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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I received this book in my monthly My Thrill Club box ( if you want to get 2 great books and 1 DVD every month for just $15, I highly recommend signing up for this box) and the description made me want to read it right away! Yes, it does sound a bit like Lord of The Flies (hell, even the description acknowledges that) but, it's much more modern.
And for those who like blood and guts, much more brutal.
The book's unique style of story telling really adds a lot of flavor to it. Fantasticland is told through interviews, book passages and some video/audio transcripts. I guess you could say that it has a "found footage" feel to it. Author Mike Bockoven does an excellent job in making you believe that this horrible incident could happen.
Some of the negative reviews about this book said that it felt completely unbelievable that the violence and brutality that the teenagers exhibited would escalate so quickly. Given the state of the world right now, people either pull together in times of struggle or they completely turn on each other. Given that there are mostly teenagers and people in their early twenties locked in the park, I find it pretty believable that things would get bad fast, especially if they didn't know when help was on the way.
Each character had their own voice which is important when you have so many different characters in one book.
If you're wondering if this is a horror book or a thriller. I would say that it's both. Fantasticland came in my horror box and at first I was a bit confused as to how this book would fit in to the horror category. This read definitely slides in to the psychological horror category. Some of the violence that the park employees inflicted on each other are gut wrenching. There were several scenes that were particularly haunting (the pig mask people in the hotel is one chapter that truly rattled me).
Whether the violence escalation was realistic was not really my concern. I'm always a sucker for a good disaster or horror story and this book delivered. It's not for the faint of heart. You must like your disaster stories bloody, real bloody.
Read a good disaster book lately or watch a good disaster movie? (I said good, the nightmare Sharknado 5 does not count). Be sure to give me your recommendations in the comments below!
The book's unique style of story telling really adds a lot of flavor to it. Fantasticland is told through interviews, book passages and some video/audio transcripts. I guess you could say that it has a "found footage" feel to it. Author Mike Bockoven does an excellent job in making you believe that this horrible incident could happen.
Some of the negative reviews about this book said that it felt completely unbelievable that the violence and brutality that the teenagers exhibited would escalate so quickly. Given the state of the world right now, people either pull together in times of struggle or they completely turn on each other. Given that there are mostly teenagers and people in their early twenties locked in the park, I find it pretty believable that things would get bad fast, especially if they didn't know when help was on the way.
Each character had their own voice which is important when you have so many different characters in one book.
If you're wondering if this is a horror book or a thriller. I would say that it's both. Fantasticland came in my horror box and at first I was a bit confused as to how this book would fit in to the horror category. This read definitely slides in to the psychological horror category. Some of the violence that the park employees inflicted on each other are gut wrenching. There were several scenes that were particularly haunting (the pig mask people in the hotel is one chapter that truly rattled me).
Whether the violence escalation was realistic was not really my concern. I'm always a sucker for a good disaster or horror story and this book delivered. It's not for the faint of heart. You must like your disaster stories bloody, real bloody.
Read a good disaster book lately or watch a good disaster movie? (I said good, the nightmare Sharknado 5 does not count). Be sure to give me your recommendations in the comments below!
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