Rating: 
Summary: Messed up
Review: I think this is the first book that I have ever read, that had me looking over my shoulder for intruders into my house. Dan Simmons is an absolute master at weaving an intricate tale...and after 3 days of non-stop reading, I can safely say that I was thoroughly entertained, and thoroughly scared witless throughout. Definitely recommended.
Rating:
Summary: ...madness, moodiness and maxium overdrive action...
Review: Someday in the future, when literary deconstructionists start taking apart the oeuvre of Colorado writer Dan Simmons - and they will, because his many novels are as thematically complex as they are compelling - some literary student-cum-psychiatrist is going to have a field day with "A Winter Haunting," the latest novel to be published by this master of many genres, including SF ("Hyperion," "Endymion"), horror ("Carrion Comfort," "Fires of Eden"), thrillers ("The Crook Factory," "Darwin's Blade"), crime fiction ("Hardcase") and mainstream ("Song of Kali," "Phases of Gravity"). The parallels and allusions in "A Winter Haunting" to Simmons' own life will no doubt have future academics salivating; and not only because, like "Summer of Night," it features his literary alter-ego, Dale Stewart. There's enough going on under the surface of this novel to keep a good Freudian or Jungian psychiatrist busy for decades. But, for the nonce, those of us who enjoy a cracking good read will happily spend an evening flipping through the pages of what is surely the first psychological/horror masterpiece of the twenty-first century.
In "A Winter Haunting," Dale Stewart, one of the young protagonists featured in "Summer of Night," has grown up to become a successful genre novelist (he writes a series of western-type books about a mountain man). Stewart is vaguely unhappy about this, since his ambitions tend toward something more mainstream. What's more, his personal life isn't working out as well. After falling in love with Clare Two-hearts, a student at the University of Montana where he teaches, Stewart decides to leave his wife and daughters. Like most May/December romances, this one is short-lived. Looking for an escape from his screwed-up life (and growing depression), Stewart decides to spend some time in his boyhood hometown of Elm Haven, Illnois. Once there, he plans to begin work on a novel about his childhood and try to sort out his priorities, reflect on how his life could (or should) have turned out.
Arriving in Elm Haven just as the sun sets, Stewart finds the place has become a ghost of its former self. As Simmons writes, "The town itself seemed sad and shrunken in the dark...Dessicated. A corpse." From the moment he sets foot in the two-story, farmhouse of childhood friend Duane McBride (who not only dubbed the place "The Jolly Corner," but also died a horrible death in his youth), Stewart finds himself losing track of the fine line between reality and fantasy. A rotting smell that greets him in the house is gone by the light of day when a Realtor shows up. Voices whisper in the night when he lays down to sleep; lights suddenly come on in the sealed-off upstairs portion of the house. His computer screen fills up with cryptic messages in long-forgotten languages; and black, spectral hounds roam the perimeters of Duane's farm.
If that isn't enough to upset his delicate state of mind, Stewart can't get in touch with his therapist (or anyone else) when at the farmhouse, because his cell phone goes dead. And a local band of young skinheads begin to harass him after discovering he wrote an essay about neo-Nazis. When called upon for help, the local Sheriff turns out to be the son of a man who was Sheriff when Stewart was child - and who might have committed several murders.
Simmons makes use of alternating narratives that follow Stewart's doomed relationship with Clare Two-Hearts and his struggle against the quagmire of depression (and possible insanity) as he confronts the real dangers of the present and the ghosts of his past. Along the way there are comical asides about critics and some thoughtful comments about writers and writing. At one point, Duane's ghost (who begins the narration and shares it throughout the novel), muses, "Dale was not a good writer. Trust me on this. I was a better writer at nine than my friend is in his fifty-second year." And later on, the musings spill over into thoughts about the Baby Boomer generation. "What the hell happened to our generation? Dale tried to remember his college energy and idealism. We promised so much to so many - especially to ourselves."
Walking a fine literary line, Simmons has managed to write a novel that fits madness, moodiness and maximum overdrive action between two covers. In the same manner, the strange, spectral beings that Dale encounters are a mix of Henry Jamesian and Stephen King-style scariness. It is no accident that the nickname of Duane's farm - "The Jolly Corner" - is invoked so many times. Like all good writers, Simmons knows one should pay homage to great works that have come before. And the mood, style and structure of "A Winter Haunting" call up memories of Henry James, Shirley Jackson and even John Fowles' "Daniel Martin." Ultimately, "A Winter Haunting" shares the same values as those fine works of literature, as Simmons sends his protagonist off on journey of self-discovery in what the author calls "a house haunted by his own memories and failures." But in the end, it is Simmons' strength as a writer and storyteller of exceptional originality that shines brightly through, making this novel another personal high-point in a career chock full of them.
-End-
Rating: 
Summary: Well, I'm just not sure....
Review: This is an incredibly ambivalent novel, and I am not entirely sure I have completely worked out how I feel about it. Perhaps that is part of the point, since for the majority of the novel you are kept guessing -- is this a haunting or just a mentally disturbed hallucinating suicidal protaganist. Is it supernatural or just self-pitying dementia? Even the nature of this book--is it really a sequel to Summer of Night or just suggested by the events of Summer of Night--leave one a bit unsure of your footing or even sympathies. Do we like the protaganist, who has very little of the 10 year old Dale left in his late middle-aged self, or would we rather he just do us all the favor of getting it over with already? I don't know if it is just the lingering bad taste I have from Darwin's Blade but I was very conscious of the prose in this book, although not the clunky amateurish voice that was Darwin's Blade this book definitely lacks the flow or beauty of the best of Simmon's other work. It didn't help that at one point we learn that Dale's brother is an insurance investigator (oh the horror of forcing connections to Darwin's Blade in my mind). I get the feeling that the editing process left some of this book on the cutting room floor without regard for the flow. This is most evident in references to a rather important "remembered killing" that is actually not remembered in the text. The flow of narrative time is disrupted quite jarringly. There is a Thanksgiving scene, the narrator goes to sleep and it seems it is Christmas Eve with no real indication of the passage of time (or perhaps it is more explicit and I was just confused). I very much resonant with an earlier reviewer who felt that perhaps the editor wanted this to be a different book. At any rate, although not a home run this is a mildly diverting although somewhat self-indulgent effort by Simmons. I often got the sense that I was hearing not the voice of any of the characters but very strongly the voice of the author. There are some genuine chills and a particularly creeping dread that builds rather slowly, but it is unfortunately not sustained and not orchestrated very well. In short this is not the complete failure that was his most recent work but also not the must-read novels of his earlier horror and science fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: a slow burn that culminates into an infernal climax
Review: Until I read A Winter Haunting, I had forgotten why I enjoyed Summer of Night so much. Simmons teases his readers with a level of suspense and fear that builds so very slowly and methodically that, by the end, the reader is mentally exhausted. Plus, the "twists" in the novel were truly unexpected, unlike the so called "surprises" in some novels that you can see coming from a mile away while blindfolded and passed out. It kind of reminded me of the movie, "The Sixth Sense", in that respect. While it still doesn't quite measure up to Summer of Night for me, A Winter Haunting is a more than worthy sequel that will make you question the bumps and creaks in the middle of the night.
Rating:
Summary: Great tale
Review: Overcoming the nightmare of his childhood (see SUMMER OF NIGHT), Dale Stewart became a successful literature professor and novelist, though his Jim Bridge: Mountain Man books do not attain the literary standard he desires. However, he threw away a loving family life with a cherished wife and daughters for an affair with a student that ended badly. Filled with self-recrimination, Dale takes a sabbatical from the University of Montana and flees Missoula to stay at the farmhouse of his deceased childhood friend Duane McBride to write his first real novel.
While battling with guilt, Dale writes Internet articles exposing the Big Sky neo-Nazi skinheads, which brings him to the attention of their Illinois brethren. As he settles in the McBride farmhouse, he begins to fall further apart and begins to realize that more than a bunch of extremists want his skin peeled. There are forces turning the screws, but is it inside his head or outside his head's understanding?
The sequel to the scary SUMMER OF NIGHT (to be re-released shortly), A WINTER HAUNTING, is a great tale that keeps the reader wondering if the plot is a psychological thriller or a modern day Turn of the Screw. The story line starts off in an eerie manner as the long dead Duane begins the narration of seeing Montana through Dale's eyes though he never left Illinois. Dan Simmons is at his most frightening best guiding his audience into deciding whether middle aged Dale is breaking down or haunted. This novel and its previous tale are winners and worth reading by fans relishing psychological thrillers or haunting stories because the plots play on multiple levels. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Sequel
Review: Dan Simmons's A Winter Haunting is a classic ghost story which is set in the very near future. A man - failed writer, husband and father- goes back to the old farm of his deceased friend in his hometown (a place he hasn't see in over forty years) in order to write a book about his childhood. But the farmhouse he moves into is less than invinting at times; strange things seem to occur on a regular basis. His laptop turns on by itself and leaves him cryptic messages, an old radio plays by itself, strange dogs that seem to grow with furious rapidity roam around the house and voices are heard during the night. Simmons brings back many of the characters from his novel Summer Of Night, one of the best horror novels ever written. But this time, we can never be certain on who's real and who's not, who's good and who's not. This is not a sequel per se, more of a follow-up. The pace of this book - which is short, clocking at a very trim 325 pages - is very rapid and very suspenseful. This is mostly a one man show as there is basically only one main character, but the novel never offers a dull moment. And there are some very creepy moments that will make the hair at the back of your neck stand and that will cover your entire body with shivers. And let me tell you right now that the finale is a killer! An amazing end to an amazing story. I am pleased that Simmons finally wrote a sequel to Summer Of Night. This is one book that will not displease fans of the author and new readers alike. The book is scary, extremely well written and, as most Simmons book, often funny. Simmons proves once again that he is a master storyteller worthy of the best seller charts. He is the literary world's best kept secret. Do not let this one pass you by!
Rating:
Summary: A suspenseful, haunting, subtle horror novel!
Review: Subtlety is something missing in a lot of modern horror novels. Personally, I think what you don't see is scarier than what you do see--and, evidently, so does Dan Simmons. Because "A Winter Haunting" is one of the scariest books I have ever read...and reaches an over-the-top level only at the climax of the book, which is the best place for it.
Dale is returning to Elm Haven, where in the summer of 1960, he and his friends encountered a strange horror. The memory of this summer has been blocked from Dale's head. Dale's about to experience it all over again, however. He is a credited proffessor, and an author of mediocre novels--until he leaves his wife for one of his students, who in turn leaves him for someone her own age. After a failed suicide attempt--itself shrouded in mystery--Dale heads out to Illinois, to the village of his childhood, to his old friend Duane's house. Duane died, that awful summer--but he did not leave. He is still here...and so is something else.
As winter sets in, and a terrible snowstorm makes its way towards Elm Haven, Dale will enounter figures from his past, both dead and alive--the old bully, now a sheriff; the sixth-grade sex bomb, now a failed actress; someone typing mysterious messages on his laptop, in Old English; an a pack of black hounds, that seem larger and more menacing each time Dale encounters this. This is going to be very long winter for Dale Stewart...or a murderously short one.
"A Winter Haunting" is one of the best examples of horror fiction I have come across in a long time, and I am a fan of the genre. Dan Simmons is a brilliant author, and has shown his talents repeatedly. This book is supposedly a sequal; I did not know that until half-way through it (when I found out via reviews on this website), and I have never read "Summer of Night", though I intend to. This book stands on its own as a great example of how three-hundred-plus pages can be terrifying as hell.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent sequel
Review: Very good book, spooky, psychological, basically a haunting novel. Dale returns to the place where the horrors of the Summer of Night took place, to the house where his best friend lived, who died so horribly. Ghosts, friendly and evil, pay him visits as he himself must fight his innerself and his past demons. Great job by Dan Simmons. An excellent sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Great suspense book and an even better sequel
Review: Dan Simmons in one of the most talented authors around today. I have read almost all of his books and some are perfect (Hyperion series, Song of Kali) and some are just okay (Children of the Night, Carrion Comfort) but in all of them one thing is consistant, his writing. This book goes in the former category. It is much better than the book that precluded it and once is much better than any suspense/ghost story/mystery that I have read in a while. The way Dale is written really made me feel like I was privy to Dale's thoughts and feeling of insanity. I felt like I was going crazy halfway through the story.
And the end.....I loved it. You'll know what I mean when you read it. Anyways, I give this five stars and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: A poor sequel
Review: "A Winter Haunting" is the first Dan Simmons book I have read. I am always in search of a good horror novel with the hopes it will be able to put a chill in the spine of this jaded adult as horror stories once did when I was very young, and the winter setting of this particular story made it look even more enticing. After reading this book the positive is that it's definitely worth a read and does indeed contain a few spooky moments. The negative is that this book is an example of one of the reasons I have become disgusted and bored with fiction lately. I really think it's both lazy and a copout when authors develop a main character that just happens to be of all things... a writer. Sure, there's the old saying "write what you know," but this really has gotten out of hand. It just seems too easy for an author to make the main character happen to be a writer or a literature professor, dealing with his/her editor and publisher admidst whatever particular plot the story has to deal with, so that way they can basically, and very lazilly I might add, write themselves into the book and not have to exercise much imaginative muscle. The English professor who wants to write a book and gets involved with a young, sexy, brilliant student -- how freakin transparent is that! It really is a fantasy-killer when you see too much of the author in the main character. I think these kinds of authors are at a point where they need to get back "out there" -- "there" being wherever they experience inspirition free of the routine born of mild success and complacency. jhc.
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