Two 1,8-anthrylene cyclic trimers with acetylene or diacetylene linkers were synthesized by macrocyclization with the Eglinton coupling. These compounds have nonplanar and strained cyclic structures with significant bending deformations of acetylene carbons as revealed by X-ray analysis and DFT calculation. The effects of the molecular structures on the C-13 NMR chemical shifts and the electronic spectra are discussed.