The nostalgic aroma of freshly made popcorn, roasted peanuts, and cotton candy clung to the air as the bright lights from the Ferris wheel blinked against the inky night sky, enticing the crowd to take a ride.
“Tickets! Bracelets! Get them half off! Tonight only!” The words blasted through the megaphone of the carnival worker wearing a tattered green jacket as he sat inside a wooden ticket booth. A badge hanging around his neck identified him as Arlo.
Below him, a rusted tin sign propped itself against the booth.
Carnie Days -- Suicide Night
“What’s suicide night?” a woman who could’ve been a young Meg Ryan asked the carnival worker.
Arlo leaned forward with a leer, showing off a set of crooked teeth. He took in her short skirt and low cut top. “You’ve never heard of suicide night, darlin’?”
Her boyfriend, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, placed a possessive hand around her waist. “Liz, don’t you know you shouldn’t talk to strangers?”
She elbowed him in his side. “He works here, Jason.”
Arlo smacked his lips and chuckled. “No need to get jealous, boy. I was just asking the sexy officer here a question. No harm in that, is there?”
He was referring to her Halloween costume. Liz bit back a smile before answering, “No, it’s not something I’ll pull out my plastic cuffs for.”
Arlo grinned. “Maybe I wouldn’t mind you bringing out the cuffs, darlin’.”
“Liz,” Jason said her name as a warning.
“We’ve never been to Carnie Days,” Liz admitted, ignoring her boyfriend.
Arlo winked at her. “You ever play Russian roulette, beautiful?”
“Watch it,” Jason threatened, stepping forward.
Arlo smirked. “Just complimentin’ your girl here. No need to get offended.” He turned back to Liz. “I’ll ask again. You ever play Russian roulette?”
She shook her head.
“Consider tonight a game of roulette. Each ride you take could be your last.”
Jason made a scoffing noise.
“We test the rides the day before we officially open. Tickets and bracelets are half off tonight. Anyone who wants a cheap thrill can ride the rollercoaster, but there’s no guarantee it’s safe. That goes for all the rides. You choose to ride, you waive all liability of any injuries or death. That’s Suicide night, baby.”
“Watch your mouth,” Jason threatened, his hands fisting at his side.
Arlo raised his hands in front of him in a calming gesture. “Alright, no need to get so upset.”
“I’m not sure I want to ride anything tonight if it isn’t safe,” Liz whispered.
“If it makes you feel any better, we’ve only had twelve deaths in the twenty years we’ve been running.” Arlo’s mouth tilted up at her wide eyes.
Her boyfriend rolled his eyes. “Babe, he’s lying. It’s just a gimmick.”
Arlo’s smile fell. “You calling me a liar?”
Jason’s eyes darted to him before turning back to his girlfriend. “If you don’t want to ride anything, we don’t have to. We could leave.” He squeezed her hip. “Go back to my place...”
“We have a zombie compound if you’re up for it,” Arlo added with a grin. “Can’t say anyone’s ever died in it, but that could be because it’s an extra attraction— just added this year. It’s our spin on a haunted house.”
Jason sneered at Arlo before buying tickets. One pink cotton candy and a losing game of ring toss later, they were standing in front of the Zombie Compound.
“Enter if you dare! The Zombie Compound isn’t for the faint of heart,” the man dressed as a mad scientist in a white laboratory coat and big black utility boots yelled.
“You need our tickets?” Jason asked.
The scientist flashed a wicked smile, revealing his nicotine-stained teeth before turning to Liz. “Why, yes, I do... but be careful. Zombies love the flesh of law enforcement. I do too.”
Jason shoved the tickets at the scientist while muttering something about every worker being a pervert.
The scientist placed the two tickets into a small metal lockbox and warned the couple, “Don’t let go of each other. If a zombie catches you, he’ll carve you open to eat your brains.”
Liz giggled and dragged her boyfriend forward. “C’mon Jason, don’t be scared.”
“I’m not scared,” Jason scoffed, grabbing hold of her hand.
They moved forward, walking down an empty hallway with flashing lights. The roar of a chainsaw, people screaming, moans, and rattling chains surrounded them.
“I don’t know why you like this crap,” Jason complained.
Liz laughed as they passed a body laid out on a gurney with a blood-stained sheet covering it. Bandages soaked in red paint hung from its torso and head, making the body appear as if it were some sort of mummy. It was hard to see with the flashing lights, but Jason edged as far away as he could from it.
“C’mon Jason. Stop being a baby,” Liz teased.
Jason clenched his jaw. As he walked past the body, a hand snaked out from beneath the sheet, grabbing his leg.
He shrieked.
“Awww crap,” Jason yelled as he jumped away from the moving hand. Liz laughed.
“Stop laughing. It’s not funny. It didn’t grab you.”
“Okay, okay, let’s keep going,” she urged.
It was a maze of horrors. Red walls surrounded them with smoke and the flickering lights made it difficult to see. Zombies stood in the corner. They were attacking a woman who was screaming at the top of her lungs.
A few minutes later, a zombie fell from the ceiling, scaring both of them.
Finally, it became quiet and Jason found himself in a pitch dark room with his girlfriend.
They could hear a little girl’s voice singing a soft lullaby, “Hush, tiny zombie, don’t you cry.”
A soft spotlight fell on her with a loud click. She wore a green dress and had her back to them as she sat on a small stool. She rocked back and forth while holding a baby doll in her arms.
Neither Jason or Liz could see a way out of the room other than the door they entered from and a door behind the rocking child. They walked towards the girl, who still crooned to her doll.
Once they stood directly behind her, she stopped singing and turned around to face them.
The girl didn’t have a face. She bore a smooth blue-veined piece of flesh.
Both Jason and Liz screamed.
An emergency exit light flashed, revealing a secret doorway. Jason ran through the door, holding onto Liz. The exit sign blinked in the distance.
“I’m ready to get the hell out of here,” Jason snapped.
The sound of a chainsaw blaring caught him off guard. To his left, a man dressed in goggles, a plastic suit, gloves, and boots wielded a chainsaw in the air. He brought the tool down and into the flesh of a body sprawled on the ground.
Liz screeched as something wet splattered her arm. Jason grabbed her hand and dragged her to the last exit, leaving the madman in plastic behind.
Outside the zombie compound, Liz bent forward and rested her hands on her knees.
“You’re the only girl I know who likes this kind of crap,” Jason fumed. He ran a hand through his hair.
His girlfriend looked up and smiled. “It was fun, though, right?”
“Yeah, whatever. Let’s just go,” Jason jerked his head forward. They passed the line of people waiting to be scared in the zombie compound.
As they passed Arlo’s booth, the carnival worker called out to them.
"Glad to see you both made it out alive.”
Jason shook his head and cursed before heading to the parking lot. Once in the car, he drove off of the country roads leading to the main highway.
“Those assholes,” Liz muttered, tugging at her fishnet stalkings.
Jason looked over at her. “What are you talking about?”
“They must’ve used some kind of paint on that last bit in the zombie compound. Look, I have red paint on me and my clothes. This better wash out. Ugh...it feels like blood.”
Jason smirked. “I can’t say I enjoyed it, but that place used some pretty good props. That little girl scared the shit out of me. Don’t worry, it’ll wash out. Your uniform is dark anyway.”
They veered over onto the main highway, a row of trees outlining their path.
“Is that the last place you want to go?” Jason asked.
“No, there’s another horror house I want to visit, but it’s on the other side of town.”
“Where is it?”
“Hold on. Let me check the flyer,” Liz said as she turned on the inside car light to read the paper she held in her hands.
“It better not be as bad as the last one,” Jason huffed.
“Aww, is my Jason scared?” she asked laughingly as she ruffled his hair. “Ew, gross. What is that?” She pulled her hand back and wiped it on the car seat.
“What’s what?” Jason asked.
“You have something in your hair. You don’t feel it?”
“No. What is it? Get it out.”
“It felt weird,” she said as she pulled out whatever was entwined in his hair. It looked as if someone had mutilated it with a chainsaw and covered it in red paint. She pulled it towards her so she could inspect it.
“Oh my God! It’s a piece of skin!” she yelled as she threw the scrap of flesh away from her. It landed on Jason’s face. He gave a strangled cry before losing control of the steering wheel.
They both screamed as the car drove straight into an orchard of large trees.
Later that night, the man dressed in plastic laughed maniacally. In the corner of his room, the bloodied chainsaw was already wrapped in dark trashbags, ready for tomorrow's trash pick-up. He sat at his desk with a green leather-bound journal in front of him. He held a black ball-point pen as he wrote.
10/31
Salutations, my dear friend,
Tonight, I killed a man.
NOTE FROM SHEHOPES: Hello everyone, this is one of my stories that is back from the archives. I've made a ton of changes to it. One of the reasons I didn't just repost the original even though it has millions of reads, is because this version is different. I repeat, this version of the story is different. If you read it when I originally published it, PLEASE DO NOT POST SPOILERS!
If you are reading this again or for the first time, THANK YOU. I hope you enjoy the ride.
-SheHopes ❤