The Amusement Park

In the state of MA, there is one amusement park everyone has gone to, that being the infamous Hanobie Lake Park. As a child, this place was heaven, and my childhood friends can back me up on that one. I would go with my friends at least once every summer, that was up until we were 14, and a night we went there changed our lives forever.

I was with my friend Dylan, and we had spent all day there going on the numerous amounts of rides. Nighttime was the best, as the attractions all lit up with vivid lights. It was truly awe inspiring to go on the ski lift ride and see all of the lit up attractions from a bird's eye view. From the corkscrew lit with vivid green and blue bulbs, to the Ferris Wheel lit with patriotic red, white, and blue lights. As a kid, it was the most amazing thing we had ever seen, well, next to slinkies going down stairs. Dylan and I were waiting in line for the Ferris Wheel when the sky turned dark, and the lights turned on.

Before I continue, I should probably go over Hanobie's grim past. Canobie Lake Park was built in 1908 and consisted of two rides, a Ferris Wheel, and a Roller Coaster known as the Yankee Cannon Ball. In 1909 the park was almost closed down because of two Ferris Wheel incidents, both occurred when the carts fell of their hinges, leaving to a large plummet, and ultimately death. In 1913, there were a surplus of new rides added to the park, one being the Davinci's Dream, which consisted of people being seated in swing like seats, and being brought up into the air by the ride, leading to a somewhat fast paced, enjoyable experience. Of course, days after the ride's unveiling, there were reports of the seats flying off with people inside, leading to them being sling shot either into the lake that was at the side of the attraction, or them being shot into the crowds of people leading to multiple deaths. Most cases were the latter. Still, the founder of Hanobie Lake Park persisted in keeping the rides in spite of their problematic malfunctions. There were many lawsuits, but for whatever reason, the people suing would, and may never, win the case. There were suspicions of the founder of the park bribing the judges, and that infuriated many people, yet the park still kept on being filled to the brim by excited park-goers.

The founder of Hanobie was soon after found murdered in his house in New Hampshire. The park was closed down, but then reopened in 1920 with a large amount of new rides. One new ride was the Crazy Cups, a ride in which the riders would be spun around in tea cup seats for about 2 minutes. In 1921, the Crazy Cups malfunctioned and the ride was set to absurd speeds. It may sound fun to some, but the lackadaisical effort to abide by safety regulations led to many passengers being launched out of their seats despite the fact that their seat belts were being worn. This occurred over and over again until 1927 when the park was sued multiple times, and the owner at the time was declared bankrupt. However, in 1936 a business man found hope in the park, and decided to take over. He refurnished the park and made sure that the safety of the rides was up to par with the regulations required. Nothing happened unusual until 1945, when a the carts on the Yankee Cannonball became derailed on the ride's highest hill, leading all of the cars to go flying into the pavement below the ride. The Park was rightfully sued, and was closed down for a long period of time.

In 1969 the park was reopened by another businessman who believed that the park could be family friendly. He still owns the park to this day, and there have only been a few minor incidents, and the only ones involving death were at the fault of the rider not following safety regulations. That brings me back to the story. Anyways, it was around 8:00, and the park was beautifully lit up by vivid lights. Dylan and I boarded the Ferris Wheel and got ready to see how the park would look. We got on, and then all of the lights shut off around the park. When they turned on, I was shocked, and judging by the expression on Dylan's face, he was too. The park was desolate, and we seemed to be the only people in the park.

Soon, a song that sounded vaguely from what I would presume was the 1930s played. It's cheery tunes just intensified the fear that Dylan and I had. The Ferris Wheel started going in reverse, and at a slightly faster pace. With every upward movement the ride made, it made a creaking noise. Convinced I was dreaming, I shut my eyes and pinched myself. I opened my eyes and looked to my right. Dylan was there, and the ride was still going in reverse, except, the park wasn't nearly as empty. I was shocked, the people on the ground seemed to be from.. the past. I couldn't exactly tell what made me think that, probably their attire, but I was too shocked to be thinking about that. Their skin was grey and deprived from any color. Their faces were smiling, but something seemed off about their disposition. I soon noticed something that made my blood turn cold, some of the people on the ground were missing chunks of flesh and or body parts.

I took a look at my fellow riders, and I was horrified. The people on the Ferris Wheel with me, men, women, and children, were all mutilated and dismembered. All of them were sobbing and holding on to each other. However, once they noticed Dylan and I staring at them, they turned their gaze upon us. They began to grin, obviously fake smiling as if someone was forcing them to smile. After what seemed like centuries, the ride stopped and Dylan and I got off the ride, to horrified to thank the walking corpse that let us off. Everyone in the park was obviously depressed about something, but wore a smile to hide their pain. I would have felt bad for them if it wasn't for the horrifying predicament I was in. Dylan and I ran around the park, trying not to make eye contact with the figments of the past walking among us. We stopped over by the Yankee Cannonball to catch our breath.

I turned around to see the coaster. Its passengers were all sobbing as their cars ascended the tallest hill. The cars then abruptly stopped, and crashed into the pavement of the parking lot beside it. To my shock, moments after, the same crying passengers ascended up the hill, ultimately leading to their demise once more. For a few moments, the fear in me was replaced with sadness, as these former park-goers were cursed with their own personal hell of reliving their deaths over, and over, and over again. Just as sadness engulfed my thoughts, fear was brought back as screams of terror were coming from across the park, partially being droned out by the early 20th century music. Then, a crash and then a few other smaller ones. We bolted over to the scene. The Ferris wheel collapsed once again, as it did many times before in the past.

As we set our gaze at the demolished corpses on the ground, we didn't notice the Ferris Wheel start up once more. The corpses on the ground appeared back on the repaired Ferris Wheel, all of which crying in both agony and depression, all while still maintaining that same smile fixed upon their faces.

Dylan and I ran as far as we could in an attempt to escape the devilish park, but to no avail as the park seemed to keep on looping endlessly. I sat down, and cried, shuddering and praying to god this hell would end. I opened my eyes, and I was back on the Ferris Wheel, the NORMAL Ferris Wheel. I rejoiced and cried out. Dylan just sat their staring into space, not responding to anything. After the park attendant closed the ride down, Dylan finally became responsive once more. The park attendant stopped the ride because he noticed that we were unresponsive and seemingly unconscious for the majority of the ride. I thought that that was impossible, as I was easily in that hellish version of the park for at least 2 hours with Dylan.

We were both sent to therapy as we had anxiety of going near any amusement park or anything from the early 20th century. I finally confessed to my therapist what had happened and he was dumbfounded. He told me of this thing called a time warp that supposedly only occurs once in a lifetime, where one timeline merges with another, and sometimes those can produce some ghastly results. How it happens is unknown, but there are cases of it apparently happening during history around places with a bad past.

I still to this day, have not dared venture to an amusement park of any sorts, or any place with a bad past. Dylan committed suicide at age 17 because of the nightmares that kept on occurring every night since the time warp. I was able to push through them with the guide of my therapist. Heed this warning, never, EVER, go to any place with a dark history, you never know what might happen to you...