Now I know how Neil DeGrasse Tyson felt while he watched the movie Gravity.
I give Joyland three stars as far as story goes, and a one star when I takeNow I know how Neil DeGrasse Tyson felt while he watched the movie Gravity.
I give Joyland three stars as far as story goes, and a one star when I take into consideration that Stephen got everything wrong about how amusement parks are run. He obviously did zero research. The most believable thing in this book is the ghost part, but I know the vast majority of you out there did not spend twenty odd years hopping around the United States working in amusement parks like I did, and therefore would not be bothered by the stuff that bugged me, but damn it, he couldn’t have asked a question or two??
College student Devin Jones finds himself at loose ends at the close of the school year in 1973. He finds a job at a small amusement park in an equally small town in North Carolina in which he does every job in the park (insane). While running around like a mad man doing all the jobs, he finds that he also has to add ‘ghost hunter’ to the list while he was doing ‘something’ in the haunted house ride.
He meets a MILF that has a disabled son and a very cute Jack Russell and mom is a sharp shooter that won the big shooting competition at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio. I find this interesting because Camp Perry is 15 minutes from my house, it really does exist, so he got that right, and there really is a big shooting completion held there.
Now I’m going to rant about stuff you probably don’t care about. But I have to do it. I’m sorry.
If Stephen had set this in a carnival all would have been fine, but amusement parks are not carnivals.
College students DO work at amusement parks, old carnies do not.
People who work in A.P. do not have a special lingo.
A.P. s have departments. Merchandise, ride operators, food, maintenance, finance, concessionaires, ride maintenance….ect. When a person is hired for the season, they are put into a department and they remain within it. I know Stephen went on the same assumption that most people do, and that is when a person is hired into an amusement park that person jumps around to all the jobs in the park from day to day. One day you’re drawing caricatures, the next you are running a roller coaster, followed by making corn dogs the next…..what? I know most people think this is the case because I would get asked the question “So, is this the only place you work? or do you move around the park and run the rides and stuff?” Several times a day, every day. I don’t get it, but I can forgive the masses for thinking this, but not Stephen King. Research.
Costume characters do not go out without a guide person. Vision is quite limited in those giant heads. Without someone to lead them, those creepy characters could take out a kid or ten. Also, getting hit in the nether regions is a common occurrence; they need someone to watch out for possible injuries.
A front gate photo person (Hollywood girls) would quit their job within an hour if forced to wear high heels whilst standing on concrete in the boiling hell of North Carolina in the summer time. Then she would put said heel in her managers’ eye on the way out of park. Besides, the photographic technology did not exist for such an operation in 1973.
A non smoking park in North Carolina (especially) wouldn't have existed in 1973. If it did, it would die.
Seasonal amusement parks did not remain open on weekends past Labor Day (especially the small ones) in 1973. Not being a Disney or a Cedar Point, they were not destination parks, so there was no point. Only when the Halloween Weekends (spooky themed weekends) became all the rage did staying open until the end of October became the norm. That started in the early 2000’s.
(view spoiler)[Parks, no matter the size, have gates that are locked up tight at night and there is always security on duty. There is no way a strange person could just drive onto the property and shoot at a person on a ride (that is all lit up and running) without getting noticed. (hide spoiler)]
I'm very disappointed. *Sigh*….I’m sure there was more, but rant over. Stephanie out. ...more
Stephanie *Eff your feelings*
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