Carniepunk

I was supplied with an early release copy of the book via NetGalley.

This anthology was a challenge for me based on premise alone. Even when I was a kid, I was not a fan of circuses or carnivals. I have never had a clown phobia or anything like that, but something about those places has always carried a creepy vibe for me. So reading an entire anthology about carnivals? Oooh boy. I was creeped out before I even started reading. The good thing about short stories is that I can read in small bites.

For many anthologies like this, there tend to be a few stand-out stories and the rest are mediocre. I was really impressed by what Carniepunk offered. There were only a few stories that left me feeling confused or meh or were straight out too show more dark for my liking, but I enjoyed about 3/4 of the lot. Some were so outstanding that now I want to read more by those authors. I also want to note that all of the stories here are on the dark side of urban fantasy. This isn't light and fluffy stuff. It's about souls and demons and midways that lead straight to hell (or are in hell to start).

To elaborate on a few of my favorites:
- "Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea" by Seanan McGuire. This story ended the book, and wow, there's a reason for that. It's beautiful and tragic, and offers a completely fresh take on mermaids. I also liked that it came from the perspective of someone in the circus family.

- "The Demon Barker of Wheat Street" by Kevin Hearne. Kevin is a friend of mine, and I love his Iron Druid series. This was a fun tale with Atticus, Oberon, and Granuaile and a carnival that offers options far more unhealthy than deep fried Twinkies.

- "Freak House" by Kelly Meding. I haven't read any of Meding's novels, and this story really piqued by interest in her world. Her half-djinn protagonist has some unique powers, and I just plain loved the voice. show less

By: Rachel Caine, Delilah S. Dawson, Jennifer Estep, Kelly Gay, Kevin Hearne, Mark Henry, Hillary Jacques, Jackie Kessler, Seanan McGuire, Kelly Meding, Allison Pang, Nicole Peeler, Rob Thurman, Jaye Wells

When I first saw this anthology I leaped to request it – so many of the authors included in it are the authors I already read and already love, a collection of stories by them was definitely something I was sure I’d be able to devour in seconds, loving every word.

I preface the review with this to make it clear that my expectations were very very high – perhaps too high given my oft mentioned dislike of short stories. This left me feeling a little disappointed.

Firstly, on the book overall I was impressed by the unity of theme, show more short story compilations by different authors can feel very disjointed as you are buffeted from epic story to laughing comedy to heart wrenching tragedy that makes them almost impossible to read in one sitting because they’re so different. While the writing style of this book was, obviously, very varied the overall theme not just of Carnivals but of something sinister, dark and something pretty creepy was generally well maintained throughout. I don’t know if it was intended or if the authors just find carnivals as creepy as I do – but nearly every story had a strong sense of the creepiness, the alien and the outsider about them that helped keep the whole book together as a coherent whole which I appreciated.

In terms of the stories, the ones by the authors that drew me in were very much their style, but also nothing special and didn’t form much of a useful addition to their own stories:

Kevin Hearne’s The Demon Barker of Wheat Street, was a fun ride with characters I’ve come to know and love. Atticus, Oberon and Granuaile are always immensely fun romp around a Carnival, fighting evil with humour and flair with odd moments of depth and emotion to it that so characterises Kevin Hearne’s work; it’s good but not his best, lacking in style or real relevance to the world he has… if you’re not a fan of the series already you’re going to be a little lost reading this one – and a little Spoilered as well, which is a bad choice for a short story, I think.

Jennifer Estep’s Parlor Tricks, is much the same. If you know her world and her characters then it’s a great read, a nice continuation and nice to see Gin in some semi-downtime. If you don’t know her world then you’re probably going to be more than a little lost as the full weight of her massive Ashland world is thrown at you. As a fan and a current reader of her series, I enjoyed it while still feeling I wouldn’t have missed anything if I hadn’t read it. That’s a good thing in the sense that I don’t want my series to depend on me tracking down anthologies, but bad in that I left the story feeling I hadn’t gained anything.

Seanan McGuire’s Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid and the Open, Lonely Sea, surprised me in that it didn’t seem to be related to any of her actual series. While I liked this story, I also felt that it was the only one that didn’t fit the overall theme of the book, though I quite liked the subversion of finally presenting the Carnie’s point of view and taking their otherness that had been so pushed through the rest of the stories and making that a strength rather than the sinister nature that had been pushed so far. It was an excellent close to the book.

Notable others were Painted Love by Rob Thurman, it was the first story in the book and did a very good job of setting up the dark and sinister theme; the fantastic and the other, the evil and the cruel, the hidden threats as much as the hidden wonders. It was an excellent choice for the first story. But, as far as the story itself goes, it didn’t work for me. It had a nice twist ending but to make that work it forced a lot of character interaction that didn’t make a lot of sense and some very stilted descriptions. The story also had an over-wordy, over-introspective style that I’ve never particularly cared for. It did really set up the sense of the other – in ways that go beyond the simple supernatural creatures we’ve already known - and definitely laid the groundwork for the creepy, the evil and the sinister


Mark Henry’s The Sweeter the Juice, stood out to be for so many levels of uniqueness. A zombie apocalypse – with a twist of other marauders as well – a completely new take on the hazards of a dystopian and post-apocalypse world. For the world alone it would have been worth a read. But the protagonist is also a trans woman, which is really damn rare in any media and almost non-existent in dystopians. It covers a lot of issues really well – after all, in a post-apocalyptic world, a trans woman wanting to transition still wants to transition, the zombies don’t change that. But she still has the extreme problems of prejudice, poverty and being at the mercy of an often hostile and highly patronising medical establishment. We have her desperation and often being at the mercy of hostile or indifferent agents while having to jump through hoops and pass tests that are no-one’s business.

The negative side is there are also a few prejudices and stereotypes thrown with a sense of comic relief around the edges that warred with the darkness of this story – probably the grittiest, darkest and most sinister of the whole book.

Nicole Peeler’s The Inside Man was probably my favourite story of the whole book. We had a nearly all POC cast, a massive supernatural world and it did an excellent job of hinting at the greater series it was part of without overwhelming us with minutia. The characters are fascinating with their own strengths and weaknesses, bounce off each other well and spoke of a long ongoing relationship without having to info dump on us. It was a perfectly written short story and really intrigued me about the series

Allison Pang’s A Duet with Darkness was also a story I liked a lot – with a number of POC and a fascinatingly different world; the myriad of creatures and how they work, a completely different world building from anything I’ve seen with lots of hints but no overt info dumping to an extent that it overwhelmed the plot. The main character is interesting – not perfect or even all that likeable because of her arrogance, but still with a lot of potential. Like with The Inside Man I am intrigued and it’s put this series on my radar

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Well, this was not at all what I expected. This title came up in my search for carnival or circus horror. With a name like Carniepunk, I was thinking carnival splatterpunk. The big top tent and blood splatter on the cover also contributed to this assumption. Instead, this is anthology is loaded with mythical creatures, romance, YA, and magic. Nothing wrong with any of those things, but not what I was looking for. The audiobook even starts off with some creepy music, but the book isn't the least bit dark. There is absolutely nothing "punk" about this anthology. And though every story does take place at least partially at a carnival, in half of them it just seems to be an arbitrary setting so the story could fit the theme. It's not really show more integral to the plot - the same story could have happened anywhere.

Honestly, these stories are just downright boring. I've never cared less about so many characters in the same volume. The tales are filled with cool creatures that barely do anything. Everything from demons to djinn, vampires and werewolves, fae, even a fucking manticore! But all they do is talk about powers and abilities that they never use. The authors seem to think that stuffing as many creatures into a modern setting as possible will make the story interesting, but it doesn't.

Another annoying thing is that many of these stories are just advertisements for the authors' books. And most don't bother to explain how their fantasy worlds or magic systems work, so if you are not already familiar with each author's work (and I was familiar with none of them) then you don't know why things are the way they are. Maybe there's a good reason these creatures don't use their powers and have to resort to talking about sex for twenty pages, but how would I know?!?

I don't usually post such bad reviews because, as an author and editor, I understand what it takes to write and publish books. I generally believe that all books and authors, even bad ones, deserve respect for what they do. But this book is a liar, a deceiver, and needs to be exposed. Besides, some people love boring YA urban fantasy, so they'd love this book. But they'd never know what it was by the name and cover. I'm here to help. I give it two stars, one for each story I didn't completely hate. show less

I’ve never been one for tales of the circus or carnivals. There’s never been anything about them that has beckoned to me and sucked me in – until this anthology. With Carniepunk I finally got it. That immersive and magical feel of the carnival. I not only fell in love with the atmosphere created in these pages, I fell in love with the stories and the authors. I ended up with a whole bunch of new authors and books added to my TBR after this one (you’ve been warned! :P).

What impressed me most about this anthology was the breadth of topic, tone and frivolity. There are some dark stories in this one, some adorable ones, and some downright hilarious ones. You hear people say that there’s “something for everyone” and I’d say show more that applies to Carniepunk. show less

This is probably one of the creepiest anthologies I’ve read. I think there are only 2 stores that I skipped. Not because they were bad or anything, but one didn’t appeal to me, and the other, I have a healthy fear of clowns, and I just couldn’t do it.

This anthology is sure to keep you on your toes. I absolutely loved the Jaye Wells short story. It was twisted, and awesome. Also if you read the one by Jennifer Estep, make sure you’ve read to at least book 4 in the Elemental Assassin’s series, otherwise there are big spoilers. I plan on picking up books by some of these authors, especially Kevin Hearne.

I love how every story had the carnival aspect to it. Some of them the whole event didn’t take place at a carnival, but show more that’s where the dilemma began, or ended. There’s just something about carnivals that makes them seem magical.

I highly suggest this book. You’ll find yourself wanting to join in the festivities, or run in fear. show less

Normally with any anthology they’ll be a few stories I like and some I either hate or just don’t get. ‘Carniepunk’ is an exception; there are a few stories I love, a lot I like and none I hate or don’t get. I’m not sure if it’s because of the subject matter or because of which authors have work included in it, but this is a great collection. These carnival themed stories are very dark, but, for the most part, not gruesome. The only annoyance I found was that a number of the stories were set in worlds that are the settings of series and had some presumption that the reader would be familiar with that world; on the other hand, these stories provided an introduction to some series I might follow up on.

Kevin Hearne (THE IRON DRUID series) had announced he was a contributor to this anthology a few months before the release date, and so I felt compelled to get it. Especially since it had a short story from the IRON DRUID series Hearne writes. However, seeing that it had several authors I have read, it added to value of what I was getting. This was a great read, each story having something to do with carnivals, whether it was twisted and dark, or revenge, or finding a missing person. Hearne's contribution sticks out to me, as does Estep's short of the ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN. As usual, there were a couple stories that didn't hit the mark for me, but overall, was a good read - even if you are afraid of clowns!