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slimeandslashers's review against another edition
2.0
My least favorite Laymon read out of the three I've read thus far. I can usually overlook the criticisms people have of Laymon's work as long as the story is exciting or fun and zany.
Funland, however, just dragged on for far too long and contained too little action and excitement to feel that this read was worth it. I only liked one character out of many and had a hard time getting sucked into the story. There was some fun action and gore at the end, but, by that point, it was too little, too late for me.
I think others should still give this one a chance, if intrigued. I always advise picking up a book and judging for oneself.
Funland, however, just dragged on for far too long and contained too little action and excitement to feel that this read was worth it. I only liked one character out of many and had a hard time getting sucked into the story. There was some fun action and gore at the end, but, by that point, it was too little, too late for me.
I think others should still give this one a chance, if intrigued. I always advise picking up a book and judging for oneself.
lynn_k's review against another edition
2.0
DNFing at 200 pages. This book is very 90's. It has everything that would get an author canceled on twitter nowadays. It's trashy, and at first, interesting enough to keep going but I read almost half of this book and so far it's just teenagers being garbage people. I literally couldn't wait until these people got horribly murdered so I gave up because it didn't look like it was happening anytime soon.
ufoparty's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
interesting premise but has many of the same shortcomings of laymon’s other books... although this book in particular brought a couple issues to the forefront.
one is that every character laymon deems physically unattractive is either evil or lacking morally in some way. fat characters are slobs and cowards, and fat women in particular tend to be hypersexual and desperate. if someone is “ugly” their personality reflects that. there are conventionally attractive characters who suffer similar moral failings of course, but it’s not intrinsically tied to their appearance.
something else of interest was imo the demonization of homeless people and the belittling of anyone who sympathized with “trolls.” harold and gloria were the only 2 characters who thought of homeless people as fellow human beings. without even the knowledge of what was going on in funland, other characters mocked this and thought the homeless as undeserving of sympathy because of their lack of financial and medical resources and proximity to those who have those resources. laymon addresses this uncomfortable attitude at least, having numerous characters admit to themselves or others why the sight of a struggling homeless person disgusts them... but i find the main problem to be that it’s never treated as a misguided, misanthropic viewpoint. heros and villains alike share this viewpoint, even the homeless girl among the good guys—who is, of course, not like those other trolls, being very attractive.
to be fair, i wouldn’t expect cops in a book much less one of laymon’s to be sympathetic to a minority group; that’s just realistic. i don’t believe that laymon agrees with everything his characters do, but what’s left out of his writing speaks volumes. this book pushes the idea that everyone hates and is frightened by the homeless, and the difference between a decent person and a villain is whether one murders them or not.
one is that every character laymon deems physically unattractive is either evil or lacking morally in some way. fat characters are slobs and cowards, and fat women in particular tend to be hypersexual and desperate. if someone is “ugly” their personality reflects that. there are conventionally attractive characters who suffer similar moral failings of course, but it’s not intrinsically tied to their appearance.
something else of interest was imo the demonization of homeless people and the belittling of anyone who sympathized with “trolls.” harold and gloria were the only 2 characters who thought of homeless people as fellow human beings. without even the knowledge of what was going on in funland, other characters mocked this and thought the homeless as undeserving of sympathy because of their lack of financial and medical resources and proximity to those who have those resources. laymon addresses this uncomfortable attitude at least, having numerous characters admit to themselves or others why the sight of a struggling homeless person disgusts them... but i find the main problem to be that it’s never treated as a misguided, misanthropic viewpoint. heros and villains alike share this viewpoint, even the homeless girl among the good guys—who is, of course, not like those other trolls, being very attractive.
to be fair, i wouldn’t expect cops in a book much less one of laymon’s to be sympathetic to a minority group; that’s just realistic. i don’t believe that laymon agrees with everything his characters do, but what’s left out of his writing speaks volumes. this book pushes the idea that everyone hates and is frightened by the homeless, and the difference between a decent person and a villain is whether one murders them or not.
prescriptionbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
melihooker's review against another edition
3.0
Funland by Richard Laymon is straight up horror genre fiction and pretty standard Laymon in that it features some raw violence, 2-dimensional characters that inherently good or bad, and the male gaze quite typical of the perverted Laymon. I would describe his books as soap opera horror in that there is a predictable formula to them which includes plot developments and dialogue that could only be dreamed up in a male fantasy.
Dan Marlowe called Laymon "Stephen King without a conscience."
But for all those flaws, I still love Laymon because those flaws are kinda the point. It's like a slasher film delivering on kills and the retribution of our final girl at the end.
Funland is about the seaside town of Boleta Bay being infested by "trolls" (essentially homeless vagrants) overrunning the Funland boardwalk and the "trollers" that are fighting back. As the trollers continue their campaign against the trolls their methods continue to escalate leading to an eventual showdown... but who will survive!?
I would only recommend this to Laymon fans. Fun enough read, but not an essential read from the Laymon library. I would recommend others before this.
Dan Marlowe called Laymon "Stephen King without a conscience."
But for all those flaws, I still love Laymon because those flaws are kinda the point. It's like a slasher film delivering on kills and the retribution of our final girl at the end.
Funland is about the seaside town of Boleta Bay being infested by "trolls" (essentially homeless vagrants) overrunning the Funland boardwalk and the "trollers" that are fighting back. As the trollers continue their campaign against the trolls their methods continue to escalate leading to an eventual showdown... but who will survive!?
I would only recommend this to Laymon fans. Fun enough read, but not an essential read from the Laymon library. I would recommend others before this.
indiepauli47's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to give this book 2 stars, but I'm feeling extra generous, just because of that ending !! I literally squealed in delight, the last paragraph was the best part of the entire book. Hehehehehehe that's all you deserved, dickhead.
Right, with the swearing done, I can get into the review.
This is my second Laymon, and Ho boi, was I scared to start it. I HATED Island, with my entire little heart, but I wanted to give Laymon a second chance.
This book is better; But let's be real, it would have been very hard to do worse than Island.
In this one, we change POV, which I always like. Character wise, I didn't care about many; in fact, I only cared about Robin and Nate. The cops were just bland, and I couldn't give a damn about them. The typical cops, falling in love, and all that jazz... not interested.
The gang of trollers, then; where can I start with them... the main character, Jeremy, reminded me of this guy from Island... yeah, the one I HATED so much. Maaaaaaan, I hate you, I despise you, I wanted you to stay virgin your entire life and just diiiiiiiiiie.
I guess I got my revenge. Hehe
Tanya, crazy bitch.
All the rest, dumb.
There's no more needed to say, really.
But, unlike Island, the plot actually made sense, and I rather enjoyed it; it was very, very gory, and sometimes far-fetched, but still not so bad.
An improvement, all in all.
The characters in general (guys being the worst) and the over description every 2 pages of EVERY SINGLE GIRL are my main issues with this author. Also, is everyone in the world blond and tanned, and have big boobs ? Seems so, if you listen to Laymon..
Right, with the swearing done, I can get into the review.
This is my second Laymon, and Ho boi, was I scared to start it. I HATED Island, with my entire little heart, but I wanted to give Laymon a second chance.
This book is better; But let's be real, it would have been very hard to do worse than Island.
In this one, we change POV, which I always like. Character wise, I didn't care about many; in fact, I only cared about Robin and Nate. The cops were just bland, and I couldn't give a damn about them. The typical cops, falling in love, and all that jazz... not interested.
The gang of trollers, then; where can I start with them... the main character, Jeremy, reminded me of this guy from Island... yeah, the one I HATED so much. Maaaaaaan, I hate you, I despise you, I wanted you to stay virgin your entire life and just diiiiiiiiiie.
I guess I got my revenge. Hehe
Tanya, crazy bitch.
All the rest, dumb.
There's no more needed to say, really.
But, unlike Island, the plot actually made sense, and I rather enjoyed it; it was very, very gory, and sometimes far-fetched, but still not so bad.
An improvement, all in all.
The characters in general (guys being the worst) and the over description every 2 pages of EVERY SINGLE GIRL are my main issues with this author. Also, is everyone in the world blond and tanned, and have big boobs ? Seems so, if you listen to Laymon..
andshereads's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic, never read any books by this author before but I'm hooked!!!
stevemozza's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0