Tag Archives: dark circus

Evil Circus: Masks and Grease Paint

Cirque du Méchant Has Come to Halloween Town

Cirque du Méchant has come to Halloween Town, close enough that you hear the calliope’s screams in Lita’s castle. Not all fantasy worlds are bright and full of whistling elves. This Evil Circus is a dark carnival filled madness, magic, and grinning clowns.

Previously:

See the jesters and harlequins with the huge shoes and painted-on grins. Their desperate antics with bloated tricycles the size of cars reminds us of crazed morning commuters vying for a parking spot.

Enrapt Children Stare at the Clowns in the Cirque du Méchant

There is one clown that they will not allow in their play. They bonk him with huge stripped bats. The crowd roars. We laugh for a moment, pleased that for once it isn’t us. We look around the crowd. Some children stare, enrapt at the antics. Clowns. Do the grease paint smiles hide their pain and desperation? Is the grease paint a mask? Such a disturbing thought.

The big top show ends with the arching blazes of fire eaters then an animal parade around the ring. Whips snap and the air stinks with the acrid odor of the fireworks.

Learn Your Future at the Fortuneteller’s Wagon

Outside, night has come. The Evil Circus glitters at night. We pass the fortune teller’s wagon. Shall we learn our future, or talk to the regretful ghosts of our past? We pause, consider, and move on to ride the carousel instead.

The time has gotten late. Time to leave the Evil Circus, methinks. No need to run for the exit just because night has come. The colored circus lights will light your steps. Don’t forget your hat. Nor your sanity.

Evil Circus is like a mushroom that grows in the dark. Mostly tasty, but odd and disturbing. Be sure to visit the next time it comes to Halloween Town.

Want more? Watch Lita’s Cirque du Méchant video. It will only take a minute now, but will haunt you forever. Step right up.

Evil Circus: Madness is Saving You a Seat

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The Marionettes Are Oh, So Lifelike

Previously:

Listen. Over there is a shrieking calliope. See it puff and bluster like a boastful bird. Over here, that oh-so-handsome carny beckons us to the show in the big tent. We follow the crowd and take our seats.

Care for some pink cotton candy? Yes, please. It tastes like a sweet cloud.

In the Dark of the Tent Rafters is a Spider Woman

A whisper warns us no, it is really my spun cobwebs. We search for our party spoiler. In the dark tip-top of the tent, is that a spider woman looking down at us? She is not a cartoon hero, but a huntress with many eyes.

We hand the rest of our treat to the child sitting next to us. The sticky stays on our face. It clings, just like a cobweb.

Still, there is beautiful magic here. Weightless acrobats fly between swinging bars in the tent rafters. Gorgeous cats leap, paw the air, and roar. Watch the puppet show where the marionettes are oh, so lifelike.

Tiny-eyed elephants balance on drums and wave their snake-like trunks at the crowd. Look, there is a Fantasy Elephant floating under its own tiny circus tent. Is it real?

A Wee Elephant the Size of a Bumblebee Flies By

Perhaps. Illusion is so delicious and tricky.

The pachyderm flicks its trunk and blinks. See the madness in its eyes?

A wee elephant the size of a bumblebee flies by. Its wings sound like the flapping of leathery bats. Illusions with sounds are so lifelike.

The circus band plays a dusty fanfare, and then the Barker calls our attention to the center ring. We scoot to the edge of our seats and crane our necks. What wonders now wait in the wings? A delicious shiver runs down our backs. Time to send in the clowns.

Next Time: Masks & Grease Paint

Evil Circus: Childhood Gone Dark

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We See a Motionless Girl with Hair Over Her Face

Previously: Your Wildest Desire

Youth is a dark time for some, and the children of the Cirque du Méchant are the darkest. It is difficult to tell if they are the offspring of the glittery carnival adults or if they are runaways. Some plain boys sweep away the dirt and haul buckets of manure. The beautiful children fly on the trapeze. We see a motionless girl with long hair covering her face. Hello, sweetheart. What’s wrong? She ducks into the shadow of the fortuneteller’s wagon and vanishes.

Look at This Shelf

Let us follow this carnival boy of about ten years. His steps are so light; the lad’s feet seem not to touch the ground. Will he float away? He pauses at a tent flap, sees us, and points inside. I have my treasure to show you, he mouths before he slips into the tent.

Oh, let’s go see.

This little boy has stuffed his tent with broken dolls. He heaped them everywhere. Look at this shelf–all heads. He tossed the bodies over there. Such an odd child. We back out of the tent.

Next Time: Madness is Saving You a Seat

Evil Circus: Your Wildest Desire

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Rouge-Painted Cheeks and Shapely Scarlet Lips

Step right this way, ladies and gentlemen, and visit the Evil Circus. It sprang up outside of town last night like a pale mushroom.

The gaudy flapping canvas of an enormous tent dominates what yesterday was the Smith’s south pasture. A Ferris wheel soars above everything like a glistening tiara. Elephants trumpet. Tigers roar. Even their manure has an exotic stench.

A Ferris Wheel Soars Above Everything

Lovely women with rouge-painted cheeks and shapely scarlet lips smile and tease. Handsome men wearing top hats beguile you with promises of wonder beyond your wildest desire.

Why resist? You surrender only money, not your soul, for a ticket to this freaky show. At least initially.

Next Time: Childhood Gone Dark

Enter Here for Madness

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Not all enchantments are fairy glitter and unicorns. In some fantasy worlds, it is always half past dark and Halloween time. Today is Samhain. Let the screams begin.

The Autumn People Have Come to Town

Every October, the Autumn People come to town in a field near Lita’s castle. First we hear screaming train whistles in the dead of night, and then their pale tents growing like mushrooms in the dark.

In the chilly dawn of Samhain day, the carnival’s faded colors become nothing more than an afternoon’s romp with the Ferris wheel and games of bash the bottles.

But at night? That is when madness lives.

Lift the tent flap to see the wonders of Lita Burke’s Cirque du Méchant, the dark autumn circus filled madness, magic of a different sort, and killer clowns.

Don’t go just yet–the children are having such a screamingly good time. Have some cotton candy. Doesn’t it look like sugar-spun cobwebs?

The delicious madness is everywhere. The Cirque du Méchant has so many things to see. Look, this tent sells real lady fingers we can munch on while the children play. Not really, but enjoy the pastry anyway.

A Handsome Carny Wearing a Top Hat

Going so soon? No need to run for the exit.

You tripped. Good thing that handsome carny wearing a top hat was there to catch you. What does he whisper? Something about wonder beyond your wildest desire.

Why resist? You surrender only money, not your soul, for a ticket to this freaky show.

Step right up.

New: Lita’s Cirque du Méchant Video

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Saving you a seat at the Wicked Circus

This month, Lita invites Gentle Reader to visit to the dark side of fantasy–the Wicked Circus.

Cirque du Méchant is a dark carnival filled madness, magic, and killer clowns. Take a peek into the fantasy world where the Calliope screams its steamy waltz, and you see the monsters under the grease paint.

Enter here for the Cirque du Méchant.