Book Review: Halloween Land by Kevin J. Kennedy
When I was looking for the next book to review, I was admittedly still riding the high from Duncan Ralston's Ghostland series. I wanted something equally as dark, nostalgic, carnival- or theme park-centered. I craved that feeling of funnel cake euphoria, fried turkey leg autumn air, and whirl-til-you-hurl starry nights. I saw Halloween Land by Kevin J. Kennedy as a suggested read when I purchased another novel. Carnival? Fair? Theme park? Halloween? Sold!
Halloween Land is available on Amazon for $2.99 for ebook, $7.99 for paperback, and on Kindle Unlimited.
Fantastic cover! Of course, it was done by Francois Vaillancourt, one of the best cover artists in the industry. Absolutely everything about the cover screams spooky fun: the rusted metal of the sign, the missing and burnt out light bulbs on the lettering, the deformed skulls in the storm clouds. There was no detail left out. The cover alone sells the book. I purchased the ebook myself, but I'm definitely contemplating the paperback as well because I want this on the shelves in my office.
But the real question you are asking is whether the content lives up to the cover. Well...
Of course it did!
Kennedy has created a character dynamic between Zak and Wendy that actually made me jealous. A best friend that enjoys binge-watching horror movies, wouldn't balk at attending a pop-up horror-themed carnival, and would be brave enough to stand by my side against an evil threatening to swallow our eternal souls? Isn't that what everyone wants? It's young love, coming of age, and revisiting youth wrapped in one. I've seen some reviews that likened Kennedy to R.L. Stine, but I think that this novel exceeds the teenage ideals of Fear Street. Kennedy is definitely in a class of his own.
The concept he introduces with the pop-up carnival itself is purely original. It reminded me of one of my favorite movies as an adolescent. I couldn't tell you the name of it if my life depended on it, but it featured a group of teenagers who end up in a carnival after hours only to find it overrun by monster carnies. Kennedy takes these horror genre tropes, mutilates them, locks them in a dark basement with rabid dogs for a decade, and then knocks their jack-o-lantern heads out of the park. You don't see any of it coming.
If I absolutely had to give a critique, I think mine would be that I felt very disjointed from the clown. Kennedy mentions her in the synopsis as the taker of the tickets, but she was integral to Zak's and Wendy's madness and survival. However, I couldn't relate to her development and never felt fully satisfied that I understood her motives. She reminded me of a female Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland - you never knew what you were gonna get.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend Halloween Land if you're a horror and Halloween junkie just looking for a fun, quick read to pass a rainy evening. When the air turns crisp and the fall leaves begin to skitter across the sidewalks, you're going to want to revisit this book! Click on the book image above to buy it now!
