Carniepunk: Freak House

by Kelly Meding

Kelly Meding, author of the Dreg City and Metas series, delivers a wickedly fun short story in the Carniepunk anthology—a collection of urban fantasy tales that put a supernatural spin on all things carnival.

Sheltered and raised by her gypsy mother, Shiloh Harrison has never explored the djinn heritage of her absentee father—until she learns he’s been captured by a man whose underground paranormal freak show is the latest rage among the rich and elite.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fantasy

44 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 12, 2015

About the author

Also writes as Kelly Meade: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[Joe Pranaitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Kelly Meding brings us the tale of Shiloh Harrison and her search and rescue of her father. Shiloh is a half Djinn what us humans call jennies and a high priced carnival curated by a person named Balthazar has taken paranormals to preform tricks. Shiloh and a group of her new friends one a forced werewolf who has been tasked with looking for a Leprechaun. They both go undercover to crack the carnival ring and free Shiloh's father. This is a great short story and I highly recommend it for all fantasy fans.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick peek at the MC of the Stray series by Meding.

[harlequin {Stephanie} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author shoved a lot into so short a story with great sucess.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, which surprised me because I guess I was a bit skeptical about how interesting I would find djinn (a.k.a. genies). But the story cleverly hooked me by dumping me in the middle of the action first and then back-tracking to how it all began. I found the world-building really interesting: some paranormals (or Paras, as they're called here) being "out" to humans & living in segregation from them, the whole "forced werewolf" thing, the concept of "upyrs," and the lack of a law enforcement entity to deal with interhuman-Para crimes. I also loved the ending because it was feel-good and provided the perfect character arc resolution for Shiloh, who was searching for a purpose at the beginning of the story. Shiloh is such a funny character with personality in spades, so reading her narration was really enjoyable. In fact, I found that all the characters in this story were engrossing, which is probably the biggest reason I enjoyed the story, because for me, well-written characters might just be the most important literary component. I don't know if I'll read the rest of Meding's Strays series, but this story definitely piqued my interest toward it!

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the prequel short story to the Strays series. I haven't read any of the books, but I still enjoyed it. A lot.

Shiloh Harrison's djinn father has gone missing and she's just figured out where he is. Held in a freakshow hosted by a despicable warlock. When she teams up with a human and a werewolf, she finds more than she bargained for...

This is definitely a solid and very interesting urban fantasy tale that introduces a cool half-djinn heroine with some very unique set of powers. I thought the worldbuilding was excellent, and I love the characters. As well as Shiloh's voice.

It's an awesome story that has me intrigued. I need to know more...

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun short story. Fun to see how the characters met.

[Debbie Chittenden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm desperately struggling to find some benefit in finishing this anthology of shorts. This had some plot forming with no real idea of how we got there, or where we are going.

[Heather McLaughlin]

This was also very good and apparently I have not forgotten reading them. 🙄

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was entertaining. I enjoyed learning about all the paranormal creatures (AKA "paras") in Shiloh's world. The plot was intriguing: A traveling paranormal carnival that displays fantastic creatures only to the very wealthy who can afford the $25,000 price of admission. Shiloh's dad is held prisoner there, he's a dijinn. Shiloh teams up with a werewolf and his friend. This short story could be developed into an urban fantasy series, easily.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still on high after finishing Kelly Meding's The Night Before Dead, I decided to purchase this short story. It previously appeared as part of the Carniepunk anthology. However, I always prefer to buy the stories separately because I prefer to read only from the authors I like.

I highly enjoyed this -- the idea of a djinn offspring with her own power, that has so much potential for a full urban fantasy series/novel, no? For a short story, this one was satisfying to me. From the characters and their background, the conflict (Shiloh's djinn father was kidnapped and trapped as a show in a freak house), world-built (albeit short), as well as the conclusion.

I don't think I've read many urban fantasy with djinn power, so I'll love to explore that someday.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fantastic story! Shiloh reminds me of Agent Peggy Carter of the Marvel Universe. She doesn't fit into either the paranormal or human worlds. When she and another man partner to achieve their similar goals, they realize they're onto something great. Now I really want to read the series I hope will follow their adventures!

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm hoping this is the start of a wonderful friendship between me and this series. Really good writer with an interesting fantasy world to explore.