Carnival of Terror Books in Order

Carnival of Terror drops Shane Ryan into a setting that is already creepy before the ghosts even get involved. A murder linked to a traveling carnival sends him after something ugly, and the search soon turns into a road-trail of vengeance, old crimes, and restless dead.

Carnivals are rarely a good sign in horror.

The series uses that well. There is motion built into the premise, because the threat is not locked in one house or one town. Shane follows the carnival's route, digging into the places it has passed through and the damage left behind. Along the way he runs into a ghost town, buried history, and a spirit that is not done punishing the living.

That makes this series feel a little more like a pursuit story than some of the earlier Shane Ryan books. The tension comes from following clues forward, one grim stop at a time, while the supernatural threat keeps widening. Shane is still the same blunt, capable ghost hunter, but the atmosphere is different here. Less home base, more dust, motion, and bad luck.

If you enjoy Ripley when he gives Shane a strong horror backdrop and a clean investigative line to follow, Carnival of Terror is easy to get into. It has revenge, hauntings, and the nagging sense that wherever the carnival went, something evil decided to travel with it.