FantasticLand - Mike Bockoven

FantasticLand

By Mike Bockoven

  • Release Date: 2016-10-11
  • Genre: Horror
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 123 Ratings)

Description

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.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Reviews

  • wasted potential

    3
    By brandonhatfield723
    a lot of wasted potential and feels a bit PG 13 at times. the interview style makes sense and helps the events flow better than i anticipated, but does make it hard to really care about any specific character as they all kind of feel similar. i also was hoping it would be more sinister, but it was pretty mild at times. a fun ride, not necessarily a thrill ride.
  • New experience

    4
    By Nacjr777
    I was enthralled at the idea of a realty based thriller. In that, you learn of their experiences based upon a familiar but made up tragedy. Employees trapped within a Florida amusement park during a hurricane. The writer explores each character in a way that feels as though different people are actually telling their stories. A very good read and story.
  • A surprisingly good read!

    5
    By dsiduousaardvrk
    I got this book as a daily deal. I’d never heard of the author, but was intrigued by the “first-hand accounts” style described in the book’s description. I really enjoyed it. It has just the right amount of gore, and each interview gives you just enough of a tantalizing glimpse of the events in Fantasticland to keep the pages turning. It was a great read, a lend some thought-provoking insights on human nature and our reliance on social media.

Comments