The Nightmare Carnival

John wakes up startled one Saturday morning; the sound of his letterbox slamming shut disturbing an uncomfortable sleep on his couch. He gets up, groggy and hungover from partying with friends the night before and heads to the front door to collect the morning mail. "Bills, bills, bills." he mumbles to himself, until he finds a light blue flyer about a carnival coming to a nearby city that starts on Sunday afternoon. "I've got nothing better to do, might as well go." he thinks to himself. He puts the flyer down and goes on with his day.
On Sunday afternoon, John arrives at the carnival and looks around at the crowded rides and food stalls that surround a stereotypical white and red circus tent. He spots a clown walking behind a food stall nearby. John had always been afraid of clowns because of nightmares throughout his childhood. He hates the baggy pants, the blood-red smiles painted on their face, the big red noses, the creepy laughs. He shudders and tries to focus on something else.
He goes to the nearest food stall and buys a hot dog and a drink. Making his way to one of the rides, he stops and notices that clown is walking to the tent from the stall he had walked behind shortly before. The clown notices John looking at him, so he waves and laughs as John stares at him in horror. He snaps out of it and heads towards one of the rollercoasters.
After a few hours, it was starting to get dark, and John was getting ready to go home. On his way back to his car, he saw another figure, dressed in black with short black hair behind the stall. He decides to investigate and makes his way towards it. After following for a short while he sees the figure go inside a small building and, making sure no one is watching him, enters through the door that reads "staff only". Upon entering the poorly lit building he notices the smell of cooking meat. He moves forward cautiously as he hears a blade hitting a table.
He walks past ovens and pots of boiling water until he sees the clown that waved at him before at the far end of the room. He’s chopping something on a counter and placing pieces in a meat mincer next to him. John knocks over a pan that was sticking out under a cooker by his foot. The clown stops chopping the meat and turns around to face John, revealing that he was cutting an arm that must have been fresh because there was still blood dripping from it.
John sees the arm and backs away from the clown; he turns around and starts to run until he bumps into the figure he followed earlier. The mysterious figure laughs a deep, rumbling laugh and grabs John, who starts screaming and realises he’s about to become tomorrow’s food.
Category:Dismemberment