A Winter Haunting: Book Review

Today, we will be reviewing A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons, the fourth book in the Seasons of Horror series. Keep reading to see what we thought of this novel and if you should read it too!

A Winter Haunting Summary

Dale Stewart’s life has come crashing down. He left his wife for a student in his college class but now she has moved on. Steward decides to return to Elm Haven, Illinois, where he grew up and stays at the house of his childhood friend Duane McBride who died young.

The abandoned farmhouse is mostly isolated and there is no reception there. The second floor is closed off and the town isn’t very welcoming. But Dale wants to see it through and write his novel as he tries to get his life together. But when odd stuff starts happening, Dale realizes that he may not make it out alive.

Black dogs are showing up all over and messages are appearing on Dale’s computer that have no explanation. Who is writing those messages and what do they want from Dale? Will Dale’s questions be answered or will Elm Haven claim one more victim?

Commentary

A Winter Haunting was released in 2002 and went on to be nominated for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy novel in 2003. As a big Dan Simmons fan, I enjoyed this novel but it is not one that I will put high on my list of favorite novels by Simmons.

That doesn’t mean that this novel isn’t good. Some twists were predictable and the novel wasn’t as scary and chilling as I would have liked. I keep thinking about The Terror by Simmons and that is a novel I loved and still think about often. This is a novel I will forget I even read in a few months.

I have read book two in this series but I haven’t read the first book that starts it all. And hopefully I am able to in the coming weeks. It is horror season and I will be reading a bunch of horror novels. This is a novel I wouldn’t strongly recommend unless you are a big fan of Simmons and enjoy his writing style. Happy reading!

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