"I Dream The Midnight Midway"

A sharp stuttering of cogs shatters the silence of long deserted Thunderbolt Amusement Park, as a coaster car lurches protestingly upward along loose and rusted tracks.

With the acrid sizzle of frying insulation, a scattering of lightbulbs slowly sputters on, competing with the moon to cast a pallid glow over the wreckage-strewn midway. Suddenly an unseen loudspeaker begins echoing off the crumbling facades, its scratchy circus music wavering towards full pitch, until it locks maddeningly into a repeating groove.

"Who started the machinery? What's happening? Why am I here?"

Long silent "Laffing Sal" jerks into motion in the suddenly chill air, her fiendish cackling a fingernail-on-slate counterpoint to the maddening sounds now taunting you.

Wide-eyed, you turn and peer around. Were those figures at the freak show moving just a moment ago?

Are the cars of the Horrorama Dark Ride starting to roll too?

And whose bony arms are waving above their heads as the coaster nears its first big drop? Are you awake? Or in the grip of some bizarre nightmare? And if you are (you wonder, frozen in your tracks), how can you awaken... NOW!

The title, of this painting, "I Dream The Midnight Midway," was the winning entry in my "Name The Painting" contest for September/October 2005. It was submitted by Andrew V. The Ghoul Board (whose members may be viewed at work by clicking here) sorted through several hundred fine entries we received here at The Haunted Studio, before finally settling on this one.

Like The Invisible Man Will Not Be Seen Tonight, this was a complex painting, as readers of News From The Haunted Studio know. They've seen it as a "work in progress" over the past several months as it went from pencil sketch to color sketch, to the painting you see here. It involved dozens of sketches as I developed both story and image.

I Dream The Midnight Midway has been meticulously scanned from my original watercolor and digitally printed with fade-resisting inks on specially treated heavyweight watercolor paper. I personally inspect each print, sign it, slip it into its protective clear plastic envelope, and include with it a page of helpful framing hints from The Haunted Studio.

LARGE FORMAT PRINT (13" x 19") The image measures 12" x 18" on 13" x 19" paper. Your finished, perfect print is carefully packed for mailing to you. $59.00, Priority Mail postage FREE in US.	MEDIUM FORMAT PRINT (11" x 14") The image measures 7-1/2" x 9-1/2", within a charcoal-over-white double mat, plus rigid foam-core backing, ready to drop into any readily available 11" x 14" frame. $59.00, Priority Mail postage FREE in US.

I Dream The Midnight Midway is also available in new Small Format size The image measures 6.5" x 4.5" within an 10" x 8" charcoal-over-white double mat, with rigid backing. This size is ideal for framing in any standard 8" x 10" photo frame. Small Format prints may be assorted for best prices: 1 print $29.00; 2 prints $49.00; 3 prints $69.00 For more information about Small Format prints, please click here.
This original painting has been sold. Too view available original paintings, please click here