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    FantasticLand: A Novel
    FantasticLand: A Novel
    FantasticLand: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    FantasticLand: A Novel

    Written by Mike Bockoven

    Narrated by Angela Dawe and Luke Daniels

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Since the 1970s, FantasticLand has been the theme park where “Fun is Guaranteed!” But when a hurricane ravages the Florida coast and isolates the park, the employees find it anything but fun. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. Photos soon emerge online of heads on spikes outside of rides and viscera and human bones littering the gift shops, breaking records for hits, views, likes, clicks, and shares. How could a group of survivors, mostly teenagers, commit such terrible acts?

    Presented as a fact-finding investigation and a series of first-person interviews, FantasticLand pieces together the grisly series of events. Park policy was that the mostly college-aged employees surrender their electronic devices to preserve the authenticity of the FantasticLand experience. Cut off from the world and left on their own, the teenagers soon form rival tribes who viciously compete for food, medicine, social dominance, and even human flesh. This new social network divides the ravaged dreamland into territories ruled by the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, and the Mole People. If meticulously curated online personas can replace private identities, what takes over when those constructs are lost?

    FantasticLand is a modern take on Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale that probes the consequences of a social civilization built online.

    Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 5, 2017
    ISBN9781543606249
    FantasticLand: A Novel
    Author

    Mike Bockoven

    Mike Bockoven writes thriller/horror novels while his kids are in gymnastics class or at piano lessons. He lives with his wife, Sarah, two daughters, Emaline and Tessa and an exceptionally dumb wiener dog named Sherlock. You can find him at his website, mikebockoven.com, on Facebook (facebook.com/Bockovenbooks), and on Twitter @mikebockoven. He lives in Grand Island, Nebraska.

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    Reviews for FantasticLand

    4.5/5

    1,311 ratings114 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a gripping and disturbing horror story told through a series of interviews. The book is praised for its immersive narration and the way it explores the psychological aspects of human nature. While some reviewers felt that the violence was too much, others appreciated the thought-provoking nature of the story. Overall, readers recommend this book for its unique format and its ability to keep them engaged. The audiobook performances are also highly praised. A must-read for fans of psychological horror.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      It took me a few chapters to really get into the story but I’m very glad I stuck with it. It reminds me very much of World War Z, which I also loved.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I kept putting off listening to this book simply because of the title. I'm very glad I finally DID listen. This was a great story! Yes, graphic, but given the circumstances I imagine it would be. And what is terrifying is the fact that I don't think it is too far fetched if this scenario were to be realized. The narration was fantastic!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      That was a ride. Wow. I loved the way this story was written it makes you question did this really happen. You can totally believe something like this could happen. I love how this gets behind the psychological of the human race and the what would you do in a situation like this. I love how each person's story is unique yet falls together to tell this horrific story. Would definitely recommend if you can handle gore, language and violence. I also listened to the audio and the narrator's are fantastic they really brought each character to life.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is a very graphic and thrilling book. I usually don’t write reviews but this book was extremely compelling. It had me on edge all throughout. It executed the interview style of writing perfectly. The narrators made the book even more engaging. They were freaking phenomenal and they really made each scene even more intense.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I was hooked for about the first hour. Then as the interviews went on, the story just dragged out and got a little confusing to me. I stopped listening at about an hour and a half in. I would have liked it much more had it not been all interviews. An amazing premise ruined by flawed execution

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Amazingly written- loved the audiobook version. The only way to hear stories like this

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Could've been more but wasn't bad book. Love the format of it

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      If you liked World War Z you will like this. It's written in the exact same style - it's brilliant!

      I loved how the narrators really got into character and you can hear emotion in all of the performances. You can distinguish each character and they did a fantastic job.

      Give it a listen. The story progresses nicely and I really got immersed, even when i was doing chores while listening.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I thought this was a really cool idea but didn't really deliver on the possibilities. I stuck it out because at a certain point I just felt too invested to stop. It's possible that reading this might have been better than listening to it because some of the voices are unintentionally hilarious. The Pirate who sounds like the surfer turtle from Finding Nemo, the prosecuting attorney who sounded like Foghorn Leghorn, and a host of others that just didn't click for me. The idea that these kids would resort to brutal violence as quickly as they did is one that you're just gonna have to accept if you're going to suspend disbelief long enough to wade through the swampy narrative.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Good interesting read. Voice actors were excellent! Lots of interesting connections.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Multiple pov from the workers of a theme park after a hurricane hits and no rescue cones for a month.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed the interview style of this book. It seems authentic because of that style. You can picture yourself in Fantastic Land. It makes you wonder what you would have done if you were there. Would you have stood up to the badness and shouted "This is not who we are!" Or would you have hidden? Or would you have joined a tribe? And which tribe? I liked the book and recommend it highly.
    • 5/5
      It's a very good storyline and I like how the author lays it out for the reader. Love the narrators also.
    • 5/5
      The hotel chapter.
      This is whole story is great. However the author really bites down, and that hotel chapter gets you. If you know you know.
      This is a really fun read or listen.
      If you’re on the fence, listen. It’s a great read.
    • 1/5
      I could not grasp the instant evil, like everyone just turned evil immediately. This kind of depravity takes years to aquire.
    • 5/5
      This book was very different from usual horror. Kids killing other kids, a theme park during a hurricane, no power. Not all the killers were children. People were forming their own groups to support each other. Chaos everywhere.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic narration and well acted 5/5, this is how you make an audiobook
    • 5/5
      ..Fantastic! lol, but really, this was great. I loved the use of different voice actors. It really made it feel like a true event and interviews. Super spooky!
    • 5/5
      Very good book I liked the way it was in a interview format.. a different read but I loved it!!
    • 5/5
      Fantastic! This was basically a perfect listen. One of my favorite reads of the year so far.
    • 4/5
      The audio was amazing! If I were reading this book I don’t think I would be able to finish it.
    • 5/5
      Lord of the Flies meets Hunger Games!! Very good. Freaky!
    • 4/5
      great plot.. and the end is the best. Hoping to read more from the same author
    • 2/5
      There's a reason narrative journalists write articles with sources instead of just publishing the interviews directly. This book is a great example of why.

      It was a great attempt at a new way to tell a story, but the different accounts started to drone and the story -- which the book seems intent on proving is somehow plausible -- grew slowly more and more unrealistic the closer one gets to its end.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic
      The story is super captivating, and it is also masterfully narrated.
      If you like purge-like scenarios you'll love this.
    • 4/5
      Interesting read…! I haven’t read a book like this before with the interview style, but I really enjoyed it! Puts a lot of things in perspective and hard thinking for self-worth, validation, power, fear, etc. each individual chapter was so thrilling to read, mini little stories at a time. The book was also extremely visual! Almost… too visual… definitely recommend reading!
    • 4/5
      The audiobook is excellent. I like the way different characters read the interviews. Although the premise is a little unbelievable to me, the horror and the documentarian style the book is presented is really good. Really enjoyed.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic book! The writing, the story, the narration, all of it was awesome. This is lord of the flies x20. I really hope to see this made into a series. It’s been a long while since I have found an audiobook this good. And I listen to a lot. Give it a try if you love horror survival. You won’t be disappointed.
    • 5/5
      Read impeccably. The different "interviewers" make this an feel like an actual interview. Fantastic.
    • 3/5
      interesting take on a lord of the flies sorta horror story