The Funhouse (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "ON THE NIGHT of the senior prom, Jerry Galloway wanted to make love to Amy..." (more)
Key Phrases: grab joint, Madame Zena, Royal City, Big American (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Years after leaving the carnival, her hated first husband, and the child she could never love, Ellen has a new life, a new husband, and two beautiful children, but now the carnival is coming back to town, and Ellen is going to have to pay for her sins. Reprint.

About the Author

Dean Koontz was born into a very poor family and learned early on to escape into fiction. His novels have sold over 200 million copies worldwide and more than thirty have appeared on national and international bestseller lists. He lives in southern California with his wife, Gerda and a vivid imagination. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Open market ed edition (June 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425142485
• ISBN-13: 978-0425142486
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (105 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #128,407 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's with all the bad reviews?, March 18, 2005

By	Jessie (USA) - See all my reviews

Just another great Dean Koontz book as far as I'm concerned. A woman named Ellen gives birth to a deformed, monstrous child with claws and she kills it, even though her husband, who's a barker at a carnival, loves it and doesn't understand how dangerous it is. He nearly kills her when he finds out and tosses her out of the house. Fast forward several years and Ellen has two new children of her own and a new life. But she's turned into a religious fanatic, like Carrie's mother from Stephen King's first novel, and her children, espescially her son, are afraid of her. And now her old husband Conrad is tracking down her children in an effort to destroy them as revenge. Ellen's 17 year old daughter Amy and a few other dope-smoking rebels head out to the carnival for some fun and when they enter the Funhouse, where Conrad works, they get more than they bargained for. Much more.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad - not excellent, September 29, 1997

By A Customer

The Funhouse was my 9th Koontz book - and as usual, I started reading with high expectations. However, those expectations were cooled a bit when I read in the preface that this was "not quite the best o' the best".

After having read it, I felt as always when reading Koontz: good, thrilled... and not disappointed. But: in some way, there WAS something missing. The usual breathtaking Koontz-style wasn't quite there in the degree, I'm used to. The book was good, but it's hard to point a finger at what was wrong...

Yes, I enjoyed the book - and yes, I was a bit dissapointed. THe book was worth reading though, and if we think about the fact that The Funhouse was one of his first, it's not so bad at all. I know, I wouldn't even come close after a lifetime of writing!

In my oppinion, this book fully deserves a 7 - which is three below my rating for all other Koontz books I've read - which isn't that bad at all, don't you think!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a good representation of Koontz!, November 3, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Iceland) - See all my reviews

This is one of about 10 of his books I have read. I have greatly enjoyed his other books but this one seemed very shallow. Normally he writes extremely well thought characters - on both sides. But with this book you couldn't understand anyone except maybe the little boy. Don't read this as a first time Koontz. He states he wanted to show the reality of the carnival life - he does that okay but fails with the people.