The Freakshow

By: Bryan Smith

Narrated by: Dean Gallagher

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

The Flaherty Brothers Traveling Carnivale and Freakshow has come to the quiet town of Pleasant Hills, Tennessee. But this is no ordinary sideshow and these are not the usual "freaks" on display. As the unsuspecting townsfolk gather for an evening of strange spectacle, the slaughter is set to begin...

©2012 Bryan Smith (P)2021 Fireside Horror

Critic reviews

"The Freakshow is one of the most fun reads I've had in a long time." (Dread Central)

"The Freakshow is a sure bet to cement Bryan Smith's position in the forefront of the bold and shocking writers producing exceptional books within the horror genre." (Horror World)

Loved it! What a fun story

The performance and the story the characters and everything were great. If you are looking for a very interesting and twisted story look no further.

Fast moving, Freaky clown, Complex characters

Wow. There was no lead up on this book as Smith jumps us straight into the action. Character introduction happens along with death and mayhem. Personally I liked it; a little more effort to figure out the story threads in my head but also nice because there's a higher likelihood that anyone could die. In other words, the main protagonist that most likely survives the book is not yet set.

The story focuses on The Flaherty Brothers Traveling Circus and Freakshow which goes around to small towns across the country. A strange, mysterious beckoning would bring almost the whole town to the festival. However, this circus and freakshow has a deadlier purpose than entertainment as people are consumed and stolen by the real freaks of the show.

In a normal fashion for Smith's books, there is a lot happening. There are multiple story threads following different groups of people as they survive the chaos they've fallen into. One of the fun things is while the events in one thread will appear and affect other threads, the characters won't necessarily meet. Kind of like real life where someone's actions might affect you despite you never meeting that person. The only other thing I wanted to point out was that I liked how some of the characters were hard to figure out. Were they "good" people? Did they want to help the different people or out for themselves? It kept things slightly off-kilter. Not too much more to say. A good book that I would recommend if you like people trying to survive crazy freaks doing a bunch of weird stuff.

C movie style horror.

this is a Troma style book. good but not great. Definitely a late night horror movie style.

Not memorable, kind of boring

The book was ok, doesn't stand out much. Some moments were cool but overall it was kind of boring.

Sexual Violence and Some Spoilers!

I'm not sure if there was a warning somewhere and I missed it, but I felt compelled to try and warn people about the gratuitous xenophilia rape scene in Chapter 19. If you are triggered by rape, please be cautious of that chapter.

Truthfully, I haven't finished the book by the point I'm writing this, might bring myself to finish but not sure yet. That rape scene was...wow...it was a lot outta nowhere!

Very sexual! My man Brian loves using ladies and their bodies and the act of exhibitionism. His gore, attention to detail, and believable dialogue, that's all good. The Villains are pretty good, nothing to write home about, I mostly felt bad for the people in this book. I give it a solid 3 outta 5 since I got quite a bit of enjoyment from the characters, dialogue, and well-illustrated descriptions of the freaks!

I'm a guy, if that means anything, I don't much care for gratuitous sex, not for me. However, rape, I feel should be expressly noted before the story begins. Also, if it did and I just didn't notice then I apologize. 💚

Extreme horror paints a bloody picture

For fans of movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Dead Alive, this book brings together extreme gore and mind-bending absurdity in an entertaining ride. An exploitation film in book form, filled with the most vile characters and horrible, violent abuse that brings to mind splatter cinema from an earlier era.

Dean Gallagher as the narrator brings each character alive and enriches the text with nuance and energy. Dean masters the pace and ratchets up the tension and horror with every chapter. Each character is distinct and expertly portrayed.

great story

I usually don't like the otherworldly type of horror but Smith did it so well I actually loved it. I usually only go for realistic horror but when the writing is this good it feels realistic enough and very enjoyable.

Worth Your Time!

Loved it! Nice departure from the expected. Well worth the credit. Definitely original, highly recommend 👌.

bryan you're

you need therapy man. what did i just read? pretty entertaining but man never has a book ever wanted to make me gag like this did. im disgusted but intrigued and im probably gonna check out bryan smiths other books in the future

gorry and shocking

storyline was great and satisfyingly disturbing. The reader also did a great job of telling the story