Dark Carnival (A Horror Anthology) by Macabre Ladies

Author:Macabre Ladies [Ladies, Macabre]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Macabre Ladies
Published: 2021-05-14T22:00:00+00:00

8

The Johnson Family Funhouse by Miranda Dahlin

“Tickets here! Step right up and get your tickets! Are you ready to see dark like you’ve never seen it before? Are you ready to be frightened beyond belief!? Are you ready to see things that make you wish you were no longer living!?” The announcer’s eyes scanned the crowd and landed on a translucent couple holding hands as they wavered and shimmered in the moonlight. He cleared his throat.

“Um, well for those of you that are, of course,” he added.

His eyes widened as he awkwardly spun around in the ticket booth and began rummaging behind him, mumbling under his breath. When he turned around, he had a fistful of tickets that he began to shake over his head.

“Come and get ‘em! The funhouse of your dreams, filled with the freaks of your nightmares!”

The group bustled about excitedly and began to chat amongst themselves as they pressed closer to the ticket booth. Ochre, the little lightbulb boy, began to emit a bright incandescent glow in excitement. Bobby Bones, the motorcycle rider with the partially external skeleton, revved his engine as he idled on the street, waiting for the crowd to die down a bit before he joined the line. Lady Macaw, the bird woman, let out a piercing screech of happiness. Turin and Celeste, the ghost couple, wavered in and out of vision as they watched their friends line up in front of them.

Leona, the young lion rider who often led the motley bunch with her bravery, was first in line, followed by Ochre. Orphaned at a young age after a fierce inferno tore through their neighborhood, lighting their tents on fire and killing both of their parents, Leona and Ochre had grown up together, two little lifeboats hitched together in rough seas.

Leona had tried her best to protect the little lightbulb boy and was always worried about how vulnerable he appeared to others—inadvertently glowing and fading with each passing emotion. He was now approaching his preteen years, and she had noticed that his usual luminescence had started to dim. She was determined to help him enjoy any last shreds of childish fun they could dredge up.

Ochre had always found such pleasure in the scary and macabre, had always loved things that spooked him and made his glassy skin sweat, and so when Leona saw the sign for the funhouse coming through their town, she knew immediately that she had to take him. Carnivals and funhouses never passed through their area, but they had dreamed of them often, yearning for a taste of the freakish and frightening things they conjured up in their minds.

Leona and Ochre bought their tickets and lingered around the booth while the others finished. Finally, a short, stocky man emerged from the gate next to the ticket booth. The man wore a grubby t-shirt, old blue jeans, and a baseball cap with a tear in it.

“What a strange outfit,” Celeste whispered quietly to Turin.

Turin nodded, glimmering in and out of vision.

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