Rating: 
Summary: Attack of the Killer Lampreys?
Review: What could have been a killer "coming-of-age" thriller was nothing more than a "B" movie with a weak plot. Why do horror writers keep rehashing the same themes over and over with no freshness. (Haunted schools, cursed objects, and burrowing creatures of unspeakable horror that take over the bodies of dead people) It's all been done before. If only writers like Simmons would explain the circumstances behind the supernatural occurrences rather than letting them just happen, leaving us to scratch our heads and go, "What?" Keep digging Dan. It's been said, "There's nothing new under the sun" but let's keep trying, shall we?
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: The story is well done and the writing is beautiful. Descriptions of the characters and the locations are masterfully written,
and are of a much higher quality than your usual horror novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A dissenting opinion.
Review: I mourn the loss of real editors in the publishing world. Dan Simmons could have had an effective story if only he'd had an editor to make revision suggestions (or if he'd read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers).This book is fraught with imprecise, repetitive, and--dare I say it--boring language. The story moves so slowly that I am not sure it is scientifically accurate to call it movement at all. Simmons takes advantage of every opportunity (sometimes four times a chapter) to derail his story just as it starts to get interesting by clif-hanging one character to move on to another. The book is bloated with descriptions that sidetrack the story to give the reader meaningless little glimpses into the time period. What's worse, it isn't scary. Not one bit, not at all. Summer of Night reeks of a first novel (was it Dan's first?) from an author with potentially good ideas who lacks an editor to see him and the work through revisions to a publishable state. One reviewer compared Summer of Night to Robert McCammon's Boys Life. That is like comparing the song your cat played as she pranced across the piano keys with the symphonies of Mozart. Time is scarce these days, and if you're like me, you don't have enough of it to waste on poorly written books. So if you're looking for a well-written, nostalgic horror story, Summer of Night is not it. Maybe Boys Life is. Check it out. Decide for yourself. Those interested in what an editor could have done with this book are encouraged to read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. It is clear that Dan Simmons hasn't read it, and he should have.
Rating:
Summary: The Hardy Boys Meet Steven King
Review: A sprawling epic of old-fashioned Gothic horror, Don Simmons' "Summer of Night" is a well-written page-turner definitely worth the time. In an unusual twist to the familiar "coming of age" theme, a group of pre-teens in rural 1960 Illinois confront a millenniums-old evil force threatening their village. The writer is in no hurry to get the reader to the payoff, painstakingly weaving the mystery thread-by-thread, with a rich and convoluted cast of villains, both real and surreal. While on the longish side (600 pages), it is well-paced, building to a truly terrifying and suspenseful climax. Simmons' writing, while falling short of Steven King's vivid imagery, is far from pedestrian. He demonstrates a true talent for spinning a contrast of the innocence of growing up in an earlier era with the malevolence of the ancient horror that is making a mess of the cherished summer vacation. Despite the dark theme of the story, Simmons injects considerable tongue-in-cheek humor, seeing life through a young boy's eyes, where all teachers are old and mean, the principal is to be feared and avoided, and the school is the center of all things bad and boring. And while Simmons takes some license in the incredible level of maturity, ingenuity, and intelligence of this group of twelve-year olds, this is, after-all, fantasy. In the final analysis, "Summer of Night" is a well-crafted and unique mixture of nostalgia and familiar childhood fears. A highly recommended read.
Rating: 
Summary: He makes us love them.... then he kills them.
Review: Dan Simmons is one of my favorite authors; not every book is fantastic, but his characterization is still one of the best. And Summer of Night is his best yet. I loved Hyperion, but maybe because it had so many characters you couldn't get as close to them as you can to these boys in Summer. The boys are deep, rich and vibrant with life. They're children you'd want as your own or at least to have had a chance to know them. It makes the fear, suffering and pain they go through so much harder on the reader. I've read it 4 times now, and I still cry and jump at odd sounds around the house at night.
Rating:
Summary: I read this book with the big light on!!
Review: If you have never read anything by Dan Simmons, you are missing a rare treat! This was a real page-turner. Do you remember being a child and being afraid that something was under the bed?... being afraid to put your feet down on the floor - even if you needed to go to the bathroom? This story captures that feeling perfectly through the story of a group of young boys living a nightmare. It delivers the story in such a way as to show the horrors these boys endure while also demonstrating how it could be totally unsuspected BY the adults in the story. In "On Writing" King talks about picking up a book and feeling the weight of the book and appreciating how densely the story is written. This story is rich with the characterizations and the story just flows from one page to the next. Despite the comparisons I have seen in other reviews (having read them all) I still say this story stands alone. I LOVED EVERY BONE-CHILLING WORD! DAN SIMMONS - PLEASE WRITE MORE!!!
Rating: 
Summary: I struggled with the rating on this book
Review: Dan Simmons does an outstanding job of writing in _Summer of Night_; he kept me turning pages at 3:30 am, even after a day-long plane trip, until I finished the book. Having tried my own hand (unsuccessfully, so far) at fiction, I know how hard it is and marvel at how well Simmons does it. For that--and in contrast to the vast vats of horror drek out there--Simmons deserves at least 4 stars. Even so, I ended up giving _Summer of Night_ a 3-star rating. This book has many parallels with _IT_ by Stephen King (though, frankly, Simmons writes a better, tighter novel) and shares some of the same flaws, including children who seem superhumanly composed and determined, monsters who are amazingly incompetent, and an out-of-left-field and somewhat disturbing depiction of pre-adolescent sexuality (particularly jarring given the time setting of both novels). So while the writing was excellent, the story's emotional grip and impact drained away as the novel moved to its end, since I had an increasinly hard time believing in the novel's events. Too, _Summer of Night_ suffers (as does _IT_ and probably a host of other novels) by comparison to _Boy's Life_ by Robert McCammon, which takes the same setting--a group of kids, playing ball and riding bikes in early 1960's midwest America--and turns it into a kind of magic realism, where you're never quite sure which events took place as described and which are being seen through the eyes of a wistful and imaginative adult. In short, Simmons did a great job of writing, but never managed to tug at my heart, raise gooseflesh on my arms, or make me believe that these events actually occured. My expectations may have been too high, but Simmons own talents raised the bar. ..bruce..
Rating:
Summary: Summer of Night - A Must Read!
Review: If you enjoyed King's "The Stand" then be prepared for Dan Simmon's to blow you away with this one! "Small town America" children are at the heart of this great mystery. What I loved about the way Mr. Simmons wrote this book was that the perspectives were written from the point of view of several of the children and not just from one of them. You got to know each child, their fears and their strengths. So much so that you can't wait to get to the next chapter to see what will happen to each of them. A brilliant and chilling story which at the same time brings back those long lazy summer days of childhood when being young meant club houses and adventure and where mystery was just an imagination away. Also be sure to buy the sequel "A Winter Haunting".
Rating:
Summary: It took me back to when...
Review: we were young and had summers off. There were adventures everyday, although not all were quite like this, thank God. I was looking for a different author to read and I found this treasure. It was good reading from the start. It held my interest through the whole thing. With some authors I end up skipping paragraphs while they drone on about inconsequential details. Summer of Night - I read every word!! I can't wait to read the next one, A Winter Haunting.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Horror from a Gifted Writer
Review: Simmons is a truly versatile writer penning books is many genres - horror and suspense, science fiction and mystery. While his science fiction series, Hyperion, remains my favorite piece of work, his horror novels are excellent. Summer of Night follows a group of friends through the horror that was the summer of 1960 in the small, rural community of Elm Haven, Illinois. Simmons paints a vivid, lifelike portrayal of young boys growing up in a small community and he exhibits his gift for excellent characterization. I've always found it difficult to be truly surprised or scared by anything I read - sure, some things are unsettling or creepy but rarely am I actually startled. Summer of Night scared me to death in parts. Sure, it could be said that this is a run of the mill horror novel, similar to King's many coming of age novels from the same genre. But Simmons is such an excellent writer, he makes the entire thing an experience not to be missed.
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