Dr. Shivers' Carnival

Spinechillers Mysteries #1

by Fred E. Katz

Kyle Conlon discovers that a bizarre carnival has mysteriously appeared overnight right next door to his uncle's house. He and this three friends, Sara, Sammy and Brent, set out to investigate.

The carnival's owner, Dr. Shivers, invites the four of them to try all the amusements for free - if they're brave enough.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 1997

Reviews

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy Jesus… this MIGHT be the worst 90s kids horror book EVER. I’ve read some bad stuff from this genre from post-2000, but fuck was this an atrocity and a blatant insult to middle-grade horror (and it literally says so in the final chapter, I’m not even kidding). Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: yes, the author is deceased (I think?), so Rest in Peace. Oh, and the other elephant: this is a Christian kids horror series. I knew what I was dipping my unready toes into; I am an atheist reading a book aimed at Christians. I am acknowledging this fact as, whilst I have some problems with the Christian theming, I do understand I’m not the demographic. Anywho… I have, like, no positives for this piece of shit. It’s got a few okay ride ideas and moments, but that’s LITERALLY IT. I don’t wanna be the bearer of bad news, but this book is straight dog shit. Let’s barrel through these complaints, shall we? The writing is iffy as fuck and has some mood breaking jokes, random laughing scenes, annoyingly slapped in prayers/blessings/all that jazz that break the stories cohesion, and some awkward pacing bits. The whole story is slow as well; there’s zero progression in the plot until the final four pages, I’m not joking. There’s overdrawn out scenes like the Mummy section and poorly-written and confusing messes like the golf portion near the end, and not to mention the whole “here’s the next spooky event” gimmick got old within the first forty pages—and guess what?—it goes on even into the final chapter of the book. Again, ZERO PROGRESSION; it’s just “through in some random shit, Christian kids will read it after getting baptized anyways” ahh material. The spelling thing going on throughout the whole book is the most outrageously dumb thing I think I have ever read in my life, as it’s super obvious what it’s gonna spell out by the fourth letter (hint: it involves the super duper obvious “””twist””” ending, which is terrible) and it paints the kids as dumb fucking neanderthals. It’s super forced as well, as like, how the fuck did they even figure out they had to spell shit? It’s never told to them to “find letters around the park;” not to mention the utter plot-convenience that is them going coincidentally on the correct rides for the next letter. And I know that it does get explained, but the explanation is cheap and doesn’t really make me hate it any less, even if it makes some what more sense. And now… you saw it coming… the final chapter. This may very well be THE worst chapter in 90s kids horror fiction ever. There’s the obvious twist ending, which is just Fright Camp all over again; there’s the fuckass Christian message that feels forced and tonally out of place in a kids horror book (no hate but it just doesn’t land in this genre); and OH. MY. FUCKING. GEROME (can’t say The Big G ykyk): the paragraph that disses kids horror fiction. That can go fuck itself. I’m not even offended as much as I am getting both second-half embarrassment alongside pissed off at the absolute idiocracy of it. Maybe the author, in retrospective (since this was a big belief back then that GB was evil), doesn’t feel that way anymore, and I have complete respect for the attempt to appeal to a Christian audience even if this doesn’t land, like, at all, but… just read this shit: “‘Yep. I’ve been concerned by all the horror books middle school kids are reading. Even worse is that some of them believe that stuff. I want kids to have fun, but they need to separate what’s of God and what’s of the imagination,’ Uncle Rex explained.” THIS IS JUST CALLING MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS IDIOTS AND SAYING GOOSEBUMPS IS BAD. With all due respect, Mr. Fred (and Rest in Peace dude): this book is awful, and it’s not even because it’s Christian though that is a bad mix, so you have no grounds to stand bro. OVERALL, 1/10. The worst kids horror book pre-2000 and so on. This MIGHT be the worst series ever if all of them have the same twist. Amen.

[Rian Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh Lord.
I remember reading this as a kid and I loved it. It is the Christian alternative to Goosebumps. Now I know why my private Christian school put this in their library opposed to Goosebumps. It is awful and I regret wasting my time.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I am the reading specialist in a Christian school, and this series is supposed to be a Christian alternative to Goosebumps. It would definitely appeal to the students who like reading scary books, but it seemed unbelievable at times. It was nominally Christian. The main characters prayed when they were in danger and mentioned going to church, etc. Also, the explanation of what happened left no doubt that what they experienced was not real. Some students would love this series. Perhaps it is closer to 3.5 stars.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, silly, quick read

[Gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun fast read, very cheesy, but fun.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

God.

https://spongey444.wordpress.com/2020...

[Brandon Kazimir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this book in 3rd or 4th grade and being really engrossed by the story. One of the few chapters books I read in maybe one or two sittings as a kid. I'm sure my opinion would change if I re-read it today, but as a good little Christian boy who could barely handle anything much of anything scary, this book did its job.