Publishers Weekly
04/17/2023
Bockoven (Fantasticland) sets a brutal, gory horror novel backstage at a comedy club. For decades, New York City’s the Square has hosted the best, most outrageous, and funniest personalities in the alt-comedy community. One night, owner Ronald “Jaff” Maul succumbs to an agonizing headache that sends him on a terrifying after-hours reign of terror and violence. Those trapped in the club with him include his wife, Calista; emcee Braden Bond; veteran comedian Jackie Carmichael; political comic Jerrod Seybourn; fledging entertainer Taylor Tracks; talk show host Sammy Platter; and disgraced comic legend Terry Stafford, currently in the news after numerous reports of sexual assault. As Jaff relentlessly stalks this motley crew through the cramped confines of the building, his would-be victims pay a heavy price for survival, little suspecting a supernatural force may be influencing them all. Bockoven skillfully invokes a claustrophobic, desperate, downright disturbing atmosphere, his prose pulling no punches as it describes the ugly fates awaiting so much of the cast. In some ways a reflection of the entertainment industry’s darkest impulses, this is both a convincing slasher tale and an examination of comedy’s uncomfortable underside. Agent: Steve Schwartz, Sarah Jane Freymann Literary. (May)
From the Publisher
Praise for KILLING IT
"Darkly Funny." —NPR
"Both a convincing slasher tale and an examination of comedy’s uncomfortable underside." —Publishers Weekly
Praise for FANTASTICLAND
"In clear, conversational prose, Fantasticland creates its world—and then carefully, horribly dismantles it. Mike Bockoven has made something at once merciless, terrifying, and curiously humane; but you should probably not go there after dark." —Zack Handlen, the AV Club
"Utterly horrifying and impossible to put down—for a dozen reasons, but most of all, for how plausible the whole thing feels. Do not read this book after eating." —Rob Hart, author of the Anthony Award-nominated NEW YORKED
“Fantasticland is one wild ride! Disaster and isolation ratchet up the tension, and a theme park descends into mayhem that is both engaging and thrilling. Put your hands up and plunge in!” —Scott Seeke, author of Uncle Bush's Live Funeral, writer of the Sony film Get Low
"In the FantasticLand park itself, already a surreal mix of historical and pop-cultural structures, characters, and imagery, then mostly flooded and empty under rainy skies, what happens when less-than-fully-formed identities are forced to endure a month with no external contact?
This grim, but not hopeless, novel is the answer." —William Grabowski, Hellnotes.com
"FantasticLand [is] totally up our alley. And with its setting of a theme park that’s been ravaged by a hurricane, it couldn’t be more timely." —Dread Central
