A Winter Haunting

Seasons of Horror, Book 2

De: Dan Simmons

Narrado por: Bronson Pinchot

Dale Stewart's life has become a shadow of what it once was. A respected college professor and successful novelist, he sabotaged his career and his marriage with an obsessive love affair that ended badly.

With darkness closing in on him, Dale decides to return to his boyhood home in Illinois. Drawn by a recurring nightmare that has plagued him since his youth—and a troubling certainty that something is waiting for him there—he hopes to exorcise his demons.

In the last hours of Halloween, he reaches the outskirts of the dying town of Elm Haven. There, he moves into the abandoned farmhouse that was once the home of his closest boyhood friend, the strange and brilliant Duane McBride, who lost his young life in a grisly "accident" back in the terrible summer of 1960. Hoping to find peace in isolation, he settles in for the long, harsh winter.

But Dale is not alone. Soon after he arrives, cryptic messages begin appearing mysteriously on his computer screen while he struggles to work on his novel. He sees black dogs roaming the grounds. And an old enemy has reemerged, a bully who seems as determined to persecute Dale as he was in childhood.

©2002 by Dan Simmons. (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc. and used by arrangement.

Great, slow burn of a horror novel

I did not listen to the first book, but plan to once summer comes around again. I think that this book stands alone just fine though. Good story and excellent narration.

Bleak but great

A little bleak but great Dan Simmons writing. Story is encompassing and the performance is outstanding

Dewayne's Ghost

Dewayne knows it's him. It's funny how he tries to stay ambiguous. It's also ghosts from characters in Summer of Night. Michelle has to be a real ghost, not Dale's mind, because he didn't have prior knowledge of her career, and other details, to have imagined her. She was raped in the farmhouse as a teen. That's partly why she came to haunt it. Also Congden's relationship to the house is well documented, as the figure is to the graveyard. Dale's mental state made these events more conducive, so that was also a factor, which Dewayne exploits, and he ultimately possesses Dale either during his suicide attempt or success, or at possible death during the climax of the story, prior to his hospitalization. Great sequel.

A really great piece

The voice actor makes odd choices when voicing women. He makes them all sound wistful and flippant when they're clearly direct and intelligent. He's a got this really nice way of word-vomiting asides, though, which I found really engaging and often kind of adorable.

I love Duane. I was bummed when he died in 1960 and am so glad to hear from him again. I love Dan Simmons' writing style. This is a great read and I would return to this series as many times as he lets me.

Enjoyable and mysterious

This was a fun listen on a long drive. It was entertaining and did not lag- features I appreciate in novels. The story kept me guessing; creepy and atmospheric.

loved this story!

this story takes you on a deep nosedive into wintery madness. story kept me hooked and wondering what would happen next.

Good Sequel

Overall, it was a good sequel. Wish it had brought the whole gang back though.

Descriptions of female characters hard to take

Novels like this take some perseverance for me to get through. Sometimes I can and sometimes it is too much. The way women are portrayed makes me cringe. “Full breasted” young beauties versus fat old ladies. Of course the narrator who is a self described “old fogey” has sex all night long, multiple times and over and over again with the young beauty. I understand this is fiction, but spare me. There is no mention of viagra or his sagging balls, so this falls into the fantasy of some male writers. Maybe some men like to read this too? I have no idea. Women like horror, mystery, sci fi and suspense as well. My hope is more audiobooks by both women and men that avoid this problem that is all too common in these genres.

Not a stand alone

Didn't realize it was a sequal to Summer of Night. Probably would have enjoyed more if I had read that first.

Blast from the past

Give me about an hour to warm up to it. But I excellent read keeps you on your toes to the end.