Part 1: Chapter 24 Summary

After running for a while and arguing about what to do, the boys finally find a pay phone in a closed gas station and call for the police and an ambulance. They ride to the carnival grounds, where to their dismay the merry-go-round looks perfectly normal, with no sign of the dead Mr. Cooger. Jim yells and the lights suddenly come on. The group enters a nearby tent, where the entire collection of freaks and other carnival workers are hanging around.

Will spots the dead Mr. Cooger sitting in an electric chair near Mr. Dark. He also realizes with a shock that one of the sideshow dwarves is the lightning rod salesman whose bag they found abandoned on the carnival grounds. Mr. Dark explains to the police and medics that they are just in time to watch a rehearsal of their...