Since the 1970s, FantasticLand has been the theme park where Fun is Guaranteed!” But when a hurricane ravages the Florida coast and isolates the park, the employees find it anything but fun. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. Photos soon emerge online of heads on spikes outside of rides and viscera and human bones littering the gift shops, … breaking records for hits, views, likes, clicks, and shares. How could a group of survivors, mostly teenagers, commit such terrible acts?
Presented as a fact-finding investigation and a series of first-person interviews, FantasticLand pieces together the grisly series of events. Park policy was that the mostly college-aged employees surrender their electronic devices to preserve the authenticity of the FantasticLand experience. Cut off from the world and left on their own, the teenagers soon form rival tribes who viciously compete for food, medicine, social dominance, and even human flesh. This new social network divides the ravaged dreamland into territories ruled by the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, and the Mole People. If meticulously curated online personas can replace private identities, what takes over when those constructs are lost?
FantasticLand is a modern take on Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale that probes the consequences of a social civilization built online.
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The author picked a ridiculous topic and his depiction of characters was elementary at best.
Stupid concept. The storm survivors of an amusement park go hard-core Lord of the Flies? Really?? Most of reality is more horrifying than this author’s imagination. Don’t waste your time.
There are lots of reviews out there for this book and I don’t know if I’m adding anything new but frankly, this review is more for me to help me remember the number of books I’ve read lately. When I first started reading “FantasticLand” I thought I was reading a true crime horror story and had to go back and check which category/genre this was under! IMHO, this is a fantastic book. I’ve never read a book written in this interviewing style and I guess that’s why I thought it actually happened and because of all the recent hurricane’s we’ve seen on the news. This book had suspense, but mainly horror and a bit of a psychological thriller. Without adding any spoilers, the plot is 300 plus employees of the FantasticLand amusement park are trapped when hurricane Sadie hits the Florida coast. Even though the employees have shelter, plenty of food and a safe place to weather the storm, they turn into warriors divide into tribes and the nightmare begins. These are twenty something kids who are cut off from social media and because the electricity is gone no access. Through the interviews after the survivors are rescued (5 weeks later) we hear evidence of grisly murders, savage and horrible acts that were committed all over the park out of sheer boredom and to survive the chaos. This story was so realistic, that I am certain, this very thing could happen and couldn’t get it out of my mind even when the book was finished. I highly recommend “FantasticLand” for your Halloween reading pleasure.
amazing and original
Loved this page turner. I hope I’m never marooned with co-workers!!!
I purchased Mike Bockoven’s Fantasticland because it sounded interesting, and I figured it would be a two or three hour slasher that would be somewhat entertaining. Basically, I had no higher expectations. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
While I will go with the thriller tag on the book’s cover, this book is a horror story similar to the horror in “Lord of the Flies” or “The Hunger Games.” Characters in the story are quickly removed from their comfort zones, and the normalcy of everyday life evaporates right from the start.
Mr. Bockoven saves this novel from the slasher slag pile by telling it in a journalistic interview style. One might think this technique would remove the scariness from the book, but you have to credit the author with the way he built the story. Each chapter is an interview, as one particular person tells his or her story of what happened in FantasticLand. The horror lies in the personal survival paths each either chose or was forced to walk down, aided by the graphic fight scenes provided by Mr. Bockoven.
For those who wish to know, there are brutal murders described in the book and many of the characters lace their interviews with vulgarities. Sex and rape are not part of the story.
Anyone looking for a horrific thriller should look no further. Five stars.
Parts of it were definitely twisted but I got bored with it most of the time.
I read the first few pages and deleted it from my library. I didn’t like the way it was set up or how it read.
A spin on Lord of the Flies
Well, it’s not Stephen King. But entertaining (and well edited). Predictable.
What a creepy little story. Fantasticland, a theme park built to rival Disneyworld and Universal, is hit by a hurricane that makes Katrina look like a summer breeze. Closed off from the world and a low priority for rescue due to huge stores of food, bottled water, medicine and other necessities, the park contains a few hundred employees who voluntarily stayed behind to mind the facilities. Quickly, these mostly young people both bond together in like groups, and separate into “tribes.” From there it’s a descent into violence, murder and madness. The story is told by survivors who are being interviewed by an author. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different survivor, and each chapter builds on those before.
The book moves along swiftly, as each chapter draws a clearer picture of the weeks upon weeks the survivors wait for rescue. While not at all gory, the author draws a vivid picture of the rapidly – deteriorating setting. An excellent read; highly recommended.