Why do fairs and carnivals have an ominous energy?

It's all lit up at night. Shadows and extreme color-Sinister

People are doing things they know they usually wouldn't do, outside of their personalities and spending money on foolishness, and risking life and limb.

Carnies with no teeth and obvious drink/drug issues, ramshackle rides that lurch and shake and look like they could maim or even kill you, funhouse mirrors that distort your reflection into something grotesque, a history of “freak” shows… what’s *not* creepy about this setup? Of course authors have exploited the creep factor. It’s so blatant.

Plus, I associate carnivals and traveling fairs with the Great Depression (see: HBO’s Carnivale) and hardship, which gives them an even more oppressive, dark undercurrent. Even today, people who attend carnivals are usually looking for a temporary reprieve from crushing poverty. Gorge on deep fried twinkies and spin until you vomit, all to have a momentary distraction from the grinding monotony of everyday life. That’s bound to create some dark energy.

They're roaming businesses that take your money, and aren't around to see the consequences if one of those rides goes south. They hire drifters, often alcoholic and drug addicted, people who are outsiders.

I love carnivals but the seediness is pretty much built in to the business model.

I think it's also that they are meant to be these joyous places too - happy music, lots of fun etc, which can seem sinister to people too - like there's a dark belly underneath. Add this to the fact that, as said above, they are kind of seedy at the same time, and it's a perfect recipe to create an ominous feeling.

It’s the music. That jaunty theme. Paired with the lights.

Yes r3 there’s something inherently sinister about a seamy neon playland blowing into town one week, and disappearing the next. Like anything could happen, and then they just… disappear.

Because of the monsters that lurk beneath.

I don't know what it says about me but I've never felt ominous energy at fairs. I always feel the opposite as though I am welcomed there.

Where do the carnies sleep?

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called "Le Cirque des Reves," and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway--a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love--a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per-formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart. Source: Publisher The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. (Yes I know it is a circus, not a carnival for all you literal people. ) Such an awesome book if you like the kind of energy you described. As to your post, I felt the same as you as a kid. I did not like loud noises, I was quiet & shy and the youngest of 3. So I just basically trailed around doing what everyone else wanted to do. I always just wanted a candy apple. Never a huge fan of rides or giant ugly stuffed animals. The workers scared the bejesus out of me, as well as the weird settings/locales at which these carnivals always seem to be . To me the drive was never worth it. I was a kid who loved to just play, or do things like go to the small, local zoo or eat lunch at the counter at the 5&10. As a kid, big outings always gave me anxiety.

The carnies are generations of family inbreeding and that type of insanity bounces off of you. There's no way to avoid it, we are all energy.

Mobile ouija boards, concentrated energy.

Covfefe.

They’re not scary anymore in my part of the country. There used to be plenty of open spaces, farm fields, empty lots for carnivals to set up. They were spread out and kind of magical. Now they’re confined to parking lots. Land us so expensive here that everything has been sold off and developed. The last of the big carnivals used to be set up on the vast property of the Moose Club. The Moose has sold 90% of its land so now there’s this little carnival crammed next to the huge Mercedes’ Benz dealership and the tiny Moose Hall that used look plantation-sized on its past property. Nothing scary happens next to a Benz dealership

As a kid, I wouldn't go on the carnie rides because they put them up so fast I was suspicious of them. I didn't believe they were safe but never had a problem with permanent parks like Disneyland or magic mountain.

Yes, very ominous energy. They have transphobic misgendering acts like the bearded lady as if she were some spectacle and not just someone on the gender spectrum just trying to get through life. I can’t imagine how exhausted she must be with all the stares and othering and blatant disrespect. Make it make sense! Carnivals, do better.

You may have been shy then, R10, but you write a great post now. I’m going to get that book!

Good question it’s definitely true. I’m surprised there are not more fair or carnival horror movies.

Creepy carnival fact the parents of murder and torture victim Sylvia Likens were carnies. That’s why they left her in the care of that monster Gertrude Baniszewski.

Carnivals offer bright, dirty entertainment for a limited time after the sun goes down to a people desperate to feel magic where there's none.

Playbills proclaim the three or four days that you can partake in rides adored with rictus-faced clowns and cakes with years of humanity's grime, play rigged games for cheap toys or fish that will die not longer after the rides have been packed away, and the sale of foodstuffs designed to rot the teeth and gut.

All this is brought to you by the outcasts and miscreants banished by the rest of society. They're numbed by the monotony of the job, the endless time in the road, and the knowledge that they will never be more. They might be watching the rides but, if they are aware of anything other than their own inertia, it will be to watch YOU.

Fairs and carnivals are for riff raff, that’s why. When you get a bunch of creepy trashy people in one place, of course the energy is vaguely sinister

R17, carnivals aren’t what they used to be.

In the 50s and 60s America was still mostly rural. The carnivals could be spread out in a large empty field fringed by dark woods. You could be spirited away if you wandered too far from the midway. Nowadays America is suburban sprawl. Carnivals are in empty shopping mall parking lots. Everyone’s got a cellphone. Everyone’s got a camera video recorder and security cameras are all around. Carnival goers could be packing heat. Carnies better not try anything funny.

Also, pretty, young, skinny girls in short shorts and halter tops aren’t walking through the bright lights, giggling and attracting the eyes of thwarted young men. The girls are obese, tattooed, greasy-haired, sweaty, wearing glasses, carrying phones above their heads, videoing themselves.

The 50s and 60s films and short stories about creepy carnivals are of their time. It’s a long lost world.

They're full of dubious characters.

The freaks are now in the streets. No need to go to a carnival.

The freaks have always been in the streets, while you lived a sheltered life somewhere out of the way, more like.

Carny, with Jodie Foster. I remember seeing soon after it came out, on cable, but haven’t seen it since.

Others have expressed it more eloquently, but carnivals are creepy and lonesome. Workers with teardrop and spiderweb tattoos oversee laughing children on the tilt-a-whirl. They roll into town and then they’re gone. There’s always a frisson of danger and desperation under the frivolity. I love it.

(The Night Circus really is a great book!)

[quote] It’s the music.

Fuck off!

My sister in law, who was adopted at birth, found out later as an adult that her birth father came from a carnival family. She and my brother have a daughter who is a midget. I suspect that is where midget gene came from.

R28 Are they any relation to Peter Dinklage?

Move over Olivia Benson, R28 is solving the cases now!

Maybe they still carry the legacy of...

R16 I can only take credit for the words after Source: Publisher, The Night Circus. I just wanted you to know, because I can’t take credit for the book summary. I agree - It is wonderfully written! I really think will enjoy the book, especially if you are a book lover. It is wickedly imaginative, not only about magic and the circus, but about the written word. There are passages in that book that are just so beautiful, I had to underline them. (I am a total book nerd.) If you can handle a sad graphic novel, I recommend The Night Bookmobile as well. It reminds me of The Night Circus for some reason.

p.s. While we are discussing carnivals, to anyone who hasn’t seen the original Nightmare Alley with Tyrone Power, you really should - it’s so good. It’s so creepy and dark, just like a carnival. I did not like the remake w/BCoop as much. It did not need to be remade. I usually like his acting, but he was just awful in it.

I recently read the book, r33. It was great.

As a little kid I saw a movie in which a boy named Toby ran away and joined a circus. I’m coming up on my 69th birthday and I *still* want to follow him. I’ve spent some time around shady people and its wearying to always have to stay alert, but I’ve also seen a documentary on modern-day circus and freak show performers and some of them pull off amazing physical feats that require hours upon hours of practice and the ever-present risk of injury.

If I had to choose either those people and that life, or a squeaky clean life spent walking in malls full of proper church-going families and going to their backyard barbecues and discussing their children, I wouldn’t need two seconds to make my choice.

Thanks for all the great replies!

The circus is part of the same archetypal realm of "intersective transformation spaces" (carnival, carnivale, Mardi Gras, traveling shows, gypsy caravans, theatre road companies) where locals and strangers congregate and mix. Circuses present a tradition of unusual animals being controlled - or not, athletes performing amazing feats, games of chance (fate), magicians, overt evocations of madness and horror in clowns and "fun houses," freaks, a sense of danger and thrill, sex and beauty. All transgressive and strange - transformative. Lights and lures and barkers shilling and women swaying - commerce with the Forbidden.

How could a person not be affected? And people who work or have worked in these industries have "felt" it from the inside. The superstitions, lore, taboos, hierarchies - they sell the Kool-Aid and then drink it.

r37 I hope you write for a living

It's the smell from the hydraulics of the machines.

The Grady Stiles story always unsettled me. It makes everything about carnie life seems so seedy. Especially this:

[quote]In 1992, Teresa, together with her son from a previous marriage, Harry Glenn Newman Jr., hired a seventeen-year-old sideshow performer named Chris Wyant to kill Stiles for $300.

I guess the life of a carnie is cheap.

I always assumed the vibe was the result of drugs. The faire of old could also be a military recruitment drive.

Because of events like this

This is an interesting little documentary

[quote]Where do the carnies sleep?

In our dreams. Every night.

Suteky I'm not alone in having felt the sexual energy of a carnival, the expectation of fun that's quickly replaced with an ominous feeling and a desire to go piss into one of those giants troughs for what won't be the last time that night. In minutes it starts to come clear in that skeevy guy with crude tattoos in all the places placed they ought not be, the one who is sexy as fuck. A carnie carrying an absurdly big wrench to tighten the bolts of some ride that is starting to go rogue, he pauses, sensing your attention (carnies are attuned) to these things), sets his giant wrench at a jaunty angle and, cigarette never leaving his mouth, gives you an odd little smirk of a smile as he pulls the fabric on his pants taught against his skin to show you the clear outline of his dick. This young man covered in two years of carnival crud and barely old enough to he out of school had he finished it knew what boys like you like in a split second, before anyone else knew, before you knew. He's planted a little seed in your head that will be a very long time growing.

It's the front and backsides of everything, of paying to see a bearded lady, or the world's largest rat or a sword swallower showing off a massive bulge, but also the performers coming on and out under tent flaps, the confusion of audience and players. Amid this there are fun house mirrors everywhere turned out to attract passersby. Who's the real freak here? It's a dark side of life where deformities and medical conditions are exploited, or faked, but the carnies and the circus people refuse to take it seriously this illusion. They don't care, it's just making s little money and having a job where they can have eyeballs tattooed on their eyelids and not wash the snot off the sleeve of their t-shirt for a whole week.

Something for everyone, no?

*Surely I'm not

They are definitely creepy but that is a large part of their appeal. They feel vaguely (but not really) dangerous.

Here's the story of Lobster Boy Grady Stiles, a murderer who ended up murdered. Gibsonton ... Florida.

"I don't know what it says about me but I've never felt ominous energy at fairs."

County fairs do tend to lack the ominous flyby energy of carnivals, even though they have carnival rides and huckster booths, it's overshadowed by the vibe of pride from all the local farmers, artists, artisans, crafters, and gardeners.

Still, some fairs can get a sleazy vibe after dark, like the state fair in my area, which had become a favorite of the local lowlifes once the sun sets. I haven't been in years.

I think it depends on when you go. I agree that at night, they can give off that kind of aura. During the day, not so much.

I get the same vibe at beachtown boardwalks. Underlying feel of danger.

When I was a teenager, a friend and I went to a fair / carnival and approached two adjacent game booths. There was one guy each manning the game booths. The 2 guys were acting as if they were competitors, but something that one of them said made me realize they were working in tandem, trying to rip us off.

One of may favorite hidden object games used to be Madame Fate!

One of us! One of us!

One of my favorite openings of a TV series:

Amusement parks are places of bacchanalic energy. They link to inversion festivals like Halloween, Samhain, Dia de los Muertos, and Carnival, tugging at wild, sexual, deathly impulses still buried deep within modern humans.

Disney has fought this energy tooth and nail for decades. The problem with that is when you invert decadent energies, you wind up with fascism. Disney World doesn't resemble Triumph of the Will in places for no reason: When Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl came to Hollywood, the only bigwig who showed interest in her was Walt himself.

[quote]Here's the story of Lobster Boy Grady Stiles, a murderer who ended up murdered. Gibsonton ... Florida.

Hardest part was sitting down on the lid of the boiling pot of water.

There is no such thing as bad or good vibes. You must also believe in the tooth fairy.

I think the more middle class and upscale folks go to the Ren Fairs - those can be a lot of fun. Irish music, Shakespeare parodies, archery contests...

R57, you may be surprised to know that many human beings can sense each other's emotional state by paying attention to non-verbal cues, such as body language, tone of voice, and how they interact with others, and the resulting impression can rightly be called a "vibe". If a person with normal emotion-sensing capabilities pays attention to the emotional state of a group or crowd of people, the impression of mood can be called the "vibes" of a crowd or event, it is a normal way of perceiving the world and can be a reliable guide to decision-making. It's part of what people call "street smarts", and is how part of how people make decisions when out in public, such as when it's time to leave an event or a party (before things get dangerous).

I know some people are born without the usual ability to sense other people's emotions, and if you don't have the ability, well. It sucks to be you.

I'm also fun at parties!

[quote] I think the more middle class and upscale folks go to the Ren Fairs - those can be a lot of fun.

Renaissance Fairs always seemed cheesy to me. I definitely don't think of RFs as "upscale" at all.

R54: I lived for Hammer movies and shows!!! I was a very weird child. I loved horror movies, the paranormal, the macabre. Elvira, Friday Night Fright, Vincent Price, Dark Shadows. Bette Davis was in a Hammer movie and it scared the living shit out of me, lol. I don't remember the name. Thank you! Great memories. True story, I was bitten by a vicious monkey at a carnival. The feral bastard. He belonged to a carny who lied to me and said it was ok to pet the monkey. It wasn't. He paid me off with free tickets, lol. Unfortunately for the carny my mother insisted on a rabies test for the monkey and any hospital cost paid by them. Before the monkey physically assaulted me, the carny told me that they used things like Bobbie pins instead of nails, rods, etc, to gerry rig the rides. He seemed proud of that. Carnivals had the feel of mystery, slight danger, Gypsy fortune tellers, scary rides and deformed humans and animals. What's not to love?

Where I live it's mostly white trashy types who go to fairs/carnivals, so I guess the trashy carnies combined with the trashy guests give off a creepy and sinister vibe. Trust me, OP, I find carnivals/fairs ghastly and somewhat sinister, so I avoid them like the plague.

I've told this story on DL before, but when I was a teenager in Ohio working a summer job, I met a family from West Virginia traveling to Columbus for the Ohio State Fair. And ... that was their summer vacation every year. The Ohio State Fair.

I think that's the first time my little middle class suburban bubble was really punctured.

R63: Very creepy now that I am an adult. Many of the carnies are criminals with warrants out for their arrest. That is why they join a moving circus, to remain hidden and constantly changing their location.

Catholic church festivals are big in the Cincinnati area. There are a couple of them every summer weekend. All the set-up and activities are done by volunteer church members. It’s a family friendly environment and lots of fun.

I always laugh when there is a dunk tank. People are “pursuaded” to get up on the seat above the water. They don’t back out of it because they are refusing the opportunity to raise money for the church. So they get dunked in the clothes they are wearing, sometimes in some very nice clothes. I remember a guy in a shirt and tie and dress pants. He even kept his dress shoes on. He had it coming.

"Renaissance Fairs always seemed cheesy to me."

Of course Renfests and Celtic fests and cheesy and silly, but they have the most harmless vibe in the world. A bunch of nerds and hobbyists doing nerdy and hobby things, free to enjoy themselves without feeling like the cool people are going to come along and laugh at them. The worst thing that can happen to you at these places is that you'll be overcharged for your spiced alcohol-free cider.

I worked at the annual carnival fire 10 days the summer I was turning 17. It was ok but so boring and constant smell of midway food and vomit. For the 10 days I made about $400 working morning til night. What a weird lifestyle those carnies have. Don't get me started on those flatulent air compressors .

They are an endless trap for idiots like me that want to buy something from every damn stall. I love them for the cheap, tacky shopping opportunities available as I stroll past them buzzed by cheap beer.

This thread is making me crave elephants ears.

Something wicked, this way comes.

I thought it was Elephant tears, r70?

Something tipsy this way comes.

I got drunk at a Ren Fair and ended up buying a ridiculous outfit, sort of a Tudor pirate look. And then I bought a small medieval-type sword (it was not cheap). Good times!

I remember going to side shows and seeing midgets and two-headed infants in jars. I assume they don't have them anymore.

The Smell of the Grift.

The ball that always misses the basket, the coin that never makes it to the goldfish bowl, the "freaks" who are just sad crips, and the pervasive sense of danger on the rides.

OTOH, the colors! The music! The lights! The animals! The foods made right in front of you! The 4-H exhibits! The ferris wheel reaching the sky! The free roaming entertainers! The cooking contests!

I love summer carnivals and fairs.

I'm from small town Ohio. My town had an annual carnival to benefit the volunteer fire department. Other small towns had similar short-term fair and carnivals. In addition, virtually every Catholic church held one or two of these every year. A few rides/shows companies operated that circuit, as well as food vendors that seemed to travel from town to town during the summer and fall.

The ominous energy was definitely there, especially when the carnival was wedged into a smallish space that you were familiar with in its regular "life," e.g., a parking lot at a church, a small field on the edge of town, or a park. When a whole street was closed off, it felt less eerie. The garish lights, cacophony of music and sounds, the smell of cigar smoke, the hum of electricity – all these things combined to create an bulging, amorphous feeling. Especially at night. Seeing people you knew, particularly professional people like your dentist, priests, teachers, etc. in street clothes, maybe a little buzzed from the beer garden, was unsettling. The massive electrical cables running everywhere. The (rural) weekend festival was a formidable web of textures, smells, sounds, lights, looking to entrap those who dared to enter and linger.

Another great writer at r77

Don’t get me started on those dirty fingernails and ugly tattoos!

Fairs, carnivals, circuses and the like are all to a greater or lesser extent predicated on exploitation: exploitation of the guests, exploitation of the performers, exploitation of the animals - many layers deep, from top to bottom. So much misfortune and suffering. I think a lot of people can sense that about such places and the people who are ensnared there.

Too many others cannot, and wouldn't give a rat's ass if they could. Merely pointing it out sends such people into rage and indignation.

[quote] The ominous energy was definitely there, especially when the carnival was wedged into a smallish space that you were familiar with in its regular "life," e.g., a parking lot at a church, a small field on the edge of town, or a park.

Yes, there's something about the temporary transformation of an ordinary space that's eerie. Especially at night.

r35 I imagine the movie you referred to was Disney's "Toby Tyler." Was fascinated with the sequence where the boy learned to stand atop a horse, wearing a special tethered belt, until he was confident enough to do it without one.

r72 I remember going to some Indiana fairs and carnivals many years ago and those fried dough things were called "Tigers' Ears." They squeezed on ribbons of chocolate syrup to imitate a tiger's stripes.

I'll take a pass on carnivals and such after what happened to Patricia Hitchcock in "Strangers On A Train."

It's the clowns. Nothing creepier nothing scarier than a clown.

But your medical professional can help.

Decades of sodomy

Clowns are more of a circus (rather than carnival) thing r83

I think it's the inherent transient nature of them, there's always that feeling that you could be whisked away and the next day everything is gone and you'll never be found again.

R85 Niggle away if you want but there are circus clowns and there are carnival clowns.

I've always wanted to be fucked by a carny, and R44 has reignited my fantasies. You should write erotic fiction.

I think I like r80's explanation best

Steve Bannon is pure evil.

I don't think Bannon is running an actual carnival, although it's not out of the question that he ate one or two.

R90 & R91, IMO, Steve Bannon is one of the Autumn People, per Bradbury.

“𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚? 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑜? 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒. 𝐷𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑣𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑠? 𝑁𝑜: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑? 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑚. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ? 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑎𝑑. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒? 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑛𝑎𝑘𝑒. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑎𝑟? 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑦𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑠, 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑧𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ. 𝐼𝑛 𝑔𝑢𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑙𝑒-𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑦, 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑝, 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟-𝑟𝑢𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟-𝑤𝑒𝑏 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 - 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑠. 𝑆𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑚𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝐵𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.”

When I think about the old traveling carnivals of the 40's and 50's. I think about poor Sylvia Likens. Her family was a bunch of carnies who could barely afford to eat, which is why they pawned their two beautiful daughters off to a sadistic monster in a bouffant. I feel like there was abuse behind the scenes of that life, and just endless struggle.

I forgot about that detail of the case, r93

The grim transient nature of the people involved in creating a false send of merriment.

I've also never felt that carnivals were ominous places, but they are inherently chaotic and can be sensorily overwhelming with the music, lights, smells and crowds. I would say they are what the Internet calls "liminal spaces" due to their ephemeral, hyperreal quality.

[quote]The grim transient nature of the people involved in creating a false send of merriment

That's only before you arrive, before the memory of past experience and past repulsions hit you like the smell of a regurgitated funnel cake

False hopes, false promises, and false claims a'plenty, but merriment seems in very short supply among the carnies. A leering grin is about the best one night hope for. But that don't-give-a-fuck with the fancy people who don't smell like axle grease and vomit and a pair of shitty pants worn three weeks straight is part of the charm of the carnies. It's that curtain, soft as a rock, between carnies and fancy people.

I always got so excited for the state fair to come to town as a child. It signaled the start of fall and it meant Halloween was right around the corner. The air got cool and crisp and there was something special about that time. I loved the lights and the smells. Every night it was in town, the whole city skyline was covered in those colored lights and, if you got close enough, you could hear all the people screaming with joy and fear from the rides.

I was terrified of those haunted house rides they had there. The front was always covered with the most ghoulish and terrifying looking illustrations. You had to love the showmanship. I'm sure sure if it was just my memory playing tricks on me, but I remember them having images of women's eyes being ripped out and rivers of blood with skeletons coming out. Really lurid stuff. They've toned them down a lot since then. Imagine my disappointment when I finally got up the courage to ride one it and it ended up being about 45 seconds of darkness with an occasional light up skeleton popping out and some fake cobwebs. It was especially pathetic if you rode during the day and the light from outside would peek through the cracks of the walls and illuminate more than they'd intended.

I haven't been to one in a few years, but I still loved the smell of all the unhealthy fried foods and a few of the rides were still fun. Most of them made me sick to my stomach. I guess that's a sucky part about age.

When I was a kid in the 80s and early 90s, the carnival was called the Exhibition. The 4-H kids would show their projects/animals in barns, and outside there were rides; wholesome and seedy side by side. So you could see the animals and crafts then go out and win what I now know are coke mirrors and feathered roach clips.

I was a 15 year old runaway from Fl and ended up in Olympia Washington on the day a carnival was setting up. I walked around then struck up a conversation with this super nice young woman . She immediately spotted that I was no regular street kid,coming from a middle class background ,plus I was a screaming baby gay. I guess it concerned her because she offered to get me on with the carnival plus stay with her and her family in their travel trailer. She took me to the boss,got me on ,then told me about a marina next door that had showers (25 cents for 10 mins) . I go meet her husband and 3 kids ,then proceed to the showers. As Im merrily scrubbing away this very cute guy comes in,strips down and hops in (they were open) . Short,stocky,muscular with a nice fat cock. I of course start flirting my ass off,and he responds by popping a boner. I blow him ,then we finish up and head out.I realize hes walking the same direction and he then tells me he's with the carnival (Fred was his name) .I tell him I am as well and am staying with this lady named Becky.Hes astonished as shes a good friend of his. A very happy coincidence indeed.

So they open the next day and had put me on the ring toss but I sucked at it cause I wasnt aggressive enough so they put me in the corn dog stand. Later that night as we closed Fred pops up and asks me if I want to go to breakfast at the all night diner up the street and I was all "hell yeah" .The place was full of the carnival folk and it was a blast. As we were leaving (like at 2 am) Fred asks me if Id like to spend some time together .I quickly agreed and we go to his tent he had set up. It was a wonderful night,we fucked until sunrise. He was so passionate it took my breath away. I of course,was in LOVE.

there was zero judgement from the others about us,and while admittedly some of those people were scary as fuck I never felt in danger. Plus I had Fred and Becky "protecting " me. After 2 weeks they begin packing up to go back to Fl (oh the irony) and since I knew I was wanted I had to regretfully decline to stay with them. In my time there the only drugs I ever saw was weed,and drinking was forbidden until they closed. if the owner thought you were indulging,he literally kicked your ass off the grounds. Sme of the nicest people I ever met,and to this day I wonder had I gone with them how long Fred and I would have lasted. He was a really nice man and seemed crazy about my 18 (really 15 but I lied ) year old gay ass. Lots more to that story but Im just fleshing it out for yall. I was a wild ad crazy bitch in my youth !

Great story r100!

There's also a time-machine effect at work. It's like you're back in the 1950s.

The last time I was in Germany was 1995 when my Oma died. Growing up I always loved taking walks around German cemeteries. After she was buried I went back again to her grave. Not far away from her grave was a very large headstone with massive amounts of flowers. I struck up a conversation with the lady visiting that grave; she looked rough smoking her cigarette and wearing black eyeliner. Based on the size of that headstone she must have come from a well to do family. Turns out her family were in the carnival business going back some 300 years. Apparently in Europe most of the carnivals are run by gypsy families. Also, 300 years was not consider that long for a carnival family owned business. According to her most carnivals stayed within families 500 years or more.

Fairs and carnivals are such a universal experience, but they're only sporadic, and don't seem to hold a big place in a person's heart. They're populated by lots of strangers. When we're confronted in culture (movies or books, if anyone reads them anymore) we get confronted with a setting that's familiar but not valued. It's probably one of the best venues for a creator to place a story.

R100, did you ever go back to Florida?

I always wanted to go to the graduation carnival from Grease.

"Still, some fairs can get a sleazy vibe after dark,"

I've heard the same thing about Eddie Murphy's pool parties.

From Terry Crews no less.

R105 Yes I did but not willingly. I got arrested in Ga and was extradited back to Fl where i was convicted of grand theft auto,failure to appear,etc. I was given 5 years (at 15) served 2,got out and 3 months later violated parole and served another 2 years. I told you I was a wild bitch.

R108 told u he was hardcore

The procession moved, on the shouting is over

The fabulous freaks are leaving town.

They are driven by a strange desire

Unseen by the human eye.

The carnival is over

Who is the carnie obsessed OP?

Don't forget to have your fortune told by Madame Zora!

One of my most poignant childhood memories of the fair was a filthy carny who ran one of the game booths. I can still picture his dirty hands and fingernails. The prize at his booth was some kind of small fish -- not a goldfish. And the fish were kept in small styrofoam cups of water, probably barely alive.

Everything about it horrified me.

it's going to the ghetto to laugh at the po' people.

Carnival of Souls

I was a carny. Ok, it was only two weeks but still.

In the arcade tent- "Sea Wolf", pinball, etc.- you handed me money, I handed you tokens.

The rides operators, to a man, were protective of me and never tried to come-on to me.

I was 15.

Even Charlie's Angels couldn't resist all the sawdust and glitter.

^^^^ I hope you didn't cry out loud.

- Melissa Manchester

combine Pinocchio's donkey adventure with stories about gypsies (travellers) stealing children and the various runaways that wanted to join the circus.

Perpetual childhood... Peter Pan vs The Lord of The Flies...

It's everything stranger danger told you nancies to be wary of.

Heathens, heathens everywhere...

Are not run by gypsies,Italians etc. Seedy.

Carnivals were also where teens would go, dressed so nice, to spot the one they were stuck on. Ambulatory cruising before they could drive.

My small town's volunteer Fire Company would---and I think yet do---hold the 4th of July carnival in our gigantic park. I can still, 60 years later, recall the French Fries in white paper cones, sold by a local church. Candy and cigarettes were the prizes at the spinning wheel booths. The fireworks always held the very real threat of one's being struck by a flaming ember.

"Center stage" for entertainers (I once saw the fabulous Sally Starr there) was literally the concrete top of an underground WW II bomb shelter/bunker.

To R108, how was state prison? Did u get raped& kept as a Bitch by the blacks or Latins? Did u swallow lots of multi-cultural Man-babies-take it hard from the prisoners-guards!!

Inquiring minds need to know!! Gay sex in Prisons,YEAH!!!

r122 Thank you for posting that pic of Sally Starr. I'm getting soggy with nostalgia.

Oh R123 Ive told several stories on here about my "Guest of the state" saga. I literally lost count of all the dicks I had. Sadly,because of strictly drawn racial lines,I couldnt really dip into the hot black stud pool. I saved that for work release ! I was young,I was pretty and I was a slut. The fact I never caught a disease still boggles the mind. I tried the "husband" thing but decided that was too restrictive so I basically flew solo. Many of the other queens hated me because I was getting ALL the dick.My first prison was a youthful offender camp where the average age was 18 .Can you imagine all the horniness ? When I went back the 2nd time it was an adult camp,wich was a whole different thing. I had to "settle down" and the men there didnt play about one being faithful. They would beat your ass in a heartbeat. So I had 2-3 husbands and to this day I resent the prime cock I couldnt avail myself of . I did however get my share,because I told all the prospective husbands I have to try the dick before I chose ! Made them work harder at it.

To R125, You made me feel all dirty& wet, my man pussy is throbbing, need prison cock.

It's carnival season again, bitches!

I am thinking of attending one this year and riding a few rides.

No cunt referred to “Men of the Midway?” I’m not linking, but scenes three through six are ominous for America’s Sweetheart.

Carnivals SUCK

[quote]r28 My sister in law, who was adopted at birth, found out later as an adult that her birth father came from a carnival family. She and my brother have a daughter who is a midget. I suspect that is where midget gene came from.

This is terrifying to me.

I’m deeply frightened by deformities.

Op you’re right. They all do. Maybe Us is real.

R130 that just sounds so wrong and trashy yet so utterly DL. I can’t even tell if you are trolling.

It could be a whole Roger Corman movie from the Seventies!

—————

Joan Prather as Judi Mae, wholesome adopted daughter to a Kansas pastor. She is troubled by carny nightmares.

Kurt Russell as Bobby, star of the high school track team who’s poised to marry the haunted Judi Mae.

Charles Durning as Pastor Rich

Stella Stevens as his wife, Lois

Barbara Steele as Madam Melisandre, scantily clad fortune teller with bad news.

and introducing some staggering midget as SURPRISE SHRIMP BABY!

They're always similar but have no real permanence.

I don’t find that vibe. State fairs and carnivals used to be one ofmy favorite things. I’m kind of over it now I’m old.

80s horror films really did fuck carnivals over.