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lanaconda 's review for:
Come Knocking
by Mike Bockoven
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“The masks appear to be off. Please plan accordingly.”
🧡🧡🧡🧡
Come Knocking is a metafiction meditation about an interactive play that, from my reading perception, draws inspiration from Dante’s Inferno, Eyes Wide Shut, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Phantom of the Opera, and like a haunted rendering of Cirque du Soleil.
The book is written as Reddit posts about the play and interviews from survivors of the March 14th massacre of Come Knocking conducted by the journalist writing the novel. These chapters explicitly detail the horrors of that night from the perspectives of the audience, the stagehands, the performers, the bartenders, security, the EMTs, and those who participated in the overall unraveling of the show, members from a forum called Who’s There?
Come Knocking disturbed me greatly because, of course, the humans are the monsters, and it’s truly about how the internet can push angry people into becoming weapons of chaos that cause catastrophic harm to others who are simply trying to enjoy an event. I loved how Bockoven portrayed this with the literal hijack of the play’s control room, giving Who’s There? the ability to fuck up stages, engage flameflowers, and release performers from their safety nets. Scary shit. It’s all too real in the world we live in. When the control is put into the wrong hands, it’s deadly. We all know this. People aren’t seen as people anymore, just the enemy. We all have eyes and ears; we’ve seen this play out for decades and somehow keep falling for it.
Keep in mind that Reddit can be annoying in and of itself, so some of the chapters made me 🙄, which is the point. Aside from that, there is a powerful narrative here about how people tend to destroy beautiful things. It’s very Fight Club-esque in that way. If you’re into that, read it. If you’re not, this probably isn’t for you.
I love theatre and immersive experiences. Love a theme and dressing up for it. I would 100% be in the audience for this and “get it.” I really enjoyed this one. I am definitely a Mike Bockoven fan!
Thank you so much to @netgalley and @skyhorsepub for the ARC!
🧡🧡🧡🧡
Come Knocking is a metafiction meditation about an interactive play that, from my reading perception, draws inspiration from Dante’s Inferno, Eyes Wide Shut, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Phantom of the Opera, and like a haunted rendering of Cirque du Soleil.
The book is written as Reddit posts about the play and interviews from survivors of the March 14th massacre of Come Knocking conducted by the journalist writing the novel. These chapters explicitly detail the horrors of that night from the perspectives of the audience, the stagehands, the performers, the bartenders, security, the EMTs, and those who participated in the overall unraveling of the show, members from a forum called Who’s There?
Come Knocking disturbed me greatly because, of course, the humans are the monsters, and it’s truly about how the internet can push angry people into becoming weapons of chaos that cause catastrophic harm to others who are simply trying to enjoy an event. I loved how Bockoven portrayed this with the literal hijack of the play’s control room, giving Who’s There? the ability to fuck up stages, engage flameflowers, and release performers from their safety nets. Scary shit. It’s all too real in the world we live in. When the control is put into the wrong hands, it’s deadly. We all know this. People aren’t seen as people anymore, just the enemy. We all have eyes and ears; we’ve seen this play out for decades and somehow keep falling for it.
Keep in mind that Reddit can be annoying in and of itself, so some of the chapters made me 🙄, which is the point. Aside from that, there is a powerful narrative here about how people tend to destroy beautiful things. It’s very Fight Club-esque in that way. If you’re into that, read it. If you’re not, this probably isn’t for you.
I love theatre and immersive experiences. Love a theme and dressing up for it. I would 100% be in the audience for this and “get it.” I really enjoyed this one. I am definitely a Mike Bockoven fan!
Thank you so much to @netgalley and @skyhorsepub for the ARC!