Abandoned Amusement Parks Are Creepy By Sarah J. McNeal, #TheWildingsSeries
In my short story, THE BEAST OF HAZARD, from Prairie Rose
Publications, I wrote about an unscrupulous circus owner who abandons his
circus that wreaks havoc and danger on the fictional town of hazard, Wyoming.
I started researching abandoned amusement parks and, I
have to tell you, there is nothing creepier than a place where laughter and fun
once resided, now desolate and eerily silent. Imagine, on a hike in the forest,
stumbling upon a metal clown half buried in the dirt and a Ferris wheel covered
in vines out in the middle of nowhere. Even worse, imagine in the middle of a
meadow with low lying fog coming across life size statues of dinosaurs. One
might even think the creatures were real at first sight. I, for one, would run
shrieking and screaming. Roller coasters and carrousels appear particularly
sinister empty of passengers and slowly eaten by vines and trees. It just makes
me shiver to think how they must appear to someone who might come upon them by
accident.
Near my home in North Carolina is an abandoned mill. I
saw it every time I drove to the beach down highway 74. The old mill has
deteriorated and kudzu vines have taken over most of the structures. It
fascinated me, and it creeped me out. Of course, I had to get some photographs
of it. Here is one of them.
In my story, THE BEAST OF HAZARD, an entire town is in
danger just as the children are preparing to go out trick-or-treating. What is
this beast? And what are the townspeople going to do to protect themselves as
well as their livestock?
Joey Wilding
isn’t certain what’s killing the livestock in Hazard. Some believe it’s a
bewitched beast, others a wolf gone rabid. As the town veterinarian, he’s seen
mutilation before, but not like this, as if something enjoyed the killing.
When Claire
Beau asks Joey to help her injured wolf-dog, and begs his discretion, he begins
to suspect he has found the Beast of Hazard—and its beautiful mistress. But as
he walks through the woods after dark, something more ominous than any wolf
stalks him from the shadows.
Excerpt:
Joey walked through the woods to take the shortcut
back home. Even in the half-light of approaching night, he could find his way
back to the Wilding ranch. He sensed rather than saw something move just on the
other side of the old pond. He kept his eyes and ears alert as he made his way
through the low brush.
Something’s following me. Menacing and dangerous, it seemed to stalk him
from somewhere beyond the bushes. Without a gun, he only had a knife to protect
himself. His best option was to pick up his pace without running to get back to
safety. Running would draw attention to him and whatever it was that shadowed
him, it would identify him as prey.
And then he heard it growl. The ground practically
shook beneath his feet with its deep, low pitched sound. Never, in all his
life, had he heard such a sound. If death made a noise, it would sound like
that. Heart pumping adrenaline made his hands shake, but he knew not to let it
show. With every ounce of will he possessed, he put one foot in front of the
other until he reached home.
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stories about the Wildings click on this link: The Wildings
All Wilding Books are available on Kindle Unlimited
Sarah J. McNeal
Author
of Heartwarming Stories
