When I was little, my mom took me to a wonderful carnival. I laughed at the clowns, ate most of the cotton candy, and enjoyed the other acts such as acrobatics and knife throwing. Cheerful smiles and gleeful giggles reached my ears, and alongside the colorful background I was certain I knew what happiness was. Even when I started getting into horror, I still remember carnivals with a certain fondness. This affection extended to game shows, festivals, and anywhere else I might’ve derived my own, fantastical imagination from. 

But then I went into a haunted house. And saw a clown with a chainsaw happily racing after me. 

From Stephen King’s It, to the international killer clown phenomenon, fiction or reality, clowns, or carnivals, or even any source of public entertainment really, has become a staple in horror. Whenever we see a picture of an abandoned carnival, or even a dilapidated art studio, we can’t help but ask ourselves: Just what went wrong? What became of our childhood paradise? Why are we so horrified by this? What made this degradation come to a point of hopelessness, so much so we’re repulsed by it? Where did all our dreams go? What happened to them? 

But even with this abandonment, somehow these places still manage to survive despite time’s cruelties, and have even come back to haunt us. They stalk us with their sadistic memories, twisting our minds in fear and forcing us to run from the insanity that we, as children, would once laugh at. Authors who utilize these places are skillful at the fondness I mentioned before, and below are two reasons why. 

The Act

We associate bloody clowns with carnivals the most, but there are others. Knife throwers, acrobats, jugglers, and of course, the ring leader himself; they all bring a level of freakiness to the table that would be considered too frightening to discuss in polite society. Conjoined limbs, death-defying stunts, and the insane Glasgow smile or two; it truly is a terrifying show in which only the insane would find humor in. For instance, in The Die-Fi Experiment, contestants were forced to kill each other, if only for the entertainment of the people watching. 

The Audience

Like any other good show, frightening or not, you need to have a wonderful audience. Whether they be living or dead, free or captive, it’s their screams and their glassy eyes that make the experience so real. They could even be howling in laughter, for all we know. Shows in horror have used audiences for their sick, sadistic ends. The story is made all the more terrifying when you realize that some audiences are there voluntarily. They enjoy the gore fest, and get high on the bloodbath around them. 

These shows that were once noble places for guarding childhood fantasies now subject their former wards to the madness that was hidden underneath. Perhaps some clown just got tired of smiling all the time, and decided to give in to their inner demons, all the while going after others. Either way, these shows have a purpose of luring children in with colorful displays and promises of laughter. The same can be said for any other display of entertainment, whether it be a carnival, a gameshow, or even a public execution.