at the haunted house

while waiting to enter

the performances began

 fire dancers

monsters

pumpkin head

evil clowns

lasers, smoke

even a bad dj – (‘diablo -international dj’)

like being caught up

in a campy carnie rave party

and then

we went in

for a long stretch of terror

adrenaline pumping

my startle response at full tilt

 a creepy clown jumped out of the dark near me

 my reflex reaction was a quick punch to its face

(the clown bent over in pain, and i felt so bad i hugged it!)

the man behind me said

‘i thank you for that, now i feel safe’

we continued on

through a creepy water illusion room with an uneven floor

a tight fabric tunnel we had to push our way through

spider webs sticking to our faces

monsters crawling on the floor

mirrors, doors, ramps, screaming, darkness, banging, running

quite a wild ride

but we made it out intact

and my heart is beginning to calm a bit.

“where there is no imagination, there is no horror.”

-sir arthur conan doyle