Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Black Carousel (Oxrun Station)

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 29 ratings · 3 reviews

Stephen King calls Charles Grant, "one of the premier horror writers of his or any generation". In his new tale, it's midnight at the fair. The rides are dark and silent--except for the black carousel. This is Oxrun Station, where innocence is soon destroyed, where dreams turn dark, where grabbing the brass ring wins not a free ride but terror.

Hardcover, 223 pages

Published January 1st 1995 by Tor Books

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 58)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 18, 2013 Randolph Carter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, horror, strange-stories

After a hiatus of ten years, Charlie comes back full force with the standard Oxrun formula: four longer stories with a framing story for the entire book. There is a little more interconnection between the stories themselves and the framing story (meant to introduce the new police chief to the peculiar nature of the Station) this time around and some of the ambiguities of the individual stories are resolved in the epilogue.

The interconnection, besides Oxrun itself, involves a travelling carnival...more After a hiatus of ten years, Charlie comes back full force with the standard Oxrun formula: four longer stories with a framing story for the entire book. There is a little more interconnection between the stories themselves and the framing story (meant to introduce the new police chief to the peculiar nature of the Station) this time around and some of the ambiguities of the individual stories are resolved in the epilogue.

The interconnection, besides Oxrun itself, involves a travelling carnival known as the Pilgrim's Travelers that seems to setup in Oxrun for the entire summer. It is very well maintained for a cheap carnival, and it sets up on the old Armstrong Farm where there couldn't possibly be enough room for it, but nothing is ever exactly as it appears in the Station. Only one of the stories is deeply involved in the carnival itself, the others just use it as a device at some point.

Postman Casey Bethune has girl and yard problems and his visits to the carnival seem to make one better and the other worse until Casey skips town altogether, or does he. Or does he? Fran Lumbaird has just moved to Oxrun from the big city of Cambridge with her parents. She hates the Station until she starts to make some new friends for the summer, only its sometimes difficult even in the small town of Oxrun to find out just where you new friends live. Drake Saxton, well lets just say he has a lot of trouble finding his way home in the dark. And Kayman Kalb is in the incipient stage of Alzheimer's but he also seems to have picked up a spook problem particularly when it rains, and where did everyone he knew go?

This book is like Ray Bradbury written by Ernest Hemingway. In fact, there is a lot about Grant's writing that is very evocative without using a lot of big words or complicated sentences. Grant's style of "quiet horror" rarely involves much grue and has the feeling of the classic horror story catapulted into 20th Century suburbia. The results are rarely less deadly than his more bloody modern counterparts.(less)

like · see review

Apr 05, 2012 Leah rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, circus-or-carnival

I picked this up in the library based on a whim and the cover. I never do that, and I'm not sure I can make a habit of it. I didn't know that it's apparently part of a series. I hate starting anywhere but the beginning of a series. Beyond that though, it was a really disjointed read. I'm not even sure what I did just read. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't understand it and I kind of finished it out of obligation.

like · see review

May 27, 2011 Kevin Lucia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. Beautiful melancholy, in the extreme...

like · see review

May 21, 2013 TDC marked it as to-read

Apr 25, 2013 Kyle marked it as to-read

Apr 14, 2013 Hank marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: default

Mar 26, 2013 Tara marked it as to-read

Mar 13, 2013 Steve French rated it 4 of 5 stars

Feb 26, 2013 Brad rated it 3 of 5 stars

Feb 23, 2013 Terry Puckett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Feb 22, 2013 Tim Waggoner rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 31, 2013 Josh marked it as to-read

Shelves: horror, wish-list

Dec 02, 2012 Amber Mccoy marked it as to-read

Nov 30, 2012 Primula Brandybuck marked it as unowned-read-me-0 · review of another edition

Nov 21, 2012 Mary SanGiovanni marked it as to-read

Nov 15, 2012 Lisa S added it · review of another edition

Nov 01, 2012 Michael Fierce rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ray-bradbury-influenced, october-country, dark-carnival-night-circus

Oct 25, 2012 Lisa Bourff rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sep 05, 2012 Ian added it · review of another edition

Aug 18, 2012 Eva marked it as to-read

Aug 09, 2012 Amy Gashly marked it as to-read

Shelves: hard-to-find

Jul 28, 2012 Amanda marked it as to-read

Jul 05, 2012 Brad marked it as to-read

Jul 01, 2012 Hanie Syafura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Jun 20, 2012 Chadwick Saxelid rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Jun 19, 2012 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jun 04, 2012 Manuel marked it as to-read

Apr 14, 2012 Chris marked it as to-read

Mar 30, 2012 Traummachine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mar 14, 2012 Tomer Klein marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (1)

Genres

Horror

6 users

See top shelves...

About Charles L. Grant

Charles Lewis Grant was a novelist and short story writer specializing in what he called "dark fantasy" and "quiet horror." He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Geoffrey Marsh, Lionel Fenn, Simon Lake, Felicia Andrews, and Deborah Lewis.

Grant won a World Fantasy Award for his novella collection Nightmare Seasons, a Nebula Award in 1976 for his short story "A Crowd of Shadows", and another Nebula...more

More about Charles L. Grant...

Books by Charles L. Grant

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Black Carousel

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Black Carousel
avg rating	preview: The Black Carousel Goodreads rating: 3.83 (29 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/898618.The_Black_Carousel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1264045329l/898618.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/898618.The_Black_Carousel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Black Carousel by Charles L. Grant[/url]

The Black Carousel (Oxrun Station)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (1)

Genres

About Charles L. Grant

Books by Charles L. Grant

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Black Carousel

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)