Summer of Night

February 4, 1991
Hugo Award-winning novelist Simmons's ( Hyperion ) has produced an outstandingly eerie and truly horrifying tale, a page-turner of the first order. A miasma of evil hangs over the bright summer streets of the small town of Elm Haven, Ill., perceptible only to a group of boys who have just finished their last year at Old Central, an oversize, grotesquely ornate grade school built in the previous century. When one of the students disappears on the last day of school, some of the youngsters decide to investigate. A man dressed in World War I uniform begins to follow them, as does the rendering truck, driven by the school custodian Van Syke, a vehicle that stinks from the animal carcasses it carries. When one of the boys uncovers ties among Old Central, children who vanished at the turn of the century and an ancient evil from the Old World, he is killed in a vicious fashion by creatures of the night. The other boys move to defend themselves, knowing they will not be believed by the adults, especially because the horrors appear to be directed by the respected principal of the school. Simmons impeccably evokes a small Midwestern town in 1960, peopling it with appealing--and appaling--characters. His slow and careful introduction of the elements of evil builds credibility and moves to a high-pitched intensity. BOMC alternate.

August 29, 2011
In the summer of 1960 an ancient evil is rising, taking lives and spreading terror in the small town of Elm Haven, Ill. Only a small group of boys recognize the peril that’s emanating from Old Central School, and they will face danger as they try to defeat the forces of evil. Dan John Miller’s narration is casual and engaging, and his reading intensifies with the plot, providing listeners with moments of suspense and horror. Miller voices the book’s preteen heroes as if he were one of their own, bringing them to life and giving them voices that are clear, distinct, and individual. Despite the novel’s somewhat over-the-top plot, Miller delivers a performance that will captivate listeners and makes the most of the author’s marvelously rendered characters. A St. Martin’s Griffin paperback.

March 2, 1992
Hugo Award-winning novelist Simmons pens an outstandingly eerie horror story about a group of Midwestern boys stalked by an ancient evil.