Carniepunk by Rachel Caine

September 30th, 2013 Kimberly Review 101 Comments

30th Sep
Carniepunk by Rachel Caine
Carniepunk
by Rachel Caine, Rob Thurman, Kevin Hearne, Seanan McGuire, Jennifer Estep, Allison Pang, Kelly Gay, Delilah S. Dawson, Kelly Meding
Series: Hell on Earth #0.7
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchase
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

A star-studded urban fantasy anthology featuring bestselling authors Rachel Caine, Rob Thurman, Seanan McGuire, Jennifer Estep, and Kevin Hearne, whose stories explore the creepy, mysterious, and, yes, sometimes magical world of traveling carnivals. The traveling carnival is a leftover of a bygone era, a curiosity lurking on the outskirts of town. It is a place of contradictions—the bright lights mask the peeling paint; a carnie in greasy overalls slinks away from the direction of the Barker’s seductive call. It is a place of illusion—is that woman’s beard real? How can she live locked in that watery box? And while many are tricked by sleight of hand, there are hints of something truly magical going on. One must remain alert and learn quickly the unwritten rules of this dark show. To beat the carnival, one had better have either a whole lot of luck or a whole lot of guns—or maybe some magic of one’s own. Featuring stories grotesque and comical, outrageous and action-packed, Carniepunk is the first anthology to channel the energy and attitude of urban fantasy into the bizarre world of creaking machinery, twisted myths, and vivid new magic.

What an absolutely fantastic anthology Carniepunk turned out to be! It whisks us to the carnival as only these talented authors of Urban Fantasy could do. With such high-profile authors as Seanan McGuire, Rob Thurman, Delilah S. Dawson, Kevin Hearne, Jackie Kessler, Kelly Gay, Jennifer Estep, Rachel Caine, Kelly Meding, Allison Pang and more one cannot help but get excited. Some of my personal favorites were Cold Girl, The Three Lives of Lydia, Parlor Tricks and Daughter of the Midway, The Mermaid, and The Open Lonely Sea. This is a must-read for urban fantasy fans and a great introduction to new authors and the genre in general. A perfect coffee table read that offers hours of enjoyment! Dark, engaging and chock full of fantastic reads I was impressed. Often I am disappointed by 40% of the stories within a typical anthology but I can honestly say while some excited me more than others this collection produced all four and five-star tales.

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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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101 Responses to “Carniepunk by Rachel Caine”

  2. Texas Book Lover

    I don’t read a ton of spooky books myself. About the spookiest I have read would be I Hunt Killers. But my daughter loves any and all things spooky!

  4. Amber Terry

    I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.

    Thanks for the chance to win!!

  9. Kimberly

    Another one of my favourite spooky reads is Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz 🙂

  12. Cindi Clubbs

    I enjoy the Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz:) Thanks for participating and don’t forget to stop by my blog on the tour! Mommasez…

  14. Beckie

    Besides The Devouring Series, I loved The possession of cassie quinn. Very creepy! 🙂

    – Beckie

  16. cali

    Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which, while seemingly a children’s book, actually gets spookier the older the reader.

  18. kristin sims

    the shining by stephen king is one of the spookiest books to me, that i have ever read, thanks!

  20. alicia marie

    I loved Red Rain by R.L. Stine. It was more creepy than spooky, but definitely good : )

  23. Szappanbubi

    Definitely Stephen King- I’ve been reading his storis since I was 14 o.O

  24. Kristia

    I like The Graveyard Queen series by Amanda Stevens. Thank you for the giveaway 🙂

  27. Joana

    Weirdly enough, I haven’t read many scary books (which is strange since I LOVE horror movies…). I think that maybe the scariest was Gothika by Clara Tahoces (the description of an old woman singing a children’s song in a little girl’s voice still sends shivers down my spine)

  28. Jamie

    I just finished The Hallowed Ones which had some creep effect. As for ‘spooky’ I can’t think of anything that falls quiet under that word.

  31. Victoria (aka Zemfirka)

    hmm… spooky, good question – and I’m not sure. I’m not too keen on very scary stuff, but I read some “darker” lit on occasion. So yeah, just went through my shelf nothing particular that I would qualify as spooky, perhaps the copy of Carniepunk can fill that void! 😉

  33. Reanna

    Anything by Stephen King, especially The Tommyknockers and The Langoliers. Coma by Robin Cook was another good one.

  34. Shi'Asia

    It’s silly, but may favorite for a very long time was Jade Green.

  37. Denise Z

    I think the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz is pretty awesome. Thank you for participating in this fun hop. I so want to read Carnipunk, the cover alone gives me the chills 🙂

  38. iriel

    I look a book I have, an antology of horror short stories of several great authors as Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe 😀 I scared the hell out of me when I was little.

  40. Mandy Earles

    Probably Needful Things by Stephen King. I read it in middle school and it scared the hell outta me. Thanks for the great giveaway!

  41. Berls

    This is one that I’ve had on my TBR for a while 🙂 As for a favorite spooky book, hmmmm I think at the moment it’s Crimson Night by Marie Hall. It’s a different kind of spooky, but I think demons count right?

  43. Diana Dimovska

    The Shining by Stephen King and everything from H.P. Lovecraft! 😀
    Thanks! 🙂

  44. Carla C.

    The Diviners by Libba Bray can be pretty scary sometimes! thank you for the giveaway! :))

  45. Michelle Willms

    The scariest books I’ve ever read were by Stephen King, my favorite author. If you want something different, though, but also creepy/scary, try The Walking by Bentley Little. Little has an interesting writing style. I love most of his books. The Walking got me started on his books and I devoured everything he had published at that time one after the other. michelle_willms@yahoo.com

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Ooo thanks for the recommendation Michelle, I will check out Little’s book 🙂

  52. Amy Quinn

    The Silence of the Lambs. Both the book and the film still scare me.

  53. Adriana

    I surprised myself by actually really enjoying anthologies so I’m up for any of them. I like the circus theme. Anything circus reminds me of The Night Circus which was a really great book. Any Robert Cormier book like “After the First Death.” They are all very real and chilling. Thanks for the review and giveaway!

  54. aurian

    You had to ask and make me remember, didn’t you? A spooky book that won’t let me forget about it, and a choice many people will laugh away: Raymond E. Feist – Faerie Tale.

  55. Jessica D

    I don’t have a favorite book but I’m a huge fan of Stephen King

  59. Maricris Patrimonio Dimla

    All Stephen King’s books! He’s the Master of Scary Books!

  60. Jessica Snow

    I would have to say, It, by Stephen King.
    Thanks for the giveaway! =)

  62. Natasha

    I love any of the Goosebumps or Fear Street books by R.L. Stine. Thanks for the chance to win!

  64. Claire Gillian

    Favorite spooky book is this one I remember buying during a book fair in grammar school called “Strangely Enough”. It probably wouldn’t be as scary if I read it today, but I remember thinking it was at the time.

  65. Tiffany Drew

    Anna Dressed in Blood, it’s such a great read! Thank you 🙂

  68. Jan

    I don’t like many spooky books and no horror, but I did really like Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. Carnepunk has been on my “to buy someday” list for a long time!

  69. Marka

    My favourite spooky book is one by Jose Carlos Somoza: La Dama número 13.

    Thanks for the giveaway!!

  71. Hillary R.

    One of the books that maybe managed to spook me a little was Asylum by Madeleine Roux. It wasn’t that scary but the pictures kind of made me want to look the other way (especially while reading in the middle of the night). Thank you for the giveaway! ^_^

  73. erinf1

    anything from Dean Koontz is scary to me 😉 Thanks for sharing!

  74. Wayne Lecoy

    I entered your Something Wicked Giveaway.
    It would be great to win a copy of Carniepunk.
    In response to your question of
    What is one of your favorite “spooky” books?
    One of my favorites is “Carrie” By Stephen King.
    Thank you for having this giveaway!!!!!!!!

  76. Rebe

    I love Simone St. James’ books, The Haunting of Maddy Clare and An Inquiry into Love and Death. They’ve very spooky!

  77. Candace

    I have this one on my to-read pile, I can’t WAIT to read it!
    Thanks for participating in the hop!

  79. miki

    Thank you so much for this giveaway!!!i do want this book since seanan mcguire and other favourite author of mine got a story in it thanks

    i’m not fan of horror book but as dark urban fantasy the october daye series by seanan mcguire is excellent

    thanks

  83. Anne Consolacion

    I’m a fan of spooky books and there’s a ton I love. I must say one of the spookiest I’ve read is Stephen King’s The Stand.

  84. Krutula

    I don’t read horror much, because I get easily scared, but The Girl in the Mirror by Cecilia Ahern is one of my favorite spooky books.

  87. Tanja

    This sounds like a great read that would introduce me to some amazing UF stories! I’m new in UF genre so I should try it 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway Kim 🙂

    for the my fave probably Anna Dressed in Blood or The Hallowed Ones 🙂

  89. Barbara Elness

    Cherie Priest’s Four and Twenty Blackbirds was pretty spooky to me.

  90. Dee

    I love Edgar Allen Poe. His stories are so spooky…even his shorter ones like Lenore and The Pit and the Pendulum.
    the most recent spooky book I read was Pretty Dark Nothing, that played like a scary movie in my head.

    Great theme of a hop!

  92. Stephanie

    Thanks for the giveaway! I don’t read spooky books but, I am open to suggestions!

  95. kindlemom1

    I am so glad you are a part of the tour again Kim! What a great choice for a giveaway, if I didn’t already have this one I would enter for sure!

  96. kimberlybuggie

    Great review! I actually have a copy of this book and am really excited to read it during this season! I’m so glad you liked it! All four and five star tales? I’ll start reading now!
    🙂

  99. Heidi

    Thanks for being a part of Wicked. I still have to read this one. There are so many of my fav authors in there and I have to read the latest Hearne story. I am an avid King fan anything by him is perfect for Halloween.