimes that happens too. This time, however?
When the boys hear a woman screaming, their conscience won’t let them ignore it. Instead, they find themselves walking directly into harm’s way . . .
The remainder of the story is . . . well, it’s enough to induce a complete and total barf-o-rama . . .
If you’re a fan of the Saw and Wrong Turn franchises, The Summer I Died is almost sure to be a winner (and it's soon to be a major motion picture if you'd rather watch all of the various ways of dismembering humans).
I’m kind of at a loss as to what to rate this one. If I’m judging strictly on how many times I got asked “WTF are you reading that has you making those faces constantly????” this would get a 5. However, the plot is pretty much along the lines of the typical horror movie where the shock and awe factors far outweigh any character/plot development, which brings the rating down. Buuuuuuut, since I’m intrigued enough to see where the second book in the series plans on going I’m settling on 3 Stars. I don’t generally give a rip about book #2 – especially when #1 works so well as a stand-alone.
WARNING: IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH, RUN AWAY FROM THIS REVIEW AND NEVER LOOK BACK!
If you’re like me and your idea of a great date movie is something like this . . .
over something like this . . .
Okay, that’s kind of a lie. There’s always room in my
"I would wake up soon. I knew I would because this stuff only happened in dreams."
The story begins like so many other horror stories. Two friends reunite for the summer after one has gone away for his first year of college. They have planned out a couple of months of (fairly tame) debauchery, beginning with a little road trip to the sticks where they can shoot some beer cans. Y’all know what happens when you go to the boonies, right????
followed by . . .
Well, yeah. Sometimes that happens too. This time, however?
When the boys hear a woman screaming, their conscience won’t let them ignore it. Instead, they find themselves walking directly into harm’s way . . .
The remainder of the story is . . . well, it’s enough to induce a complete and total barf-o-rama . . .
If you’re a fan of the Saw and Wrong Turn franchises, The Summer I Died is almost sure to be a winner (and it's soon to be a major motion picture if you'd rather watch all of the various ways of dismembering humans).
I’m kind of at a loss as to what to rate this one. If I’m judging strictly on how many times I got asked “WTF are you reading that has you making those faces constantly????” this would get a 5. However, the plot is pretty much along the lines of the typical horror movie where the shock and awe factors far outweigh any character/plot development, which brings the rating down. Buuuuuuut, since I’m intrigued enough to see where the second book in the series plans on going I’m settling on 3 Stars. I don’t generally give a rip about book #2 – especially when #1 works so well as a stand-alone.
September 21, 2015
When Roger and Tooth are out shooting at tin cans in the mountains, they hear a woman screaming. When they go to investigate, they wind up in a hell on earth. Will either of them survive the ordeal?
The Summer I Died is the story of two friends who wind up captured by a psychopath in the woods and tortured. It reminded me of The Girl Next Door in that it's a bleak, powerful book.
It's a pretty brutal book and horrifying because it isn't that far out of the realm of possibility. The Skinny Man kept inflicted more and more tortures on Tooth while Roger watched helplessly.
The Summer I Died is a pretty powerful book but I can't say I actually enjoyed it. "Survived it" sounds more accurate. I did like the ending way more than The Girl Next Door however, and I never once contemplated not finishing it. I guess I'm going to slap the traditional safety rating of 3 on it. I won't be reading the sequel, however.
The Summer I Died is the story of two friends who wind up captured by a psychopath in the woods and tortured. It reminded me of The Girl Next Door in that it's a bleak, powerful book.
It's a pretty brutal book and horrifying because it isn't that far out of the realm of possibility. The Skinny Man kept inflicted more and more tortures on Tooth while Roger watched helplessly.
The Summer I Died is a pretty powerful book but I can't say I actually enjoyed it. "Survived it" sounds more accurate. I did like the ending way more than The Girl Next Door however, and I never once contemplated not finishing it. I guess I'm going to slap the traditional safety rating of 3 on it. I won't be reading the sequel, however.
June 11, 2011
Oh my, I have to sit on this one for a bit before I can write a review because I'm a little conflicted. Let me just say this right now -- intense.
****WARNING!!! This book may cause violent seizures, recurring nightmares, and ongoing medical bills for psychological counseling. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK****
It’s been a week, and I finally feel able to write a review for this absolutely terrifying, gripping, grotesque book. Just a few words on what impressed me the most about this short debut. I know I’m gonna run out of meaningful adjectives long before this review is finished, so bear with me if I get a little repetitive.
1. The Summer I Died is so very unrelenting. Once it starts, it just does not let up. It drags you along for the ride, kicking and screaming, and does not let go even though like me, you probably started hollering “Uncle!” way before the ending. It’s been a while since a book made me faint, throw up, cry, and grimace all within the span of a few pages. That is awesome writing. Thomas’s prose is spare and cuttingly to the point. His descriptions are so effective that this book unfolded like a full color movie on a 50-foot screen. There are a few scenes I will never, ever be able to wash from my memory, even with years of counseling.
2. This book could have so easily degenerated into mindless torture porn, but it’s saved from that fate by Roger and Tooth. I just fell in love with these guys, so well-written and believable. Roger, the do-good college bound son and his best friend Tooth, the left behind, good-looking roughneck with father issues. Neither is made of hero material, but when caught up in a living nightmare, each rises to the occasion in his own way. I had a particular soft spot for Tooth – his defiance and gritty determination to escape made me think, if something like this were to ever happen, that’s the guy I want at my side.
3. The other twist in the book that really upped the rating for me is
4. The ending:
Overall, this is a book I would recommend carefully because it certainly isn’t for everyone. If graphic violence is not your bag – STAY AWAY. If you are the adventurous sort however, and are looking for a tale with heart that’s going to traumatize you to your very core then by all means READ THIS BOOK. Just thinking about it again and writing this review has made me bump it up from four to five stars. It really is a diamond in the rough.
****WARNING!!! This book may cause violent seizures, recurring nightmares, and ongoing medical bills for psychological counseling. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK****
It’s been a week, and I finally feel able to write a review for this absolutely terrifying, gripping, grotesque book. Just a few words on what impressed me the most about this short debut. I know I’m gonna run out of meaningful adjectives long before this review is finished, so bear with me if I get a little repetitive.
1. The Summer I Died is so very unrelenting. Once it starts, it just does not let up. It drags you along for the ride, kicking and screaming, and does not let go even though like me, you probably started hollering “Uncle!” way before the ending. It’s been a while since a book made me faint, throw up, cry, and grimace all within the span of a few pages. That is awesome writing. Thomas’s prose is spare and cuttingly to the point. His descriptions are so effective that this book unfolded like a full color movie on a 50-foot screen. There are a few scenes I will never, ever be able to wash from my memory, even with years of counseling.
2. This book could have so easily degenerated into mindless torture porn, but it’s saved from that fate by Roger and Tooth. I just fell in love with these guys, so well-written and believable. Roger, the do-good college bound son and his best friend Tooth, the left behind, good-looking roughneck with father issues. Neither is made of hero material, but when caught up in a living nightmare, each rises to the occasion in his own way. I had a particular soft spot for Tooth – his defiance and gritty determination to escape made me think, if something like this were to ever happen, that’s the guy I want at my side.
3. The other twist in the book that really upped the rating for me is
4. The ending:
Overall, this is a book I would recommend carefully because it certainly isn’t for everyone. If graphic violence is not your bag – STAY AWAY. If you are the adventurous sort however, and are looking for a tale with heart that’s going to traumatize you to your very core then by all means READ THIS BOOK. Just thinking about it again and writing this review has made me bump it up from four to five stars. It really is a diamond in the rough.
April 28, 2021
"Life really is amazing, and when you're about to lose it, you finally notice that you never really took it in before. "
So you think you're a tough guy huh? Think you're really tough? Well, let's see how tough you are and read this book. I dare you, I double dare you.
Bloody, brutal and brilliant the pages of this book and soaked in gore and pain. I'd class it as endurance horror. As in it saps away at the readers energy as you move from page to page, taking in the extreme level of terror.
The story focuses on two friends who take a trip out to the woods and stumble upon a maniac’s house. Sometimes you should really mind your own business! Things soon take a turn for the worse and lead us down a rabbit hole of pain and torture.
"You don’t just concede defeat in these circumstances. You take every second you can find and use it to pray for another few seconds. Hope is a cruel bitch."
What sets this book apart from the other extreme horror that's out there, is it is very well written, with excellent characterisation. Which is uncommon in the genre. You really identify and root for the protagonist and his friend, hoping they make it through the dire circumstances in one piece. And the book contains one of the most sick and twisted villains I've ever come across. The stuff of nightmares.
This is very much a survival tale, in the mold of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wolf Creek. Fans of those movies will absolutely love this. Ryan C Thomas plays with your emotions, leaving a sliver of hope, as things build to a satisfying conclusion that was totally in keeping with the main story.
Wow! For such a short read this story packs a tremendous punch. If you've got a strong stomach then I thoroughly recommend it. Just be warned. Horror will never be the same again!
Ryan C Thomas
April 12, 2021
I have seen this described as one of the most extreme horror books ever written and, having read a lot of extreme horror, I admit that the boast had me curious.
I read around 60 pages and thought, this isn't so extreme. It is very well written and I'm enjoying it immensely, but it's far from the most extreme book I've picked up before now.
Then, things got very dark, very quickly!
The first third of the book is an enjoyable and engaging coming of age comedy/drama. I really connected with Roger and Tooth and found a lot about both of them to be very relatable, particularly thinking back to when I was their age and the time spent with them early on pays off in a big way when the book kicks into fifth gear.
Because once you get past page 60 or so, things get real nasty! Any claims that this is a tough book to read, and infamously extreme are proven stomach churningly correct pretty soon after, and things just get worse and more harrowing from there. A big reason it works so well is how much we now care about the fates of the main characters and how much it matters when things start going wrong for them.
Fair warning for any readers who are undecided on this book. This was a difficult read. The author is absolutely unflinching in the violence in this book, and it is not glorified or over the top, it is gritty and grim and all too realistic. The violence and torture scenes make up a significant portion of this book and I was constantly surprised at quite how far things went. It was incredibly tense because you so badly want the boys to escape and you soon find yourself running the gamut of emotions they are. Fear, hope, acceptance. I had to put the book down more than once because it was so vivid.
The work put into character development is what really set this book apart for me, and what earns it the justified claims of being a go-to book for extreme horror. The violence is vicious and unpleasant and the extremity comes with how difficult it is to read these things happening to characters you have connected to so strongly. Powerful stuff and a reading experience I won't soon forget!
I read around 60 pages and thought, this isn't so extreme. It is very well written and I'm enjoying it immensely, but it's far from the most extreme book I've picked up before now.
Then, things got very dark, very quickly!
The first third of the book is an enjoyable and engaging coming of age comedy/drama. I really connected with Roger and Tooth and found a lot about both of them to be very relatable, particularly thinking back to when I was their age and the time spent with them early on pays off in a big way when the book kicks into fifth gear.
Because once you get past page 60 or so, things get real nasty! Any claims that this is a tough book to read, and infamously extreme are proven stomach churningly correct pretty soon after, and things just get worse and more harrowing from there. A big reason it works so well is how much we now care about the fates of the main characters and how much it matters when things start going wrong for them.
Fair warning for any readers who are undecided on this book. This was a difficult read. The author is absolutely unflinching in the violence in this book, and it is not glorified or over the top, it is gritty and grim and all too realistic. The violence and torture scenes make up a significant portion of this book and I was constantly surprised at quite how far things went. It was incredibly tense because you so badly want the boys to escape and you soon find yourself running the gamut of emotions they are. Fear, hope, acceptance. I had to put the book down more than once because it was so vivid.
The work put into character development is what really set this book apart for me, and what earns it the justified claims of being a go-to book for extreme horror. The violence is vicious and unpleasant and the extremity comes with how difficult it is to read these things happening to characters you have connected to so strongly. Powerful stuff and a reading experience I won't soon forget!
August 22, 2011
Torture porn.
The mere mention of it induces cringes.
The makers of movies and books that fall under this category are looked upon with disdain, as well as those who willingly shell out their hard-earned money to subject themselves to the viewing and reading of such disgusting material.
Am I right? I mean, look at the first couple of Saw movies: horribly violent situations, the will of the victims to endure dreadful agony to somehow survive their captivity. Could you imagine anyone wanting to sit through something like this?
Yes. Guilty.
I have to admit, as cringe inducing as they were, those first few Saw movies were pretty damn captivating if you're any type of horror aficionado. Despite enduring the screams of agony, you still stick through it because you just have to know how the hell the victims are going to get out of this.
And, in the case of The Summer I Died, you also care about the characters.
I finished this novella about a week ago, there are still images I can't get out of my head. I wish I could, because one in particular is so nasty that I wish I hadn't read it. But I also can't get the ending out of my head. That's where Thomas really hit it out of the park for me.
I usually prefer the type of horror that is a slow burn, one that haunts or gets under your skin for days after. I have long since grown out of the slasher flicks (although I did watch the original Halloween a few months ago and it still creeped me out...they just don't make 'em like that anymore), so the flicks or books that gore you out for shock value only do nothing for me. The Summer I Died is that rare exception.
You care about these characters. It's almost impossible to stop reading because you can't bear to leave them in their predicament.
The writing is perfectly paced. This is a very well done story. Just a warning though: the violence may be unbearable for many, but I doubt that anyone picking up this book wouldn't go into this without the expectation of some cringe-worthy moments. So, for you folks:...um...enjoy?
The mere mention of it induces cringes.
The makers of movies and books that fall under this category are looked upon with disdain, as well as those who willingly shell out their hard-earned money to subject themselves to the viewing and reading of such disgusting material.
Am I right? I mean, look at the first couple of Saw movies: horribly violent situations, the will of the victims to endure dreadful agony to somehow survive their captivity. Could you imagine anyone wanting to sit through something like this?
Yes. Guilty.
I have to admit, as cringe inducing as they were, those first few Saw movies were pretty damn captivating if you're any type of horror aficionado. Despite enduring the screams of agony, you still stick through it because you just have to know how the hell the victims are going to get out of this.
And, in the case of The Summer I Died, you also care about the characters.
I finished this novella about a week ago, there are still images I can't get out of my head. I wish I could, because one in particular is so nasty that I wish I hadn't read it. But I also can't get the ending out of my head. That's where Thomas really hit it out of the park for me.
I usually prefer the type of horror that is a slow burn, one that haunts or gets under your skin for days after. I have long since grown out of the slasher flicks (although I did watch the original Halloween a few months ago and it still creeped me out...they just don't make 'em like that anymore), so the flicks or books that gore you out for shock value only do nothing for me. The Summer I Died is that rare exception.
You care about these characters. It's almost impossible to stop reading because you can't bear to leave them in their predicament.
The writing is perfectly paced. This is a very well done story. Just a warning though: the violence may be unbearable for many, but I doubt that anyone picking up this book wouldn't go into this without the expectation of some cringe-worthy moments. So, for you folks:...um...enjoy?
September 20, 2020
Amazing book. One of the rare occasions where a splatterpunk book has some real substance to it and leaves you thinking about it far after you're through with it.
December 15, 2013
Not for the faint hearted The Summer I Died is certainly the most brutal and ferocious book I’ve read to date, there are some seriously sickening moments amidst a book filled with torture scenes but you know what, you can’t stop reading it’s absolutely riveting.
Roger back from college goes out to the mountainous woodland with his friend Tooth to drink some beers and shoot some cans, life is about to take a horrific turn when they go to investigate sounds of a woman screaming. They find a blood drenched young woman trying to escape a maniacal killer with some equally vicious dogs, known only as ‘skinny man’ and the friends soon find themselves chained up in the basement at the mercy of a seriously deranged and sadistic individual.
This is a vivid and powerful story, distinctively driven by friendship, yes the violence is extreme and disturbing, just when you think there’s no more possible, you turn the page and start again but you can’t stop reading. Highly recommended, the tension is overwhelming at times and The Summer I Died is apparently being scripted for filming.
Roger back from college goes out to the mountainous woodland with his friend Tooth to drink some beers and shoot some cans, life is about to take a horrific turn when they go to investigate sounds of a woman screaming. They find a blood drenched young woman trying to escape a maniacal killer with some equally vicious dogs, known only as ‘skinny man’ and the friends soon find themselves chained up in the basement at the mercy of a seriously deranged and sadistic individual.
This is a vivid and powerful story, distinctively driven by friendship, yes the violence is extreme and disturbing, just when you think there’s no more possible, you turn the page and start again but you can’t stop reading. Highly recommended, the tension is overwhelming at times and The Summer I Died is apparently being scripted for filming.
May 13, 2023
Story 5/5
Narration 5/5
The Summer I Died, by Ryan C. Thomas is a must read for seasoned Splatterpunk readers. This book is excellent!
I found in it, everything I like in a story. The characters development is flawless, the plot is good and the atmosphere is nightmarish.
A few days ago, I read a book about a psychopath on a killing spree, but I didn’t feel many emotions. So, I thought I had been desensitized by all my readings. But with, The Summer I Died, I realized that it wasn’t the case. I still can be shaken, the way I like it, by Splatterpunk’s stories. This book accentuated my believe that, whatever the genre of the story, the way the characters are portrayed by the author, and the situations they are described in, increases or diminishes the impact that the story has on the reader.
This story started with the description of the bond between two best friends. The characters development is very good and never boring. In a few pages, the author shows us, precisely Tooth and Roger’s personalities and how they lived their lives. Then suddenly, but it’s not rushed, everything changed for them. They encounter one of the most evil character ever written, Skinny Man. I’ll add it to my collection of insane and evil characters. This man is unpredictable, everything he did to them is beyond, everything you and I could imagined. I never read that type of physical and psychological torture. I won’t say more, because it’s better to be surprised by all this insane level of depravity and cruelty. The tension is incredible, I never knew what was going to happen, I didn’t wanted to put the book down.
I highly recommend it! Don’t miss this gem of gruesome creativity.
Aspiring Splatterpunk writers should read it too.
Narration 5/5
The Summer I Died, by Ryan C. Thomas is a must read for seasoned Splatterpunk readers. This book is excellent!
I found in it, everything I like in a story. The characters development is flawless, the plot is good and the atmosphere is nightmarish.
A few days ago, I read a book about a psychopath on a killing spree, but I didn’t feel many emotions. So, I thought I had been desensitized by all my readings. But with, The Summer I Died, I realized that it wasn’t the case. I still can be shaken, the way I like it, by Splatterpunk’s stories. This book accentuated my believe that, whatever the genre of the story, the way the characters are portrayed by the author, and the situations they are described in, increases or diminishes the impact that the story has on the reader.
This story started with the description of the bond between two best friends. The characters development is very good and never boring. In a few pages, the author shows us, precisely Tooth and Roger’s personalities and how they lived their lives. Then suddenly, but it’s not rushed, everything changed for them. They encounter one of the most evil character ever written, Skinny Man. I’ll add it to my collection of insane and evil characters. This man is unpredictable, everything he did to them is beyond, everything you and I could imagined. I never read that type of physical and psychological torture. I won’t say more, because it’s better to be surprised by all this insane level of depravity and cruelty. The tension is incredible, I never knew what was going to happen, I didn’t wanted to put the book down.
I highly recommend it! Don’t miss this gem of gruesome creativity.
Aspiring Splatterpunk writers should read it too.
May 26, 2011
Roger is home from college on break and plans to kick back with his best bud Tooth, drink some beer, shoot some cans and smoke a little dope. They head out to an unnamed backwoods town in New Hampshire to shoot without being disturbed and end up captives of a madman Roger calls “Skinny Man” and his bloodthirsty dog. Being a NH native myself, and being far too close to a town where a real life horrendous slaughter recently occurred, this setting scared the pee-pee out of me. I could see that run down house in the middle of nowhere (where no one will hear you scream) far too clearly. I will never again venture out into the woods without two big dogs by my side. Why did no one mention this mayhem happens in NH?!
This book is hardcore, very much torture-porn and not for the squeamish. It’s bleak, dark and squishy but the worst thing about it is the fact that the characters are written exceptionally well for a book of this sort. They start out as two toss-away goofy guys. Roger is the brighter bulb of the two while Tooth is mostly a laze-about heading nowhere fast but as the story progresses they become so real that you nearly feel their physical and emotional pain and experience their desperation to survive, to fight and to get the hell out of the mess they’ve found themselves in. It’s a tense, stomach churning read filled to the brim with cruelty and unimaginable horror. If you’re up for it, I’d say give it a read. It was impossible to put down, well written and though I won’t ever read it again I will check out whatever this guy decides to write in the future.
This book is hardcore, very much torture-porn and not for the squeamish. It’s bleak, dark and squishy but the worst thing about it is the fact that the characters are written exceptionally well for a book of this sort. They start out as two toss-away goofy guys. Roger is the brighter bulb of the two while Tooth is mostly a laze-about heading nowhere fast but as the story progresses they become so real that you nearly feel their physical and emotional pain and experience their desperation to survive, to fight and to get the hell out of the mess they’ve found themselves in. It’s a tense, stomach churning read filled to the brim with cruelty and unimaginable horror. If you’re up for it, I’d say give it a read. It was impossible to put down, well written and though I won’t ever read it again I will check out whatever this guy decides to write in the future.
June 15, 2015
For every life, there is a purpose. It may not be clear to you, it could hinge on something as simple as a roll of the dice. Know what you are wading into here before you start reading - it is a story of raw, graphic, inexorable torture. Gore is ramped up to maximum overdrive. The depravity of the "Skinny Man' will steal your very breath away and leave you heaving. One reviewer used the word 'unrelenting' to describe the tone of the book, and that is it to a tee. This is for readers with thick skins and strong stomachs.
June 26, 2010
This novella truly packs a punch, I didn't know what to expect when I got it other than being intrigued by the premise and it blew my mind, it went above and beyond of what I was expecting. The premise is interesting and one of my favorites, I like those lost in woods and chased by a madman or stuck somewhere with no way out, to me that is very scary and this was freaky enough as an idea but the writing and execution deserve their own credit. Thomas filled my head with crystal clear images right from the start, his skill is very apparent and makes the story flow like a river, I kept wincing and making faces and saying things as I read it and that doesn't happen to often, after fifteen years of reading horror I'd think I got used to it or desensitized myself a bit, not so with this story, it managed to throw me off and surprise me quite a few times.
I think one of the best parts of reading an intense story is the surprise factor, so I won't divulge too much of the plot, all I will say is that it revolves around two best friends who pick the wrong day to go shooting some harmless beer cans when curiosity takes hold and changes their lives forever. A scream coming from a nearby house awakens Rogers instincts, his curiosity getting a stronger hold on him than chivalry and nothing will ever be the same from that point on. Blood, guts, gore, hungry dogs, crazies, millions of ways to detach body parts and inflict pain, its all here, but very well written, making it not only scary but very realistic, I actually had a hard time falling asleep as I finished it, the whole tale wrapped itself around my brain and kept poking its claw at me, I was glad to be in my warm bed and not where the characters were, that's for sure! I also loved how detailed the characters of Tooth and Roger were, the beginning of the novel centers around them so well that it makes them seem like real people and then it proceeds to rip them to shreds as hell literally descends above them and opens its sharp mouth to engulf them into land of pain and misery. This was such a blast, I could read Ryan's books till I'm nine hundred years old, so keep em coming!
I think one of the best parts of reading an intense story is the surprise factor, so I won't divulge too much of the plot, all I will say is that it revolves around two best friends who pick the wrong day to go shooting some harmless beer cans when curiosity takes hold and changes their lives forever. A scream coming from a nearby house awakens Rogers instincts, his curiosity getting a stronger hold on him than chivalry and nothing will ever be the same from that point on. Blood, guts, gore, hungry dogs, crazies, millions of ways to detach body parts and inflict pain, its all here, but very well written, making it not only scary but very realistic, I actually had a hard time falling asleep as I finished it, the whole tale wrapped itself around my brain and kept poking its claw at me, I was glad to be in my warm bed and not where the characters were, that's for sure! I also loved how detailed the characters of Tooth and Roger were, the beginning of the novel centers around them so well that it makes them seem like real people and then it proceeds to rip them to shreds as hell literally descends above them and opens its sharp mouth to engulf them into land of pain and misery. This was such a blast, I could read Ryan's books till I'm nine hundred years old, so keep em coming!
February 9, 2012
OK. Somehow my earlier review praising this glorious novel disappeared, and if this were any other book, I'd just shrug my shoulders and move on. But I won't do that because I want you to read this book. You must read this book. I need you to read this book just so I can take comfort in knowing I'm not the only one to witness such atrocities.
Roger and Tooth are best friends. Roger is home from college on a break, and he and Tooth are parked in the woods shooting the breeze when a woman's scream fills the woods. They contemplate leaving and calling the police, but their consciences won't let them do that, so they sneak up to an isolated house just in time to see a panicked woman running out the front door, chased by a man with an axe. Circumstances soon place them inside the house, where they are tied up and at the mercy of Skinny Man, who loves to torture slowly and deliberately.
If you're thinking this will be just another generic torture porn book with cardboard characters, you are sadly mistaken. There is more love, friendship, and triumph of the spirit in The Summer I Died than in some of finest literature out there. And if you're a horror nut like me, there's lots of blood and screaming, too.
Roger and Tooth are best friends. Roger is home from college on a break, and he and Tooth are parked in the woods shooting the breeze when a woman's scream fills the woods. They contemplate leaving and calling the police, but their consciences won't let them do that, so they sneak up to an isolated house just in time to see a panicked woman running out the front door, chased by a man with an axe. Circumstances soon place them inside the house, where they are tied up and at the mercy of Skinny Man, who loves to torture slowly and deliberately.
If you're thinking this will be just another generic torture porn book with cardboard characters, you are sadly mistaken. There is more love, friendship, and triumph of the spirit in The Summer I Died than in some of finest literature out there. And if you're a horror nut like me, there's lots of blood and screaming, too.
September 3, 2024
Well…. 😂 this was… brutal? I think this does exactly what it’s supposed to do and people who enjoy really horrific, terrorizing, torture scenes will find this riveting… I think that’s just not for me… but I will say I think the author is very effective in what he does.
2 college age friends who’ve been friends their whole lives are at a turning point in their lives… before they sort of go their separate way, one to college and one to California to start fresh, they kill some time shooting guns in the New Hampshire woods. They are confronted with a twisted maniac who’s able to kidnap them and then the torture begins… and doesn’t let up… page after page… after page 😂 it’s brutal.
Again… I think it’s very good in what it’s supposed to do… I just think I’m not as young and wild as I used to be so it wasn’t really for me.
2 college age friends who’ve been friends their whole lives are at a turning point in their lives… before they sort of go their separate way, one to college and one to California to start fresh, they kill some time shooting guns in the New Hampshire woods. They are confronted with a twisted maniac who’s able to kidnap them and then the torture begins… and doesn’t let up… page after page… after page 😂 it’s brutal.
Again… I think it’s very good in what it’s supposed to do… I just think I’m not as young and wild as I used to be so it wasn’t really for me.
December 14, 2013
I love scary movies and books, but this book was not scary. It was disgusting, possibly shocking at times, if you're not desensitized to gore and torture porn in general, but it was not scary. You may get a jolt at some scenes if you don't see them coming, but once the surprise wears off, all you're left with is a vague feeling of disgust, like you stepped in dog shit and can't quite get it all off the sole of your shoe. I finished it because I read some reviews that said the ending was great, but I found it entirely predictable, and some aspects were laughable. I almost gave it two stars, because, even if I didn't enjoy it all that much, it seems like something a fan of the genre would enjoy, but the ending was way way too much.
There's so much more I hate about this book, but I'll leave it at this. I recommend picking up one of the good Stephen King novels, if you want to be scared, but if you're leaning more towards disgust and frustration, then this book will probably do.
There's so much more I hate about this book, but I'll leave it at this. I recommend picking up one of the good Stephen King novels, if you want to be scared, but if you're leaning more towards disgust and frustration, then this book will probably do.
March 25, 2025
This proved to be an extremely gruesome extreme horror adventure after a beginning that read like a heartwarming, 'growing-up' relationship story between two best of friends very similar to Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
Tooth and Roger hit the hills to smoke dope, drink beer and simply chill by shooting tin cans with a pistol. After hearing some screams things just get darker and darker, turning from bad to very bad and then to an unimaginable, truly unbearable even worse.
Abduction, torture, mutilation and death awaits those who dare to enter. Prepare to behold something despicably wicked, and bear witness to the evil atrocities that await your presence.
A great story which I thoroughly enjoyed, reading as being believable in most part despite one or two points of weakness that did tend to stretch the imagination.
'Now remember - take care when walking through woods in future, as you never know what just might be around the corner,' the Skinny man doth say.
Highly recommended - thank you, Ro!
Rating: 4.7 large abominable black stars full of bloody, flesh-strewn ruination.
Tooth and Roger hit the hills to smoke dope, drink beer and simply chill by shooting tin cans with a pistol. After hearing some screams things just get darker and darker, turning from bad to very bad and then to an unimaginable, truly unbearable even worse.
Abduction, torture, mutilation and death awaits those who dare to enter. Prepare to behold something despicably wicked, and bear witness to the evil atrocities that await your presence.
A great story which I thoroughly enjoyed, reading as being believable in most part despite one or two points of weakness that did tend to stretch the imagination.
'Now remember - take care when walking through woods in future, as you never know what just might be around the corner,' the Skinny man doth say.
Highly recommended - thank you, Ro!
Rating: 4.7 large abominable black stars full of bloody, flesh-strewn ruination.
November 21, 2013
5 *I Want My Mommy* Stars!
Two words...
This book was one of the most gruesome..intense..dark..demented..disturbing..brutal..stories Ive read in awhile!! This is truly..I mean it people..truly not for the faint of hearts!!In other words if this is your first horror book..All I can say is..
Mr.Thomas managed to pull off one helluva Hat-Trick...He combined a well told Plot...filled with unspeakable Horror and topped off with some well placed Humor...It gets no better than that!!!
The Summer I Died..tells the story of Roger Huntington and his best friend Tooth and the day they decide to head out to a secluded Mountain to do some target practice using beer cans..As they are leaving..they both here a woman screaming..and from there its just one horrifying scenario after another!!!
while reading this one...
yes even laughter!!!
Bravo Mr. Thomas..you have truly amazed me with this one!!
Two words...
This book was one of the most gruesome..intense..dark..demented..disturbing..brutal..stories Ive read in awhile!! This is truly..I mean it people..truly not for the faint of hearts!!In other words if this is your first horror book..All I can say is..
Mr.Thomas managed to pull off one helluva Hat-Trick...He combined a well told Plot...filled with unspeakable Horror and topped off with some well placed Humor...It gets no better than that!!!
The Summer I Died..tells the story of Roger Huntington and his best friend Tooth and the day they decide to head out to a secluded Mountain to do some target practice using beer cans..As they are leaving..they both here a woman screaming..and from there its just one horrifying scenario after another!!!
while reading this one...
yes even laughter!!!
Bravo Mr. Thomas..you have truly amazed me with this one!!
November 2, 2013
The summer I died is one HELL of a ferocious, gut-twisting, psycho-thriller. At first, Mr. Thomas lulls you into complacency with a hearty tale of two young lads wiling away a summer day, messing with Roger's sister and basically enjoying life, and living for the day.
Roger and Tooth are best friends on a day trip out to the woods to target practice with Tooth's gun, just having a good old time, and then things go south really, really fast. I don't want to give any details about the rest of this brutal tale of human savagery, but I will say I was nailed in place while I read it. I was so unprepared for what happened, just not ready, and though there are descriptions of depravity that defy understanding, I had to continue reading. Read it and you will see what I mean. Just make sure you don't eat first.
Mr. Thomas has crafted an epic story that leave you breathless.
Highly recommended for anyone who likes their horror relentless and raw. This book is very visual. As I was reading I could envision it on the big screen, and then I found out it is being made into a film.
I'll be there!
Roger and Tooth are best friends on a day trip out to the woods to target practice with Tooth's gun, just having a good old time, and then things go south really, really fast. I don't want to give any details about the rest of this brutal tale of human savagery, but I will say I was nailed in place while I read it. I was so unprepared for what happened, just not ready, and though there are descriptions of depravity that defy understanding, I had to continue reading. Read it and you will see what I mean. Just make sure you don't eat first.
Mr. Thomas has crafted an epic story that leave you breathless.
Highly recommended for anyone who likes their horror relentless and raw. This book is very visual. As I was reading I could envision it on the big screen, and then I found out it is being made into a film.
I'll be there!
June 12, 2013
This book was brutally epic. What a page turner and the last 20% I was on pins and needles. One of the most disturbing books I have ever read. If a book can disturb or scare me, that is an accomplishment. This book did both. 5 stars!
July 15, 2021
fuckfuckfuck
August 3, 2025
THE SUMMER I DIED [Reprint Grand Mal Press 2013] By Ryan C. Thomas
My Review 5.0 Stars
“If I’d only known what was going to happen next, I would have taken the gun from Tooth and put bullets in both our brains.”
“The Summer I Died” By Ryan C. Thomas was first published in paperback on January 1, 2006. This “Author’s Preferred Edition” in Kindle format was reprinted by Grand Mal Press July 9th, 2013, or seven years following the first time it was published in 2006 in paperback by Coscom Entertainment.
Does everyone remember ‘backwoods horror’ in paperbacks containing extreme horror? It would be accurate to say that this same sub-genre in films saw the popularity and heard the screams that accompanied hard hitters like “Deliverance”, “Wrong Turn” and the gory, horrifying ultimate in this terror in the backwoods, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. By the time Ryan Thomas’s “Author’s Preferred Edition” of his chilling debut horror novel “The Summer I Died” from seven years earlier was released the climate and the fervor of the fans of extreme horror were at a fever pitch.
I have heard readers complain that “nothing happens” in the beginning of the book. That is a classic example of not recognizing that the author was strategically inserting very effective character development in those pages. The reader gets to know a couple of young guys who have been best friends forever. He vests them with a sense of humor and a love for life and for each other. Both are unhappy in a small town but only the studious one of the pair (Roger) has laid the groundwork for a future. Tooth is the slacker and the joker, the first one to break the rules, and the carefree joker of the two best friends.
Why is “The Summer I Died” so effective, particularly while “swimming with the sharks” circa 2013? There are a number of valid reasons, but I believe that plausibility is likely very high on the list. It is also the sheer power of first-person narration which “puts you there” and its power should never be underestimated. We are seeing through Roger’s eyes, hearing what can only be described as horrifying sounds with screams, pleas, and sounds of suffering. The horror is unrelenting, and it is naked with nothing held back, none of the gore, pain, and gut-wrenching terror. It comes at you unrelenting with no respite.
“The sun is high and the sky is clear as Roger and Tooth set out to shoot beer cans at Bobcat Mountain. Just two friends catching up on lost time, two friends thinking about their futures. . . two friends suddenly thrust into the middle of a nightmare.” …And… how do you survive when all roads lead to death?”
I finished reading the cult classic "The Summer I Died" by Ryan C. Thomas on July 27th. It was Splatterpunk Horror Book Club's Group Read for August 2025 by popular vote. I had anticipated a powerful story that battered my emotions into mush and that is essentially what transpired. I cannot list adequate accolades for this novel, but not to worry, there are thousands of reviews to attest to this debut novel’s bullseye delivery of more than it promises.
SENSATIONAL DEBUT A HORROR CULT CLASSIC THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME
My Review 5.0 Stars
“If I’d only known what was going to happen next, I would have taken the gun from Tooth and put bullets in both our brains.”
“The Summer I Died” By Ryan C. Thomas was first published in paperback on January 1, 2006. This “Author’s Preferred Edition” in Kindle format was reprinted by Grand Mal Press July 9th, 2013, or seven years following the first time it was published in 2006 in paperback by Coscom Entertainment.
Does everyone remember ‘backwoods horror’ in paperbacks containing extreme horror? It would be accurate to say that this same sub-genre in films saw the popularity and heard the screams that accompanied hard hitters like “Deliverance”, “Wrong Turn” and the gory, horrifying ultimate in this terror in the backwoods, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. By the time Ryan Thomas’s “Author’s Preferred Edition” of his chilling debut horror novel “The Summer I Died” from seven years earlier was released the climate and the fervor of the fans of extreme horror were at a fever pitch.
I have heard readers complain that “nothing happens” in the beginning of the book. That is a classic example of not recognizing that the author was strategically inserting very effective character development in those pages. The reader gets to know a couple of young guys who have been best friends forever. He vests them with a sense of humor and a love for life and for each other. Both are unhappy in a small town but only the studious one of the pair (Roger) has laid the groundwork for a future. Tooth is the slacker and the joker, the first one to break the rules, and the carefree joker of the two best friends.
Why is “The Summer I Died” so effective, particularly while “swimming with the sharks” circa 2013? There are a number of valid reasons, but I believe that plausibility is likely very high on the list. It is also the sheer power of first-person narration which “puts you there” and its power should never be underestimated. We are seeing through Roger’s eyes, hearing what can only be described as horrifying sounds with screams, pleas, and sounds of suffering. The horror is unrelenting, and it is naked with nothing held back, none of the gore, pain, and gut-wrenching terror. It comes at you unrelenting with no respite.
“The sun is high and the sky is clear as Roger and Tooth set out to shoot beer cans at Bobcat Mountain. Just two friends catching up on lost time, two friends thinking about their futures. . . two friends suddenly thrust into the middle of a nightmare.” …And… how do you survive when all roads lead to death?”
I finished reading the cult classic "The Summer I Died" by Ryan C. Thomas on July 27th. It was Splatterpunk Horror Book Club's Group Read for August 2025 by popular vote. I had anticipated a powerful story that battered my emotions into mush and that is essentially what transpired. I cannot list adequate accolades for this novel, but not to worry, there are thousands of reviews to attest to this debut novel’s bullseye delivery of more than it promises.
SENSATIONAL DEBUT A HORROR CULT CLASSIC THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME
March 27, 2022
I definitely didn't know what I was in for. Excellent book if you're a fan of the genre, but if your level of tolerance is as low as mine, considering graphic violence and gorry elements, then you better pass. 3/4 of the book are pure horror and pain, that's the whole plot. I won't be coming back for the rest of the series.
Roger and Tooth mess around with Roger's sister and enjoy life for the summer. Roger is back from college. They go out to the woods and drink beer while playing with shooting cans. Everything gets fucked up when they go to investigate the sounds of a woman screaming. They think about leaving and calling the police, but instead, they sneak up to an isolated house just in time to see a panicked woman running out the front door, chased by a man with an axe. There are some vicious dogs, indulging our psychopath Skinny Man. Roger and Tooth find themselves chained up in the basement with a bleak future. Gore, torture, rape - everything is here. Skinny Man is the most disturbing villain I have ever read about. Not that I've read a lot of books similar to this one, though. It bugged me that the author never explained the reason behind Skinny Man's madness. He went about his torture and killing in such a brutal and cold manner and he was actually having fun.
This is a survival story but with a typical premise. An older man, a sociopath lives in the middle of nowhere, alone, with no reception. The author does an extraordinary job at building the tension, fear and describing graphic violence. From the start, you pretty much know what is going to happen, but still, you're anxious to know how everything will turn out. The violence is so extreme, sick and disturbing, I couldn't read more than a few chapters a day. Basically, this is torture porn. The descriptions are so effective I thought I was watching a movie.
Roger doesn't have any predispositions in being a hero. He's a typical college boy, shy and a little asocial, who doesn't have a clear idea what to do with his life. While he was captured, I couldn't really find more about him since all he had was fear and panic.
I really have a problem with the way Skinny Man was shown. He's a bad guy, no arguing there, but I would've appreciated some background. His only role is to butcher and that was his whole personality. Maybe that was the goal, I don't know.
Roger and Tooth mess around with Roger's sister and enjoy life for the summer. Roger is back from college. They go out to the woods and drink beer while playing with shooting cans. Everything gets fucked up when they go to investigate the sounds of a woman screaming. They think about leaving and calling the police, but instead, they sneak up to an isolated house just in time to see a panicked woman running out the front door, chased by a man with an axe. There are some vicious dogs, indulging our psychopath Skinny Man. Roger and Tooth find themselves chained up in the basement with a bleak future. Gore, torture, rape - everything is here. Skinny Man is the most disturbing villain I have ever read about. Not that I've read a lot of books similar to this one, though. It bugged me that the author never explained the reason behind Skinny Man's madness. He went about his torture and killing in such a brutal and cold manner and he was actually having fun.
This is a survival story but with a typical premise. An older man, a sociopath lives in the middle of nowhere, alone, with no reception. The author does an extraordinary job at building the tension, fear and describing graphic violence. From the start, you pretty much know what is going to happen, but still, you're anxious to know how everything will turn out. The violence is so extreme, sick and disturbing, I couldn't read more than a few chapters a day. Basically, this is torture porn. The descriptions are so effective I thought I was watching a movie.
Roger doesn't have any predispositions in being a hero. He's a typical college boy, shy and a little asocial, who doesn't have a clear idea what to do with his life. While he was captured, I couldn't really find more about him since all he had was fear and panic.
I really have a problem with the way Skinny Man was shown. He's a bad guy, no arguing there, but I would've appreciated some background. His only role is to butcher and that was his whole personality. Maybe that was the goal, I don't know.
February 24, 2022
DNF at 10%. this was so obviously written by a man, and by that i mean the way the two characters constantly talked about staring at women's bodies was just repulsive. i'd expect this type of chatter from middle school-aged characters, not COLLEGE STUDENTS. due to the unlikable characters and slow-paced, poor writing i just had to stop.
January 10, 2025
I read this book sometimes with my hand covering my mouth, and sometimes my fingers clutching the pages so tight as if that was somehow going to lessen the horror of the upcoming sentence. Sometimes I was flat out scared to read the next paragraph. But I kept on reading, I was in too deep, I needed to know how this was all going to end. Very well written book.
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