# Dead of Summer (2016)

> Counselors at a seemingly idyllic 1980s Midwestern summer camp discover that its ancient mythology is awakening and that the season of firsts has turned deadly.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/58608

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 43 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama, mystery, horror
- Created by: Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Ian B. Goldberg
- Network: Freeform
- Cast: Elizabeth Lail, Ronen Rubinstein, Zelda Williams, Mark Indelicato, Paulina Singer, Eli Goree, Elizabeth Mitchell, Alberto Frezza
- TMDB rating: 6.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5210998/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: nostalgic, eerie, sun-drenched, tense, playful

## What critics say

Reviewers found the 1980s camp atmosphere and mythology appealing but considered the scares and character arcs uneven, and the single season was modestly received.

## Synopsis

Dead of Summer is an American teen supernatural horror mystery series set in the late 1980s at Camp Clearwater, a seemingly idyllic Midwestern summer camp. Counselors Amy and Alex find a summer of first loves and first kisses becoming a summer of first kills, while adults whose authority should protect them prove unable to keep the young staff safe as the camp's dark, ancient mythology stirs back to life. The engine of the series is the tension between private romances and the growing evidence that something old and hungry lives beneath the lake and the woods. Each episode layers sun-drenched nostalgia over creeping dread, pairing bright summer rituals with unsettling scares. Its single season is one continuing mystery rather than a case of the week. Fans of Stranger Things, The Haunting of Hill House and Camp Cold Brook will find resonance in its blend of youthful longing, small town secrets and supernatural menace. The show was canceled after one season, leaving its story unfinished and its mythology only partly explored, which gives the whole run a wistful, unresolved ache.

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