* * *
I clearly remember the first time I heard the song. It was the summer of ’72, and it was the hottest summer I can ever remember. Back then, my friends and I played baseball most mornings in the field behind Jeff and Charlie’s place and spent our afternoons riding our bikes or smoking stolen cigs behind the Five & Dime. We were bored out of our minds and dying to do anything more entertaining than comparing sweat stains on our shirts.
Every summer, a carnival would come to town. Under the cover of night, the carnies would roll into town, and by some magic, they’d have the whole thing up and ready to go by the time the sun came up.
One day there’d be an empty lot, and the next there’d be a Mecca for mayhem with wafting scents of elephant ears, popcorn, and candied nuts. By nightfall, the sky would be lit by a sea of neon lights. The summer’s humid air would fill with the sounds of organ music, laughter, and screams as the spinning rides worked out their rust. It was just the distraction we were looking for.
We wanted to ride all the newest rides, but if we wanted to do anything more than just wander around, we’d have to come up with some cash. Back then, it didn’t cost anything to get into the carnival, but you had to buy tickets to ride the rides or play the games on the midway.
Jeff and Charlie’s dad worked at the mill, so they were allowed a few bucks to spend. I wasn’t so lucky. My mom ran out on us when I was three and left me in the care of a father who was a piece of shit drunk who didn’t care where I went, what I was doing, or who I was doing it with.
I didn’t bother asking him for money, because I knew he’d probably answer by throwing a beer can at me while providing me with some of his famous fatherly advice. I’m sure it would have been something like, “Get a fucking job if you think you need money, you freeloading little shit!”
Going to him was pointless, so I took some from his beer fund stash under his mattress. I’d pay dearly for it later, but I figured he’d be better off with a little less beer, anyway.
Charlie, Jeff, and I spent maybe three hours riding rides like the Scrambler and the Tilt-a-Whirl before smashing bumper cars and playing games on the midway like Ring Toss, Plate Break, or Target Shoot. We skipped some of the rides with longer lines or those asking for more than one ticket and avoided rides like the Ferris Wheel, because we thought it was for babies. We had limited funds, but still had enough to have a good time for several hours.
As the night went on, Charlie and Jeff decided to cash out their last two tickets and head home as they were due home by ten and had just enough money to ride one last ride each. I was out of tickets, so we decided to go our separate ways. I watched them as they walked toward the Carousel and out of view as they slipped into the crowd. They looked happy as they left. It gives me some comfort knowing they were happy then.
Not wanting to go home and having no tickets or money, I wandered around and took in the sights and sounds of the spectacle.
By eleven o’clock, I found myself in the back end of the carnival where the remaining locals were stumbling out of the beer tent, drunk on cheap beer, or giggling on their way out of the Tunnel of Love or Fun House, drunk on hormones.
There were few rides on this end of the lot, and I found myself staring at an unused ride that was covered in tarps off to the side in the shadows of the Fun House. I could almost imagine I was hearing a girl quietly humming a tune.
“You can hear it too, can’t ya, boy?” a man behind me said.
Startled, I turned and found myself standing in front of a man wearing a black top hat—like a magician’s—with greasy, long hair tucked behind his ears. He wore a red overcoat with the sleeves rolled to the elbows, revealing arms covered in tattoos. His disheveled appearance was unsettling, but his eyes made my blood run cold.
They were a menacing green with flecks of gold that would sparkle and appear to dance as the neon lights around us reflected back at me. They appeared to change with the tune of the mysterious humming and had a somewhat hypnotic effect over me.
I found myself unable to look away. I was trapped where I stood until he glanced back toward the hibernating ride. The effect on me was rattling. After only a few moments of looking into the man’s eyes, my thoughts were foggy, and I was left feeling woozy.
“I see you’ve found my newest attraction, or it seems perhaps she’s found you. She’s not quite finished yet, but if you play your cards right, I could show her to you. Or maybe, just maybe, you could be the first to ride her?”
The humming was getting louder as more voices were joining the tune. The man had begun to move his hands theatrically, as if directing a choir.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked.
“Where’s the song coming from?” I asked.
“That isn’t important just now,” he said, turning his attention back to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders. I looked at my feet to avoid his gaze. “What is important is that you’re not like other boys, are you? You’re different. You’re special.”
* * *
The man held a firm grip on my shoulder as he guided me through the carnival. Along the way, he told me facts about the different rides. He explained where each ride came from and how long he’d had them. I barely heard a word he said. I was focused on trying to come up with a way to escape his grip, but every time I thought he was distracted by his stories, he’d snap back and grip my shoulder tighter.
When we were in front of the Ferris Wheel, I tried to break free of his hold, but he grabbed my chin and forced me to look him in the eyes.
“You don’t want to run off just yet. I’ve got a big reveal in store for you, boy. Don’t you want to know where the song comes from?”
His hypnotic green eyes subdued me once again, and I found my strength leaving me. He grabbed me under the arms and pulled me to my feet.
“You’re special, boy, but weak. You’ll get used to it.”
He reached into a pocket and pulled out a PEZ dispenser with a clown on top.
“Here. Take one of these. You’ll feel better.”
In my dazed state, I reached out and took a pill from the dispenser. I held it in my hand and examined it. Even in my state of confusion, I could tell it wasn’t candy.
“Trust me, boy. It’ll help.”
He gently pushed my hand closer to my mouth, and in my stupor, I failed to resist. I took the pill and my mental fog soon lifted. I could think more clearly, but it seemed to affect my hearing and vision in strange ways.
We walked slowly along the midway, again guided by his hand on my shoulder. My head was clear, but the rest of the surrounding world seemed disjointed. The neon lights jumped from their bulbs and streaked across the sky like fireworks. The carnies working the games stared at me, seemingly in unison, as I walked past, never missing a beat while they barked their singsong calls to play. Carnival goers were laughing and talking all around me, but their voices were muted. I could only hear the sounds of music and singing, much like the song I heard at the new, unfinished ride earlier.
As we approached the opening to the Spooktacular Scare House, I could hear something different coming through the songs. I could hear muffled screams and faint cries for help.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
The scare house was one of the attractions Charlie, Jeff, and I had skipped earlier that night. The line was long, and Jeff wasn’t a fan of scary stuff. It had looked pretty lame earlier, with cartoonish ghosts and skulls painted on the outside walls and rubber bats hanging from strings along the awning over the front entrance.
Now, under the influence of the mysterious drug, the bats looked real, and the glow-in-the-dark painted ghosts danced along the walls. Shadowy figures appeared to be watching from the windows above.
“You wanted to know where the singing comes from, right? Well, let’s just say, some kids come to play but never leave.”
As if on cue, more calls for help came from the scare house behind me.
The man pulled out a pocket w
atch and handed it to me.
“You’ll want to pay close attention to the time, my boy. Your friends Charles and Jeffery are inside and haven’t much time left. If they’re still inside after midnight, I’m afraid they won’t be leaving. If you can play this one game with me, I will let them off in exchange. Either you find them by midnight, or they’ll never be seen again. Tick tock, boy.”
I turned to the spook house door and yelled out for my friends.
“Help us!” called back a voice. Could it be Charlie’s?
I looked back at the man in the top hat. He smiled and started humming along to the music surrounding us.
After I ran into the spook house, the door slammed shut behind me, engulfing me in darkness. I felt hands all over my legs and heard laughter all around me. I stumbled forward and bumped into someone.
“Hello? Who’s there?”
There was nothing but the sound of laughter. I reached out and felt the person in front of me. The person was standing motionless despite the constant groping at our legs. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my zippo lighter to get a better look. With a flick of the lighter, the room filled with the flickering light of its flame.
To my confusion, I found myself standing in an empty hallway. Nobody was there. The laughter ceased and there were no hands at my feet. Inexplicably, the person who I swore was just standing in front of me was nowhere to be found.
Frantically, I ran down the hall and called out to my friends but heard no reply.
A glance at the pocket watch revealed only a few minutes until midnight. I had to find them quickly.
The hallway had no windows or doors and branched off into endless subsequent halls with no windows or doors. It seemed I was in a maze.
Finally, around one last turn, I came to a door. I could hear a thumping sound behind it.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
It reminded me of a heart beating. I called out for my friends and could have sworn I heard them cry out in reply. They had to be on the other side. I reached for the doorknob, turned the knob, and opened the door. To my horror, I was met by a tidal wave of blood. It knocked me off my feet and washed me down the hall.
When I finally came to rest, I noticed the blood was draining through a gap at the bottom of the wall. I thought there must be a room behind the wall, so I threw myself at the wall, over and over again, until it finally gave way, causing me to crash to the floor. I stood and looked around and could hardly believe what I was seeing.
I had stumbled into the lower level of a very large room with what looked to be a viewing deck above. Around me were an assortment of saws, drills, and needles. There were operating tables with attached tubes that ran across the room to dozens of barrels. Lying on two of the tables were Charlie and Jeff. Both were motionless and quiet.
I ran to Jeff, the closest of the two, and screamed in horror at what I’d found. He was ash gray and clearly dead. His extremities and chest had been cut open and tubes were protruding from his heart. His arms and legs were splayed open, and his blood was pooled in a pan beneath him and draining into the tubes leading to the barrels.
From what I could tell, the same was done to Charlie.
I pulled the pocket watch out and saw that it was not quite midnight. I didn’t understand.
My confusion was interrupted by the sound of clapping.
“Bravo, boy! Bravo!” the man in the top hat cheered.
“You said I had until midnight!” I yelled.
“Ah, you did, boy. You did. But look around. You’re at the carnival. Have you ever really played a game at the carnival that wasn’t fixed?” he chuckled.
“You’re a monster!”
“Sure, I can see why you’d think that. But hear me out. Please.” The man gestured for me to sit in a nearby chair.
I wasn’t going to give him the chance to speak, but I didn’t really have much of a choice. When I charged toward him, he snapped his fingers, and I froze. He motioned for me to sit, and I was forced into a seat against my will. It was as if he were really a magician after all.
“Your friends and I had an arrangement. I caught them jumping the line at the Gravitron. I offered them two choices. I could have them thrown out of the carnival and call their parents, or they could help me with some manual labor to maintain the rides before they leave. They chose to avoid their mom and dad and help me out. A deal’s a deal.”
“But you killed them!”
“I never said what the task was they’d be helping with, now did I? They’re providing much needed vitality for my rides. Weren’t you listening earlier on my little tour of the carnival? These rides are very old, and they need lots of upkeep. Nothing keeps them working so well as vitality from young carnival goers. Besides, your friends were just dying to get on the Gravitron, weren’t they?” he said, laughing at his own joke.
“Upon learning they came to my carnival with another boy, I made it my mission to find you. If you turned up missing too, perhaps your families would think you all ran away.”
I was frozen in fear. I thought for sure he was going to strap me to one of those tables and gut me like a deer. He pulled out a long knife and walked up to me, tapping the blade against the palm of his left hand as he spoke.
“Imagine my surprise when I found you listening to the siren’s call.”
He walked around the chair and stopped when he was behind me. He leaned in and whispered into my ear, “I can’t kill you, boy, because you’re special.”
“Then why bring me here? Why show me all of this? Why are you telling me this?”
“You need to understand. Showing you is much more efficient than telling you. You would have never believed me if I told you, but showing you—” he threw his arms out wide “—seeing is believing!”
At that, the faint singing that never really went away became deafening. The upper viewing deck was now filled with hundreds of children and teens, all aglow like angels. They were all singing the same song I’d heard all night long. Among the faces, I saw Jeff and Charlie.
“Your friends are now a part of this carnival and will be until it is no more. You have the gift to hear the siren’s call. Join me! Together, we will keep her spirit alive!”
* * *
When the carnival left the next day, I went with it. I couldn’t leave my friends. I know they are dead, but the way I saw it, they lived on in the carnival. I worked with the man in the top hat for decades. We continued to do what needed to be done when we heard her sing the siren’s call, but with so few people coming to the carnival, she went hungry and rides began to fall apart. I lost the Gravitron a few years ago, and I cried for weeks at the loss of my friends.
I think it’s fitting that the end came here, at my hometown, where it all began for me. But what worries me is if I listen carefully, I still hear her sweet humming tune.
4
The Gorilla by Patrick C. Harrison III
“The county fair has been going downhill for years. I remember when they served homemade ice cream and greasy burgers. And when you got to shoot real BB guns for prizes. And when they had a spook house, and you would ride through on this little cart with your friends and all sorts of ghosts and goblins would jump out to scare you. And the house of mirrors; my God, don’t forget that. But now, it’s nothing. A few rides that spin you around, a bounce house, maybe a little petting zoo of goats. The only good things left are the turkey legs and funnel cakes; Lord knows how much they’re charging for ‘em. Are you sure you want to go?”
They were already pulling into the parking lot, so it was a little late for his mom to be making the case against going. Not that her case had a chance in hell of changing Allen’s mind. He’d been looking forward to the fair for months, ever since he’d seen the poster advertising it on the wall at the grocery store.
“I’m sure,” he said. “The Ferris wheel looks neat.”
His mom leaned forward over the steering wheel to get
a better look at the Ferris wheel. It loomed over everything else, shining neon pink in the evening gloom.
“I suppose it does look neat,” she said. “The lemonade is always good. But listen, Allen, I’m not at all comfortable leaving a ten-year-old at the fair while I go to work. There are lots of horrible people in this world and—”
“It will be fine, Mom. Charlie and Mitch will be here, too. I’ll hang out with them. Plus, I have my phone.” He pulled it out and tapped the screen to demonstrate that there was plenty of battery life and signal.
She sighed, ruffled his hair, and kissed his head.
“Have fun,” she said. She seemed to have tears in her eyes, making Allen wonder if she was thinking about Dad, who was working overseas again, gone for months at a time. “I’ll be back to pick you up around nine. Nine-thirty at the latest. Just a four-hour shift tonight.”
“Okay. I love you.” He hugged her tight, breathing in the clean scent of her shirt.
“I love you too, honey.” She handed Allen twenty dollars, then added ten more from her purse. “It’ll probably go quick. Spend it wisely.”
“I will.”
“Make sure your phone is on ring.”
“It is.”
“And have fun.”
“Okay, Mom!”
With that, Allen hopped out of the car and jogged toward the ticket booth, looking back and waving three times. He was relieved when he got in line and saw his mom’s car finally backing out of the parking space. If she had been waiting to see him meet up with Charlie or Mitch, she would likely be waiting a while.
Charlie had been to the fair two nights previous and reported back that “it sucked”, and Mitch showed no real interest in going; though he did say his baby sister (who was actually four, not a baby) wanted to go so she could get cotton candy. Cotton candy sounded good to Allen, too.
When he reached the ticket booth, he pulled out the free pass they handed out at school and passed it to the elderly woman seated behind the counter. She gazed at it mistrustfully, then eyed Allen mistrustfully, then gazed back at the ticket. Eventually, when it seemed she may expire of old age, she stamped his hand with an image Allen couldn’t make out and waved him through.
Dark Carnival (A Horror Anthology) Page 6
