OCTOBER FRIGHTS BLOG HOP - DAY 6

 

 

 

Well, this is it. We've reached the end of the line. The final day of the October Frights Blog Hop. Congratulations for surviving! 

In honor of Halloween, my post today is an excerpt from my Halloween-themed novel, CARNIVAL OF FEAR, which is all about a group of people trapped inside a demonic carnival on Halloween night, and they have to survive a bevy of monsters, demons, and serial killers if they want to see the sun rise.

As always, be sure to check out  A.F. Stewart's blog page, http://afstewartblog.blogspot.com/, for the links to all the different bloggers and the latest about the blog hop and all things horror. And don't forget about
https://tinyurl.com/StoryOriginGiveaways, where you can get free reads from now until Oct. 31.

I hope you've had as much fun as I have!

Excerpt from CARNIVAL OF FEAR, available at http://tinyurl.com/CoFnew

 

Shortly before midnight on October twenty-ninth, with a full moon riding high overhead, a strange occurrence took place on the one-lane road near the east pasture of Dan McCready’s farm.

An ink-black circle, barely visible against the night sky, appeared without a sound. Twenty feet in diameter, the vertical disk shimmered with a disquieting energy on a wavelength not friendly to the human eye. Twin lights appeared within its dark depths, followed by a rumbling, clattering noise. Moments later, an eighteen-wheeler rocketed from the otherworldly tunnel. With a horrendous squeal of air brakes, it slowed down and turned onto the unpaved lane paralleling Dan McCready’s east field. Then it turned again, this time into the field itself. Several other trucks followed, their spectral emergence leading the way for a caravan of pickups, SUVs, and mobile homes. Gothic lettering on the sides of the trucks spelled out Carnival of Fear in giant, blood red script.

As soon as the last vehicle exited, the supernatural ring disappeared without a sound.

In the field, the vehicles arranged themselves in a rough circle several hundred yards across, as if forming a modern-day wagon circle. Once the last truck parked, all engine noise ceased. The sudden quiet was absolute; the type of quiet where the only audible sound is the soft background buzz that lets you know the nerves in your ears are on standby. No tic-tic-tic of engines cooling in the chill October air. No sound of truck doors opening or closing. In the cabs, no tiny, glowing red lights gave evidence of drivers smoking cigarettes.

Within the circle, a wispy, roiling cloud of fog began to form. The mist thickened, swirling about itself and building like cotton candy; solidifying, condensing, and growing more opaque with each passing second.

Shards of the heavy fog broke away and assumed individual shapes, featureless at first, but growing more recognizable as additional cloud matter attached itself. Squares and rectangles, circles standing on edge. Something large and triangular.

The shapes drifted about the field to various locations. As more vapor coalesced, their size and definition improved. True outlines became identifiable. The triangle morphed into a tent-form that grew into a circus big top. The squares and rectangles formed concession stands and game booths. The circles mutated into rides, the Ferris wheel and merry-go-round rapidly expanding to full size. In the very center of the ghostly midway, the largest aggregation of mist took on the form of a castle two stories high. Towers and turrets, tiny, rectangular windows, even a drawbridge.

When no more wandering mist remained, a burst of blackness erupted from the center of the circle, a silent explosion of lightlessness that, for the space of one heartbeat, covered the entire field in a shroud of unholy energy. In his living room, Dan McReady slumped in his easy chair, a victim of too much beer and the nightly news. When the force wave of darkness washed over him, tearing the flesh from his bones and ripping his soul away, it happened so fast he never even awoke.

He would be one of the lucky ones.

When normal light returned, a carnival stood revealed. Rides, booths, the big top, all of it colored in vivid oranges, yellows, reds, blacks, and browns to proclaim the official arrival of Halloween.

Rising above the other structures, the Castle of Horrors stood as the centerpiece of the midway. A sign, written in crimson, dripping letters, pronounced ‘Terror! Blood! Mayhem! Monsters, Ghouls, and Murderers! Experience the agony of the damned!’ A second sign proclaimed ‘The World’s Most Terrifying Haunted Mansion! Enter At Your Own Risk!’

In the unnatural quiet, the Carnival of Fear waited.

Soon it would be time to feed.

 

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“CARNIVAL OF FEAR is aptly named--Faherty takes us on an outrageous journey into nightmare that's equal parts Bradbury and Barker. From the opening page, this one rips into high-gear and takes you on a funhouse ride you'll never forget.” —Thomas F. Monteleone, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of more than 36 novels and several anthologies

“As a person who loves Carnivals, Haunted Houses, Halloween, and Horror, this book has everything I could hope for! No matter what time of year it is, CARNIVAL OF FEAR will transport you to a cold October night filled with fun and fear!” —Richard Christy, Charred Walls of the Damned and Sirius/XM producer