To me, nothing screams summer (late summer, to be more specific) than carnivals. We used to go to this thing called Westfair every summer where you would find your typical carnival folk, rickety rides, and diarrhea-inducing foods. I miss that. Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse is exactly that. He invokes the carnival/late summer spirit, and reveal’s what really happens behind the scenes.
Did you know, too, that horror novelist Dean Koontz wrote the novelization to The Funhouse? Neither did I. That’s because the novel is penned under the pseudonym Owen West. Clever bastard, that Dean Koontz. You can read the plot synopsis (which is almost an entirely different story) upon which “West” based the book on the Wikipedia page.
I would also highly recommend picking up the Scream Factory Blu-ray of the horror must-have. The transfer is, of course, pristine, and the extras (especially the interview with Kevin Conroy) are fun.
Spook du jour 