The Beast by R.L. Stine

This author is known for the wildly popular Goosebumps series of books for kids and teens. Those stories are horror stories and scary stories meant for a younger audience. Nothing that will keep them up at night. This book, in particular, seems to be wildly popular with those in the Cincinnati and Mason area because of the park in which the titular ride resides, Kings Island. Those who are familiar with this monstrous roller coaster have probably read this book, no matter their age. And in the book, you almost feel like you're riding The Beast with the two main characters. It mentions the ride being out in the woods, which it is, which just adds to the creepy factor if you're riding it at night, especially when the moon is out

Summary

-James Dickson and Ashley Franks are cousins who live three hundred miles apart. They are together at Paramount's Kings Island, waiting in line for the park's biggest, fastest, meanest coaster around, The Beast. They overhear two guys in front of them talking about the ghost that supposedly haunts the ride. The two curious kids decide to investigate the ghost for themselves and eventually find themselves back on The Beast, taking a ride they won't soon forget  

The Beast

-Here are pictures of the actual ride. It's still one of the most popular rides in the park. It's mostly if not all in the woods surrounding the park. So you can imagine how eerie and scary it is to ride it at night, when there is no light or when there is a full moon out. In fact, the only lights on the ride are at the tops of the two massive hills. The lights are on the signs saying "Keep hands in vehicle at all times and no standing up". It's a little hard to stand up when you have a strong steel lap bar on your hips and you're strapped in tight. Plus, to amp up the scare factor on The Beast, during Kings Island's Halloween Haunt, this is one of the rides open for riders. Imagine a dark, scary Halloween night and riding The Beast? You'll be, no pun intended, white as a ghost after riding it

Son of Beast. A sort of son of the legendary coaster. This ride did good for a while, but was plagued with construction issues and was slated for and eventually demolished

The entrance to Son of Beast

The final, slightly angled hill taking you back to the station for The Beast

Aerial view of the station

The first massive hill on the ride. That sign lets you know to keep seated at all times and don't stick arms or hands out. You can stick them out at other times on the ride

Front view of the first drop

Point of view for the first drop

Coming back into the station after The Beast had had its control over you

Opening entrance to Son of Beast. Flight Deck is now known as Xtreme Flyers. It's a type of ride where you are strapped into a net-like object, taken over a hundred feet in the air and let go as you swing back and forth like a giant pendulum. Flight Deck is from the Paramount's Kings Island days, when the ride near it was known as Top Gun, but now known as The Bat

A respectful plaque honoring Son of Beast. That massive blue and red coaster immediately behind it is one of the park's most successful steel coasters, Banshee

The gate beckoning riders to The Beast