Critic Roger Ebert likened the film to a "lost episode of "The Twilight Zone"," noting it possessed an "intriguing power." Joe Brown of "The Washington Post" remarked upon the film's cinematography, writing: "Harvey's camerawork gives a new twist to the word 'deadpan,' making the most mundane places and people imaginable seem like ghastly hallucinations, and the director shows a flair for elegantly employing existing locations and lighting for maximum disorientation value." Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" saw the 1989 screening at the Fantasy Festival and wrote: "What has earned "Carnival of Souls" its reputation is the director's knack for building a mood of fatalistic angst."