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Dog Days O' Summer
I had just turned fourteen years old the night my best friends and I decided to kill Mr. Martinsen.
He was my friend. My mentor. I would even go so far as to say I loved him, as I looked up to Mr. Martinsen the same way I had looked up to my maternal grandfather, who died from a heart attack when I was ten.
He was the best teacher I ever had. I will never forget him, or the knowledge he imparted to me, as long as I live.
But on that summer evening just several weeks before I began my freshman year of high school, he gave my friends and me no choice. Things had gone too far. We had put it off for too long.
We knew Mr. Martinsen had to die.
He was my friend. My mentor. I would even go so far as to say I loved him, as I looked up to Mr. Martinsen the same way I had looked up to my maternal grandfather, who died from a heart attack when I was ten.
He was the best teacher I ever had. I will never forget him, or the knowledge he imparted to me, as long as I live.
But on that summer evening just several weeks before I began my freshman year of high school, he gave my friends and me no choice. Things had gone too far. We had put it off for too long.
We knew Mr. Martinsen had to die.
- GenresHorror
154 pages, Hardcover
First published April 20, 2018
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July 18, 2018This first limited edition hardcover printing is copy 748 of 750 produced and is signed by Mark Allan Gunnells and James Newman.
The book is number 27 in the Cemetery Dance Novella series.
The book is number 27 in the Cemetery Dance Novella series.
April 30, 2018
Excellent take on a classic tale, with a well-developed coming-of-age story that is both terrifying and poignant.
May 8, 2018
I have always felt that Horror is one of the soundest backdrops for a coming-of-age story. This fantastic and brisk-paced little 150-page diversion is no exception. It treads the line of conventionality and doesn't break much new ground, but it is accelerating, well-written, and earnest in spite of its modest length.
A well-spent afternoon with some genuinely creepy moments, a bit of sincere pathos, some respectable grue, and fun characters. Great stuff!
A well-spent afternoon with some genuinely creepy moments, a bit of sincere pathos, some respectable grue, and fun characters. Great stuff!
July 30, 2018
I flat-out loved James Newman's Odd Man Out and enjoyed Mark Allan Gunnells' #MakeHalloweenScaryAgain, a novella printed in 2017's anthology Halloween Carnival Volume 1, enough that immediately after finishing each of these respective works, I went and bought a bunch of both men's other titles. When I learned they were co-writing a novella together, and a werewolf story at that!, I was overjoyed.
But, before I go any further I'm going to preface the rest of this review with a big, ol SPOILER WARNING. I have some contentions with the story, particularly its resolution, that require discussing in ways that I can't quite get around or be as oblique as I would like. It may be information you'd rather not know, in which case I'd say skip out on reading any further until after you've read this novella. Feel free to come back later, though!
OK? Let's proceed.
Dog Days O' Summer is certainly well-written, but ultimately a serviceable mid-90s coming of age story about a group of teens facing the inexplicable. It's a classic, well-mined set-up, but it lacks any real suspense or surprises. We know right from the get-go this is a werewolf book, and anybody who has read or watched at least one of these types of story previously will be screaming at these young boys to just figure it out already. When Jason, our 14-year-old first-person narrator, finally gloms onto what's really happening here, we breath a sigh of relief that, finally, at least one of these kids has caught up with us. Granted, Jason is relaying to us a story of past events from some point in his future, with all the build-up and foreshadowing that entails, and it's occasionally clunky given we already know more than Jason presumes of us. This is the type of book where it's more about the journey towards discovery for these boys, until their finally forced to accept the ultimate truth and contend with it.
Although Dog Days O' Summer doesn't offer up anything new, it mostly gets by on the easy likability of its characters (except for Jason's Bible-thumping parents; they're the sort of gospel music 24/7, Ten Commandments throw rug, holier-than-thou Christians that wander through the story looking to me like a werewolf buffet on feet), the smooth, easy reading prose, and the occasional bit of titillation from some particularly gnarly and graphically described murders. After the boys discover the killer's journal, Newman and Gunnells offer up a healthy number of diary entries charting one man's descent into madness, initially trying to deny what is happening to him before finally embracing his newfound powers with bloodcurdling effect.
I did greatly appreciate the authors challenging typical werewolf conventions though - there's no full moon and no silver bullets, for instance (although we get a few too many knowing winks and cutesy nods at werewolves in pop culture along the way). Instead, Newman and Gunnells explore some deeper, older mythological roots of werewolf lore related to star system Sirius, or Dog Star as it's more colloquially known. Although they get points for creativity here, I was rather disappointed by the appearance of a last-page trope that has quickly become overdone in horror circles - the "make of it what you will" ending.
While it doesn't exactly come out of nowhere given Jason's well-established interests and his narration recalling the deeds of decades past, I'm growing rather tired of endings that call into question the validity of all that came before in lieu of aiming for a satisfactory finale. Dog Days O' Summer came pretty close to ending on a highly interesting note, but the authors undermined it with a few extra paragraphs that attempt to spin Jason's story into metafictional realms. I'm sure there's a segment of readers out there that will appreciate it, but frankly I'm bored, and more than a little irked, with these type of bait-and-switch gotcha! twists that attempt to upend the entire narrative at the last minute.
Dog Days O' Summer is a short, unchallenging read that hits a few more high notes than it does low. It's more of a slim comfort read than an essential addition to werewolf legend - not that there's anything wrong with that - but I was hoping for something a bit more substantial from the pairing of Newman and Gunnells given the all-too brief sampling I've had of their individual works. It's not as great and ambitious as I had hoped for, but despite it not meeting my perhaps much too high expectations, Dog Days O' Summer isn't so bad I need a hair of the dog to recover.
[Note: I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher, Unnerving.]
But, before I go any further I'm going to preface the rest of this review with a big, ol SPOILER WARNING. I have some contentions with the story, particularly its resolution, that require discussing in ways that I can't quite get around or be as oblique as I would like. It may be information you'd rather not know, in which case I'd say skip out on reading any further until after you've read this novella. Feel free to come back later, though!
OK? Let's proceed.
Dog Days O' Summer is certainly well-written, but ultimately a serviceable mid-90s coming of age story about a group of teens facing the inexplicable. It's a classic, well-mined set-up, but it lacks any real suspense or surprises. We know right from the get-go this is a werewolf book, and anybody who has read or watched at least one of these types of story previously will be screaming at these young boys to just figure it out already. When Jason, our 14-year-old first-person narrator, finally gloms onto what's really happening here, we breath a sigh of relief that, finally, at least one of these kids has caught up with us. Granted, Jason is relaying to us a story of past events from some point in his future, with all the build-up and foreshadowing that entails, and it's occasionally clunky given we already know more than Jason presumes of us. This is the type of book where it's more about the journey towards discovery for these boys, until their finally forced to accept the ultimate truth and contend with it.
Although Dog Days O' Summer doesn't offer up anything new, it mostly gets by on the easy likability of its characters (except for Jason's Bible-thumping parents; they're the sort of gospel music 24/7, Ten Commandments throw rug, holier-than-thou Christians that wander through the story looking to me like a werewolf buffet on feet), the smooth, easy reading prose, and the occasional bit of titillation from some particularly gnarly and graphically described murders. After the boys discover the killer's journal, Newman and Gunnells offer up a healthy number of diary entries charting one man's descent into madness, initially trying to deny what is happening to him before finally embracing his newfound powers with bloodcurdling effect.
I did greatly appreciate the authors challenging typical werewolf conventions though - there's no full moon and no silver bullets, for instance (although we get a few too many knowing winks and cutesy nods at werewolves in pop culture along the way). Instead, Newman and Gunnells explore some deeper, older mythological roots of werewolf lore related to star system Sirius, or Dog Star as it's more colloquially known. Although they get points for creativity here, I was rather disappointed by the appearance of a last-page trope that has quickly become overdone in horror circles - the "make of it what you will" ending.
While it doesn't exactly come out of nowhere given Jason's well-established interests and his narration recalling the deeds of decades past, I'm growing rather tired of endings that call into question the validity of all that came before in lieu of aiming for a satisfactory finale. Dog Days O' Summer came pretty close to ending on a highly interesting note, but the authors undermined it with a few extra paragraphs that attempt to spin Jason's story into metafictional realms. I'm sure there's a segment of readers out there that will appreciate it, but frankly I'm bored, and more than a little irked, with these type of bait-and-switch gotcha! twists that attempt to upend the entire narrative at the last minute.
Dog Days O' Summer is a short, unchallenging read that hits a few more high notes than it does low. It's more of a slim comfort read than an essential addition to werewolf legend - not that there's anything wrong with that - but I was hoping for something a bit more substantial from the pairing of Newman and Gunnells given the all-too brief sampling I've had of their individual works. It's not as great and ambitious as I had hoped for, but despite it not meeting my perhaps much too high expectations, Dog Days O' Summer isn't so bad I need a hair of the dog to recover.
[Note: I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher, Unnerving.]
July 12, 2018
This was both an entertaining and a somewhat surprising book. Fourteen-year-old Jason Parks, the main protagonist, is an aspiring young writer. He spends much of his spare time, when not goofing around with his three best friends, writing very short stories that range mostly from horror to science fiction. Then people start dying, young, old, even a baby disappears and is presumed dead. All of this leads Jason and his friends to reach the conclusion that they are going to have to kill Mr. Martinson. This book took me back to my childhood, reminding me of the way my adolescent mind worked and the things that were important to me back then. It's like Sandlot meets Freddie Kruger in a short, easy read.
May 4, 2018
Nice little novella. Gotta love a good werewolf story. Nothing really new here apart from the bit about Sirius and “the dog days of summer”
July 20, 2018
Excellent coming of age monster novella. An awesome joint effort between James Newman and Mark Allan Gunnells. Very highly recommended.
January 9, 2019
When it comes to horror tropes, I don’t demand much. I want my vampires to be bloodthirsty ( no sparkles) zombies eat flesh and werewolves are vicious. It’s rare when anyone does anything new with them. Just entertain me.
This book succeeds in spades.
You get an idea from the beginning that you have a werewolf tale in your hands and you get exactly what your paying for. The main characters are engaging, the beast is ferocious and the blood is plentiful.
Big time fun. Enjoy!
This book succeeds in spades.
You get an idea from the beginning that you have a werewolf tale in your hands and you get exactly what your paying for. The main characters are engaging, the beast is ferocious and the blood is plentiful.
Big time fun. Enjoy!
May 28, 2018
Nope. I have too many books to read to force through this one.
Good books make you feel things. Great books make you think things. Bad books tell you what you should think and feel.
This story wasn't being told, it was being explained. Like the authors were giving a deposition. I made it about 20% through this book and the phrase "on the [night/day] in question" appeared about 5 times. Five times in 30 pages. I think it's twice on the first page. Anyway, "on the night in question" is a phrase you give if you're a lawyer in a courtroom in a really shitty movie about lawyers in courtrooms.
This book would have been so much better if I didn't read it. It's beautifully done by Cemetery Dance. So looking at it gives warm feelings.
I really liked Wicked by James Newman. So I blame Mark Allan Gunnells for this tale. In fact, on page 26, the style of the writing abruptly changed and it was like a cool breeze on an oppressively hot day. Then it was over and it was back to work and I folded.
I'm kidding about who I blame. And I know bad reviews are probably hard for authors to read. I don't want to single any one out since there are two authors and they can just blame each other and go to bed and sleep well. Though someone needs to be accountable. This book reads like the sort of stuff served up in polite writer's workshops that no one likes. When it comes time to critique these stories, people go as gentle as possible because they still have to sit in a room with the author and breathe basement air together. The problem with that approach is when people are too kind and Dog Days O' Summer gets published.
I have more to say. But damn. I'm going to slide this book next to Haven and then board up the bookshelf and slap a Suntup Covers Collection print over it and get some healing.
Good books make you feel things. Great books make you think things. Bad books tell you what you should think and feel.
This story wasn't being told, it was being explained. Like the authors were giving a deposition. I made it about 20% through this book and the phrase "on the [night/day] in question" appeared about 5 times. Five times in 30 pages. I think it's twice on the first page. Anyway, "on the night in question" is a phrase you give if you're a lawyer in a courtroom in a really shitty movie about lawyers in courtrooms.
This book would have been so much better if I didn't read it. It's beautifully done by Cemetery Dance. So looking at it gives warm feelings.
I really liked Wicked by James Newman. So I blame Mark Allan Gunnells for this tale. In fact, on page 26, the style of the writing abruptly changed and it was like a cool breeze on an oppressively hot day. Then it was over and it was back to work and I folded.
I'm kidding about who I blame. And I know bad reviews are probably hard for authors to read. I don't want to single any one out since there are two authors and they can just blame each other and go to bed and sleep well. Though someone needs to be accountable. This book reads like the sort of stuff served up in polite writer's workshops that no one likes. When it comes time to critique these stories, people go as gentle as possible because they still have to sit in a room with the author and breathe basement air together. The problem with that approach is when people are too kind and Dog Days O' Summer gets published.
I have more to say. But damn. I'm going to slide this book next to Haven and then board up the bookshelf and slap a Suntup Covers Collection print over it and get some healing.
August 19, 2019
I'm not wild about werewolf stories, because they're usually all the same -- figure out who it is, and then figure out how to kill them. Dog Days o' Summer is no different in that respect, but it makes things laughably obvious when the narrator, who has a dog allergy, keeps sneezing whenever he's around his favorite teacher, who just returned from Romania. Had there been some sense of self-awareness to this setup, I might have been able to look at the story with a wry eye, but it comes across as totally serious, as if the authors are trying to be clever. It's just painful.
The novella is also a coming-of-age story, which might have been able to elevate the book beyond the usual werewolf tropes, but the authors are about as deft with the characters as they are with their werewolf hints. The characters aren't vivid, and while the story is compelling enough, there's not a whole lot to care about. My benchmarks for coming-of-age horror stories are Simmons' Summer of Night and King's It (and, of course, The Body, also by King (which reminds me, I should re-read McCammon's Boy's Life)), and Dog Days o' Summer simply doesn't compare. Maybe that's not fair to the authors here, but when you're wading into the waters that were borne from those books, you have to bring the big boats, not the arm floaties.
Musical Connection: "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + the Machine
The novella is also a coming-of-age story, which might have been able to elevate the book beyond the usual werewolf tropes, but the authors are about as deft with the characters as they are with their werewolf hints. The characters aren't vivid, and while the story is compelling enough, there's not a whole lot to care about. My benchmarks for coming-of-age horror stories are Simmons' Summer of Night and King's It (and, of course, The Body, also by King (which reminds me, I should re-read McCammon's Boy's Life)), and Dog Days o' Summer simply doesn't compare. Maybe that's not fair to the authors here, but when you're wading into the waters that were borne from those books, you have to bring the big boats, not the arm floaties.
Musical Connection: "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + the Machine
June 22, 2018
I don't normally enjoy werewolf stories but I really enjoyed this one.
July 1, 2018
A fun little summer read. I got a Stranger Things vibe (more ’90’s than ’80’s) mixed with a feel of an R.L.Stein’s Goosebumps story. The Cemetery Dance publication version that I was gifted was nicely packaged, but it had a drawn graphic in the front of the book that gave away the story. Also, in the dedication page, James Newton further mentioned the key element in this story…so going in there were no surprises (except one…I talk about that later on). I knew before reading why the teens wanted to to kill their teacher, Mr. Martinsen, (as hinted at in the synopsis page). There were clues as you went along to help you figure it out and I would’ve loved to have been able to figured this story out for myself, even if I happened to figure out the story early on. It would’ve been a much more enjoyable read. Also, my biggest complain in Dog Days ‘O Summer is that many times throughout the book there were small vignette chapters (a half a page at most) that explained exactly what was going to happen in the very next main chapter. To me this took the last of the enjoyment out of the read because the surprises were revealed before you actually were able to read and enjoy those reveals. I read a book to be surprised…to be awed…to solve the mystery of the story, etc. It would’ve been nice to be able to do so, rather than be spoon feed everything that happens before it happens. That being said, there was one huge twist during the Epilogue that did surprise me and I thank the authors for not giving away that huge bit of awesomeness I didn't see coming. That was pretty cool. All in all, it was a simplistic and fun read. Good for all ages but seemed geared for a younger audience.
November 9, 2018
Dog Days O’ Summer is a story you have read many times before; the standard trope of young kids facing down evil. Four young boys discover their teacher is a --insert monster here-- and set out to destroy it before more innocent people die. For this story, the monster roulette wheel landed on werewolf.
The story somewhat changes the werewolf mythos, dispensing with full moons and silver bullets, and ties the curse to Sirius, the “Dog Star”, and the timeframe each year when it rises simultaneously with the Sun. Also, the curse is apparently passed on via the sin of adultery. This is where the already lackluster story officially lost me.
Dog Days O’ Summer was already a paint-by-numbers affair. To top off the uninspired effort, though, it maintains the implicit Christian-bashing that is so common in these stories. The cursed teacher is, of course, a fallen Christian missionary who must condemn God as a sadistic sociopath before he is vanquished by the young secular heroes. The story goes out of its way to make sure these young lads proclaim their atheistic beliefs, even the child of the mandatory Christian minister. Said minister, of course, also must lose his faith before the story concludes. All so predictable, so tiresome, so lazy, so unfortunate.
The story somewhat changes the werewolf mythos, dispensing with full moons and silver bullets, and ties the curse to Sirius, the “Dog Star”, and the timeframe each year when it rises simultaneously with the Sun. Also, the curse is apparently passed on via the sin of adultery. This is where the already lackluster story officially lost me.
Dog Days O’ Summer was already a paint-by-numbers affair. To top off the uninspired effort, though, it maintains the implicit Christian-bashing that is so common in these stories. The cursed teacher is, of course, a fallen Christian missionary who must condemn God as a sadistic sociopath before he is vanquished by the young secular heroes. The story goes out of its way to make sure these young lads proclaim their atheistic beliefs, even the child of the mandatory Christian minister. Said minister, of course, also must lose his faith before the story concludes. All so predictable, so tiresome, so lazy, so unfortunate.
February 24, 2019
In this day and age, where everything is zombies (a theme that I have stated more than once, is so overdone that it’s now pedestrian), it was so refreshing to read a good, old-fashioned werewolf story.
What I really enjoyed most was Mark and James’ take on what causes “the change”. Popular myth is the full moon, but they tell of the star Sirius, and it’s position during a certain time of year - the “dog days of summer” - that cause the change.
This was a highly enjoyable read, with a truly “gut-punch” ending.
What I really enjoyed most was Mark and James’ take on what causes “the change”. Popular myth is the full moon, but they tell of the star Sirius, and it’s position during a certain time of year - the “dog days of summer” - that cause the change.
This was a highly enjoyable read, with a truly “gut-punch” ending.
May 30, 2020
Here is a pleasant twist to and old fashioned story. Our teenage story teller, Jason is in summer school while a brutal killer holds the town in fear. When one of Jason’s friends is killed Jason begins to believe his favorite teacher is to blame. Three teens go hunting for the killer because they know the police will never believe them.
Will you believe them? I do.
Will you believe them? I do.
June 22, 2024
I slid through this book like a hot knife through butter. Quick, smooth and satisfying. A great coming of age horror story reminiscent of The Cycle of The Werewolf, Fright Night, etc. Pretty much a perfect little guilty pleasure. An outstanding way to spend my afternoon.
May 24, 2018
Absolutely wonderful.
November 20, 2022
A short and fun read. Very worthwhile!
August 17, 2025
A great werewolf story I think about often. I admire the student to teacher relationship the most and feel like I've either been or met such characters.
August 4, 2021
I have number 526 of the limited edition of 750 numbered copies. Since it was the first day of fall, I figured I would read this novella to get into the October mood. The story is set in 1994 in a small town and mainly is about how 4 boys have to figure out a method to eliminate their teacher who has turned werewolf from an infection he got on a trip to Bucharest, where he had a liaison with a woman called Adriana. It was bad enough that he killed (eaten) several people but when he killed one of the 4 boys, they had no choice but to kill him. What I liked about this story, was the tales of life pre-computer and cellphone where teens hung out and did things together like comparing comics and actually looking at pictures and discussing articles in magazines. Drive-in movies were still a big thing, a much better experience than today's multiplex theater experience. Even though this was set in a small town, there were enough activities to keep one busy. Great read.
I picked this up as a quick re-read this year during the time of the Dog Star Sirius in the night sky in 2021 to have something to read while doing my laundry at the laundromat. One thing is true during the time period the sky has the Sirius (Canis Major) and all the rest are visible, we have a unique skyline insight. In fact this year, the Buck/Thunder Moon was orange and we had lots of storms.
I picked this up as a quick re-read this year during the time of the Dog Star Sirius in the night sky in 2021 to have something to read while doing my laundry at the laundromat. One thing is true during the time period the sky has the Sirius (Canis Major) and all the rest are visible, we have a unique skyline insight. In fact this year, the Buck/Thunder Moon was orange and we had lots of storms.
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