BACK 2 OMNIPARK

by Ben Thomas (Editor),  Alicia Hilton (Editor)

Published by House Blackwood (December 15, 2023)

Review by The Horror Zine Staff Reviewer Jonathan Chapman

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If you were there in the 1960s or 1970s and read horror, fantasy or sci-fi, you would have probably read many “concept anthologies.” These were collections from a variety of authors based around a familiar theme or concept such as “someone trying to escape from hell,” or “fairytales gone wrong,” or even like-minded collections of popular series from a single author. The Man-Kzin Wars based on Larry Niven’s work comes to mind. 

These anthologies and collections have continued until today, of course, but the tone the 1970s had a special flavor all its own. Back 2 OmniPark is such an anthology—a variety of authors writing from a central perspective—and the perspective is that of the origins and development of the OmniPark, a cross time/ space/dimensional park with…the “strange” behind every corner on every ride. This is the second in the series, telling the origins of the park.

The other thing you would notice if you read those old anthologies back then was that they didn’t mind pushing the envelope. They wanted to challenge your ideas and your perspectives. They would often alter the rules of life and physics and let you figure the changes out for yourself. They wanted you to be uncomfortable. Often the “hero” was a bad person…or someone with motives alien to the usual human to whom you could relate…or the action took you to places you had to figure out. There was no hand holding. Sink or swim. Do some work.

That was Back 2 OmniPark for me. I was…uncomfortable. I was rubbing my arm for reassurance. I was scratching my head at times saying “Wait, what?”

I was reminded of the first time I saw Dr. Who and thought, I’m not smart enough to watch this. But that was the challenge. The work of mastering the new rules and shoving your parameters wider than normal to accommodate alien concepts is ultimately rewarding. But it is not always easy.

Back 2 OmniPark starts with “One is the Only Number” by Hailey Piper. Imagine a worker digging a hole and at the bottom of the hole…another worker digging a whole from another dimension. Alonzo, the worker in question, has dug into another dimension where he meets his counterpart. I write spoiler-free reviews, but I will say that this one is oddly touching in an almost Steinbeck way for a moment and then goes right off the rails and Alonzo makes a plan to utilize the portal to another world in a way that is…uncomfortable.

The second story, “Chimera” by Alicia Hilton, starts with a love scene between two teen girls, Denise and Alicia. This new love is interrupted by Gwen’s father, who drives Denise home and…Denise disappears. It reads like a true crime memoir with Gwen trying to find the truth of what happened. You wonder how this relates to Omnipark and what cosmic horror is involved and then—Oh! There it is. This one takes the reader places you would not suspect and again, the rules are not spelled out, the horror is not explained, the raw nerve feeling is not softened. Sink or swim, reader.

Most people don’t know what music producers do, or how important they are to the sound of an album. They are usually big contributors who take a lot of disparate songs and make them sound as if they all came from the same place. This is true of editors as well. No one knows the work they do in making a lot of different colors make a picture that makes sense.

The editors of Back 2 OmniPark, Ben Thomas and Alicia Hilton, do a fine job of maintaining the tone throughout the sixteen stories. Every story, even when told in radically different ways—a hand-written letter in Letters From Evelyn, a chatroom in Angel of the Prairie, or any of the other formats—all carry the same…uncomfortable…okay, going to say it: super creepy…feeling. My favorite? Eat The Rich, by Angela Yuriko Smith. Because…dark water freaks me out.

The book is lush. There are many illustrations and maps and “historical” diagrams and “photos” of the Omnipark creators. Many writers tell the story of the origins of the mysterious and oddly creepy Onmipark, a park with Time Rides and; well, imagine Disneyland as crafted by Lovecraft and housing Cthulhu under the Matterhorn. It is honestly too involved to even scratch the surface of here.

There is a whole mythos to be uncovered in these pages. They were very thorough and obviously obsessed with the concept. Is it good? Yes. But not easy. Not comfortable. It is creepy as hell. It is uncomfortable. It makes you put something into the pot. Sink or swim, reader. You’ll be glad you took the plunge.