“It’s not a hawk. I’ll bet it’s a vulture!” Luke declared. “It sees the coffins, and it’s waiting to eat our flesh!” He laughed.
“Luke — where do you get these hideous ideas?” Mom demanded.
“Maybe Luke should live in HorrorLand!” Dad exclaimed. “We could get him one of those green monster costumes, and he’d fit right in perfectly!”
“He doesn’t need a costume!” I joked. I was starting to feel a little better. The ride was gentle and relaxing. And I figured nothing terrible could happen with my whole family around.
I settled back on the coffin bottom, my hands resting at my sides, and stared up dreamily at the bird circling high in the clear sky. The coffin bobbed gently, making soft splashing sounds.
So pleasant …
So quiet …
And then, before I could utter a sound, the coffin lid slammed shut over me. And I was trapped in total darkness.
19
“Hey!” I shouted. My voice was muffled by the heavy lid over me.
I could hear the dull thud of the other coffin lids slamming shut.
“Hey — let me out!”
I pushed against the lid with both hands. But it wouldn’t budge.
I took a deep breath and tried again. This time, I pushed with my hands and my feet. The heavy lid still didn’t move.
My heart was pounding so hard, I thought my chest would explode. The air inside the closed coffin was already getting hot and stuffy.
“Open up! Open up!” I screamed.
I tried pushing the lid again. I could hear Clay’s muffled cries in the coffin next to mine. The poor guy was screaming his head off.
I let out a loud groan as I pushed up with all my strength. The lid wouldn’t give an inch.
Calm down, Lizzy. Calm down, I instructed myself. It’s just a stupid ride. The coffin lid will open any second.
Breathing hard, I waited.
I counted to ten.
I counted to ten again.
The lid didn’t snap open.
I tried shutting my eyes and counting to fifty. When I reach fifty, I told myself, I’ll open my eyes, and the lid will be open.
“… twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four …” I counted out loud. My voice sounded tiny and choked. It was getting hard to breathe. The air began to feel really stale.
I stopped counting at twenty-five and opened my eyes. The lid hadn’t popped open.
It’s so hot in here, I thought. The sun is beating down on the lid. There’s no air, and I’m going to fry!
I tried to scream, but no sound came out.
I gasped for air.
Outside, I could hear muffled shouts and cries.
Was that my mother screaming like that?
“It’s just a ride,” I said out loud. “Just a stupid ride. The lid is going to pop — now!”
But it didn’t.
The air was so hot, so hot and stale.
Why didn’t the lid open?
Why?
I tried to force back my panic, but I couldn’t. My entire body was shaking and shivering. I felt cold perspiration drip down my forehead.
“Something has gone wrong!” I cried out loud. “The lid is supposed to open — but it doesn’t!”
Frantically, I pushed up with both hands. My arms ached from pushing so hard. But the lid didn’t move.
The coffin bobbed and rocked in the water.
I lowered my hands in defeat. I sucked in a mouthful of the hot, stale air. My chest was heaving. My body trembled.
And then I felt my legs start to itch. A tingly feeling down near my ankles.
Moving up my legs.
An itchy, crawly feeling.
Something was crawling slowly up my legs.
Something small and prickly.
“Ohh.” I let out a low, terrified groan.
Spiders!
20
I tried to scratch my legs, but my arms weren’t long enough. Unable to move or bend in the cramped coffin, I couldn’t reach down to them.
The tingling moved higher.
I wanted to scream, but I started to cough.
And then the coffin lid popped open. Bright sunlight made me shut my eyes.
“Oh!” I pulled myself up to a sitting position. Blinking against the light, I saw the others already scrambling up out of their coffins.
I scratched my legs furiously. To my surprise, there were no spiders. No bugs of any kind.
The coffin had pulled up to a small dock. I braced both hands against the sides of the coffin and heaved myself to my feet.
“Let’s get out of here!” I heard Clay cry.
“That was horrible!” my mom shrieked.
Luke didn’t say anything. His face was pale, and his black hair was matted to his forehead with sweat.
“They really went too far!” Dad said angrily. “I’m going to complain.”
“Let’s just go!” Mom told him.
We all scrambled onto the dock. I helped pull Clay up. Then I took several deep breaths of fresh air.
Dad ran off the dock toward the open plaza, and the rest of us hurried after him. “To the ticket booth!” he called back to us. “Right up there!” He pointed.
The coffin ride had taken us to the front of the park. I could see the front gate and the row of green ticket booths to the right.
“That ride was really gross!” Clay said, shaking his head.
“My legs got all itchy. I thought it was ants!” Luke declared.
“I thought it was spiders!” I told him.
“I wonder how they did that,” Luke said thoughtfully.
“I don’t care,” I replied. “I just want to get out of here. I hate this place!”
“So do I,” Clay agreed.
“They just go too far,” Mom said breathlessly, jogging to keep up with us as we followed Dad. “It isn’t any fun when a ride is that scary. I really had trouble breathing.”
“So did I,” I told her.
“Hey, how do we get home?” Luke suddenly demanded, staring at Mom. “Our car blew up.”
“I think those people in the monster costumes will lend us a car,” Mom replied. “They told your father just to come to the ticket booth.”
“Can we stop and get pizza?” Luke asked.
“Let’s get out of this place and then worry about lunch,” Mom told him.
The main plaza was totally empty. Not another living person.
We followed Dad to the first ticket booth. He turned back to us, making a disappointed face. “Closed,” he said. A metal grate had been pulled over the window.
Dad was breathing hard from running all the way. He pushed his blond hair off his sweaty forehead with both hands. “Over here,” he said.
We followed him to the next ticket booth. Also closed.
Then the next. Closed.
It didn’t take us long to discover that all of the ticket booths were closed.
“Weird,” Luke said, shaking his head.
“Don’t they expect any more visitors today?” Mom asked Dad. “How can they just close up like that?”
Dad shrugged. “We’ll have to ask someone.” His eyes searched the empty grounds.
I turned and checked out the plaza along with him. Still no one in sight. No visitors. No Horrors.
“Let’s try over there,” Dad said. He started walking to a low green building that stood beyond the ticket booths. It looked like some kind of office.
It was closed, too. Dad tried the door. It was locked.
Dad scratched his head. “What’s going on here? Where’d everyone disappear to?” he demanded.
Mom took his arm. “It’s very strange,” she said softly.
I glanced at Luke and Clay. They were standing tensely side by side on the walk in front of the office. Neither of them spoke.
“Are you sure these are the right ticket booths?” I asked.
“Yes,” Dad replied wearily. “This is the front entrance.”
&nbs
p; “So where can everyone be?” Mom asked, chewing her lower lip.
“Maybe we can find someone in the parking lot,” I suggested. “You know. A parking attendant or something. They’ll be able to tell us how to get a car to go home.”
“Good idea, Lizzy,” Dad said. He patted the top of my head, the way he used to when I was a little girl.
I waited for Luke to make fun of me. But he didn’t say a word. I guess he was too worried and upset.
“Come on,” I urged. I turned and ran past the empty ticket booths. The tall metal front gate to HorrorLand stood just beyond the booths.
I stopped for a second to read a sign on the side of one of the ticket booths. It said: NO EXIT. NO ONE LEAVES HORRORLAND ALIVE!
“Ha-ha,” I said sarcastically. “These signs are a riot, aren’t they?”
I jogged the rest of the way and reached the gate first. I pulled it, and it wouldn’t open. So I tried pushing it.
It didn’t move.
Then I saw the heavy chain and the large steel padlock on the gate.
Swallowing hard, I turned back to the others.
“We’re locked in!” I told them.
21
“What?” Dad stared at me, his face twisted in confusion. I don’t think he believed me.
“We’re locked in!” I repeated. I lifted the heavy metal padlock with both hands and then let it fall back with a loud clang against the bars of the gate.
“But that’s impossible!” Mom cried, raising her hands to her cheeks. “They can’t lock people inside an amusement park!”
“Maybe it’s another joke,” Luke suggested. “Everything in this place turns out to be a joke. Maybe this is one, too.”
I lifted the heavy padlock again. “It doesn’t look like a joke, Luke,” I said unhappily.
“Then there must be another gate where they want us to exit,” Mom suggested.
“Maybe,” Dad said doubtfully. “Maybe there’s a side exit. But I haven’t seen one.”
“What are we going to do?” Clay asked, whining. His face was red, and he was breathing hard.
“Where is everyone?” Luke demanded, whining, too. “They’ve got to let us leave. They’ve got to!”
“Let’s try to stay calm,” Dad said, putting a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “There’s no reason to panic. This is a strange place, but we’re not in any danger.”
“He’s right,” Mom broke in. “There’s no reason to be afraid. We’ll be out of here and on our way home in no time.” She forced a smile.
“As soon as we get out, I’ll buy you guys pizzas and big, cold drinks,” Dad promised. “And we’ll all have a good laugh about our terrifying adventures today in HorrorLand.”
“But how do we get out?” Luke demanded shrilly.
“Well …” Dad rubbed his chin.
“Do you think we could climb the fence?” I asked.
We all raised our eyes to the top of the iron fence. It was way over our heads. It must have been about twenty feet tall.
“I can’t climb that!” Clay cried. “I’d fall!”
“It’s too high,” Mom said quickly.
“Bad idea,” I murmured.
A large white cloud drifted over the sun. Our shadows grew longer over the pavement. The air quickly grew cooler.
I felt a chill run down my back.
“There’s got to be a way out of this stupid park!” I cried angrily. I hoisted up the padlock and slammed it against the bars of the gate.
“Hold on, Lizzy,” Dad said soothingly. “We just have to find one of those costumed park workers. They’ll tell us how to get out.”
“Uh … Dad …” I turned and saw Luke grab Dad’s arm. “Here they come.”
We all uttered astonished cries as we saw the Horrors crossing the plaza. Dozens of them. They moved quickly, with a steady rhythm. Silently.
A few seconds before, the plaza had been empty. Now it was filled with green-costumed Horrors marching toward us, spreading out, preparing to surround us.
I could feel the panic rise up from my stomach. My knees began to shake. I stared in horror at them as they drew closer, closer. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move.
“What are they going to do?” Clay cried, his features twisted in terror. He slipped behind Dad. “What are they doing to do to us?” he cried.
22
We huddled together as the Horrors marched silently toward us. The only sound was the soft thud of their monster feet on the pavement, and their long purple tails dragging on the ground.
“There are hundreds of them!” Mom murmured. She grabbed Dad’s arm with one hand. She slipped her other arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.
We had our backs against the iron fence. We stared helplessly at the grinning green faces, the bulging yellow eyes, which appeared to be laughing cruelly at us.
Finally, they stopped a few feet in front of us.
The plaza was still and silent. Terrifyingly silent.
The sun was still hidden behind the big cloud. Two large blackbirds swooped low in the gray sky.
We stared at the Horrors, and they stared back at us.
I swallowed hard, leaning against my mother. I could feel her entire body trembling.
I took a deep breath and then cried out: “What do you want?” The sound of my own voice startled me.
One of the Horrors, a young woman, stepped forward.
Frightened, I tried to back up. But my back was already pressing against the fence.
“What do you want?” I repeated in a trembling voice.
The costumed Horror stared at us one by one. “I want to thank you,” she said in a cheery voice.
“Huh?” I uttered.
“I’m the HorrorLand MC. We all want to thank you for being our guests today.” She flashed us a warm smile.
“You mean we can go?” Luke demanded, half hidden behind my dad.
“Of course,” the Horror said, grinning warmly. “But first we all want to thank you for appearing on HorrorLand Hidden Camera.”
The dozens of Horrors behind her broke into applause and loud cheers.
“Huh? You mean this is some kind of show?” Dad demanded, frowning.
“See the cameras?” the MC asked. She gestured up to two tall poles in the plaza.
Raising my eyes to the top, I saw two TV cameras.
“You mean we were on TV?” Luke cried.
“Since the moment you arrived,” the MC replied. “Our hidden cameras followed you everywhere. From the hilarious scene where we blew up your car, our cameras were with you. And I know our home audience loved the terrified expressions on your faces and all of your horrified screams as you took our HorrorLand rides!”
“Now, wait a minute,” Dad said angrily. He took a step forward. His hands were balled into tense fists at his sides. “You say this is a TV show? How come I’ve never seen it?”
“We’re seen every weekend on The Monster Channel,” the Horror replied.
“Oh,” Dad replied quickly, lowering his eyes. “We don’t have cable.”
“You should get it,” the Horror told him. “You’re missing a lot of great scary shows on The Monster Channel.”
The Horrors all clapped and cheered.
“Well, you’ve been very good sports,” the MC continued, her yellow eyes bouncing in front of her head as she talked. “We’ve enjoyed having you. And to show our appreciation, we have a brand-new car waiting for you in the parking lot!”
More cheers and applause from the Horrors.
“A new car? Excellent!” Luke exclaimed.
“Does that mean we can leave?” Clay asked timidly.
The Horror nodded. “Yes, it’s time for you to leave. The real exit is right over there, through that doorway.”
She pointed to a tall green building near the end of the fence. I saw a yellow door on the side.
“Take the yellow door,” the Horror instructed. “And thanks again for appearing on HorrorLand Hidden Camera!”
/> As all the Horrors clapped their big green hands, we stepped away from the fence and hurried toward the exit. “I can’t believe we were on TV the whole time!” Mom declared.
“And we’re getting a new car!” Luke exclaimed happily. He started jumping up and down. Then he leaped onto Clay’s back, nearly knocking him over.
I laughed. It was good to see the old Luke back with us.
“We’ve got to get cable!” Luke told Dad. “I want to see The Monster Channel. It’s got to be awesome!”
“We’ll have to order it so we can see ourselves,” Mom said.
I reached the yellow door first and pulled it open. I stepped into an enormous room, with white walls that shone under the bright white lights from the ceiling.
“Is this the exit?” I cried.
As soon as we were all inside, the door slammed shut with a bang that made my heart skip.
Then all the lights went out.
“Welcome to the HorrorLand Challenge!” boomed a deep, frightening voice over a loudspeaker.
“Huh?” I gazed blindly around, trying to see something — anything — in the total darkness.
“You have one minute to go through the Monster Obstacle Course,” the voice thundered. “Please keep in mind that the games are now over. This is real. You’re playing for your life!”
23
“We’ve been tricked!” I heard Dad cry angrily. And then he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Let’s get out of here!”
“Run!” the deep voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “You have fifty-six seconds.”
Dad started to shout again. But we stopped when a dim light came up, and a disgusting four-armed creature stepped toward us.
“Ohhh!” I cried out without even realizing it.
The size of a gorilla, the monster had huge green eyes surrounded by thick red fur over its face. Saliva drooled from its mouth. And as it opened its jaws wider, two rows of long fangs slid over its thin purple lips.
“Don’t just stand there! Run! This is an obstacle course!” the voice boomed impatiently. “You have fifty seconds to live! At least make a good race of it.”
The monster uttered a low growl and lumbered toward us in the dim light. Its jaws were opened wide as if preparing to bite. Its four enormous clawed hands swiped at the air in front of it.