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Seth Blackburn
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Circus of the Dead Kindle Edition

by Seth Blackburn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 487 ratings
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Twenty years ago, the dead destroyed the world of the living. The survivors scattered in the wake of the Scourge, erecting small towns in the worlds' most sparsely populated areas.

For young Gabriel, the walking dead are merely the memories that haunt the eyes of those old enough and lucky enough to have survived. He is more concerned with his hard life in America's desert, where his chores keep him busy and the husks of books stashed beneath the cellar of the library are his only freedom.

Until the circus comes to town.

"Circus of the Dead" is a novelette of approximately 10,748 words.
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  1. Print length
    32 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    November 4, 2011
  5. File size
    114 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0063UL9FQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (November 4, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 4, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 114 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 32 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 487 ratings

About the author

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Seth Blackburn

Seth Blackburn

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Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
487 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Scarlett R. Algee
5.0 out of 5 stars Good little story.
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
Excellent, vivid imagery and a strong sense of a young man's frustration and fascination with the constraints of his society in a post-apocalyptic small town. The wonder is palpable, but so is the pain. Very solid.
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ALY
4.0 out of 5 stars Circus of the Dead
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2023
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This book was a little slow for me. I wanted to get to the circus a little sooner but I enjoyed the short story. The ending was not what I expected.
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MRT
3.0 out of 5 stars Circus of the Dead: Short Story
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2011
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I really wish there were half increments on here for rating. But I'll give just a little more than just a little less than it deserves.

So the book started out promisingly. The writing style is a bit more elegant than your average teenage romance book, but it kept throwing me off when it would suddenly talk about sex or the like as a 15 year old boy would think about it. Just blunt and crass. Not a big fan, but it was only peppered throughout, not the bulk of the material.

This is, as others have said, a short story. That does not bother me. In fact, the night I began reading it, I finished it and was just as happy as if I'd had a part of a novel to read. It was just long enough to cover my 30-45 minutes of reading before I go to bed. Perfect length for a bedtime story. ;) ...albeit probably not everyone's idea of a good one....with zombies and all.

The story itself was alright. Post-zombie-apocalypse, small town, no electricity, etc. The "circus" comes to town, the Reverend forbids anyone from going, many people go anyway. Disaster strikes. There was a huge lead-up to the circus scene, then after the disaster (in which the carnage is skipped because our protagonist is conveniently unconscious), there are a few paragraphs to the end. More or less, "...and so they mostly lived happily ever after in a zombie-infested world." Kindof a bummer ending.
10 people found this helpful
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catt dahman
5.0 out of 5 stars perfect
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2012
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If you want a cheesy, run of the mill zombie splatter fest, this is not for you. This is zombie literature...fantastic writing! It's in the style of King, Laymon, Simmons, McCammon. etc. who actually build characters and describe the setting so well, you are there. This is a perfectly ordinary day that goes bad in a huge way....almost a coming of age message set in horror and unsettling issues. Satisfying to those of us who enjoy a well developed story with FAIRNESS. The end, as well as the rest was fair and excellent IF you are a thinker and understand unwritten meanings within an elegant style. The prose manage to be descriptive without bogging down the action and the character (main) unforgettable. Bittersweet and perfect. Like zombie movies...this is a Romero-style classic and not a splatter fest (tho it does get icky and creepy and is fun!). I feel the mature reader will appreciate this. Five stars.
2 people found this helpful
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Zikookie
2.0 out of 5 stars hmm
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016
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This story actually made me laugh. "Poached egg eyes." Them ugh I could've done without the sex or mentions of. especially from a kid or teen boy. Honestly it's not needed to make a story more interesting and it's sad how many horror authors lately feel the need to use it. You don't. This was a good story, well written but, rushed. It Also wouldn't kill you to add an intro or actual chapters. Being thrown into the story was rather confusing but, Honestly I wouldn't bother reading it Again. And if I hadn't been so desperate for free Zombie literature, I probably wouldn't have downloaded it. but nonetheless, this us a good story.
One person found this helpful
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Robert Beveridge
4.0 out of 5 stars Please tell me this is the first chapter or two of a longer work... I want more!
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2012
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Seth Blackburn, <strong>Circus of the Dead</strong> (Seth Blackburn, 2011)

A VERY solid short, this, much better than I was expecting given the usual quality of Kindle shorts that have been cast to the wild in the past few months. Some great characters, a vivid and detailed setting, solid pace, and if the ending is a bit predictable (and shows the wears in the fabric where Blackburn is wearing his Jonathan Maberry-loving heart on his sleeve), so what? The blasted, post-undead landscape is convincing (and pretty new), and Blackburn knows how to make it pop. Would love to see this expanded to novel-length, or expanded to be Part One of a novel, or what have you. Very good stuff. *** ½
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Zombies and a Circus need I say more?
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2012
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This book was good and well written. The books talks about how a world that has had an apocalyptic zombie attack and the aftermath of it. So a circus comes to town with no name and changes things upside down. The book talks about temptation and how a small town became divide. The book was fast and when the author laid down the background story and then the zombies were introduced towards the end of the book it was about already over. I wondered what happened to his Papa and older brother. I lead to believe they met their fate some other way.
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Thoracias
3.0 out of 5 stars Promising start...
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2011
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It was a free download to my Kindle Fire. That being said, I can't complain much. As an avid horror/suspense reader, I have to admit I was hooked by the first chapter on this storyline. The characters were intriguing and the overall plot of the book (no spoilers here, sorry!) was extremely interesting.
However, it is a VERY short read (I finished it in less than 2 hours with breaks!) and the ending just kind of...ENDS. No explanation as to why certain events occurred or what the characters experienced over "the last 20 years" as the writer narrates in the end. So while it started off promising, it really fell flat on the last 5 pages and I was more than a little disappointed because I really had liked the book up until that point. So I'll give it 3 stars for a creative storyline and a short, mostly enjoyable read...but this certainly COULD have been a 5 star book. It seems like he just gave up. :(
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Top reviews from other countries

Michele
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2015
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Believe it or not forgot this was on my carousel will have to read it now
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Penelope Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars A good apocalyptic short story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 15, 2012
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I downloaded this short story for free on my kindle, it is set in America 20 years after the majority of the population has been killed by zombies. A circus comes to a small town in the desert, showing wonders that the children have never seen before, tigers, elephants, and a real undead zombie. The story is well written and the plot is a mix of Richard Laymon and Ray Bradbury, well worth a read.
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Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Not really about zombies
Reviewed in Canada on November 24, 2013
Verified Purchase
Well written little story. Someone's memories of his flight from the disaster that happened to his town.

Unfortunately, it's just a tidbit like an entry in WWZ (the book).
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Stephen Clynes
4.0 out of 5 stars Not just a zombie horror story.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2013
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Gabriel is a teenager living in an unnamed Christian town in the American desert. All the inhabitants are survivors or their offspring of the Scourge, when flesh eating zombies took over the land. One day a circus comes to town and Reverend Joe warns the people to stay away. But Gabriel and his brother want to see what all the fuss is about.

Circus of the Dead is a novela of 136 KB and was written in 2011. It is a zombie horror story that is fun to read. It is a book of escapism and was an enjoyable read. It was entertaining and written in the first person. The writing quality and style are good. The pace is right and the editing is spot on. This is a bright story that is a joy to read. When you get to the ending you discover that Circus of the Dead is not just a zombie horror story. There is a message about society, religion and how small an individual's place is on earth. I consider Circus of the Dead a good book and I will be voting it 4 stars.
2 people found this helpful
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Angela
3.0 out of 5 stars Good Story - Bad Ending
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2012
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Good story and really refreshing take on a zombie apocalypse, set about 20 years after the 'Scourge'.
Although the writing is strong and a very interesting premise to read, the ending let the whole story down. It felt rushed and 'tacked on' and did not read as well as the rest of the story. That is really the only fault I have with this story; if the ending was as strong and well-written as the rest of the story this would easily have been rewarded four stars from me.
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