Dean Koontz somehow turns a fun slasher into a tedious boring sermon told by a drunk randy preacher.

I read just shy of 100 pages. It's a pseudo adult version of Goosebumps. Not my kind of book; I won't bother picking it up to finish it.

I liked it the first time I read it, but after reading more Dean Koontz I realize this isn't original but the same thing he likes to write over and over again.

I picked this book up at a little charity book stool whilst in Spain and without knowing anything other than the cover looking cool (mine has a picture of the carnival and a big clown face) and that it could be a bit of fun I didn't know what to expect for €1.

What transpired was unpleasant, gruesome and scary but incredibly well written and intriguing. I am by no means squeamish but this is some unpleasant stuff. But the more I read the better it became and if you can get past the prologue then you can handle the book and what a book it is. The teen representations and clichés and the 'Carrie by Stephen King' similarities are something to be discussed but what I thought would be a 1 or 2 star book, managed to impress me but to quote one of the characters in the book, 'Funhouse is a weird name for something that's quite the opposite'.

There's a sentimental afterword from the author at the end and its revealed that this book was intended as a novelisation/film tie in but became far more popular than the film. Thought it was ironic that someone who collects novelisations can unwittingly buy and read a novelisation but that's life; amazingly random.

RE-READ

Not a terrible book but not an absolutely stunning book either. I can remember reading this when I was about 14 or 15 and being so creeped out by all of it and now I am older and definitely not creeped out I did realize that the writing was incredible. I felt like Dean Koontz built up this incredibly eerie story line and got us all hyped up for an epic climax but at the end it all just fell flat. Like, it was a complete backfire. It wasn’t how I expected to feel at the end of the book and I was just left asking more questions.

I have to praise him on his writing alone though. I read the hardback the last half and listened to the audio the first half and both displayed such wonderful writing. He definitely has a skill of crafting very nice pictures in your head and wonderful words for your eyes.

But I am going to throw this out there. TIE UP YOUR LOOSE ENDS, GOOD SIR. Jesus.

Needless to say, all of the ingredients for a gripping and terrifying story are there but ultimately at the end it all went down the drain. The character development was just poor and I yawned at the end. But, I wasn’t bored throughout the rest of the story. So I have to hand it to him for that.

What a terrible story.

Or maybe the fault is with me. As (in)correctly stated in the story accountants love to analyse peoples appetites and take great interest in what people eat. So maybe I was too absorbed in that to notice the wonderful story!

I put this on hold at the library when I had no internet and couldn't look up anything about it. I usually enjoy Koontz's stories and find them a fun way to pass the time.

Until I got to the end of the book I was ready to give this 2 stars but then the story just stopped like Koontz was tired of writing or

Spoiler

was trying to end the story on some kind of happy note instead of having the kids tell their story to the police. I feel like the story would have been better with a little drag with the police reporting in order to get some kind of confrontation with Ellen.

I'm left feeling like I read the book that is the sad child of Carrie and Rosemary's Baby. The zealot abusive mother and the birth of a deformed child that turns out to be evil.

To repeat myself a little for those not wanting spoilers I feel like the book ended a little too soon. Then again I'm not a best selling author.

Dark, twisted, and so very creepy!