Graphic Novel Review: George A. Romero’s The Amusement Park by Jeff Whitehead, art by Ryan Carr

George A. Romero's the Amusement Park bookcover

George A. Romero’s The Amusement Park by Jeff Whitehead, introduction by Greg Nicotero, art by Ryan Carr, lettering by Marshall Dillon, edited by Sandy King

Storm King Comics, 2025

ISBN-13: 9798988728573

Available: Paperback

Buy: Bookshop.org

 

This graphic novel adaptation of George A. Romero’s previously lost 1973 film The Amusement Park comes from a collaboration between Storm King Comics, jointly owned by John Carpenter and Sandy King, and the George A. Romero Foundation.

 

Businessman William Lincoln returns to Pennsylvania and has a chance encounter with an elderly man in a small coffee shop. The impatient young man is drawn into a conversation about the history of the amusement park that used to stand in that very spot. The more William learns from the old man, the more uneasy he becomes.

 

Rather than a lighthearted tale of a typical amusement park atmosphere, the old man relates a story full of pain, sorrow, and loneliness. He simply wanted to visit the grand park one more time, to revisit childhood memories and surround himself with youthful joy and excitement. Instead, every interaction with younger people in the crowds shows the impatience and hostility directed at the elders in the park. Rides and other attractions place the aged in embarrassing and hostile situations. Everything is a reminder of how the mind and body deteriorate with age. As he makes his way through the park, he remains unaware of the looming figure that follows him on his journey.

 

The horror lies in the struggles the old man witnesses or is subject to himself. We all know someone aging, or who is well into their golden years. Some of us may be there ourselves or quickly facing what is to come. Both the film and this graphic novel sit with you, make you take in some uncomfortable facts about our flawed political system and how it affects healthcare; social reform; housing; and many other issues essential to us all, not just the elderly. That is simply where the systems, and our lives, end.

 

Whitehead’s adaptation differs from the film, but not in any way that detracts from the message. Carr’s artwork is incredibly effective, especially regarding the pain, emotional and physical, the old man experiences as he makes his way through the amusement park.

 

This graphic novel could fit in multiple places in a library collection, but the first one that comes to mind is Graphic Medicine. While that is not the sole focus, there are significant panels that address the current United States healthcare system and its failings.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on September 8, 2026 by , Reply

Book Review: Some Kind of Haunted by Hazel Beck

Some Kind of Haunted by Hazel Beck

Mira, 2026

ISBN-13‏: ‎ 978-0369775672

Available: Papeback, audiobook, ebook edition

Buy: Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com

 

Identical twins Lexi and Logan Darling grew up in New York City. Now, thanks to an inheritance from a grandmother they never met, they need to settle her estate: a house and knitting store in rural Midas, Iowa.

 

Lexi, a high-maintenance textile designer, has hallucinations, night terrors, and anxiety. She sleepwalks, is easily overwhelmed, needs consistent routines, and depends on Logan to smooth her way through decision-making and coping with, what for other people, would be everyday stressors. While most people who see under her mask think Lexi is mentally ill, Logan always believes and supports her. Lexi is the point-of-view character, making the reader as uncertain about the reality of what’s going on as she is.

 

Midas immediately creeps her out, and not just because it doesn’t have cell service. There is an ominous feeling in the shadows, in the dark, and from the giant clock tower in town. As Lexi tries to talk herself into believing she’s dreaming while she sleepwalks, instead of losing her mind, she finally gets validation for her visions and dreams from the people around her. She is the “harbinger”, a member of one of the founding families of Midas, who heralds the beginning of the Feed, a night where demons attack the city that occurs once in a generation, as part of a deal the founders made for the town’s safety (it’s unclear why they made this deal, even to her fellow Scoobies). For the first time she has people in her life who see her problems not as an illness but as a gift.

 

Some Kind of Haunted is billed as a horror romance and Beck definitely knows how to create a spooky and ominous atmosphere. The romance is a little awkward, though. Lexi and Jack Bellamy, another descendant of a founding family, have an instant connection, but what Lexi interprets as attraction, Jack reacts to with immediate hostility. It takes awhile for them to untwist that and act on their feelings, and things go from zero to one hundred fast once they do.

 

If you don’t think too much about the plot, but are looking for small-town spooky atmosphere, with creepy antiques, romance in the air, and demons in the shadows, Some Kind of Haunted is a great choice. Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on August 31, 2026 by , Reply

Book Review: White Flight by Peter O’ Keefe

 

cover art for White Flight by Peter O'Keefe

White Flight by Peter O’Keefe

Uncomfortably Dark Horror, 2025

ISBN-13: 9798268263374

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com

 

 

Willow and Joel Ward are struggling with the recent murder of their Black adopted daughter, Diamond. When she became a teenager, they decided to move out of the suburbs and into a predominantly Black neighborhood. This was supposed to open opportunities for their child, make her more comfortable in her own skin, and allow her the chance to live within her community. While their desires are outwardly noble, their past actions and internal voices show something else. Are they really doing it to help their daughter, or show that they are the right kind of white people? Willow especially begins facing her motives when teenage Diamond comes home from school, learning new terms like white privilege, leaving a sign on her door denying white people entry, and still feeling alienated by her peers because of her circumstances. After a heated argument, Diamond is gunned down by the police. Now, the couple has put their house on the market and are getting ready to leave the neighborhood.

 

However, their problems are just beginning. Since they moved in, strange things have happened in the house. For instance, dropped objects roll on the floor in unpredictable directions. This is nothing compared to what is coming. Between the unknown parties banging on the front door, the rumbling of an unseen train nearby, and the house changing, the Wards and the officer they have called to the scene are in for a night of terror they won’t soon forget. As the couple inches closer to getting some answers, the house decides it has had enough.

 

There is so much tension in this book, I could not put it down. The Wards as a couple are difficult to sympathize with, as their motives are questioned by the reader, and they are both in denial about so many things, not just the treatment of their daughter. Willow is an outwardly supportive mother, but overcompensates frequently, at the risk of overshadowing her daughter’s identity. Joel, who grew up close to their new neighborhood, frequently demonstrates his own racial bias. I constantly asked myself if they adopted Diamond for the right reasons. The police are insensitive and have clear racial bias. Is it wrong of me to cheer on the house at times? Perhaps, but when the adult characters in the story consistently fail Diamond, in life and death, it is difficult to think of them as trustworthy and capable.

 

I would recommend this book for readers wanting a haunted house story with themes of systemic racism, social commentary, and familial struggle, such as The Spite House by Johnny Compton, Model Home by River Solomon, and Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele. Highly recommended

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on August 26, 2026 by , Reply
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