Mulliga's Tribute to '80s Horror Paperbacks (Part 2) - House of Illusions

Halloween is coming, and this year Shangrila Towers is paying tribute to the gory, grotesque, and sometimes goofy world of 1980s horror fiction. Today's post will look at House of Illusions, a 1988 novel by Ruby Jean Jensen:

Killer clowns have been a staple of horror for decades, whether we're talking about Pennywise from Stephen King's It or Art from the Terrifier films. House of Illusions features a whole gang of them, who proceed to menace the inhabitants of a travelling carnival. Throw in a magician-who-might-be-a-demon, a mysterious house of mirrors, and a passel of picaresque carnie folk, and you have the prototypical '80s chiller, complete with an eye-catching all-hologram cover.

House of Illusions was published by Zebra Books, the paperback imprint of Kensington Publishing. Jensen was one of Zebra's most prolific writers, and she cranked out 20 books with the publisher, usually featuring evil children. In House of Illusions, the children aren't exactly evil, but they aren't safe, either; the story goes to some gonzo places that more mainstream horror novels would never touch. While the book is a bit light on plot and sags around the midway point, it does offer a few memorable images...blighted mirrors, shadows moving in the tents behind the midway, and clowns - so many clowns.