It comes, it goes, and so do the people who operate it.

There is an innate sense that the carnival is hiding something. When was the last time those monstrosities were properly serviced, you wonder. The games are rigged and the rides are huge, clanking things of oil and metal. As fun as it may be to take the family or a date out for a fun night at the carnival, you always get the sense it’s not necessarily a wholesome place. The bright, multicolored lights, the dizzying swirl of calliope music and cacophonous rattling of the rides, the stench of popcorn, funnel cakes, and oiled machinery all merging and wafting through the air…it’s all artifice. What makes a carnival such a fertile place to set your horror tale in? Maybe it’s the thin veneer of joy and cheer that raises our hackles. We’ve had a handful of prominent, frightening tales take advantage of the unique aesthetic and eerie unreality an amusement park can offer over the years. Carnivals and amusement parks are a prime setting for horror stories.

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