Rating: 
Summary: Good? Bad?
Review: I found the plot of this story plain dumb. I must say, However, Mr. Koontz' narrative skills make the book worth reading
Rating: 
Summary: A Scary One!
Review: This book was weird! It makes you really think about what all is possible out there. If you like suspence - thrillers, this one is really hot! There will never be another writer like this one
Rating: 
Summary: This House? Not So Fun
Review: This horror novel, originally published under the name 'Owen West', has many of the elements of later - and better - Koontz novels: clever children, a resourceful heroine, and an unnamed, but omnipresent, evil. However, this novel lacks the balance of other Koontz books; to my reading, it was all exposition and buildup, with a very anti-climactic final scene and no denouement. The plot concerns Ellen, who in the opening scene murders her possibly less-than-human baby; the opening is genuinely spooky, as Ellen fights for her life twice in a matter of hours, once from her child, then from her husband. She has married the owner of a carnival funhouse, Conrad Straker, after she ran away from her repressive mother. From there, the story shifts to Ellen's 17-year-old daughter Amy, who's forced to grow up in a number of ways she doesn't expect when a carnival comes to town. There's also Amy's brother Joey, a smart and loving child who, like Amy, fears his mother's combination of alcoholism and religiosity (one of the best moments in the novel is Ellen's realization she has turned into the mother she ran away from). Koontz builds the suspense well, and the reader knows it will only be a matter of time before Straker finds Ellen (or, from his point of view, better to find her children) to take his revenge for her murder of his beloved 'Victor'. There's enough mysticism and jolts to keep the reader interested, but the final scenes seem cut short. Evil is vanquished, but we never know the true nature of the evil vanquished, as the novel ends after the quick and unsatisfying climax. In the Berkley paperback edition, Koontz provides insight into how and why this book came to be, and why the pseudonym: he adapted a screenplay, and he needed the money. He also shows more humor in the Afterword than in the entire novel; more humor in the actual story would have served the characters well. This is especially true in the account of the demise of poor 'Owen West'...watch out for those buffalo!
Rating: 
Summary: Did Dean Koontz let RL Stein write this?
Review: Koontz's books are one of my big guilty pleasures. "The Funhouse" was as well-written as a "Goosebumps" tale, and as scary as R.L. Stein's most gentle paperback. The author readily admits that it is not his strongest piece, which I think is all more the reason to skip this one. The characters are characatures, the dialogue is laughably ridiculous, the descriptions... the book was terrible. You never once care about a single character, and Koontz typically has a gift for making you care.
Rating: 
Summary: Another great Koontz novel
Review: One of the main subplots of the novel, if not THE main subplot, is that guilt can be our worst enemy.
The characters are the real assets of "The Funhouse." They make this story work, they make it what it is - unique, memorable, and exciting. It all plays out like a fun ride until the bodies begin to pop up, innocents begin to die and people are changed into
monsters of their own by their past mistakes. This novel stays true to life and because of that it works. "The Funhouse" starts out with a bang and keeps on kicking, the beginning fumes getting you high off its strength.
To close this carnival down, I have to say it truly shines. The ending is a slight let down after having such an impressive build up, but this can be overlooked when it’s all clumped together. When the last door of the carnival is locked, every last mark has gone home and is now safely snug in their beds, "The Funhouse" gets the rating of an event akin to sitting on an intense roller coaster that delivers all it originally promised.
Rating:
Summary: Carnival Freak Show
Review: I enjoyed this book as I have all of Dean Koontz's other works. This story takes us all back to that time when the Funhouse at our local carnival gave us the creeps and wondered if one of the mechanical horrors were really alive and out to get us. The story of evil, physical deformaty and revege and very page turning but I was a little let down by the ending and thought it could have been a touch more drawn out.
Rating:
Summary: Positively Awful
Review: As an avid suspense, thriller, and mystery reader, I decided this would be my first Dean Koontz novel. I am absolutely amazed at how bad this book turned out to be. The plot has been described in many reviews, so I won't rehash. The dialogue between the characters was absolutely unrealistic and all of the characters remained relatively one dimensional. Nothing was ever truly developed in this book - plot, realism, characters, direction, beginning, ending, etc. In fact, there were many times I laughed at what I was reading and tempted to stop reading if not for my insistence on finishing books I've begun reading. This book was made worse by the main character's ridiculous struggle between good and evil and which force supposedly directed her (this was more than laughable - Koontz should take a lesson from some of his peers). The ending was completely anti-climatic and did nothing to explain the main character's family situation or bring together much of the plot to which the reader is previously introduced, particularly with her mother. Bottom line? Completely unbelievable, bad plot, bad character development, soporific dialogue, and incomplete writing. Bad, just plain bad. I think I'll move on to another author after this joke.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been a lot better...
Review: First of all I did not find The Funhouse even slightly scary. The closest it came was a few moments that were a tad creepy. The story itself, could have been intriguing, but it was messed up with focus on teenage hormones, turning it into one of those trashy horror movies. The worst thing was that the ending had no substance and was shoved into ten short pages.
Rating:
Summary: This House? Not So Fun
Review: This horror novel, originally published under the name `Owen West', has many of the elements of later - and better - Koontz novels: clever children, a resourceful heroine, and an unnamed, but omnipresent, evil. However, this novel lacks the balance of other Koontz books; to my reading, it was all exposition and buildup, with a very anti-climactic final scene and no denouement. The plot concerns Ellen, who in the opening scene murders her possibly less-than-human baby; the opening is genuinely spooky, as Ellen fights for her life twice in a matter of hours, once from her child, then from her husband. She has married the owner of a carnival funhouse, Conrad Straker, after she ran away from her repressive mother. From there, the story shifts to Ellen's 17-year-old daughter Amy, who's forced to grow up in a number of ways she doesn't expect when a carnival comes to town. There's also Amy's brother Joey, a smart and loving child who, like Amy, fears his mother's combination of alcoholism and religiosity (one of the best moments in the novel is Ellen's realization she has turned into the mother she ran away from). Koontz builds the suspense well, and the reader knows it will only be a matter of time before Straker finds Ellen (or, from his point of view, better to find her children) to take his revenge for her murder of his beloved `Victor'. There's enough mysticism and jolts to keep the reader interested, but the final scenes seem cut short. Evil is vanquished, but we never know the true nature of the evil vanquished, as the novel ends after the quick and unsatisfying climax. In the Berkley paperback edition, Koontz provides insight into how and why this book came to be, and why the pseudonym: he adapted a screenplay, and he needed the money. He also shows more humor in the Afterword than in the entire novel; more humor in the actual story would have served the characters well. This is especially true in the account of the demise of poor `Owen West'...watch out for those buffalo!
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling
Review: This is one of his better books I think. He keeps you interested and lets you run with your imagination. He does not make the whole book about detail and the plot I thought was very intriguing. Koontz yes has better books out there but I think this one would be a great read you never want to put it down.
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