[WPF] Joyland by Stephen King 4 stars

[Sue]

Not a typical horror story from Stephen King. This is a detective/ghost/coming of age story that was actually kind've sweet.

The setting was the best part for me. The whole story takes place in an old-fashioned amusement park in the 1970s. The kind of small park that was already on its way out, losing to Disney and other big parks.

The description of the park could have been lifted directly from the small amusement park of my own childhood in the same time-frame. BobLo Island, which was located at the juncture of the Detroit River and Lake Erie. Reachable only by old-fashioned river boat - about an hour's voyage from Detroit.

The haunted house features heavily in the book. (view spoiler)[This is where the ghost lives. Not really a spoiler, since where else would the ghost live? (hide spoiler)] I'm pretty sure the author was describing the exact haunted house from BobLo in my youth.

The book was OK. It was the trip down memory lane that bumped this up to 4 stars for me.