Creative Reviews discussion

My review of

Pick a fear, your worst fear. Is it vampires? Warewolves? Zombies? How about dealing with Hell? The Carnival of Fear has a fun house that promises to be the biggest and best scare you have ever had! Come on in...if you dare....

A small New York town is abuzz with excitement this Halloween. A carnival has set up shop overnight and the citizens are ready for some Halloween thrills and chills. No one is immune to the pull of having the pants scared off of them on this holiday, it's a tradition...it's your right...and you're going to have fun, even if it kills you. And, in this carnival, you may just want to die.

As in any high school, you run into the jocks, the nerds, the stoners, and the artsy kids. None of them hang out together, but they all have seen each other, picked on each other, and crushed on each other. None of these groups planned on spending any time with any of the “other” groups. That just isn't how things are done. They never knew that in the span of less than an hour, these groups will have suffered what seems an eternity together.

As midnight approaches, several kids from each of these groups enter into the Castle of Horrors with the Proprietor silently watching on. Once you enter, the kids learn, you cannot leave until you have visited every room in the castle. Every nightmare imaginable lays in wait inside the castle. The kids will enter eagerly anticipating a good scare. Soon after they will be running for the exit, screaming for their lives. Can they really survive all the Proprietor has in store for them?

Carnival of Fear has something for everyone’s horror taste. There is blood, gore, dismemberment, and a special fear for just about everyone. I loved this book because it took me back to the good old days of horror. We see all of our favorite horror style characters in this book, and it kept me wanting to keep entering the next room, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to turn my bedroom light off for a while.

The book is written in parts, and each part is from the view point of one of the teenagers trapped inside the castle. This really helps you bond with each of the characters, and you being to even like the characters you really thought would be the perfect person to be decapitated. All of these kids learn to work together and get past their differences if any of them are to survive. Unfortunately, some of them do not learn this lesson quickly enough.

This book is not for the squeamish. There are certain scenes that are quite brutal if you have a vivid imagination. There are several times I was quite grateful I had chosen to read during the daytime. Otherwise, I would have NOT been sleeping for a while! I give this book 5 stars, and will definitely be picking this up again to make sure that there was nothing I missed! No tickets necessary for this carnival, but I guarantee one Hell of a ride.

This is a wonderful review! I never did read a horror story before and I was wondering where should I start. Seeing your review, I guess I might start with this!

You will not be let down with this book, I read it recently, and it was WONDERFUL!!! It has all the elements for a classic horror story, if you think you would like something creepier, I have other suggestions, but maybe start with that one first! :-)

Yes I would! I thought of reading Stephen King, but then there's like, a whole lots of books and I watch horror movies more, I see if I can google preview it, read a few chapters and maybe buy it too.

The other book I would recommend is Duncan's Diary...It is seriously messed up...great if you like a good scare and want to look over your shoulder for a while!!

I wanted to experience reading a horror story, because when you watch one, you see it, having to imagine the scene seemed like an exciting and scary thing to do.

The thing I really love about horror stories is that you can make it as graphic or toned down as you need it to be. Certain things are a little harder to ignore, but you basically have artistic control over what you experience.

That's a good way of putting it. Horror would be exciting if we have good imagination, the only horror that I came across was The Darkest Powers series, which managed to raised my goosebumps, although it's mild horror. And I always have a thing for Fun House, lol

Then you will totally be into Carnival of Fear! go to www.journalstone.com - I have a review posted on there about the book...click on the link there and it will take you right to where you can get a copy of it if you are interested!

Thanks a lot! But I never bought things online (I wanted to but mum said it wasn't save, sigh) but I'll hunt for this book, trust me! But it does help if it's published a long time ago, new books are harder to acquire. When was it published actually?

Carnival of Fear was published recently, but I don't think it was published by a large publishing company, so it may be difficult to find...I'll send you a link to this one too Carnival of Fear

Ahh! well, m on my thing again...Horror!! Yea!
I've read Carnival of Fear...and i say it was a very good read...but still...i cant really put my finger down on any particular point and call it a reason why it left me without any memories......
Usually, i am very picky about horror fiction now....recently, i came in contact with JAPANESE HORROR writers....and i have to say one thing--"Once you read them, you can search the entire world and still can never find anything more original than them" i read a book called "Ringu" on which the famous movie RING was based...or the "Dark Water"...all of them give deep chills....
apart from them, i have read almost every FAMOUS horror writer and still cant find an adversary for Stephen King...I have yet to read the Famed "Ghost Story" by Peter Straub...but apart from that if any book has ever scared me by mere imagination is "SONG OF KALI--by Dan Simmons" it's mere environment and that halo just shocked me!

Prerak wrote: "Ahh! well, m on my thing again...Horror!! Yea!
I've read Carnival of Fear...and i say it was a very good read...but still...i cant really put my finger down on any particular point and call it a re..."

I'll definitely have to give some of those a read! I like getting the pants scared off of me (if I can keep the light on anyway!!) LOL

Amy wrote: "Carnival of Fear was published recently, but I don't think it was published by a large publishing company, so it may be difficult to find...I'll send you a link to this one too [book:Carnival of F..."

Thank you:)

Prerak wrote: "Ahh! well, m on my thing again...Horror!! Yea!
I've read Carnival of Fear...and i say it was a very good read...but still...i cant really put my finger down on any particular point and call it a re..."

Ooh, I've watched Ring and the Grudge all right, and Ju-On had haunted my dreams. And also Dark Water, so whenever I saw water stains on my ceiling, I shuddered.

Natshane wrote: "Amy wrote: "Carnival of Fear was published recently, but I don't think it was published by a large publishing company, so it may be difficult to find...I'll send you a link to this one too [book:C..."

You are very welcome!!

I LOVED Duncan's Diary! I am ashamed to say I even laughed out loud if a few places.

Amy wrote: "The other book I would recommend is Duncan's Diary...It is seriously messed up...great if you like a good scare and want to look over your shoulder for a while!!"

Not only does this book sound good but the covers is badass. I'm looking into this one to add to my two reads list.