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Summer of Night
Written by Dan Simmons
Narrated by Dan John Miller
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Start Listening- Publisher:
- Brilliance Audio
- Released:
- Jul 5, 2011
- ISBN:
- 9781455810444
- Format:
- Audiobook
Description
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 rides to shaded hiding places in the woods, the boys' days are marked by all of the secrets and silences of an idyllic childhood. But amid the sun-drenched cornfields, their loyalty will be pitilessly tested. When a long-silent bell peals in the middle of the night, the townsfolk know it marks the end of their carefree days. From the depths of the Old Central School, a hulking fortress tinged with the mahogany scent of coffins, an invisible evil is rising. Strange and horrifying events begin to overtake everyday life, spreading terror through the once-peaceful town. Determined to exorcize this ancient plague, Mike, Duane, Dale, Harlen, and Kevin must wage a war of blood-against an arcane abomination who owns the night.…
"It stands with the best of King and Straub in the traditional modern horror genre." -Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Impressive…combines beautiful writing and suspense into a book for which Dan Simmons deserves the bestseller status of King and Koontz." -The Denver Post
"One can only wonder what Simmons will do next, now that he's shown us he can do everything the best writers in horror and science fiction can do." -The Philadelphia Inquirer
Book Actions
Start ListeningBook Information
Summer of Night
Written by Dan Simmons
Narrated by Dan John Miller
Description
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 rides to shaded hiding places in the woods, the boys' days are marked by all of the secrets and silences of an idyllic childhood. But amid the sun-drenched cornfields, their loyalty will be pitilessly tested. When a long-silent bell peals in the middle of the night, the townsfolk know it marks the end of their carefree days. From the depths of the Old Central School, a hulking fortress tinged with the mahogany scent of coffins, an invisible evil is rising. Strange and horrifying events begin to overtake everyday life, spreading terror through the once-peaceful town. Determined to exorcize this ancient plague, Mike, Duane, Dale, Harlen, and Kevin must wage a war of blood-against an arcane abomination who owns the night.…
"It stands with the best of King and Straub in the traditional modern horror genre." -Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Impressive…combines beautiful writing and suspense into a book for which Dan Simmons deserves the bestseller status of King and Koontz." -The Denver Post
"One can only wonder what Simmons will do next, now that he's shown us he can do everything the best writers in horror and science fiction can do." -The Philadelphia Inquirer
- Publisher:
- Brilliance Audio
- Released:
- Jul 5, 2011
- ISBN:
- 9781455810444
- Format:
- Audiobook
About the author
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Reviews
And then it went off the tracks as, unfortunately, the vast majority of books (and movies) of this genre do. It was just too “over the top”, to the point that it actually became tiresome. In fact, the last half of the book ended up borrowing so many disparate cliches that it felt as randomly architected as the school building it describes in the beginning.
I would love to read more books in the horror genre that don’t rely on shock and spectacle, choosing instead to leverage suspense and mystery to create a truly “creepy” response. I’m losing faith that such writing even exists anymore.
One of my favorite themes in this book is the idea that, in the course of our daily lives, while we can recognize irritation and obstacles, we can be blind to plain old evil.
It's well-written, it's a blast from the past, and it's engagingly narrated (I wonder how they do those voices? )
Though a terrific work of horror, Summer of Night is much more than that. It’s a coming-of-age tale that deftly recalls what it’s like to be eleven-years-old, no longer a kid, but yet not truly adolescent either. It affectionately captures hot, sweaty summer days of riding bikes, playing sandlot baseball, camping out, long days spent in the woods, and a nascent and budding interest in the opposite sex.
It also quite cleverly captures a time, the year 1960, with black and white background images of Democrats nominating Kennedy, and the first satellites being sent into space; and a place, the dying town of Elm Haven, Illinois, which doesn’t know that it’s dying.
The source of the horror both stretches credulity and is quite clever. Then again, it doesn’t matter what causes the World War I soldier to come out of his grave and stalk one of the character’s grandmothers. It doesn’t matter how the lamprey creatures can burrow and surface and dive into asphalt as easily as a dolphin in water. And it certainly doesn’t matter what caused the interior of Old Central School to become ensconced in viscous fluids, pulsing eggsacks, and fleshy tentacles. What matters is it has happened and must be dealt with.
One of the things I find interesting about reading an obviously semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale is trying to determine exactly which character is the author. In this book, there are many to choose from. There’s altar boy and all-around good guy Mike O’Rourke; earnest Dale Stewart and his younger brother Lawrence. There’s wiseass Jim Harlen, and quietly strong Kevin Grumbacher. And in the background, hovering over them all, is the bookish and brilliant (and doomed) Duane McBride.
Though it becomes obvious toward the end which character most resembles Simmons, I’m struck upon every re-reading just how fully drawn each of the characters is, and can’t help but think there’s a little bit of Simmons in all of them.
What strikes me most upon each re-reading of this book is the universality of it. Though I wasn’t born at the time this book takes place, it captures my own perhaps romanticized memories of my youth, hot summer days playing baseball and hanging out with friends, of riding bikes and camping out and playing in the woods. That may be why I re-read this book every few years or so.
It’s always good to catch up with old friends.
Nostalgic, reminiscence Gothic tale crossed with Stephen King’s IT.
"Few events in a human being's life--at least a male human being's life--are as free, as exuberant, as infinitely expansive and filled with potential as the first day of summer when one is an eleven-year-old boy"
I love the way Dan Simmons writes and here he is pitch perfect capturing that uniquely childhood experience of that first day of the holidays with the whole of summer stretching out in front of you filled with anticipation, fun and adventure…maybe a little too much adventure in this case
Summer of Night boasts a fascinating cast of characters, relationships, conflicts and horrors set in the in the bucolic town of Elm Haven, Illinois in 1960.
Beautiful writing with characters you care about, the author does a wonderful a job of visualising Gothic midwestern America.
Clever, frightening, and gripping and highly recommended
No. Just no.
This book is:
Lots of kids.
Lots of detail.
Lots of guns.
Lots of small town meanness.
The “scary parts” are:
Did I just feel a cold wind?
Did I just get a dark feeling?
Did the closet door just move?
What was that noise?
And road rage.
And dead dogs. Really hated all the dead dogs.
I had thought to compare this to Ghost Road Blues, 95% small town mean ending in 5% good malevolent supernatural boo, but dear God I enjoyed GRB better. That alone means it’s less than two stars.