Summer of Night

Summer of Night is a novel about a group of children who fight against evil in their hometown during the summer of 1960. Simmons carefully sets up the stage by introducing all the characters with care. At times, he can be a bit long-winded with his descriptions, but as a reader, you begin to care about the children, their families, and the village.

Spooky events begin to occur right from the start, and the tension slowly builds up to a climax. In many ways, it is a classic setup with a group of kids riding their bikes around the village, noticing strange occurrences while the adults remain oblivious. There are a lot of familiar character archetypes like the “leader”, the “foul mouth”, the “nerd,” the “bully”, the “drunken dad” and the “white trash family”, amongs others.

There is a striking resemblance between Summer of Night and Stephen King's IT. Since Summer of Night was published in 1991, five years after IT, it is possible that Simmons was influenced by King's work. However, this book stands on its own merit and is by no means a weak imitation of King's masterpiece, earning a rating of 4.5 stars.