Scary Stories to Tell in the Drive Thru

The Ice Jester

In a small town in Connecticut, there is a pond that freezes over every winter. It's a real focal point for town activities. Between holiday skating, little league hockey, and the Holiday Ice Festival, the Ron Don Pond is important to the people in town, and their traditions. Or it was, until a tragic accident changed the entire town's fate.

During a particularly warm winter a few decades back now, the town was up in arms at the idea that they might have to cancel, or just move, the Holiday Ice Festival. Experts in town claimed the ice was most likely thick enough to hold the weight of the people and the festival, but they weren't sure it was worth the risk. They had never had the ice be quite so thin. Desire overwhelmed caution, and the town went forward with the festival.

Of course, the festival was a hit. A few of the townspeople stayed home out of an abundance of caution, but those who participated seemed to be making sure to soak up the fun as much as they could. Who could know if the ice would be thinner the following year? Making most of the life you have is never a bad way to go.

But caution is also important.

There was a clown who swung into town with the yearly festival, and thrilled the customers with his antics. He would travel around giving kids balloon animals, doing cartwheels, and if you were lucky, you might show up while Freezy the Clown was running one of the many carnival games.

He was running a game of "Test Your Might." You know the one, the game where you pick up a big hammer and pretend it isn't heavy to impress your girlfriend. Then after you struggle to slam the hammer down on the target a little metal thing flies up a scale that says things like "Hercules" and "Mega Hunk," and yours falls a little short somewhere around "Noodle Arms." Freezy was having the time of his life making fun of every noodle armed man in Connecticut that day.

Then another clown arrived. Freezy had never met this clown, but that didn't stop him from feeling very territorial as this red eyed demon pretended to have a never ending handkerchief to some kid in line. "Hey, bozo! How about giving it a try?" Freezy yelled through his envy.

The clown acted startled at first, but stumbled his way to the hammer gracefully. The new clown never said a word, he looked Freezy in the eye, gave a smile that never stopped growing, even when it naturally should, and slammed the hammer down. The bell at the top rang out, and as nearby people cheered, Freezy felt a shift under his feet.

The last thing he saw before falling through the ice were the people of the town running from the pond in every direction. His vision went from sunlight forcing its way through the ice, to a deep blue, to pure black. Rescue crews combed the pond for days, only finding the hammer that had been used on the game. Police were curious about this second clown so many had claimed to see, but they had no clues to go on. None of the clowning unions in southwestern Connecticut seemed to have any idea who this clown was. They kept saying he sounded like a fast food mascot, but that couldn't be right.

When the ice melted, Freezy was nowhere to be found.

Now it's said that on the first freeze of every year, you can hear gargled laughter if you're walking near Ron Don Pond. Some have reported hearing this laughter at other bodies of water in the surrounding area as well. If you hear it, let the siren's call dance by. Those who get too near the water's edge will find themselves in the clutches on the Ice Jester.

His icy talons will grip your leg, and the gnashing icicles he once called teeth will chomp at the bit waiting for the tasty delight that is his next victim. A few have escaped to tell the tale of this Ice Jester and his desire to freeze his victims before reheating them sometime in the next few years to eat them instead of just eating them while they are fresh, never frozen, often with frostbitten claw marks streaking their legs and arms.

The next time you go skating, or for a leisurely stroll past your nearby ponds and lakes, listen ever so closely for the faint sounds of a demented laugh. The Ice Jester beckons from the icy depths, and the Ice Jester is hungry.