Skulduggery in the Funhouse

I was up last night delving hungrily into The Funhouse by Dean Koontz. It’s a pleasant enough read, but nothing special. I’m always slightly amazed how generic horror stories concerning carnivals and fairgrounds are. The setting is so perfectly lurid I just squeal in the expectation of something new; chilling and nightmarish. I'm left unsatisfied.

The stories are never that bad, they’re just – okay. Don't get me wrong, I still try to cram as many words of the tale as possible into my mind before I collapse into a snooze. I guess you could call it a fuzzy glove feeling though (and I'm aware that's a strange, potentially extremely insulting way to describe something in the horror genre). The whole 'I've been here before. I like it. Nothing lifechanging.'

I hope someone does something new with the whole haunted fairground setting. Maybe I should. I can feel the burble of a story germ in my head already.

Anyway, I read a book the other day that really excited me - I gobbled it up in one night. The book was Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. The sequel is due in a few days. It's a childrens book (I quiver with disbelief that Harry Potter gets so far and yet Skulduggery Pleasant isn't a household name yet - it will be!) about a young girl and her adventures with a deliciously dry-humoured skeleton detective. It's not perfect, but I've already decided if I ever have a kid this is going to be a bedtime story favourite. It's the first childrens book (or young adult book) I've read in ages that doesn't patronise the readership at all. It's hilarious, but more importantly, it's a damn good story.

Tonight the intention is to do some work on Unseelie (cower before me, foul mistress of the shameless spam!) and grab a hot bath, so you may get an update post on my project journal - there's one I keep meaning to make - fairy folklore is starting to fascinate me. Anyway enough for now, catch you later!