Very good!!!

I mostly liked this, but the skinhead gang was pretty corny. I don’t know why you would write a slow-burn, subtle ghost story only to have a corny gang shit all over it.

Some of the flashbacks eventually wear out their welcome as well.

Много приятен хорър с чудесна атмосфера в духа на Хенри Джеймс. Пълен с литературни препратки, което за мен винаги е плюс, чете се сам, върви леко и устремно.

Имам някои забележки за края, но така добре ми вървеше, че нито ще се спирам на тях, нито ще смъквам звезда. Дори бих казала, че "Призраци през зимата" ми хареса повече от "Лятото на страха".

Wow, that was boring. Perhaps this suffered due to a bad narrator on the audio version but I could not pay attention and when I did, I did not care. There was no tension. There was nothing spooky. There were hardly real characters. I found myself two-thirds of the way through wondering when the action was going to start. Was the whole thing supposed to be narrated by Dwayne? That seemed like a narrative framework that Simmons only remembered occasionally and then would throw in awkwardly.

Speaking of awkward, the dialogue. Ughhhh. Here again, maybe it was the narrator. He read every female character like a man doing an impression of a woman working a phone sex line, and either way, all the dialogue was clunky and weird. Maybe he didn't have a lot to work with from the start.

Oh, and the female characters. Dear male authors, please find ANY OTHER WAY to describe a woman besides what her boobs are doing. The female characters in this book are flat as pancakes in every way but one. Who the hell was Clare? Who the hell was Michelle? I couldn't tell you, but I know all about how their nipples look in various garments!

I will assume this is not a prime example of Simmons' work because I know he's apparently a big deal author and maybe I just picked a bad entry point. I'll give him one more shot, but if I find myself in the midst of a repeat I will not mind putting it down, taking my boobs, and walking away.

A great last novel in the series. An excellent read and a fantastic author.

Da je netko drugi napisao ovakvu knjigu, mozda bih i pomislila da je nista poseban zanrovski roman, ali ono okej... Ali kad ga Simmons potpisuje i kad je jos k tome nastavak knjige koja je toliko fenomenalna da me jos uvijek drzi pod dojmom, pa malo zaljubljeno uzdisem na spomen nekog lika/situacije iz prethodne knjige - onda je to potpuni promasaj. Naracija ide u tri pravca: pricu prica ubijeno dijete iz prve knjige koje mi je bilo najsimpaticniji lik i on prica o dogadajima 40 godina kasnije i o sada vec 51 godisnjem Daleu koji se nakon nekoliko zescih kriza u zivotu vraca u rodno mjesto. I mozemo reci da je iskljucivo zbog mojih nostalgicnih osjecaja ta naracija bila na mjestu...
Druga naracija je sadasnjost iz Daleove perspektive koji je klasican nepouzdani pripovjedac i mozemo reci da je to bilo mlako, ali me zanimalo zasto se svjetla pale na zapecacenim katovima i zasto se osjeca ta hladnoca i trulez. Iritantnim sam dozivjela sva njegova potisnuta sjecanja i sva moguca koketiranja s avetima i prostorima na kojima su se dogadale uzasne stvari, da bi od svega toga na kraju ispala samo hrpa teasera.
Treca naracija je takoder iz njegove perspektive, a tice se sjecanja/razmisljanja o nedavnim dogadajima s bivsom ljubavnicom i njihova jedina uloga je da ti idu brutalno na zivce jer se moras probijat kroz dosadni/polunadrndani odnos dok u isto vrijeme shvacas da oni nemaju ama bas nikakve veze s nicim sto se dogada, vec su tu da kupuju vrijeme.
Metasprdacinom sam dozivjela cinicne opaske na akademske tipove pisaca uz hrpu literarnih referenci, a u tim opaskama je opisao sam svoju knjigu.

"Jednom smo se tako vucarali uokolo, a Duane je bas citao novu knjigu... mislim da je citao nesto od Trumana Capotea, ocito pisca za kojega u to vrijeme nikada nisam niti cuo... I onda ga je jedan od djecaka, mislim da je to bio Kevin, upitao kakva je knjiga. Duane mu je odgovorio da je dobra, ali da pisac nije izvukao svoje likove iz mastanja."

"Dale je pisao lako, no ne i dobro. Njegova akademska podloga i iskustvo pisanja u komercijalne svrhe naucili su ga da krece izvana prema unutra, odnosno da odredi strukturu price, istrazi likove i njihovo okruzenje, a onda krene prema unutarnjem razvoju pripovijedanja, bas kao sto drvorezac obraduje komad drva. Kada sam umro, bio sam tek dijete, ali vec sam otkrio vaznu istinu o pisanju. Da biste pisali dobro, morate pisati iznutra prema van. Prica mora imati tihu, ali cvrstu jezgru, bez obzira nalazila se ona u srzi likova ili samoj prici, ili jos bolje u oboje, no sve se mora postepeno razvijati iz te jezgre."

A onda je tu jos hrpa skinjara koja je cvrsto odlucila njegovu egzistencijalnu krizu prekinut skracivanjem ga za glavu jer paranormalno nije samo po sebi dovoljno.


a) nemoj mi pricat o H. Jamesu stalno jer nisam blesava toliko da sama ne kuzim da si nepouzdani pripovjedac bez konstantnih skretanja na to "ej sad cu se referirat na tri romana da bi mogla skuzit sta ce mi se na tavanu dogodit" i nemoj mi to ponavljat 150 puta u strahu da necu shvatit.
b) ako si stvarno lud i ocekujes od toga u zadnjoj trecini napravit preokret i ponistavanje svega od prije, ajd' nemoj to raditi tako klisejasto i filmski jer te ne zelim prokuzit odmah na 5. str od 270.
c) ako me cimas stalno, onda barem nesto napravi. Jer ja to zasluzujem.
d) kad napises nesto sjajno, nemoj nastavljati s time osim ako ti same muze ne narede drugacije.
e) i daj u ime onog prije malo drugih dimenzija likovima jer su svi plosni i zvuce isto...

I eto sta je dobar pisac. Ako i ne zna sto bi pisao, ipak to izvede tako da bude citko i da ti se ne smuci kad pomislis nastavit kroz knjigu :)

Warning...this review may contain minor spoilers for those who have not read Summer of Night. Minor really, nothing that the 2011 edition of Summer of Night's intro doesn't contain, but still...reader beware.
Also, one really should not be reading this book before Summer of Night. Also, pretty much any genre fan should read Summer of Night. This novel is not a must read for everyone, but any fan of Summer of Night would enjoy it, if only just to revisit the beloved characters of the first book. After the gloriously verbose grandeur of SoN, this novel seems positively slim and light by comparison. That is not the only difference, in general it reads very differently, kind of like an homage written years later by another author. Which could just very well be a sign of author's versatility (it is very well written)...or an experiment or even an indulgence. SoN doesn't need a sequel of any kind, it's perfectly self sufficient, but the same involved curiosity with a hint of addiction that keeps us watching the same shows for years or reading book series does desire to revisit, as if it's not enough to passively wonder, one needs to know, to see what happens next. With this book, the author resurrects arguably the best most interesting and most shockingly prematurely killed character of SoN as a sort of a ghost haunting his friend who is now all grown up and none the wiser for it. Wherein SoN had a pretty straight forward wordy but never circumlocutory narration, this book is a trip, confusing at times and very much evocative of the often mentioned moebius tape. It does give the readers a courtesy of a nicely rounded up, non vague and clever ending, which this book needed in order to work as a whole. As such it works quite well as a tale of a descent into madness, it is a the title promises about being haunted, not just supernatural means, but also by loss, regret, longing and other human sadnesses. Does it work as well as a companion piece to Summer of Night? I'm not sure. It seems to remind the reader that young kids may have just had very wild imaginations or it was too traumatic to remain committed to memory of the kids as they grew up...it sort of had that somewhat cheating feeling of when in the last chapter the author reveals that it was all a dream. But really...it's the kind of thing that might vary and different readers might have their unique interpretations of this. I would recommend this for Summer of Night fans, but not before reading the original and not as a stand alone. Also, nice to see that the author is in fact capable of brevity for when the reader wants quality without the brick weighted volume.

Няма крия, че съм огромен фен на Дан Симънс и тази книга беше абсолютен "no brainer" за мен. Беше ми и ужасно любопитно да разбера, какво се случва 40 години след "Лятото на страха", на когото "Призраци през зимата" ( българско заглавие ) се явява продължение.

"Призраци през зимата" е класическа история с призраци, носеща усещането на нещо класическо, излязло от страниците на старите готически майстори на хоръра. Все едно четеш "Коледна песен" на Дикенс, разказ на Хенри Джеймс или на По. "Призраци през зимата" е написана леко и увлекателно и ще ви грабне още от първите страници, та до самия финал.

Относно връзката й с "Лятото на страха". Може да прочетете "Призраци през зимата" и без да сте чели нейния предшественик. Но много неща ще ви убегнат, а и ще си развалите удоволствието да се насладите на историята в първия роман.

"Призраци през зимата" е едно отлично продължение на приказката на Дан Симънс за приятелството и порастването, към която беше истинско удоволствие да посегна. Единственото което ми липсваше беше една истинска зимна виелица навън, докато четях този страховит роман !

I wish that I had NOT read the AMAZING book that comes prior to this one ( 'Summer of Night' ) as this book might have been less disappointing were it not a sequel to a book that I loved. I was REALLY looking forward to the continuation of the story in Elm Haven; reuniting with Dale, Kevin, Mike, Jim, and all the gang....instead, this was a let down. The book only really features Dale, and while it IS a GOOD ghost story, it is NOT, however, a great SEQUEL, which is what I was hoping for. Bummer. --Jen from Quebec :0(

One of my favorite horror books was Summer of Night by Dan Simmons. This one didn't quite reach that level because what I loved about Summer of Night was the lost innocence of the kids and their neighborhood bike gang unraveling the mystery of the ghosts in town, and this book, while using some of the same characters (was it only one?), did not elicit the same feel. Our one remaining character is in his forties, is depressed following a divorce and end of the affair that caused it, and is struggling to work on his book.

The character work is very good, I just didn't love the characters as much as I did in Summer of Night. The mystery is just as strong, though a little less extended as SoN, but the ending had one of the best creative turns that I've seen in a horror novel. I certainly didn't see that coming. The narration is high quality, though it does have many portions where the narrator obviously inserted recordings from separate sessions, which was odd, and felt like they were mailing it in to not make those additions seamless.

4.5/5 stars

Ден Сіммонс сам же ж деконструює свій перший роман з циклу "Літо ночі". Не буду спойлерити, але це продовження знову відсилає до Кінга: головний герой минулого тому вертається в рідне містечко. Але не для того, щоб боротися з відновленим злом. Ні, для того, щоб прийняти дорослість чи навіть старість. В "Літі ночі" Сіммонс вдається до питання, як прийняти дорослішання. (І тим самим займається Кінг у "Воно"). Тут мотив інший.
Але деякі нестиковки все ж дратують: Двайт стає шанувальником єгипетських богів, хоча в "Літі" він атеїст (чи агностик). І це не може бути фактом, який просто забули вказати в "Літі": оця єгипетська релігія в центрі сюжету, а тому Двайт не міг приховати свого знання. І те, що Джі Пі Конгден живий в 1961, хоча в "Літі", він помер в 1960, на лімузині Арта вже подрябина з синьою фарбою, а не червоною - це можна списати на ненадійного наратора (в "Привидах" пояснено, чим є "Літо" - це роман, написаний одним з хлопців, а тому в ньому дещо є додуманим).
Але загалом цікавий роман - з зимовою атмосферою, з жалем за втраченою молодістю та можливостями, але я з прийняттям себе, а також відповідальності за свої вчинки. І тут є містика, але майже нема хорору. Але настрій такий Діківський: що є реальність?
Загалом, найнезвичніший сиквел, який я читав

So glad to find this on audio--finally--and wonderfully read by Bronson Pinchot in a low-key Midwestern voice that underlines the growing horror. This is a sequel to Summer of Night (which I hope to listen to on audio one day soon), but you don't need to have read that to appreciate this story. We know we're in trouble when the opening words are from a kid who died 40 years earlier! Duane was killed by a rampaging tractor (I think--farm equipment in any case) in SON, but he introduces us to his friend Dale who survived that summer of 1960 but not unscathed. His life has fallen apart and he has returned to downstate Illinois, to Duane's former home, to write. Big mistake for a man recovering from a suicide attempt, fighting depression and his personal demons. We see the world through Dale's eyes, and all seems pretty normal, until it doesn't. The police chief is the bully from school days, there are bad kids causing trouble and no one cares. the upstair of the house is mysteriously blocked, and messages keep appearing on Dale's computer. It's a great and gripping story with a lovely twist at the end, riveting really, and Dale is so believably imagined that he seems real. Since we're in his head and thus in his nightmare, we don't understand what's happening until it's way too late. The pace builds in intensity, the style is smart and the writing descriptive. The tone is chilling. One reviewer wrote that Simmons is "spinning an engrossing spiral of madness and fear." Nicely put. Great story for horror fans and this who like psychological suspense, if you aren't afraid to go one step further. The set up and the way the story line plays out reminded me of King's classic, The Shining.