This was a pretty creepy read!

Vacation has arrived for the Brewster family and they have decided to stay in the sprawling Pinecrest mansion for the summer. The previous owner of Pinecrest, Dr. Darby, disappeared seven years before. Once they get settled into the house, the son, Eric decides to go exploring the out buildings on the property which includes a carriage house.

The carriage house holds quite a bit of interesting artifacts within its walls so Eric gets his friends involved in checking the place out. When Eric and his friends start to tinker with the different tools and things in the carriage house, time stands still for the friends and voices whisper in their heads.

As time goes on the tools and artifacts that belonged to Dr. Darby take on a life of their own and things start happening in the town around Pinecrest. The haunting of Pinecrest weaves itself into the boys dreams turning them into nightmares where there is no escape.

What is haunting Pinecrest? Is it Dr. Darby? Do the boys find the answers they seek to the haunting? No spoilers here as you will just need to read the book!

Thoughts:

I really don't know how this book had slipped off my radar as I have read quite a few books by this author years ago, but this book just seemed to grab me from the get-go and kept me spooked for most of the story. Lots of haunting atmosphere within these pages and kept my insomnia fueled a couple of nights! Giving this book four "Haunted Nightmare" stars.

For more thoughts on this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/2021/10/in-dark-of-night-by-john-saul.html ( )

I loved the story taking place in my home state of WI with the Up North small town coming to life during the summer. Concept – teen boys find parts from the killing instruments used by brutal serial killers. People start to die in ways that reflect the original killers – i.e. Jack the Ripper slitting throats, recalls WI killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Ed Gein methods. The boys get nightmares that make them wonder if they had a part in the murders since they put the items back together. A lot of the story involved a neurotic mother fears of change, teen age love and rivalries. ( )

This is probably the bloodiest John Saul book I have read yet. Gory, suspenseful and pretty brutal. The story is good but a little predictable. It seems some things were left hanging, but that is OK. A little ambiguity is good for the imagination. I feel a little more of the "why" should be answered but all in all it is a good read. ( )

The Brewster family decides to have summer vacation this year at a lakeside mansion called Pinecrest. Sixteen-year-old Eric is happy because he will be able to spend time with his friends, Tad and Kent, who are vacationing at nearby houses with their parents. Soon after they arrive Eric does some exploring and finds an old carriage house on the property. He finds some strange items inside the carriage house and he eventually shows his friends. They also discover a secret room that has been bricked up, which they open up. They feel pulled and drawn to this room that contains some odd items that are all written down in a ledger. They are curious to know why the items are hidden away. The more they investigate, the more they start to act differently. They start having horrible dreams. People begin to turn up dead, or are they murdered? And what ever happened to the previous owner of Pinecrest, who disappeared seven years ago?

This was a really captivating and eerie read. I kept turning the pages, wondering what was going to happen next. The carriage room and its items were totally creepy. I liked the book's setting, a small resort town called Phantom Lake. The characters in the story were interesting. Some I liked, some I didn't.

Another enjoyable, atmospheric read by John Saul. ( )

This is a decent horror novel. It takes awhile to get to the good stuff, but the last half of the book was pretty good. John Saul's books are pretty formulaic, but sometime, that is what I want to read. I will always remember how scary his books were when I first started reading them as a teen.

This book once again features teens in trouble. The cursed objects could have been more interesting, but it was still a pretty good concept. ( )