Summer of Night: A Novel

4.5

Not without its problems, but I really loved this one after wanting to read it for years. There's some genuinely creepy moments in this combined with coming-of-age elements and friendship that just work for me. A new favorite from the horror genre for sure.

What can I say? Dan Simmons continues to impress me. This had a lot of parallels to Stephen King's IT, and that's not a bad thing. It's like Simmon's own take on the ‘kids vs monster' story, much like Stranger Things does. And regardless of how many times I come across a story like this, I love it. I actively seek them out, even. Simmons has a style all his own, which not everyone will enjoy, but I did. I love the detail and history he brought. I love how much the kids' characters were flushed out. I really ended up rooting for them! I really don't want to ruin anything, so I'll just end by saying that this is the best Simmons I've read so far, and I can't wait read the other in this series. Keeawee!

Very suspenseful and sufficiently creepy. I do think the book could've been at least 100 pages shorter, though. The author overexplains some things, like mentioning certain character traits twice or more, sometimes in the span of 20-odd pages. But still, very engaging read.