White Knuckle Mystery

I.

I sat down next to my sister at the front of the coaster, feelings of
apprehension within, as the staff pulled down the black over the
shoulder restraints on us and locked them. After a minute or so the
rollercoaster began to move and slowly ascend the steep ramp. I could
hear the clickety clack clickety clack of the chains underneath the car
as they hoisted us up the track. It was at that point I realized
something was wrong. I pushed against my restraint and discovered it
hadn't locked properly.

"Jenny?" I said.

"Huh.."

"Is your restraint locked?"

She pushed against it.. "Yeah it's locked."

"Mine isn't." I lifted it up to show her.

She looked concerned. "Christ.. how come your's isn't locked?"

"Well I don't know.. I think I'm in trouble."

"But that's impossible, if mines locked, your's should be too."

clickety clack clickety clack

We were now about two thirds of the way to the top. I looked over the
edge and saw that it was a long way down.

"What you going to do?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know.. I mean what are people supposed to do when their
restraint hasn't locked? There isn't a red emergency stop button or
anything. No way to let the operator know about it.. I'm stuffed.. I
could jump out of the car I guess, but it's a long way down.. "

clickety clack clickety clack..

I was feeling scared.

"Don't be silly, you'll be alright. The forces should keep you pressed
in your seat. I did it in physics. The restraints are there mainly for
the psychological effect they have. They make passengers feel secure;
but in theory people should be perfectly safe without them."

clickety clack clickety clack clack.. silence.

"I hope you're right.."

The rollercoaster had reached the top of the ramp, and I was looking
down the pre-drop to a very steep descent that was almost vertical--and
suddenly, slowly to begin with, but gathering speed as the cars behind
reached the top and added their weight to the momentum; and with a
strange windy whistling silence the coaster began to fall. I heard the
screams of the people behind me. But Jenny was wrong about the forces,
my body pushed against the restraint and out of the car I flew.
Instinctively I had grabbed hold of the restraint and locking my arm
round it--held onto it for dear life, my knuckles really going white.
But I realized when I saw the first loop that I wasn't going to be able
to hold on for much longer.. and as the coaster zoomed round it, and
went upside down - the force yanked the restraint out of my grip.. and
I mouthed goodbye to my sister as I began to fall and the wind that
whistled by my ears was not a silent one.. but filled with my
screams.

II.

That had been two years ago, I had been lucky I guess that I hadn't
died when I had fallen out of that car. I had broken both my legs, my
collar bone and my left arm; but apart from that I had been OK. It was
a miracle. Though from that moment on I had a terrible phobia of
rollercoasters. Of all the things that could happen to someone that
perhaps is one of the most terrifying. I had vowed not to go on another
rollercoaster again, I was petrified of them.

"Go on Shawn.. it's supposed to be the best rollercoaster in Europe.
You've got to ride it at least once in your lifetime."

"I think I'll give it a miss Donna, you go ahead, I'll just wait for
you here."

She grabbed me by the hand and started dragging me towards the que.. I
resisted, "Please Donna, I don't want to go on the
rollercoaster."

"Come on what's wrong with you.. you're not scared are you? "

I looked up at the tracks of the rollercoaster and felt myself go dizzy
with fright and panic; I was scared alright, I was petrified.

"No I'm not scared." I lied. "Just feeling a bit tired that's all,
aren't rollercoasters supposed to be dangerous if you're tired?"

"No, don't be silly, rollercoasters aren't dangerous at all. You'll be
ok, come on."

I guess it was her pretty angel face. A face that could persuade
anyone to do something against their nature; and also I wanted to
impress her, didn't want to appear like a wussy - so reluctantly I
found myself standing in the que with her. God what was I doing? I felt
the blood had left my cheeks and my insides were churning. It felt like
I was queing up waiting for my death.. no girl was worth this surely,
was I insane? After what seemed like an eternity, I was once again sat
at the front of a rollercoaster. My eyes were wide with fear and I felt
nauseated, I turned to look at Donna, and she smiled back sweetly.
"Hey, you'll be OK." She said, and ran the nail of her finger gently
across the back of my hand to reassure me.

They pulled the over the shoulder restraints onto us and locked them. I
pushed mine instinctively and felt reassured that it wouldn't budge, I
was fastened in properly this time.

"See, I told you it would be alright." She said.

I felt like I was going to hyper-ventilate, but I kept my cool, this
was a bad idea. But I wanted to appear like I wasn't scared to
Donna.

The coaster began to slowly ascend the track..

clickety clack clickety clack.. no turning back.

I pushed against my restraint again, checking it was still secure, it
wouldn't budge, I was safe.

Clickety clack clickety clackclack silence...

when we reached the top, there was that moments pause before the
coaster began to descend. People behind me started screaming and I felt
my body push against the restraint, but it kept me in my seat this
time. The track took a turn to the side, and people screamed, I just
stared. After a good two-three minutes of this I realized I was going
to survive, and began to smile a little and actually enjoy the
experience. I guess rollercoasters were safe, that accidents were rare,
I knew this, I had just been unlucky I guess.

But as we came close to the end of the ride, something made me feel
uneasy. Our coaster wasn't slowing down at all, normally it should have
braked about that point, but instead it continued to move with great
speed. The world suddenly went black, as I was knocked unconscious--our
rollercoaster ploughing into the back of the rollercoaster in
front.

III.

That had been three years ago.

"Go on Shawn it's only the logflume."

"I don't know if I've ever told you this before Lee, but I've had two
major accidents in my lifetime when it comes to fairground rides, I
think I am probably cursed or something, and don't want to put mine or
anyone else's life in danger."

"Yeah but those two rides were rollercoasters, this is a logflume,
nobodies ever died from riding a logflume or had an accident, at least
not to my knowledge, it's one of the safest rides in the fair."

I looked at him uneasily. What the hell was I doing at an amusement
park anyway? I hated amusement parks, I had a phobia about them.. but
Lee had talked me into going with him somehow.

"I dunno Lee.. I'm not sure, I think I'll just wait for you
here."

"Come on Shawn, you haven't been on anything yet, the logflumes fun,
and it's safe; nothing bad's going to happen."

Reluctantly I joined Lee in the que. There wasn't a long wait for the
ride, and as I stepped into the log shaped boat, I once again felt
apprehension within. But the ride went OK, and I found I quite enjoyed
it, the best bits were sliding down the ramps and getting splashed;
that was fun. And before I knew it, it was the end of the ride, and
nothing bad had happened. I was even smiling..

"See.. told you the logflume was harmless." Lee said. "Now let's go on
the rollercoaster."

I felt fearful.. " No Lee.. no more rollercoasters for me."

"Only kidding." He said laughing as he got out of the logflume. "Jus
messing with you man."

"That wasn't funny Lee, you don't know the horrors I've seen on
rollercoasters."

"Oh lighten up will ya."

It was at that point, as I was climbing out of the logflume, that I
looked up to see a dark figure; it had no visible face and was stood
behind Lee looking at me with strange glowing crimson eyes. It stood
there for a moment before ascending into the sky and heading for the
rollercoaster.

"What the hell was that?" I said.

"What was what?" Lee asked.

'"That shadow, like a phantom or a demon.."

Then I got a terrible stomach churning feeling inside. Why was it
heading for the rollercoaster? Something didn't feel right..

"NO!" I shouted. "Stop it!"

Lee turned to look at me." Stop what? What's wrong?"

"Come on we've got to get to the rollercoaster." And I started running
in it's direction. Lee looked confused; but followed me. The que was
long, but I pushed my way to the front. Barging through the people like
a maniac.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing? Que up like the rest of us!."
Someone shouted.

But I ignored them, and when I got to the front I could see that the
coaster was full of people strapped in and ready to go. I started
shouting to the staff through the gate, bashing it with my hands to get
their attention.

"Please, you've got to stop that rollercoaster, something bad is going
to happen!"

One of the staff came up to the gate, "What are you talking about?
What's going to happen?"

"There's going to be an accident."

The member of staff shrugged his shoulders and made a signal to the
operator in the kiosk who was stood at the controls. Everybody who was
sat in the rollercoaster turned to look at me concerned.

"How do you know this?" the man asked.

"Somebody is going to sabotage it." I said.

"Who?"

I felt someone grab me by the arm and start yanking me away from the
gate. It was the security. " This man was trieing to push in." He said
in the universal bouncer voice.

I wasn't thinking rationally I should have said something else, but:
"It's a demon! A demon will do something bad to that rollercoaster if
you start it!" I shouted.. realizing after I'd said this that no-one
was going to believe me. The man at the gate laughed, and shook his
head, and I heard him say: "Nutter," then mumble something about drugs.
The people on the rollercoaster laughed too, then he signalled to the
operator at the control panel to go ahead.

"You're making a huge mistake!" I yelled as the security man took me to
the end of the que; telling me as he did so that if I tried to push in
again I would be chucked out of the theme park. I wasn't listening
though, my eyes were on the rollercoaster, watching as it ascended up
the ramp. Then from the corner of my eye I noticed that the control
panel in the kiosk began to spark and a little fire broke out. The
operator stepped back from it in surprise, reaching for a
fire-extinguisher. And as the rollercoaster got near to the top of the
ramp, something seemed to go wrong, and the chain underneath, which had
been hoisting it up, let go of it suddenly and it began to fall
backwards at great speed. I watched in horror as it ploughed into the
rollercoaster behind that was just beginning to fill with people. The
fire in the kiosk became more fierce and started to spread and go out
of control. The operator legged it. And everywhere, people were
running, jumping out of the rollercoaster cars screaming - there was
chaos everywhere. Then from the fire and the smoke, I saw a dark
shadowy figure rise into the sky; and as it rose it turned briefly to
look at me, it's glowing eyes filling me with terror; it shot into the
air like a rocket, becoming nothing more than a speck, and was
gone.

"Did you see that dark figure?" I asked Lee, who stood beside me
shocked.

"No." he said. Staring at the chaos in disbelief.

Some flaming wood supports fell to the ground nearby where we were
watching. Some of the people who had been standing in the que turned
round to look at me.

"Did any of you see that shadowy figure rise out of the flames?" I
asked them.

People gave me a strange look, and I turned round and began to walk
slowly away. I was shaking, shaking terribly.

IV

I had to have psycho-therapy after that. I suffered a mental breakdown.
I now live in fear of going near fairgrounds. I don't know who or what
that mysterious figure was; but I have a feeling it is connected to me
in some way; and I am terrified that if I ever go near a rollercoaster
again - something bad is going to happen. I switch off television sets
when rollercoasters come on the screen, I go pale when I hear them
being discussed in conversation. I live in constant fear of them. I
won't let my children go to theme parks, and they resent me for this.
It's caused many an argument between me and my wife. But I'm petrified
of them. And the nightmares.. the nightmares never end.. and always I
see that dark shadowy figure rise into the sky.. and I hear the
people's screams.

***

Some real life rollercoaster accidents:

May 2001

At Phantasialand Park in Germany, 63 people were injured when a fire
broke out on the Grand Canyon Bobsled Rollercoaster. 150 people were
riding the coaster and an adjacent ride at the time the fire started,
which quickly spread to buildings forcing the park's guests to flee for
safety. Some people jumped off the ride whilst others escaped by
ladders. Over 600 people who were standing in line were also forced to
evacuate as flaming wood flew across the park covering an area nearly
300ft away. Eyewitnesses were terrified that huge burning structures
would fall on them. In all, nearly 20, 000 guests were affected by the
blaze. The cause of the accident, is now known to be a short-circuit
resulting from faulty wiring.

September 2000

14 people were injured on the Pepsi Max Big One at Blackpool Pleasure
Beach when the brakes failed to stop a train, which plowed into the
rear of another train in the station. Injuries included broken legs and
ribs.

September 1999

A boy jumped out of the Shockwave rollercoaster at Paramount's King's
Dominion on the lift hill, claiming he was not properly secured in. A
man who wasn't properly secured into the same ride fell out of the
rollercoaster and died.

Sunday, April 20, 1997

At Bell's Amusement Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one person was killed and
five others were injured when two rollercoaster cars collided on the
park's Wildcat rollercoaster. The accident happened as a car was
nearing the top of the lift hill. The mechanism holding the car onto
the track failed, causing the car to roll back down the hill and crash
into another car which was approaching the chain lift. It was inspected
just two weeks prior to the accident.

***

The above quotes where taken from:

http://www.coasterforce.com/accidents.htm

&;

http://members.aol.com/rides911/coasters.htm