Nightmare

Ocean City, New Jersey, is a quiet little seaside town where not much happens, but on October 30, 1977, all that changed.

An obscure band of outsiders came into town on October 30 with carnival equipment, and glorious amusements. Ocean City had no fairgrounds except for an abandoned park where no carnival had been since the sixties.

No one knew where these shady people came from, but no one denied their eerie magnetism. By late in the evening on October 30, the carnival was all set up, but it remained close to the public.

The morning of October 31 dawned unusually warm for New Jersey in autumn. The citizens of the quaint little town came out in droves to inspect the dark carnival that was laid out before them.

A black, wrought iron fence adorned with spikes across the top and along the poles surrounded the entire setup. A particularly curious girl named Laura Aime was determined to find out who these people were, and why they were there.

Laura marched right up to the fence and called to the creatures inside. “Hello? Is anybody there?” yelled Laura. “Please let me know if you’re there.”

A tall, skinny man with a grotesquely painted face emerged from around the corner and stared at Laura. Laura was startled at the sight of him, but spoke to him anyway. “What’s your name?” asked Laura. The wicked clown glared at Laura and hesitated to speak. “J.” he replied. “J is your name?” asked Laura. “Yes.” J simply stated still staring at her ominously.

“What kind of carnival is this?” inquired Laura. J smiled slowly and mischievously, but said nothing. Laura asked again about the carnival, but J stepped back into the shadows, still smiling.

The gates to the place opened very slowly, beckoning Laura to come inside. She cautiously walked through the gates as they closed quickly behind her.

She surveyed the entire place, but to her amazement there were very few neon lights turned on, on the rides. Laura was quite surprised that there were very few rides and only a couple of games. The carnival seemed deserted, and Laura couldn’t find J anywhere.

Laura found an extremely large tent with red and white lights inside. J approached Laura very quickly from behind, and pushed her into the tent. “Come in and see the show.” J said with a wicked grin.

Laura was ushered into the tent before she could protest. The sights that were laid out before Laura horrified her beyond anything she ever imagined.

The interior of the tent was decorated with hot pink, neon green, and black. J left Laura’s side, and took his place beside a huge man dressed in a neon green suit and a hot pink shirt with a white top hat and cane.

Laura stared at the man too afraid to speak. J noticed her fear and smiled broadly. “This is our ringmaster, Shaggy.” said J.

Laura was still extremely intimidated by Shaggy so she said nothing. Shaggy glared at Laura almost demanding with his eyes for her to speak.

The horrid ringmaster spoke to Laura in a deep bass voice asking her, “Why are you here?” Laura’s skin crawled at the sound of his voice, and answered very timidly, “I..was just..curious about what was in here.”

The ringmaster’s demeanor changed very quickly, and he smiled a wicked grin at Laura. “Well, if you’re so curious about what we do here, then look at our three rings,” said Shaggy. Laura looked behind the ringmaster, and his minions to view three rather large, empty rings that sat on the ground. Laura was slightly bewildered by the empty rings, and inquired about their purpose. “Umm, Mr. Shaggy, sir, I don’t mean to be sarcastic or anything, but what’s the big deal about three empty rings?” asked Laura.

Shaggy and all the others laughed as if Laura had said the most ignorant thing they had ever heard. J grinned at Laura and said, “Go ahead, Laura, and pick you game; it’s no big deal, right?” All the wicked clowns cackled along with J and Shaggy as Laura proceeded to walk toward the rings. Laura stopped in front of the rings and stared at them. “Make a wise decision, Laura; it may be your last.” said Shaggy smiling evilly.

Laura walked toward the third ring and looked back at all of the freaks – wondering if she made the right decision. The clowns all continued glaring at Laura with the same evil, toothy smile, and Laura felt she had made a major mistake.

Shaggy sauntered over to Laura, and put his massive, gnarled hand on her shoulder; He asked in that same rough voice “Is this your final choice?” Laura slowly nodded yes, and Shaggy threw his head back in a fit of maddening laughter. “Welcome to your worst nightmare, Laura.” cackled J. Laura watched as 100 knives came up from the dirt in the center of her chosen ring.

“We’re gonna play a little game with you.” said another clown named C. “What are you gonna do with me?” asked Laura worriedly. “Have you ever seen the stunt where a performer throws knives at a pretty girl standing up against a board?” asked J as he slowly stroked a piece of Laura’s hair in between his dirty fingers. Laura slightly hesitated with her answer, but finally nodded yes.

Shaggy smiled broadly and walked toward Laura carrying the largest knife. “We know how much you hate knives, so we know this won’t be too pleasant for you,” said Shaggy running his finger along the blade of the knife “but it’ll be our greatest pleasure.” “This is how it works, Laura. You run from us while we throw the knives at you.” explained C as he picked up a knife. “Now,” growled J and Shaggy, “Run.”

Laura ran as fast as she could out of the three-ring tent. “You can run, girl, but you can’t hide from us!” screamed J. C caught a glimpse of Laura and flung a knife hitting her in the shoulder. “I hit her, Shaggy! I hit her!” yelled C.

Laura felt the knife sear through the skin at her shoulder, but kept running. She was becoming more and more exhausted by the minute, but she had to find a way out. Laura began to go around a corner when she saw J and another wicked clown. She stopped and noticed a gate about 50 yards behind J. J and the other clown walked on, and Laura made a break for the gate.

The clown that was with J saw Laura and screamed “She’s getting away!” Laura struggled trying to open the gate, but she couldn’t open it. She knew the only way out was to climb out, but she had to pull the knife out of her shoulder to climb over. All the clowns including C, J and Shaggy came running toward the gate flinging more knives Laura.

Laura ripped the knife out her shoulder and grabbed the spike-adorned fence. She felt the spikes piercing through her palms, but she didn’t care; she had to get away.

Laura finally made it over the fence and dropped to the ground. Shaggy was the only one who wasn’t upset that Laura escaped. Shaggy smiled and reminded the others, “Now boys and girls, Don’t be made; we’ll always be with her..in her nightmares.” All the evil clowns laughed, and Laura got up and ran away as fast as she could.

After she was a safe distance away, Laura turned back to look at the carnival, but it was gone. She walked slowly back to where the carnival had been and saw only a mirror lying on the ground. She picked up the bloodstained mirror and only saw her reflection. Slightly relieved, Laura began to put the mirror down, but the reflection suddenly changed into Shaggy’s shadowed face. “Remember Laura, I’ll always be there in your nightmares….” Shaggy cackled.

Laura threw the mirror on the ground, shattering it, and ran home with her nightmares haunting her forever.