Magic Forest: People

The landscape of the Magic Forest is made up of hundreds of figures from various genres, holidays and stories. They're made of fiberglass or concrete or other materials, covered in cobwebs and sit in various stages of decay. Before you even enter the grounds, you encounter a few larger-than-life figures, including Santa Claus, who seems to be the unofficial mascot of the park.

A lot of the Magic Forest is holiday-themed, most of which is specifically Christmas, so it makes sense that one of the first figures to greet you is Santa. He also appears on the big pencil and the pennant souvenirs that I bought, alongside the diving horse and train ride as Magic Forest highlights. The first attraction that we went in was also Christmas-themed, and throughout the forest we saw a few more Santa figures, including one with a belly so large that it was resting on a stool.

There were a lot of elves and fairy-type figures scattered around, peeking down from the tops of buildings, waving magic wands and reaching out to steal your children and your innocence. It's actually astounding just how many figures they've fit into a relatively small amusement park. A lot of the figures seem haphazardly placed, but some feel as if they were designed with the structures in mind.

I joked at one point that I was going to do an entire post on busted hands, because it seemed like everywhere we looked there was a gnarled appendage. I would estimate that the majority of figures we encountered were in less-than pristine condition, missing some fingers or their hands entirely. Some had been repaired, and of course wear-and-tear is to be expected at a 52-year-old park. But I love the weirdness of mannequins and loose body parts in general, so the more busted parts I spotted, the more I fell in love with the Magic Forest.

There were some figures that looked like they were distant cousins of the muffler men, like the tomahawk-wielding Native American or the Walt Disney/friendly-gas-station-attendant lookalike. There are so many different styles on display at the Magic Forest and it truly feels like a collection slowly acquired over decades. Some are more realistic than others, some are cute, some are creepy and some—like anything that had glass eyes—will be haunting me for quite some time.