This story solidified every childhood fear of anyone who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s. Set in Illinois, in a small farming community in the 1960s, this story used every child’s worst fear and balled it into one supernatural adventure. Five boys who spent every summer together, riding their bikes, playing baseball, camping out, and getting bullied learn about how haunted the old school in town actually was. When weird things started to happen around town, strange sightings of a rendering truck (the truck that picks up roadkill) and uncharacteristic weather started to ruin their summer, all five kids and a few other outsiders started to notice. But unfortunately, the adults in town never noticed. Until the ones who DID notice started disappearing. I recommend this book to anyone who watches any cult classic horror movie of the ’80s and ’90s. I can see where other authors and movie producers get their ideas for movies in the late ’90s to early 2000s. Dan Simmons is so good at describing the scenes in this book that sometimes I swear I could hear and smell what I was reading. No more spoilers, just read it!