its plates and horns.
“Who made all this?” she asked.
“All what?”
“Everything. The big octopus, the triceratops, the devil face. All the crazy stuff along this road.”
“I don’t know.” Carter had never really thought of people making them. The oversized crabs, fish, cowboys, pirates, and leprechauns around town seemed to him as much a part of the local ecosystem as the beach and the palm trees. “This stuff’s always been here.”
“Always? Even a thousand years ago, there were big clown statues with neon bow-ties selling donuts?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said.
She took pictures of the Dinosaur Mini-Golf course, which was an artificial hill full of plastic trees and assorted dinosaurs lurking among foam boulders, all locked behind a chain-link fence hung with NO TRESPASSING signs.
“Did you ever come here for a game of dinosaur golf?” she asked.
“Yeah. The best part of the course was the cave through the middle. You can’t see it from here.”
She took a few more pictures and kept walking. The remaining columns of the old Starland Express roller coaster jutted up above a chain-link fence so thick with thorny vegetation it looked like a solid, living wall.
“We should stop here,” Carter told her as they reached the weedy, sandy parking lot for Starland.
“Looks like it’s okay to go to the front gate.” Victoria walked toward the castle towers with their dead neon stars and the shrine of pictures, flowers, burned-down candle stumps, cards, and other offerings. She wore a look of dazed fascination, her eyes glancing up at the devil until she was too close to the fence to see it. Then she studied the disorganized shrine to the dead. “It’s crazy how these things spring up whenever there’s an accident or a tragedy. It’s like this nameless organic religious practice.”
“It makes sense, though,” Carter said. He was very uncomfortable to be standing in this place talking about it. He’d already made his visit for the year. “Especially when something really bad like this happens, and when a lot of the bodies are still here.”
“They are?” Victoria suddenly looked at the overgrown gates with horror instead of fascination. “Are you serious?”
“The sinkhole’s too deep, and the bottom’s like quicksand,” Carter said. “They couldn’t get down there to dig them up.”
“Oh, God.” She covered her mouth. “So this is really a graveyard, too. It didn’t mention that on Wikipedia.”
“You can see why the police take it so seriously. We should move on.”
Victoria backed up until she could see the devil peering over the fence. Its eyes still pulled the same old trick of seeming to follow you wherever you went. She snapped a picture of it, and the glint of fascination was back in her eyes.
“I want to go inside,” she said in a low voice.
“Definitely not,” Carter said. “It’s awful in there.”
“I want to see it.” Victoria was almost whispering.
“You said you wanted to see the empty motels across the street, too. Maybe we should go back and look at those.”
“Please, Carter.” Victoria lowered her eyes from the devil to look right at him, begging. “ Please . Take me inside the park.”
Chapter Five
Carter looked up at the looming dark shape of the devil’s face, its horns still visible against the purple sky. The small red bulbs at the center of its vertical pupils seemed to flare for a moment, probably reflecting a passing headlight on the highway.
He couldn’t believe he’d let the girl bring him here.
They’d clearly lost track of time. The sun had sunk behind the wooden ghost town of Fool’s Gold while the devil watched in silent glee.
Victoria had slipped away from him, lost in her vision of capturing the sad ruins of other people’s memories. Or maybe it was Carter who’d gotten away, drawn by the horrific lure of this place, this ride in particular, where Tricia had been one of the final twelve
“Who made all this?” she asked.
“All what?”
“Everything. The big octopus, the triceratops, the devil face. All the crazy stuff along this road.”
“I don’t know.” Carter had never really thought of people making them. The oversized crabs, fish, cowboys, pirates, and leprechauns around town seemed to him as much a part of the local ecosystem as the beach and the palm trees. “This stuff’s always been here.”
“Always? Even a thousand years ago, there were big clown statues with neon bow-ties selling donuts?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said.
She took pictures of the Dinosaur Mini-Golf course, which was an artificial hill full of plastic trees and assorted dinosaurs lurking among foam boulders, all locked behind a chain-link fence hung with NO TRESPASSING signs.
“Did you ever come here for a game of dinosaur golf?” she asked.
“Yeah. The best part of the course was the cave through the middle. You can’t see it from here.”
She took a few more pictures and kept walking. The remaining columns of the old Starland Express roller coaster jutted up above a chain-link fence so thick with thorny vegetation it looked like a solid, living wall.
“We should stop here,” Carter told her as they reached the weedy, sandy parking lot for Starland.
“Looks like it’s okay to go to the front gate.” Victoria walked toward the castle towers with their dead neon stars and the shrine of pictures, flowers, burned-down candle stumps, cards, and other offerings. She wore a look of dazed fascination, her eyes glancing up at the devil until she was too close to the fence to see it. Then she studied the disorganized shrine to the dead. “It’s crazy how these things spring up whenever there’s an accident or a tragedy. It’s like this nameless organic religious practice.”
“It makes sense, though,” Carter said. He was very uncomfortable to be standing in this place talking about it. He’d already made his visit for the year. “Especially when something really bad like this happens, and when a lot of the bodies are still here.”
“They are?” Victoria suddenly looked at the overgrown gates with horror instead of fascination. “Are you serious?”
“The sinkhole’s too deep, and the bottom’s like quicksand,” Carter said. “They couldn’t get down there to dig them up.”
“Oh, God.” She covered her mouth. “So this is really a graveyard, too. It didn’t mention that on Wikipedia.”
“You can see why the police take it so seriously. We should move on.”
Victoria backed up until she could see the devil peering over the fence. Its eyes still pulled the same old trick of seeming to follow you wherever you went. She snapped a picture of it, and the glint of fascination was back in her eyes.
“I want to go inside,” she said in a low voice.
“Definitely not,” Carter said. “It’s awful in there.”
“I want to see it.” Victoria was almost whispering.
“You said you wanted to see the empty motels across the street, too. Maybe we should go back and look at those.”
“Please, Carter.” Victoria lowered her eyes from the devil to look right at him, begging. “ Please . Take me inside the park.”
Chapter Five
Carter looked up at the looming dark shape of the devil’s face, its horns still visible against the purple sky. The small red bulbs at the center of its vertical pupils seemed to flare for a moment, probably reflecting a passing headlight on the highway.
He couldn’t believe he’d let the girl bring him here.
They’d clearly lost track of time. The sun had sunk behind the wooden ghost town of Fool’s Gold while the devil watched in silent glee.
Victoria had slipped away from him, lost in her vision of capturing the sad ruins of other people’s memories. Or maybe it was Carter who’d gotten away, drawn by the horrific lure of this place, this ride in particular, where Tricia had been one of the final twelve
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