If meticulously curated online personas can replace private identities, what takes over when those constructs are lost?įantasticLand is a modern take on Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale that probes the consequences of a social civilization built online. This new social network divides the ravaged dreamland into territories ruled by the Pirates, the ShopGirls, the Freaks, and the Mole People. 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. Park policy was that the mostly college-aged employees surrender their electronic devices to preserve the authenticity of the FantasticLand experience. Presented as a fact-finding investigation and a series of first-person interviews, FantasticLand pieces together the grisly series of events.
How could a group of survivors, mostly teenagers, commit such terrible acts?
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. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. 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.
Still, every now and then something crosses my path that immediately piques my interest, and FantasticLand, with its eerie cover and chilling premise, came along at just the right time to suit my mood. To be honest, and considering my taste in movies, I’m surprised I don’t read more of the genre. I don’t read much horror these days (though I loved the old Point Horror books from my youth), and aside from Stephen King’s releases I don’t tend to find the urge to add them to my reading. FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven is a book I came across while browsing for something a little different to read.
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