A Winter Haunting
Oct 2009 · Harper Collins
4.2star
104 reviewsreport
Ebook
384
Pages
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About this ebook
“A mix of Henry Jamesian and Stephen King style scariness . . . Surely the first psychological/horror masterpiece of the 21st century.” —The Denver Post
A once-respected college professor and novelist, Dale Stewart has sabotaged his career and his marriage—and now darkness is closing in on him. In the last hours of Halloween he has returned to the dying town of Elm Haven, his boyhood home, where he hopes to find peace in isolation. But moving into a long-deserted farmhouse on the far outskirts of town—the one-time residence of a strange and brilliant friend who lost his young life in a grisly “accident” back in the terrible summer of 1960—is only the latest in his long succession of recent mistakes. Because Dale is not alone here. He has been followed to this house of shadows by private demons who are now twisting his reality into horrifying new forms. And a thick, blanketing early snow is starting to fall . . .
“A Winter Haunting further demonstrates Simmons’ talent as a literary stylist. It is a frightening ghost story, one that will keep readers guessing until the last page.” —Denver Rocky Mountain News
“One of the scariest and most unnerving ghost stories to come along in quite some time.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“[A] highly effective supernatural shocker.” —Publishers Weekly
“Simmons works toward a seriously well-written nonhorror novel, until we grow suspicious that we are into a deceptive tale much like the flicks The Sixth Sense and The Others, with a Jamesian ghost story overlay, wherein the everyday has an otherworldly reverse side.” —Kirkus Reviews
A once-respected college professor and novelist, Dale Stewart has sabotaged his career and his marriage—and now darkness is closing in on him. In the last hours of Halloween he has returned to the dying town of Elm Haven, his boyhood home, where he hopes to find peace in isolation. But moving into a long-deserted farmhouse on the far outskirts of town—the one-time residence of a strange and brilliant friend who lost his young life in a grisly “accident” back in the terrible summer of 1960—is only the latest in his long succession of recent mistakes. Because Dale is not alone here. He has been followed to this house of shadows by private demons who are now twisting his reality into horrifying new forms. And a thick, blanketing early snow is starting to fall . . .
“A Winter Haunting further demonstrates Simmons’ talent as a literary stylist. It is a frightening ghost story, one that will keep readers guessing until the last page.” —Denver Rocky Mountain News
“One of the scariest and most unnerving ghost stories to come along in quite some time.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“[A] highly effective supernatural shocker.” —Publishers Weekly
“Simmons works toward a seriously well-written nonhorror novel, until we grow suspicious that we are into a deceptive tale much like the flicks The Sixth Sense and The Others, with a Jamesian ghost story overlay, wherein the everyday has an otherworldly reverse side.” —Kirkus Reviews
Ratings and reviews
4.2
104 reviews
Melanie H
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August 17, 2023
Well written. I wish the author could have maintained the exceptionally frightening tone he mastered at the beginning of the novel until it's end, however. Interesting narrative.
A Google user
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April 16, 2017
Reading this book felt like wearing someone else's prescribed lenses. The parts of this story I was really interested in were never fully explored or explained. This left me disappointed.
3 people found this review helpful
Angela Lee
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July 23, 2015
This book had me on edge wondering what was going to happen next. It's a must read for fans of good old ghost stories. Definetly one you will want to read till the end...oh and be careful, you never know if that someone you trust is really a ghost. Bah Ha ha!!!!
3 people found this review helpful
About the author
Dan Simmons is the Hugo Award-winning author of Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, and their sequels, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion. He has written the critically acclaimed suspense novels Darwin's Blade and The Crook Factory, as well as other highly respected works, including Summer of Night and its sequel A Winter Haunting, Song of Kali, Carrion Comfort, and Worlds Enough & Time. Simmons makes his home in Colorado.
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