Here is my own trilogy of terror, but presented in a fun way. Like many Minnesotans, we frequently attended the Minnesota State Fair, going with my mother and three siblings on the first Friday, before school started the following Monday. In August 1972, this one diversion was memorable. We made it to the Mighty Midway. We watched one particular ride that looked exciting. It resembled a second-story castle where cars went from out one door and crashed into another. There was so much noise. I did not see the whole ride, but there was a painting of a skeleton in chains, and a bat. Skeletons didn’t scare me then. My sister and I rode in a cart. We headed straight to a skeleton chained on a wall. As if we had awakened it, it jumped, threw its arms up, and opened its mouth, making a funny noise. I thought it was hilarious, but this soon turned into horror. We sped through the ride in the dark with quick turns, loud noises and ghouls lighting up. They all seemed so scary and huge. It scared me, bringing me to tears. There was a robot that lit up and touched the top of my head. So far, what I have written is the story based on my memory of the painting’s setting. We followed another car; inside it were my sister’s friend and my brother, going down a ramp. We rode in what appeared to be an orange tunnel painted with a bat. There were sound effects of ghosts. (In the painting, I am taking artistic license by showing us going around a curve, with a few ghosts chasing us and a large black spider looming above us.) Then the cart slammed into the door of a pitch black chamber. I could hear the light turning on. We sat there face-to-face with a blond Frankenstein-like monster or zombie. Again it appeared so huge. I turned to see if my sister was still with me? She was still there. Then the ride ended, and I ran to my mother.

Acrylic

12” x 12”