A great book for spooky season! The tone and style of the book are very Stephen King coded, given the book focused on a group of boys (with a token girl) facing horror in a small town in 1963, and it has some linguistic similarities to King as well. The narrator's voice is conversational, and it's almost like you're being told a story. I can see why it got turned into a movie; it's the kind of narrative that transitions to audio or film well. 

Overall, the plot gives me "The Lottery" meets Stephen King. There's some element of social commentary, but it doesn't delve terribly deep. It's a good, quick popcorn type of book.