NNtG: Shivers #22: Lost in Dreamland

It's been a hot minute since we covered a Shiver book around here, so it's more than time to rectify that. And with it still being summer and peak theme park season (yes, even in a pandemic), why not cover Shivers' take on a horror theme park? It's time to get Lost in Dreamland.

COVER STORY

Really strong cover this time around. Very reminiscent of One Day at HorrorLand, but unfortunately given both books are about evil amusement parks that comparison was bound to happen. Only instead of a giant monster on a sign, it's a giant skull for an entrance, because Shivers covers love their skulls. Great use of lighting, especially the light from the skull and the shadows cast on the two kids. Just a great creepy setting and one of the best covers in Shivers.

STORY

Twins Barbara and Bill Donovan start the book by complaining about their parents somehow losing their rental car keys. The two are really excited to go to Dreamland. What's Dreamland? Only the coolest amusement park ever. After a few digs at Disney, we learn that Dreamland has the best attractions, the scariest rides and the most lifelike robots. In fact, everything in Dreamland looks super real. They find the keys and head off to Orlando. But as they approach the park, a trucker drives on the wrong side of the road and almost hits the family. Except it's a hologram, which the parents were made aware of earlier. So, that happened.

We learn a bit about Bill and Barbara. How they were born 11 minutes apart and were rarely ever separated. And how they're both really smart kids. Also Barbara has a thing about hating being called Babs and like cool, I watched Tiny Toon Adventures too. The family make it to Dreamland and ride the monorail. They spot the Man in the Moon ride which is a spaceship ride which admittedly sounds kind of neat. But before they can reach the line, the Donovan family get held up by a mugger. But it's all a joke, because everything in Dreamland is a joke. 

The kids go on the Man in the Moon ride and it goes pretty well. But when they have grilled chicken later, Bill starts choking and the parents don't know the Heimlich maneuver so this just went from 0 to 6000 in an instant. But luckily someone else manages to save Bill in time. But that someone else is another robot, which already makes the family feel odd. It's almost as if the whole park is run by robots. But we're only about 28 pages in, so let's not drop that bombshell just yet. Also, man I picked a good time to cover this book with the whole Tesla robot announcement thing. Oh the apocalypse is coming much quicker than I anticipated.

Next up is the Haunting House, which is called that because it's the house that's haunting the people inside. It's also a title of a previous Shivers book, so there's that. The family enter and are greeted by two more robots, a pair of twins named Caitlyn and Lynne. The attraction is much like the other ones. Lots of holographic stuff and things disappearing. The family make it to a tunnel which is big enough for Barbara and Bill. Meanwhile the robots appear to say that they could use a pair of twins, which does disturb the parents. Which, honestly, despite a few issues, might be decent parents. In a kids horror book. That's the scariest thing so far.

Bill and Barbara crawl around for a long time until doors shut behind and in front of them. So now they're trapped and running out of air. Suddenly, a trapdoor opens, sending them falling into a strange room. As they search for a way out, they get caught by a pair of large men who say they have use for a pair of twins. Okay this is getting concerning. They then take the kids into a van and drive off. OKAY THIS IS GETTING REALLY CONCERNING. The kids try to say their father's a cop, but that doesn't work. They arrive at their destination. Bill tries to distract the men while Barbara grabs the cellphone in the bearded man's pocket, but gets caught, then he violently shakes the kids. 

This super act of child abuse is stopped by a man named Alex, who at first seems friendly as he leads the kids away to another building, even giving them cookies and pop to calm them down. At least Bill doesn't choke this time. He then takes them to a room with wires and devices and his demeanor changes, saying the kids won't be seeing their parents again. In fact, they'll be in Dreamland for quite a long time. And that's because he... wants them to do a commercial for Dreamland saying it's the place you'd want to stay at forever? Okay then. 

Not done with them yet, he takes the kids aboard a train to a scientific facility as it's called and after taking forever to get to the fireworks factory on this plan, Alex finally tells the Donovan twins why he really needed them. See, Alex hasn't been doing much... EXCEPT PLAY DR. ROBOTNIK! You know how everything in the park is a lifelike robot? Well that's because he turns them into robots with his animatronics center. 

Alex takes the kids to another man named Dr. Ferret who leads the kids through the lab, where there are some admittedly freaky shots, including teen boys being strapped down and forced to swallow white pills, what? He preps the kids to become robots to play in the Dreamland Orchestra, but the twins try one last ditch effort for their freedom. They have him explain how he turns people and animals into robots, then, when they manage to get away from him momentarily, we learn that Barbara had a Deus Ex tape recorder in her pocket. Oh, not to, you know, record the evidence, but to have the kids play the instruments long enough to trick Dr. Ferret into thinking they're still busy long enough for them to escape. I mean, it's not the worst plan ever...

But it turns out that despite this idea, they can't get out of the room, so that flopped. But luckily there's an air duct. They crawl through and escape, heading to the parking lot. However, Dr. Ferret and the other goons surround them. But luckily a police helicopter arrives to save them in time. Seems the whole robot thing has been happening for a while, which has led to a lot of missing people. Guess Alex and Dr. Ferret didn't account on that. Bill and Barbara tell what happened and are soon reunited with their parents. They feel a sense of pride in taking down Dreamland and say that next year they should definitely just go to Disney World instead. 

CONCLUSION

This is another Shivers book not written by M.D. Spenser and instead by Robert Spencer Knotts. And so far, I've enjoyed much of the books he's done. This is no exception. Lost in Dreamland is fine. While it's not the freshest concept to do a story about a robot theme park, it's still strong enough a story to keep from feeling like a retread. Some decent scares here, though more in the latter half when we suddenly get super serious with the whole robot making stuff. 

Bill and Barbara are okay protagonists. I like their banter and while it doesn't go too far, the whole issue Barbara has with being called Babs is far from annoying. I also like the parents, who, while they are quick to believe everything is fake, do actually show concern for their children, even after the pair go through the tunnel. And, while there's not much to really cover with this one, I can consider that enough of a positive. Though that long stretch to get to the villain plan was annoying, but never to the point that I wanted to give up on this book. Quick, easy and a decent enough plot. It's a decent enough recommend. Shivers continues to impress me for the majority. Lost in Dreamland gets an B+.