Summer of Night by Dan Simmons

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 rides to shaded hiding places in the woods, the boys' days are marked by all of the secrets and silences of an idyllic middle-childhood. But amid the sundrenched 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 idyllic 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... @amazon

MY REVIEW:

5 STARS 

What all happens during the summer of night? . . . . . . it's not pretty

Old Central School still stood upright, holding its secrets and silences firmly within. Eighty-four years of chalkdust floated in the rare shafts of sunlight inside while the memories of more than eight decades of varnishings rose from the dark stairs and floors to tinge the trapped air with the mahogany scent of coffins. the walls of Old Central were so thick that they seemed to absorb sounds while the tall windows, their glass warped and distorted by age and gravity, tinted the air with a sepia tiredness.

Time moved slowly at Old Central, if at all. Footsteps echoed along corridors and up stairwells, but the sound seemed muted and out of synch with any motion amidst the shadows.

That school was creepy as all get out. A three story school of creepiness and what secrets are in the basement and other parts of the school.

The gang was Dale, Mike, Duane, Harlen, Kevin, Lawrence (little brother to Dale) and sometimes Cordie.

The story starts out when they are waiting to leave the school for summer break and they were never going to come back again as they were going to go to a newer school. And a death occurs pretty much right out of the gate. That's all I'm sayin'.

This is a coming of age story with a creeptastic twist! I loved all of the kids, some of the side characters and the town where everything took place. I loved the setting Dan Simmons wrote for this book.

The book talks about each of the children in the book so we know all of their stories. There are parents, neighbors, priests, school teachers, ghosts, evil beings and so forth and so on.

And yes, there are deaths.

There is this creepy Rendering Truck that follows the boys from time to time. They think it is someone associated with the school but they can never see them. They only smell the stink of the dead animals it picks up.

I can see all of the scenes in my mind. The story is set in 1960 and you really need to read it if you have been planning on it. I love old school books where you feel like your a part of things past. Of course, I wouldn't want to go to this town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just wait until you get to all of the creepy stuff =) 

GOODREADS REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1798005231