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Super Castle Fun Park
A wild, beguiling novel about isolation, technology, and raising the dead by the co-editor of
Queer Little Nightmares
The dead want to speak to you. But are you ready to hear their words? Super Castle Fun Park explores a group of people tending wistfully to their precarious lives. Dario is an aimless pessimist staying at a themed hotel who is tasked with the care of his aunt at the end of her life. Jeremy is Dario's anxious boyfriend who is trapped in his home, plagued by disturbing visions. Chelsea is an ornery medium who spends her free time on her phone trolling a group of misfits in an online game. Each of them is at the precipice of change, and the people they are interconnected to, including the dead, will be there when it happens.
Moving seamlessly between quiet melancholy, wry humour, and the supernatural, Super Castle Fun Park is a novel that defies a tragicomic, very human story about isolation, ghosts, technology, and our deep, abiding need for connection.
The dead want to speak to you. But are you ready to hear their words? Super Castle Fun Park explores a group of people tending wistfully to their precarious lives. Dario is an aimless pessimist staying at a themed hotel who is tasked with the care of his aunt at the end of her life. Jeremy is Dario's anxious boyfriend who is trapped in his home, plagued by disturbing visions. Chelsea is an ornery medium who spends her free time on her phone trolling a group of misfits in an online game. Each of them is at the precipice of change, and the people they are interconnected to, including the dead, will be there when it happens.
Moving seamlessly between quiet melancholy, wry humour, and the supernatural, Super Castle Fun Park is a novel that defies a tragicomic, very human story about isolation, ghosts, technology, and our deep, abiding need for connection.
Audible Audio
Published May 19, 2026
About the author
Daniel Zomparelli
9 books76 followersDaniel Zomparelli is the founder of Poetry Is Dead magazine and the host of I'm Afraid That.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 7, 2026
I liked the multilayered aspect to this novel! Interesting focus on grief, queer relationships and gaming. I liked the different POV and the supernatural.
Thank you to ECW Press via Libro.fm for my ALC!
Thank you to ECW Press via Libro.fm for my ALC!
August 11, 2026
I truly have no idea how to feel towards this..I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t know how to help this find its readers. Character driven, ghosts, sadness and mental health, a themed hotel…this was not bad, I listened to the libro.fm ALC and thought it was well done, especially towards the end. Avoid the audiobook if usernames being read to you during dialogue bothers you.
Read
April 10, 2026Whether using the literal definition to refer to some pale apparition visiting from the afterlife, or as a more metaphorical way of depicting the lingering consequences of our choices and experiences from the past, the word ‘ghost’ can take on several different meanings.
In the context of Super Castle Fun Park, Daniel Zomparelli offers readers a world where ghosts (be them literal or metaphorical) are omnipresent features in the lives of the novel’s ensemble cast, using them to address themes of alienation and the need for genuine human connection in the digital age.
Read my full review at the BC Review:
https://thebcreview.ca/2026/04/09/288...
In the context of Super Castle Fun Park, Daniel Zomparelli offers readers a world where ghosts (be them literal or metaphorical) are omnipresent features in the lives of the novel’s ensemble cast, using them to address themes of alienation and the need for genuine human connection in the digital age.
Read my full review at the BC Review:
https://thebcreview.ca/2026/04/09/288...
July 17, 2026
The dead LOVE how weird this book was
The dead think the narration was fantastic, and they’re not just saying that because they know the narrator!!!!
I had no expectations going into this book because I literally only listened to it because Andrew read it, but wowowow it made me feel so much.
Truly like no other book I’ve encountered and has a really unique perspective on grief, mental health, and finding your place in the world. I really enjoyed this!!!!
and that’s a Slay
The dead think the narration was fantastic, and they’re not just saying that because they know the narrator!!!!
I had no expectations going into this book because I literally only listened to it because Andrew read it, but wowowow it made me feel so much.
Truly like no other book I’ve encountered and has a really unique perspective on grief, mental health, and finding your place in the world. I really enjoyed this!!!!
and that’s a Slay
May 17, 2026
Not 100 present sure what I just read but I know I had fun
March 28, 2026
I went into this cold, picking up the ARC at Winter Institute for ABA. This is a gem of a tragicomic. The queer, neurodivergent cast of characters grow through many challenges, and the poetic language to abstract some of those experiences is quite beautiful. The genre-mixing (online game chat, Greek drama chorus, and prose) makes it a timeless and time-specific story of grief and connection. I’ll be recommending this!
May 8, 2026
A case of too much all at once. I think if this was just stuck to one character (even though most of the book is of the POV of one character) the emotions and tensions would come off better. It just seemed to skip, jump, and hop too quickly. But hey, the quirky millennial brains not rotted by algorithms might follow along better than I, the wasteland of a twenty four year old.
It's an okay book. I wish things went more in depth on the characters feelings and the whole concept of the ghosts. That was the only cool and fun part but it just seemed unimportant/random at times. I think if it was the only depressed character and these randoms he talks to on his phone started showing up in his life, it would be cooler! Like little Easter eggs of some sort. I also am just not the person who enjoys multiple POVs. I love when a story just isn't complete? I don't need to know EVERYTHING. It just hurts because I know it could be better and it's weird to say about a book but it has a lot of potential that just isn't there.
But I am just a bookseller and not an author so what do I know. I do know when something is mediocre. I feel a little let down because the premise of the book sounds so fun and refreshing! My edelweiss curse strikes again.
It's an okay book. I wish things went more in depth on the characters feelings and the whole concept of the ghosts. That was the only cool and fun part but it just seemed unimportant/random at times. I think if it was the only depressed character and these randoms he talks to on his phone started showing up in his life, it would be cooler! Like little Easter eggs of some sort. I also am just not the person who enjoys multiple POVs. I love when a story just isn't complete? I don't need to know EVERYTHING. It just hurts because I know it could be better and it's weird to say about a book but it has a lot of potential that just isn't there.
But I am just a bookseller and not an author so what do I know. I do know when something is mediocre. I feel a little let down because the premise of the book sounds so fun and refreshing! My edelweiss curse strikes again.
Did Not Finish
July 20, 2026DNF with only 100 pages left because I just know I wouldn't end up giving this over 3 stars and I don't care enough to finish it.
This needed a better editor who would push Zomparelli to greater things - so many sections are just dialogue, no dialogue tags or description or anything - felt like a first draft. The Ghost Chorus sections are interesting in concept but in reality don't say anything insightful or unexpected. "The Game" pissed me off because it just doesn't make sense; some weird mashup between a mobile game and an MMO. Again, this was interesting in concept as it was intended to reflect what is going in real life for the characters (literally says this in text), but it could have worked a lot harder to do that as again, it doesn't feel very meaningful as is.
In general, I just loved the concept of this - guy staying at a novelty theme hotel while looking after his sick aunt - but the execution felt thin and underdeveloped - as insubstantial as a ghost.
This needed a better editor who would push Zomparelli to greater things - so many sections are just dialogue, no dialogue tags or description or anything - felt like a first draft. The Ghost Chorus sections are interesting in concept but in reality don't say anything insightful or unexpected. "The Game" pissed me off because it just doesn't make sense; some weird mashup between a mobile game and an MMO. Again, this was interesting in concept as it was intended to reflect what is going in real life for the characters (literally says this in text), but it could have worked a lot harder to do that as again, it doesn't feel very meaningful as is.
In general, I just loved the concept of this - guy staying at a novelty theme hotel while looking after his sick aunt - but the execution felt thin and underdeveloped - as insubstantial as a ghost.
August 17, 2026
The dead want to give this 5 stars. I definitely want to go back and reread as I don't think I picked up on all of the connections between the characters. I really liked how the book wove the story through different characters view points and their online gaming chats. The author told stories of grief, mental health, and neurodivergence, in a way that was both sympathetic and the right amount of humor. Having the fog, storm, or the pattern, are all things we can overcome, or at least learn to manage. Perfect commentary: the chorus of the dead. The dead, maybe not so surprisingly, have a lot to say. "The dead know about the mustard sitting in your fridge - it's still good! "
May 11, 2026
The way this book talked about connection and disconnection has deeply changed who I am as a person. god
June 19, 2026
super castle fun park was such a joy. strange and liminal and un-put-down-able. i struggle to put this book into a category, but my best attempt is speculative contemporary pseudo-horror… and it was fantastic in all of its roles. it was refreshingly silly, and occasionally quite poignant in how it speaks about the hauntings that plague our lives and the ways in which we either move on or get lost in the fog.
this was very much a “less plot, more vibes” sort of book, but the ensemble of characters were a treat to follow. a lot of people who read this mention the two main perspectives, both of which have endearing stories to tell, but i found myself so bewitched by every single glimpse at the supporting cast.
the dead know this one is an acquired taste, but we promise, it’ll be worth it!!
this was very much a “less plot, more vibes” sort of book, but the ensemble of characters were a treat to follow. a lot of people who read this mention the two main perspectives, both of which have endearing stories to tell, but i found myself so bewitched by every single glimpse at the supporting cast.
the dead know this one is an acquired taste, but we promise, it’ll be worth it!!
Read
March 14, 2026I think I’m just not the reader for this title.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.
DNF
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.
DNF
June 2, 2026
Super Castle Fun Park—excuse me while I take a second to appreciate this perfect title—isn't an experimental, trying, or even bold novel, despite its name. It is, however, a superbly singular one.
This review won't do it justice because, my God, there is so much to talk about here. This is a novel that manages to contain multiple worlds at once: the IRL, the URL, the world of the dead, and the private worlds of its characters—sometimes intersecting, sometimes not. We spend most of our time with the protagonist, but Zomparelli also brings us into the lives of side characters that feel surprisingly complete, as though we're briefly stepping into entire universes before moving on. Sometimes his authorial devices seem to flirt with innovation for innovation's sake, but what we get is something more impressive: new, cinematic, and novelistic in its execution.
I could geek out about my favorite aspect of Super Castle Fun Park forever. The primary world we inhabit is that of the living: a version of the modern era that mostly resembles our own reality. Yet throughout the novel, Zomparelli subtly expands that reality, constantly reminding us that this world exists just adjacent to ours. Conditions such as "The Fog," "The Storm," "The Pattern," and "The Cloud"—trying to avoid spoilers here—are accepted facts of life, woven into everyday existence. So is the growing recognition that some people possess "The Gift," an ability to interface with the dead.
By giving names to these phenomena, Zomparelli creates a framework through which his characters can articulate experiences that might otherwise feel unknowable. The result is a world where the epidemics of fragile mental health, existential dread, and our collective fascination with reality, mortality and the afterlife become tangible, communal experiences rather than isolated struggles. It's a fascinating piece of worldbuilding because it never feels like worldbuilding at all, just another layer of reality.
The characters in this book are all longing for something, though they're often unsure what that something is. The writing has a melancholic quality and frequently becomes morbid, yet Zomparelli never allows either the tone or his characters to become instruments of style. This isn't a novel interested in manufacturing emotion or presenting a hollow modern world simply to make a point. The people on these pages feel profoundly human.
Each character seems to find themselves suspended at a particular moment in time—fleeting but intense—that you, as the reader, can recognize as a dividing line between what was and what will be. Whether the characters themselves can see that threshold is another question entirely. That tension gives the novel much of its emotional and thematic power. The result is a work that feels honest, intimate, and, at times, heartbreaking.
A side note: this is a queer novel, and I loved the way Zomparelli handles that fact. The book begins in a space where queerness feels largely incidental to the story being told. These are simply people, some of whom happen to be gay. But as the novel evolves, queerness becomes increasingly intentional and visible. Sex, identity, desire, and community move closer to the foreground. Rather than treating queerness as either a defining trait or something to be downplayed, Zomparelli allows it to gradually reveal itself as an essential part of the novel's emotional architecture.
There is so much—and I mean SO MUCH—more to talk about here, but these are my immediate thoughts having just come out the other side. Mostly, I'm left wishing books like this received more mainstream attention. These strange, ambitious little gems feel invisible within the bigger publishing landscape. Super Castle Fun Park is more interesting, involving, and engrossing than much of what we're handed, particularly within queer and gay literary fiction. It's the kind of novel that reminds you how exciting contemporary fiction can still be when a writer is willing to build something entirely their own.
This review won't do it justice because, my God, there is so much to talk about here. This is a novel that manages to contain multiple worlds at once: the IRL, the URL, the world of the dead, and the private worlds of its characters—sometimes intersecting, sometimes not. We spend most of our time with the protagonist, but Zomparelli also brings us into the lives of side characters that feel surprisingly complete, as though we're briefly stepping into entire universes before moving on. Sometimes his authorial devices seem to flirt with innovation for innovation's sake, but what we get is something more impressive: new, cinematic, and novelistic in its execution.
I could geek out about my favorite aspect of Super Castle Fun Park forever. The primary world we inhabit is that of the living: a version of the modern era that mostly resembles our own reality. Yet throughout the novel, Zomparelli subtly expands that reality, constantly reminding us that this world exists just adjacent to ours. Conditions such as "The Fog," "The Storm," "The Pattern," and "The Cloud"—trying to avoid spoilers here—are accepted facts of life, woven into everyday existence. So is the growing recognition that some people possess "The Gift," an ability to interface with the dead.
By giving names to these phenomena, Zomparelli creates a framework through which his characters can articulate experiences that might otherwise feel unknowable. The result is a world where the epidemics of fragile mental health, existential dread, and our collective fascination with reality, mortality and the afterlife become tangible, communal experiences rather than isolated struggles. It's a fascinating piece of worldbuilding because it never feels like worldbuilding at all, just another layer of reality.
The characters in this book are all longing for something, though they're often unsure what that something is. The writing has a melancholic quality and frequently becomes morbid, yet Zomparelli never allows either the tone or his characters to become instruments of style. This isn't a novel interested in manufacturing emotion or presenting a hollow modern world simply to make a point. The people on these pages feel profoundly human.
Each character seems to find themselves suspended at a particular moment in time—fleeting but intense—that you, as the reader, can recognize as a dividing line between what was and what will be. Whether the characters themselves can see that threshold is another question entirely. That tension gives the novel much of its emotional and thematic power. The result is a work that feels honest, intimate, and, at times, heartbreaking.
A side note: this is a queer novel, and I loved the way Zomparelli handles that fact. The book begins in a space where queerness feels largely incidental to the story being told. These are simply people, some of whom happen to be gay. But as the novel evolves, queerness becomes increasingly intentional and visible. Sex, identity, desire, and community move closer to the foreground. Rather than treating queerness as either a defining trait or something to be downplayed, Zomparelli allows it to gradually reveal itself as an essential part of the novel's emotional architecture.
There is so much—and I mean SO MUCH—more to talk about here, but these are my immediate thoughts having just come out the other side. Mostly, I'm left wishing books like this received more mainstream attention. These strange, ambitious little gems feel invisible within the bigger publishing landscape. Super Castle Fun Park is more interesting, involving, and engrossing than much of what we're handed, particularly within queer and gay literary fiction. It's the kind of novel that reminds you how exciting contemporary fiction can still be when a writer is willing to build something entirely their own.
June 15, 2026
This was the strangest, tenderest, oddest, and weirdest book I've ever read.
At times it felt like a mashup of Welcome to Nightvale & William Alexander's short story 'Go Fish'. At most other times, it felt purely like its own indefinable thing.
This was GOOD. I felt seen and validated by characters who are almost nothing like me, which is quite a talent. And mostly the point of this book, I think. This was definitely one of those times you find the right book in the right format in the right headspace. If I'd tried to read a hard copy a month ago I probably wouldn't have kept with it. But listening to the audio (great narrator choice, btw) NOW has me planning to buy the hard copy to come back to (partially out of love, partially to try to keep all the intersecting storylines straight). It's also not necessarily a book I'd recommend to everyone, but those who would appreciate it will love it.
I did much prefer the beginning and middle to the ending, but there wasn't something I was looking for instead and isn't that the way it goes anyway.
If I waited a week to think it over then rate it, I might bump it down to a 4. But right now, having spent every spare minute the past few days frantically listening through it and fresh out of it, it'll get my rare 5.
At times it felt like a mashup of Welcome to Nightvale & William Alexander's short story 'Go Fish'. At most other times, it felt purely like its own indefinable thing.
This was GOOD. I felt seen and validated by characters who are almost nothing like me, which is quite a talent. And mostly the point of this book, I think. This was definitely one of those times you find the right book in the right format in the right headspace. If I'd tried to read a hard copy a month ago I probably wouldn't have kept with it. But listening to the audio (great narrator choice, btw) NOW has me planning to buy the hard copy to come back to (partially out of love, partially to try to keep all the intersecting storylines straight). It's also not necessarily a book I'd recommend to everyone, but those who would appreciate it will love it.
I did much prefer the beginning and middle to the ending, but there wasn't something I was looking for instead and isn't that the way it goes anyway.
If I waited a week to think it over then rate it, I might bump it down to a 4. But right now, having spent every spare minute the past few days frantically listening through it and fresh out of it, it'll get my rare 5.
June 6, 2026
The storm, the pattern and the fog. Perhaps, the gift?
This is the story of the players of THE GAME, but mostly @Jerbear83 and @FliporFlop. The players are trying to beat another player who happens to be a medium.
This book tackles mental health, loneliness, death and grief in ways you can hardly describe. This book has also a diverse cast of queer people.
This was most definitely an experience more than a well built story, which I’m fine with. It definitely has a weird vibe, which I’m having trouble explaining. I definitely bought this book because the cover art is fire, but it does represent the story pretty well. Some of the side stories of the side characters were really interesting.
This is the story of the players of THE GAME, but mostly @Jerbear83 and @FliporFlop. The players are trying to beat another player who happens to be a medium.
This book tackles mental health, loneliness, death and grief in ways you can hardly describe. This book has also a diverse cast of queer people.
This was most definitely an experience more than a well built story, which I’m fine with. It definitely has a weird vibe, which I’m having trouble explaining. I definitely bought this book because the cover art is fire, but it does represent the story pretty well. Some of the side stories of the side characters were really interesting.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Daniel Zomparelli's Super Castle Fun Park offers a simultaneously kind and caustic exploration of the ways people live with one another and with their mortality. It's partially set in a not-so-great theme park/hotel sprinkled with second class technotainment glitter and reads as if the ghost of Samuel Beckett might have been one of the editors to work it over. It will take you to unexpected places. It will also leave you with "huh?" moments that are worth a bit of thought. But don't take it too seriously.
Oh, and some chapters are narrated by the collective dead.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss+; the opinions are my own.
Oh, and some chapters are narrated by the collective dead.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss+; the opinions are my own.
June 17, 2026
This is a hard book to tag, because it is a weird one that does not fall under one particular genre.
I listen to this on @libro.fm Thanks for the advanced copy! The audio production is super well done and creepy and easy to listen to.
A dystopian, queer love story/ a story about a dumb phone game? The dead can speak? Some people can speak to them? Like I said, hard to explain.
But enjoyable!
I listen to this on @libro.fm Thanks for the advanced copy! The audio production is super well done and creepy and easy to listen to.
A dystopian, queer love story/ a story about a dumb phone game? The dead can speak? Some people can speak to them? Like I said, hard to explain.
But enjoyable!
May 14, 2026
I'm really not sure what to say about this novel. I enjoyed it, but I'm left confused about aspects. I appreciated the delivery of mental health issues and how they were articulated throughout. It's a story about dealing with grief and coming to terms with yourself. If you're looking for something thought provoking with a dash of humor, sexuality, and vulgarity give it a go! The dead are waiting!
June 17, 2026
This was a really odd book, and there were a lot of times I really didn't know what was going on, but I also enjoyed it. This is in some ways reminiscent of Chuck Palahniuk and Chuck Tingle's more mainstream books, but in a really good way. I thought the narrator did a great job, but I think it would have been better for me personally to have read it rather than listened.
June 25, 2026
4.5 What a great surprise, went in blind and got rewarded with an awesome cast of characters, multiple PoVs. It's a sad story, they are all suffering from loneliness, from hopelessness. Some can see ghosts, some can talk to them. There are cynical but also joyful characters, those who lose all, grief, and those who have nothing to lose. They all connect in a sort of found family way through an online game. There are sad moments but also some humorous scenes. Lots of LGBTQIA have quite detailed physical relationship scenes between Dario and his partners. It was sad but also a good awakening to treasure each moment, without wasting time, pay more attention to the people who matter, and give novelty and first time more chances.
The author adds a creative layer, they are diagnosed with patterns, storms, and fog. I definitely would be one having fog.
The author adds a creative layer, they are diagnosed with patterns, storms, and fog. I definitely would be one having fog.
August 15, 2026
A very unusual book 😂 The sadness of a dying woman, the online game which is played so poorly by an obsessed group, the location (Super Castle Fun Park), ghosts everywhere all wanting to be heard, a faltering gay romance and quite graphic sex (be warned). With all that said I really enjoyed it but it definitely would not be for everyone.
tbr-arc
December 8, 2025i want to visit that fun park.
*thank you to Arsenal Pulp Press for the ARC*
*thank you to Arsenal Pulp Press for the ARC*
April 1, 2026
“The dead want to be heard. The dead want to tell you a story! The dead are waiting for you.”
The dead enjoyed the game. The dead love this book.
The dead love Super Castle Fun Park!
The dead enjoyed the game. The dead love this book.
The dead love Super Castle Fun Park!
April 20, 2026
Funny, smart, and perfectly of the moment—the dead would insist you read this. Highly recommend.
April 23, 2026
Best novel of the year! It's dark and funny and made me sad, but in a way I appreciated and needed real bad. Just a perfect book. I loved it.
Did Not Finish
July 27, 2026This might be too lofty for me. Maybe I’ll revisit later. I struggled a bit w the formatting style too. There wasn’t enough curiosity for me to keep on keepin on.
August 25, 2026
2,5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews