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5. Fear of being murdered in the dark – Injun Joe’s Cave

Injun Joe Cave Entrance

As you near the close of your journey on Tom Sawyer’s Island, you come across a sign you haven’t seen before…

“Injun Joe ain’t been seen in these parts for along time. His cave is deserted! P.S. Ifn you want to, maybe you could wurry just a little bit. Tom.”

The mouth of a final cave looms, a great maw descending into the unknown. It’s been a long time since you’ve read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, so you can’t remember who Injun Joe is. Admittedly, it sounds like a name fitting for a serial killer.

Injun Joe Cave Skulls

You: Gee, Injun Joe, why do you live in such a dark, brooding cave?
Injun Joe: Oh, I just really love the quiet and mmmmmMMUUURDERING PEOPLE.

A Google search confirms your suspicion. Apparently, Injun Joe is a grave-robbing sadist with a penchant for carving up widows.

The island is quiet. Not a sound echoes from within. You step into the void of Injun Joe’s cave.

As before, your eyes fail to adjust to the rapid shift from light to dark. You follow the lanterns, but something seems very different about Injun Joe’s cave. First, there are far more twists and turns where you find yourself weaving off the main path. It wouldn’t be difficult to get lost in here. There are also far more black, shadowy corners.

Corners where a machete-wielding psychopath could lie in wait.

The walls seem to wail in haunting tones. The thought crosses your mind that if you run into another park guest, you might run shrieking back to the entrance. You pass a hellish red door, barred like a prison cell. Why is there a prison cell down here? You pray this isn’t the day Disney decided to add Injun Joe to the cast of regular characters. It’s not October, is it?

Injun Joe Red Door

Knock-Knock... Who's there... MURDER!

Spotting blue light ahead, you hurry towards the hopeful warmth of the sun only to find yourself in a forbidding chamber. Giant skulls leer down at you, glowing with unholy light. Unseen rats skitter in the darkness. The tunnel walls are relentless, ever narrowing. You imagine footsteps, the breath of a hidden stranger, the possibility that every corner might hold the homicidal Joe. You feel the cold sweat of true fear.

If the horrors haven’t been smeared on thick enough, you come to another cavern—a bridge spanning the gaping mouth of a bottomless pit. The chamber feels less and less like Tom Sawyer’s Island and more like Tolkien’s Mines of Moria.

Injun Joe Bottomless Pit

You shall not pass!

Just like Tom warned, you’re moving a little faster, and a little faster. Have you lost your way? Is that someone behind you?

As you turn the corner, you freeze… a figure stands in the dark, a looming, broad-shouldered silhouette.

Courage escapes you. Your knees shake. It’s him.

Injun Joe.

A scream hangs on your lips.

“Mikey, will you hurry up! Your Dole Whip is melting!!!” the woman shouts, tromping past you with a quick scowl like she doesn’t approve of your staring.

You take a moment to verify that you haven’t soiled yourself and take your final steps back into the sun, a survivor of Injun Joe’s cave.

Tom Sawyer Island Map

Have you faced Tom Sawyer’s Island? What’s your best story of Disney’s scariest attractions?

 
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Comments

This reminds of my when I visited Tom Sawyer island about 20 years ago. I was a happy excited kid until a huge black snake slithered across the patch in front of me and I had to jump to avoid it. From that moment on I couldn’t wait to get on the boat and leave the island for good.

Great essay, but a little over the top lol. The cave is the only scary aspect of the island since it is extremely claustrophobic and people can easily get lost inside of it.

Awesome essay. I’ve also been going to Disney for years and have never gone! I do have some claustrophobia, as does my oldest son, but I will try to do this. You made it sound so fun!

Thank you for the laugh this article gave me. I never considered TSI a 'thrill ride', but now I can't wait to go back!

I'm a born and raised local and have been going to the Magic Kingdom for about 35 years. I've been there countless number of times over the decades. I just now went to Tom Sawyer's island for the very first time with my 4 year old daughter. This description of Tom Sawyer's island is perfect. I always knew it was over there but never took the time to go. I don't know why but we just never went. It was always preferable to ride Thunder Mountain for the 300th time then to take the time to go over there. Little did I know how much fun it really is. To me this is quintessential Disney. An amazing corner of the park where you can safely explore and discover on your own. And that is exactly what my 4 year old did. At first she was incredibly frightened (which might have had something to do with me teasing her that it was going to be REALLY scary). She was really hesitant to go in the caves at first but we just reassured her and told her to press on. After the first cave she insisted that she lead us through them instead of following behind me. By the time we got to the fort she was going through the escape tunnel all by herself. She had a marvelous time at this often overlooked part of one of the busiest places in the world. And so did I.

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