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HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Check out this crazy “turkey” of a dark ride!

I’ve always been a fan of dark rides—especially ones that are a little more bizarre. I created a whole theme park full of them based on different types of human sacrifice in my short story, “Incident at Dark Acres,” which you can read here in The Smoking Poet, Winter 2010-2011 Issue #17 (scroll down page to read story). https://thesmokingpoet.tripod.com/winter201011/id12.html

Last Thanksgiving, I was up very early. A couple of days before, I’d discovered the Holiday World Theme Park in Santa Claus, Indiana, with what looks like a fantastic dark ride called “The Gobbler Getaway.” In it, guests have to “shoot” turkeys that have escaped so the pilgrims can serve them for Thanksgiving Dinner. How had I not ever heard of this?

Gobbler Getaway Attraction at Holiday World

The Gobbler Getaway Attraction at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana.

I let my brain wake up with coffee as I watched the ride through, and it’s as crazy as it sounds—crazy in that wonderful way that makes me want to take a road trip.

Not awake yet? Take a five minute break and enjoy a Full POV ride-through on “The Gobbler Getaway.” Holiday World’s official ride-through video is here: https://youtu.be/6WioF1rlMCQ, but if you want to get an extended close-up and see the turkeys actually popping out, you can check out Adventures by D’s episode on the attraction here: https://youtu.be/48s_rmCq1PY

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, from our house to yours!

Krissi, Charles, Nathan and Mikey the cat, as well as a host of winter back yard birds

THE SMOKING POET: BAD APPLE sends “shiver of delightful creepiness up and down the spine”; interview sheds light on book’s real locations

Smoking Poet Logo

The Smoking Poet, which published my short story “Incident at Dark Acres” in its Winter 2010-2011 Issue #17, has given Bad Apple Read the rest of this entry

GOOD NEWS! SMOKING POET REVIEWER LEFT “SQUIRMING A BIT IN DISCOMFORT” OVER SKELETONS

The Smoking Poet’s Zinta Aistars recently gave Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World an in-depth review, noting that the stories “are imaginative, and each one, in its own way, left me squirming a bit in discomfort as ghost stories should…If horror isn’t exactly my favorite genre, certainly not my area of expertise, I respect the skill it requires to craft stories that have a haunting quality—whether of light or of shadow. Schoonover can play well with shadows.”

I was really excited to read this review, especially since I know that Ms. Aistars isn’t a fan of horror stories.

It’s posted in the latest issue of The Smoking Poet and a few other places. You can read it here:

The Smoking Poet:

http://www.thesmokingpoet.net/id16.html

On Zinta Reviews:

http://zintareviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/skeletons-in-swimmin-hole-tales-from.html

On Lunch Network:

“Amusement Parks Have Shadows,  Too…”

http://www.lunch.com/reviews/d/UserReview-Skeletons_in_the_Swimmin_Hole_by_Kristi_Petersen_Schoonover-1756488-211304-Amusement_parks_have_shadows_too.html

“INCIDENT AT DARK ACRES” NOW AVAILABLE IN THE SMOKING POET!

My short story “Incident at Dark Acres”—about some pretty dark stuff going on at a very unusually-themed amusement park—is now available in The Smoking Poet’s Issue #17, Winter 2010-2011.

Click here to enjoy for free: http://www.thesmokingpoet.com/id12.html

“INCIDENT AT DARK ACRES” MEETS THE SMOKING POET

The Smoking Poet has accepted my short story “Incident at Dark Acres” for an upcoming issue.

“Incident” is set in a very unusual amusement park that has—well, a very unusual maintenance department.

I’ll let you know when it’s available!

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