August 1955. Ellen Straker is just 20 years old. She drinks to forget her tormented childhood. She drinks to cope with her present. She drinks to give herself the courage to deal with the thing. Her husband calls it Victor, but Ellen can’t bring herself to use it’s name, she can’t bare to look at it, let alone touch it, or call it by a name as if it were human. It’s evil, it has to die.
May 1980. Amy Harper is pregnant, dumped by her uncaring boyfriend, she feels totally alone. She desperately wants an abortion, but has no way of paying for it. She has savings, but needs her mothers permission to withdraw them. Unlikely, as her mother is religious to the extreme, a practising Catholic, surely it would be the biggest sin of all? Strangely Amy’s mother agrees, in fact not only does she agree, but positively insists that it is the only course of action to be taken. Amy must get rid of the evil inside her, and as quickly as possible. The abortion takes place, and Amy’s mother wants little
to do with her after it. No curfew, no restrictions, Amy can finally live her life.
Amy’s little brother Joey is not so lucky. His mother is more protective of him than ever. He’s miserable, and when the carnival hits town he sees it as his way to freedom. He hatches a plan to run away and live a carny life. He doesn’t know much about it. His mother has never let him go before. She won’t agree to let him go this time, but he’s going anyway, determined, nothing is going to stop him.
The carnival arrives in town. Conrad’s Funhouse is ‘the’ attraction. The ultimate ride, the thrill to beat all others. The experience of a lifetime, the experience to end a lifetime of searching. Conrad is going to keep it open, open for as long as it takes to ensure that special children get just what they deserve.
For those unfamiliar with this book, I assure you even if it seems that I’ve given away a fair bit of the plot I’ve actually given far less than the author offers you himself very early on. The entire plot, bar perhaps the events of the last page in the final chapter, is practically thrown at you within the first 50 odd pages of this 300+ page novel.
Originally written as a screenplay by Larry Block, Owen West was asked to produce a full ‘novelization’ of the storyline. It was set to be released the same time as the film hit the cinema screens in the US, but late editing to the film meant the book launched alone in 1980. The Funhouse sold well, until the release of the film turned out to be somewhat of a disaster. Popularity of the book dropped dramatically, it was withdrawn from sale. A further 2 offerings by West didn’t do well. He failed to reach the heights of fame.
Fortunately Dean Koontz was starting to take off by then, so Owen West was dispensed off. Why persist with a failing pen name, when your own name was finally making it. The two latter West novels were accredited to Koontz later in the 80’s but sadly Owen West took The Funhouse with him, and it wasn’t until 1992 that it was finally re-released under the rightful name of Dean Koontz.
It’s not one of his best works by any means, and compared to his acclaimed works of the same time (early 90’s - such as The Bad Place, Cold Fire, and Hideaway) it’s raw, attention to detail is inconsistent and it’s (for the most part) predictable. Not exactly typical Koontz, it’s for that reason I’d advise that The Funhouse isn’t really suited to readers not already familiar with his work. It doesn’t fully represent his ability as a novelist.
On the other hand, it’s very readable all the same. Koontz’s knowledge of carnival life makes for interesting reading in the padded out text around the basic plot. I felt compelled to finish the book despite the lack of finesse, and have re-read and enjoyed it several times. (But as an avid fan of Koontz I admit I’d give anything by him a try).
I’m quite sentimental where books are concerned and bought the hard back version a number of years ago which, although a little thumbed and worn, is still a precious part of my ever increasing collection of horror novels. But, it’s the kind of book you might pick up from a car boot sale or in a charity shop quite cheaply.
New, you can buy The Funhouse from www.whsmith.co.uk, for the normal price of £6.99 although it’s currently on sale at £5.59 (exc p&p).
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