Circus of Fear: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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* The graphic novel "The Last Temptation" had one. Of course, it was written by [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Alice Cooper]].
* In the [[Marvel Universe]], the Circus of Crime was a front for criminal activity. It consisted of guys like Bruto the Strongman, Princess Python, the Human Cannonball, the Great Gambonnos, the Clown, Live Wire, and the variously threatening-and-not so much Ringmaster, whose [[Nice Hat|hypnotic hat]] was often the key to his schemes. Generally less overtly creepy and homicidal than other examples of this trope, the Circus of Crime is mostly in it for the money.
* Marvel villain Arcade's deadly amusement park, Murderworld, also has elements of the
* Also in the [[Marvel Universe]], in a [[New Mutants]] flashback, they find a circus, it's run by Skrulls who are kidnapping humans and shrinking them. As expected, the New Mutants trash the place, including various structures that didn't need it.
* [[The Awesome Slapstick|Slapstick]], another Marvel hero resurrected in the aftermath of the Civil War, got his start trying to save his classmates from Evil Clowns From Dimension X who were using a circus to kidnap people and turn them mediocre. No, really. Everything got righteously smashed up.
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* ''[[Something Wicked This Way Comes]]'', of course. Its carnival is strongly implied to literally thrive on fear and unhappiness.
* ''[[The Pilo Family Circus]]''. An extradimensional travelling circus of madmen, magicians, and monsters, where the employees are paid in bags of management-controlled wishing powder made from the crystalised remains of human souls- extracted from the audience, of course. Oh, and the managers have a nasty habit of causing global chaos on Earth via the [[Chessmaster|Fortune Teller]] and the [[Monster Clown|Clown division]], on behalf of a race of [[Cosmic Horror|reptilian demigods]] [[Sealed Evil in a Can|imprisoned beneath the showgrounds]].
* ''[[Redwall]]'''s Slagar the Cruel runs a traveling show which ''seems'' perfectly benign (except that all the performers are [[
* Count Otto Black, a [[Running Gag]] recurring villain in [[Robert Rankin]]'s insane versions of novels, is often seen running a circus.
* Jean-Claude, from the [[Anita Blake]] series, owns and runs a fully functioning vampire circus, clowns with fangs and all.
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Witness this, witness that,
Untill you lose your mind! }}
* [[Nox Arcana]]'s CD ''Carnival of Lost Souls'' is based on ''[[Something Wicked This Way Comes
* [[Emerson Lake and Palmer]] and their "Karn Evil 9". ''Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends...''
* [[Bob Dylan]]'s "Ballad of a Thin Man," if the lyrics are taken literally, takes place at least partially in a
* The video for "I Stay Away" by [[Alice in Chains]], made even creepier by the use of somewhat grotesque puppets. The song doesn't really have much to do with it.
* ''Circus of Sour'' by Donovan doesn't sound like it's about a particularly ''nice'' circus.
* A lot of [[Hannah Fury]]'s music evokes feelings of this, but [http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858568453 "Carnival Justice (The Gloves Come Off)"] especially makes use of some creepy carnival imagery.
* The artwork for Mr. Bungle's self-titled first album centers around this trope, as does the song Carousel (off the same album).
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsjTBdiPq8o "Dark Woods Circus"] of the [[Vocaloid
* Circus Apocalypse by the dark caberet act, Vermillion Lies.
{{quote|Come down and join the circus
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** In the ''[[New World of Darkness]]'', ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' gives us the vampiric bloodline called the Carnival. Every last vampire of the bloodline bears a circus-freak deformity (their founder suffered from sirenalia, and was billed as "the Andalusian Mermaid"), and they often act as traveling or static carnivals, the better to hide in plain sight.
* The [[Pathfinder]] module ''Carnival of Tears'' showcases a carnival where icy fey have taken over, and are slaughtering the attending townsfolk in gruesomely creative ways. No one notices, due to powerful illusion magic that replaces every event of horror with a completely normal, even enjoyable, carnival scene.
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic the Gathering]]'' has the sado-masochistic hedonist Cult of Rakdos with its [[media:
* One of the playable "families" in the card game Gloom is ''Darius Dark's Den of Deformity.'' One of the characters is a scary clown with a skull-like face. The description for Darius Dark himself is: "The circus is in Darius' blood. And there is an awful lot of blood in Darius' circus."
* [http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=3327 The Circus Maximus] for ''[[GURPS]]''.
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* ''[[Earthbound]]'' has this in the city of Threed. It already starts off with a scary circus and a town overrun with undead/spectral monsters. The trope is inverted at first, as the big top is the sanctuary for townspeople. When another circus tent mysteriously shows up, the trope is played with a Nightmare Fuel-inducing variation, as {{spoiler|the tent itself is a monster.}}
* The aptly named Wonky Circus in ''[[Wario World]]''. There's also the circus setting for the third boss (Chortlebot) in ''[[Wario Land]]: The Shake Dimension'', although it's only ever used as a battle arena against said [[Monster Clown]].
* Take your average
** Also, ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles|Sonic The Hedgehog 3]]'' had Carnival Night Zone. The music could be described as an [[Ear Worm]], and we'll never forget [[Guide Dang It|that damn barrel]]...
*** Also ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' has Circus Park, which is also an [[Amusement Park of Doom]].
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* One level in ASC's ''Sanitarium'' has this. Of course, it's a delusion...
* Sweet Tooth's circus in ''[[Twisted Metal]] 4'' features such attractions as the "roller toaster", aside from being a battleground where the demented clown and a number of assorted psychos try to kill each other.
** The reboot gives us Sweet Tooth's Carnival of Carnage, built by his worshipers {{spoiler|in remembrance of his death at the hands of Calypso's wish granting}}. Not only is it a mobile carnival, its a
* The downloadable ''Loon'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QICTjcKO5wE track] in ''POD'' featured deformed fairytale castles, giant roulette wheels, an enormous wizard hat and rusted metal plates, located on a planet infested by [[Grey Goo|an alien virus]]. Or is it? When you look over the guardrails, [[Nothing Is Scarier|there is only a black void there...]]
* Stage 6 in ''Silent Assault''.
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* Circus Gothica in ''[[Danny Phantom]]''.
* ''[[Rayman]]: The Animated Series'' has one of these as the whole plot setting. Did I mention [[Break the Cutie|half the cast are kids?]]
* An episode of ''[[Loonatics Unleashed]]'' had one where [[Biological Mashup
* A ''[[Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels|Captain Caveman]]'' episode on ''[[The Flintstones|The Flintstone Comedy Show]]'', "Clownfoot," featured the episode's [[Monster Clown|villainous clown]], Clownfoot, using a circus as his hideout. At said circus, Clownfoot also rigs a tandem bicycle Wilma and Betty are riding on a high-wire to fall apart, over a cage full of hungry saber-tooth tigers.
* ''[[Tiny Toons]]'' had a Whole Episode plot where Dodo got caught trying to rescue some Wackyland residents from a very-Satanic-looking Ring Master, then Bugs, Buster, and Plucky had to rescue him when he gets caught. They never really show the rest of the circus, but the Ring Master's treatment of the Wackylanders is pretty nightmare-inducing.
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