I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House by Ben Farthing

Title: I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House

Author: Ben Farthing

Year Published: 2023

Link to Buy: Amazon

Genre: Fiction, Novella, Horror, Supernatural

Summary:
Dave and hie four-year-old, Jacob, find a circus tent in the woods behind their house. A strange voice invites them through the dark doorway. 

When they refuse, the tent swallows them.

What follows is a nightmare fleeing through a maze of circus tents. Strange performers lurk inside. They want Dave and his little boy to put on a show. The audience: a shifting figure on a platform high above the trapeze wires.

With Jacob perched in the crook of his arm, Dave determines to outsmart the boss of this dark circus, and escape this horrifying tent.

Ten Sentence Review:

This short novel presents a believable surreality that is absolutely dripping with creativity. Yes, there are clowns and circus performers, but not like you've seen before. The theme of minimizing your child's trauma is prevalent throughout, and Jacob is a very realistic four-year-old. Father and son stop to take breaks from running, eat snacks, lament forgetting to bring water, and play games to distract from their terrifying situation. This humanity was made even more delightful after reading the "Why I Wrote This Book" author's note at the end. 

One thing in this otherwise excellent story was very frustrating: in over an hour of complaining about arm pain and realizing he can't do various tasks while holding Jacob in one arm, Dave never once puts Jacob on his back piggyback-style to free up his hands. He even straps him on with a yoyo string at one point (the thinnest, flimsiest string I've ever encountered), but never considers shifting the kid to his back and telling him to hang on tight. This was surprising considering their clever use of circus props to get away from the performers.

The pacing of this book is spot on and really builds the suspense. Several instances of foreshadowing that worse things are still to come made me want to keep turning pages and find out--as the author says--"what the hell is happening." 

I would have loved more information on who the performers are, their backstories, and how the tent came to exist. Even without that info, this is an original and very scary story with several satisfying twists. 4/5.