10 Scariest Summer-Based Horror Novels Ever
2. Summer Of Night - Dan Simmons
Summer Of Night is the Stephen King-aping novel that Stephen King wishes he wrote, so much so that the horror maestro described it as being ‘one of those rare must-read books’ and is a regular celebrator of author Dan Simmons. It’s not hard to see why.
Simmons has taken the elements we now take for granted in a King novel – potty-mouthed kids battling an age-old evil? Check. Adults as hideous as the toothy worms hiding under the town of Elm Haven? Most definitely. Scare pieces that linger in the mind until the summer sun sets? You betcha – and created something altogether different.
His tale is woven around a group of child protagonists, each plagued by something hideous, ranging from a stalking World War I zombie ghost thing, all the way to a killer truck that would have Christine screeching back into the garage. Simmons also isn’t afraid to play with convention, smartly making the centerpiece antagonist of his child's-view tale their own school (is there anything truly more terrifying than the academic grind?), which is the perfect proving ground for an exhilarating finale.
By this point, the penny has probably dropped as to what our numero uno is, but make no mistake that this underrated novel is engrossing and iconic enough to rival that of the genre’s grand master.