Pinecrest Hollow, September 1959. A year after the Spook-tacular dance, Dottie Lane and her monster friends are back for Dottie’s two-part Halloween special in glorious Technicolor. A harvest carnival nobody booked has turned up on Miller’s Field, and the townsfolk are going missing one by one. Grab some popcorn, press play, and step right up.
A little note before the show: like the legendary Wizard of Oz, this special has a few anomalies left in on purpose. Notice them or not, it’s all part of the fun.
Feature One: Step Right Up
Act 1: The Carnival Nobody Booked
One morning the fog lifted over Miller’s Field, and a carnival nobody had booked was standing there, all lit up. Mayor Fisk shook the barker’s hand before anyone could stop him.
At the cider stall, Dottie watched the hayride wagon come back empty, while the Count got a nose full of garlic bread at the very worst moment.
Then the harvest moon rose, Vernon stepped out of the corn, saw Dottie, and whistled. She bopped him on the nose with her pom-pom.
Madame Zoltana’s glass eyes followed Dottie down the midway, and her slot pushed out a blank card. Behind her, Nurse Pruitt’s syringe jabbed at thin air.
Act 2: The Midway
Chet stepped up to the duck shoot, cowboy hat tipped back, and took aim.
He missed every one. Up close, the ducks were nothing but flat painted tin, and every last one of them was laughing.
Then the fortune-teller’s glass cracked, her wooden face warmed into a real one, and Madame Zoltana cackled. She wasn’t a machine at all. She was a witch.
Chet emptied his cork rifle at her as she rode off on her broomstick over the big top. Pop, pop, pop… every cork bounced off the moon.
Professor Crane handed Chet a consolation bear anyway, and Dottie noticed the straw poking from the old man’s cuffs.
On the dodgems, Vernon grinned, the Count leaned in for a bite, and Nurse Pruitt’s bumper car leaned into the Count.
Nurse Pruitt handed out traffic bandages and swung her stethoscope at Dottie, but Chet wandered in for a check-up instead, while Gill-Bert, wedged and dripping, shorted out the whole rink.
On the carousel, the painted wooden horses blinked, tossed their manes, and began to breathe.
“Yee-haw!” was not what Cowboy Chet said when his horse jumped the rail and bolted down the midway.
Dottie didn’t scream. She vaulted onto the next horse and gave chase.
She caught the reins, steered them into a haystack, and Chet came out wearing most of it.
Act 3: The Ghost Train and the Top of the Wheel
On the ghost train, the painted ghosts were obviously fake, except for the one in the bedsheet who waved back.
Then the ghost stopped waving, took Vernon by the collar, and tried to haul him clean out of the cart.
Dottie grabbed the sheet and pulled. Underneath was nothing but straw, and it fell over. Vernon tried very hard to look like he hadn’t been scared.
Deeper in the dark, the scarecrows were wearing faces they knew: the baker’s apron, the postman’s cap, the Mayor’s devil horns.
Chet and his bear boarded the Ferris wheel alone, and Professor Crane’s bony hand closed on the lever.
Chet waved down from the top of the world, happy as a clam.
The wheel stopped with Chet at the very top, and down below the Count’s latest try ended in a traffic bandage.
Vernon didn’t wait for the wheel to turn. He started climbing.
Up and up he went, spoke over spoke, toward the top of the world.
The Count turned into a bat and flew to the rescue, and saved the bear.
When they reached the top gondola, there was no Chet, only Professor Crane tipping his boater. To be continued… later today!
Feature Two follows at 4pm: Chet is a scarecrow, the witch is back, and there is one last ride before midnight. Read Feature Two: Last Ride of the Night.
Listen to the album: Midnight Creature Feature on Suno, with Dottie’s two songs and the five Midnight Creature Feature instrumentals.
Dottie’s Halloween songs: “Not Scared of the Moonlight” (Dottie’s Song) is her theme for the whole Carnival of the Creeps double bill, and “Three Shots for a Dime” is her midway number from Feature One. Same voice, same girl, two sides of one Halloween night.
Images and songs made with AI tools and edited by Kaiser Maschine.
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