The Haunting at Darlington Boardwalk

A Short Story

A used carousel arrives with one song and one ghost—and both demand to be heard.

When bootstrapping boardwalk owner Roscoe Sterling buys a used carousel to revive his Depression-era seaside attraction, he expects nickels and crowds—not a calliope that screams at 3 a.m. and a woman with milk-white eyes drifting through the rain. The ride came from Avonberry Park, where a suspicious inferno ended a marriage and a business—yet the burn-streaked horses and their haunting waltz have found a new home on the New Jersey shore.

As Roscoe races to assemble the carousel before Memorial Day, the woman's ghost keeps returning, wrists bound, hair blood-slick. What Roscoe witnesses in the mirrors and gears sends him to a small town where he learns there's more to the carousel's history than he'd ever imagined. As Roscoe spirals into alcoholism and sleep deprivation, he faces a choice—save his investment or face the truth buried in ash.

Told in taut, cinematic chapters with Gothic atmosphere, supernatural suspense, and a final image you won’t shake, The Haunting at Darlington Boardwalk is a perfect one-sitting read for fans of eerie historical fiction, haunted-object tales, and storm-soaked seaside settings.

You’ll love this short if you’re into:

• Depression-era mysteries set on American boardwalks

• Haunted carousel / cursed-object lore