Kindle Edition
Amazon
Category:
Horror
Publisher: Gabriel's Horn Publishing
Type: Fiction
Pages: 272
Copyright: March 12, 2023
ISBN-13: 9798888461006
Price: $3.99 (eBook)
A fast-paced, chilling tale of an evil force hiding beneath the tents of a carnival. Guaranteed to frighten or your goose bumps back.
The small town of Arkham awakes to find a traveling carnival outside its borders. Lilith's Carnival seems a simple diversion. Or is it--for those special enough to receive a red ticket? It's good for any show, but of course, it's their choice to use it--it's always their choice.
Johnny Solom, a man on the run, convicted for the disappearance and assumed murder of his girlfriend, followed the trail back to Lilith's Carnival, the last place he saw her alive. Johnny doesn't know of the dark evil that awaits him--an evil that could consume him--an evil that knows who he is.
These men, destined to meet--one man running from the law, the other is the law--both have one thing in common: discovering the secret of the Dark Carnival.
Excerpt
“Please…please!!” she cried. Nikki kept spinning in circles and circles while groping for the passage out. Her heart pounded wildly. Her hands hit upon one glass pane after another. Then without warning, she fell forward, landing with a hard thud. She reached up, her hands stretched as far as possible, fumbling in front of her. No glass. She crawled along the floorboards like some trapped animal. When the top of her head collided into more glass, like a pinball against bumpers, she turned and took a new direction. She couldn’t think any longer, she could only react. In her terror, Nikki didn’t realize that each choice made seemed to be the right one. On all fours, she scampered to her freedom.
At last, she came to an opening that led to a small room with white painted walls. But more importantly, over a door at the far end a sign displayed a red glowing “EXIT.” No more mirror walls, only four framed full-length mirrors spaced a foot apart from each other—the final amusement. She started to laugh, which switched between a giggle and a cry. She stood up and walked toward the exit door.
The oak frames of each mirror were carved with small faces, all twisted and distorted with tongues sticking out of screaming mouths below bulging and extended eyes. Each different and in perfect detail—each line of agony etched deep into the wood.
Nikki looked in the first mirror. It made her head appear bloated, though still clear enough for her to rub the streaks of liner from under her eyes. She reached for her purse, only to find she had lost it somewhere back in the maze. She wouldn’t be going back after it. Nikki made her way past the second mirror and couldn’t help looking. With all the energy spent on trying to get out of this hellish place, the mirrors drew her in. The distortions made her body look very tall and thin. The third mirror made her feet very large, her head very small.
In the fourth and final mirror her skin looked stretched out, her lips were pulled back, her nose pig-like. The angles made it appear as if she had very little hair and her eyes seemed to be popping out. A truly hideous form.
“It is said—” a voice came from behind.
Nikki turned around quickly.
“—that mirrors reveal our true self.” It was Lilith speaking. “Is what you see disturbing?”
Nikki’s gaze returned to the mirror. She nodded. Then Nikki’s eyes widened as she saw Lilith’s reflection. The woman’s appearance remained unchanged, but the mirror had distorted her own image. She tried to speak, but only garbled noise came from her mouth. Nikki raised her hands to her face and felt her long stretched lips. Her nose had become round and flat.
Nikki’s scream became a weird high-pitched screech. Saliva trickled down the girl’s chin.
“See how ugly vanity can be,” Lilith remarked.
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