History Main / CircusOfFear

* Antonio Petronelli's lair in ''VideoGame/TwoDark'' is an abandoned circus.

* Music/TheResidents' ''VideoGame/BadDayOnTheMidway'' had this setting.

* The first mission of Circus Park in ''VideoGame/BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg'' certainly fits the bill. And the second stage too. Sure, it may not be dark anymore, but that's a pretty messed up funhouse you have to go through.
* ''VideoGame/BinkyShow'': Binky set up his "Horror Circus" in the town of River-Road.

* ''VideoGame/FallFromHeaven 2'' has a whole nation, the Balseraphs, ruled by a MonsterClown and his CreepyChild daughter.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Gauntlet}} Gauntlet: Dark Legacy]]'' had one of these as a final level.

* ''VideoGame/KissPsychoCircusTheNightmareChild'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

* Donbalon's stage from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'' probably qualifies for this.

* One of the levels in ''[[VideoGame/{{Painkiller}} Painkiller: Overdose]]'' features a spooky circus of doom.

* One level in ASC's ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}'' has this. It's a delusion...

* Featured as a major setting in Episode 2 of ''VideoGame/ScoobyDooFirstFrights''.

* ''VideoGame/KissPsychoCircusTheNightmareChild'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin

* One of the levels in ''[[VideoGame/{{Painkiller}} Painkiller: Overdose]]'' features a spooky circus of doom.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' has a giant music box that plays what can only described as scary circus music. It doesn't even help much that it also scares the mummies away.
* ''VideoGame/ApeEscape'' takes this trope and packs every element into the first half of the first game's monstrously huge VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. The main area is an amusement park taken over by the BigBad, with lots of separate areas branching off, including a crazy mine cart style roller coaster, and a more literal circus flavored area, where you must defeat an evil clown. The other sections are mostly other common video game settings, including TheWildWest and a BigBoosHaunt. This is only the first half of the level. The other, even longer, half is the Big Bad's flying castle, which includes elements of {{Tomorrowland}}. Yeah, this series really likes its location tropes.
* ''VideoGame/FallFromHeaven 2'' has a whole nation, the Balseraphs, ruled by a MonsterClown and his CreepyChild daughter.
* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'''s "Dark Carnival" in the first episode is supremely twisted. Aside from a lantern-carrying statue of Death siccing zombies on you when you ignore his request for a ticket, the optional game where you kick a severed head through a slowly opening and closing mouth to win a prize, or the secret funhouse level that shoves rotting skeletons at you while maniacal laughter plays, there's also the fact that the whole place is built next to an evil temple filled with cultists who want you dead. Well, [[TheUndead deader]].
* The second Soviet mission of ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Red Alert 3]]'' which takes place in a vagrant carnival built on an abandoned rocket test site. It seems sparsely populated until the Soviets activate the abandoned launch facility upon which Japanese troops (including a Psychic Commando) burst out of the tents and surround the Soviets. The actual mission itself is called "Circus of Treachery".
* Music/TheResidents' ''VideoGame/BadDayOnTheMidway'' had this setting.
* The first level of ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'' had one of these coming to Max's town, which culminated in a boss fight against the deranged clown Ringmaster and his pet elephant, Linda. And then he chases you onto a train and throws bombs at you until the whole train derails.
* ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' has a level in Murderworld, mentioned in the Comics section. Complete with kamikaze bots, android copies of party members, and clowns with radioactive flower-squirts.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Gauntlet}} Gauntlet: Dark Legacy]]'' had one of these as a final level.
* ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters2'', features all kinds of nightmareish characters in the Circus of Fear theme, like cannibalistic clowns, siamese twins that are treated as separate characters by the game, and a lion tamer who brainwashed himself into becoming a lion.

* ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}: Battle out of Hell'' has a circus/fun fair called Loony Park with killer clowns and monsters made out of snack food.
* Ryan Amusements in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'''s Rapture is designed mostly as a propaganda device to scare children into never going to the surface.
* Antonio Petronelli's lair in ''VideoGame/TwoDark'' is an abandoned circus.
* One level in ASC's ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}'' has this. It's a delusion...
* Sweet Tooth's circus in ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal 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 Circus Of Fear HumongousMecha BaseOnWheels MilitaryMashUpMachine flanked by many [[MonsterClown psychotic clowns]] carrying [[ChainsawGood chainsaws]], [[ActionBomb suicide bombs]] and/or piloting [[BadHumorTruck transforming ice cream trucks]]. And the ''entire thing'' is the FinalBoss. Just friggin' look at it [[http://cghub.com/files/Image/200001-201000/200758/520_large.jpg]]
* The downloadable ''Loon'' [[https://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 [[GreyGoo an alien virus]]. Or is it? When you look over the guardrails, [[NothingIsScarier there is only a black void there...]]
* ''VideoGame/SavageHalloween'' have an abandoned, ghost-infested circus as one of the stages halfway through. Complete with a ''gigantic'' MonsterClown named Peanuts serving as an AdvancingBossOfDoom.
* Stage 6 in ''Silent Assault'', complete with a MonsterClown head for a boss.
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'': The circus in Waukeen's Promenade starts out normal -- until their disgruntled illusionist Kalah uses powers gained from some kind of an implied DealWithTheDevil to turn the inside of the tent into a weird personal world of his own that is BiggerOnTheInside and that no-one can escape until he is defeated.
* In the ''[[VideoGame/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]'' game for Sega Genesis, the Green Goblin takes over Coney Island in the second level, and you have to fight your way into the fun house to capture him. The music on the soundtrack is very Music/DannyElfman-like, creepy and catchy, and among the {{Mooks}} you have to mop up are strong men, fire-breathers, and armless cobra people(!).
* ''VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles'' sets two of its games, ''Madame Fate'' and ''Fate's Carnival'', in the titular Madame Fate's Carnival. The detective is tasked to investigate the death of Madame Fate herself and a curse that's engulfed her carnival.
%%* The Megadrive game ''VideoGame/NightmareCircus'' is set entirely in one of these.
* Parodied by the sixth Halloween update of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. In the game's universe, the very first carnival was ''made'' to be evil and to appease the Clown God Boffo, and evil circuses have followed in this tradition ever since.
* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'' with The Emerald Circus--it is a deathtrap, and the most potent one on Prism Island, but it's targeted largely at Mario, and any other targets are active and known allies of Mario. Nevertheless, from Mario's perspective, he has to face down firebreathing Dino-Rhinos and their trainers, Shy Guy acrobats who can dodge Mario's attacks, juggling Hammer Brothers on tightropes Mario cannot cross, and [[spoiler:Lemmy Koopa]], a StageMagician determined to make Mario "disappear" for good.
* ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' has the [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Circus Carnivorous]], a blood-soaked amphitheater in the heart of FireAndBrimstoneHell. A giant obelisk of living stone-flesh festering with the unholy madness of the dark god [[EldritchAbomination Tholaghru]] occupies center stage, and needless to say it's not safe to sit in the audience.
* The fourth level of the second world in ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' is an abandoned circus crawling and teeming with ghosts that can be only seen via reflective mirrors.
* The third campaign of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' is "Dark Carnival", a dreary trek through the Whispering Oaks Amusement Park. While it wouldn't have actually been an evil carnival under normal circumstances, taking place during the ZombieApocalypse means it's a dark, run-down place where hordes of undead are drawn into roaming packs by the squeaky shoes of the zombie clowns.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilOutbreak'' has a level that takes part in the Raccoon City Zoo, which happened to have a large Big Top set up in honor of Oscar the Elephant. [[OhCrap Who's now zombified, hungry]], and [[SuperPersistentPredator VERY persistent]]. While it's possible to evade him until the end, you can kill him at any point in the level if you're packing enough heat, but you can also distract him by playing his theme music over the loudspeaker which tricks him into instinctively marching around the Big Top and ignoring you. If a marching flesh-eating zombie elephant parading around the Big Top doesn't say "Circus of Fear", nothing does. Also, if you ''do'' kill him beforehand a pair of zombified ''[[FromBadToWorse African lions]]'' take his place in the final battle.
* ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2'': Mysterio creates a "Funhouse of Doom" to use against Spider-Man, which functions as one of these. It has robots, traps and illusions.
* Featured as a major setting in Episode 2 of ''VideoGame/ScoobyDooFirstFrights''.
* A free update of ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' added the Butcher's Circus mode, a PVP mode. In it, the attraction is your set of heroes against an opposing set of heroes in a fight to the death in a gladiatorial arena. Character attacks, abilities, and trinkets have different properties, such as dealing stress to enemies or giving more balanced buffs/debuffs and damage-scaling.

* ''WebAnimation/NomadOfNowhere'': It turns out the Twindleweed Brothers' Circus is composed of retired bounty hunters who capture the Nomad easily...but the only member who's actively evil is Twindleweed himself; the others are just desperate for money.

* ''WesternAnimation/MightyOrbots'' had to deal with "The Cosmic Circus", a fake circus designed to duplicate key members in the Galactic Patrol. Was actually kinda creepy.
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'': "Last Laugh" features a circus led by a VampiricDraining MonsterClown named Zombozo, whose members included: Acid Breath, a zombie-looking man [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin breathing acid]]; Thumbskull, a DumbMuscle strong man with a broken horn on his head; and Frightwig, a DarkActionGirl with CombatTentacles as hair.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': In "Somnambula", the titular witch invites the ponies into her illusory carnival, where she [[LiquidAssets steals their youth]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}: The Animated Series'' has one of these as the whole plot setting. Did I mention [[BreakTheCutie half the cast are kids?]]

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainCavemanAndTheTeenAngels'': In "Clownfoot", the episode's [[MonsterClown villainous clown]], Clownfoot, uses 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'': "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E31SawdustAndToonsil Sawdust and Toonsil]]" has Gogo Dodo caught and imprisoned by a very-Satanic-looking ringmaster when he attempts to rescue some of his fellow Wackyland residents (a sphinx, a unicorn, etc.) from a circus. Babs, Buster, and Plucky have to rescue him. They never really show the rest of the circus, but the Ringmaster's treatment of the Wackylanders is pretty nightmare-inducing.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'': Episode 12, "Circus of Ooze".

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'': "Wild" Bill Krebb's sideshow in "Showtime." The performers are slaves, the acts have zero safety nets, and he ''gladly'' exploits the fact that Andorians go [[BrainwashedAndCrazy feral in captivity]].
* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': In "Circus," Shake sells Meatwad to the circus for $2. Other acts include "Inside-out Boy," and the show does not go well for anyone, especially the audience.
* ''WesternAnimation/CyberSix'': [[TheDragon Jose]]'s mechanical circus seems pretty cool to the audience but is actually an elaborate death drap for the titular character. Of course if you get out of line, like [[BigDamnHeroes Lucas does]], you get taken to the back and thrown to a massive two-headed robotic snake.

* ''WesternAnimation/BearStory'': The animals are kidnapped from their homes and made slaves at a circus, driven by whip-cracking circus performers.

* A lot of Music/TomWaits' stuff, especially the albums ''Music/{{Swordfishtrombones}}'', ''Music/FranksWildYears'', ''Music/RainDogs'', ''Music/{{Alice|TomWaitsAlbum}}'' (which includes a song about Johnny Eck), ''Music/TheBlackRider'', and ''Music/BloodMoney''.
* "Circus of Death," from Music/TheHumanLeague's first album ''Reproductions'', tells the story of a singularly destructive circus. The song is also, oddly enough, a Series/HawaiiFiveO {{Fanfic}} of sorts.
* The Music/InsaneClownPosse's appearance and Dark Carnival mythos is based on this trope. Many of their songs, including "Murder Go Round", "House of Mirrors", "Halls of Illusion" and "Tilt-a-Whirl" relate to Circus, or rather, Carnival of Fear-based themes.
* The cover art, title track and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWIW6Ti0PbE its music video]], and associated merchandise (comic books, action figures and [[VideoGame/KissPsychoCircusTheNightmareChild a PC game]]) of the 1998 Music/{{KISS}} album ''Psycho Circus'' make use of this concept.
* Music/MotleyCrue's 2005 "Carnival Of Sins" tour (documented on the DVD of the same name) was described by Nikki Sixx as "a circus gone wrong".
* The Song ''Flohzirkus'' by Samsas Traum is exactly about this. One of four thrown knives is guaranteed to hit, and the woman is actually sewn in half.

* Music/NoxArcana's CD ''Carnival of Lost Souls'' is based on [[Literature/SomethingWickedThisWayComes ''Something Wicked This Way Comes'']], so features one of these.

* Music/BobDylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man" from ''Music/Highway61Revisited'' if the lyrics are taken literally, takes place at least partially in a Circus Of Fear.
* The video for "I Stay Away" by Music/AliceInChains, 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 Music/{{Donovan}} doesn't sound like it's about a particularly ''nice'' circus.

* ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsjTBdiPq8o "Dark Woods Circus"]] is a song about children being kidnapped, mutilated and turned into gruesome circus freaks. The attractions include Rin and Len stitched together to make artificial conjoined twins, Miku as a siren with deformed legs, and Kaito as a cannibal.

* The dark cabaret act ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlbJyPf5EG0 Circus Contraption]]'' is MADE of this trope.
* Music/{{Pink}}'s Funhouse Tour featured quite a few freakish clowns. The name comes from one of her songs: "This used to be a fun house/But now it's full of [[MonsterClown evil clowns]]".

* Music/PoetsOfTheFall's "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]." The Carnival is run down and creepy, and the staff is menacing and vaguely predatory. The video's plot revolves around Zoltar, a [[SadClown depressive]], decaying Carnival automaton with flaking paint, and the experiences of the [[PostApocalypticGasmask gas-masked]] female customer who he tries to persuade to stay with foreboding, increasingly desperate pleas and demands for a relationship while [[HostileAnimatronics banging on the walls]] of his case.
* The ConceptAlbum ''The New World's Fair'' by Creator/MichaelMoorcock and his band Deep Fix (yes, [[HiddenDepths Michael Moorcock sang and wrote songs]]!) involves the denizens of a carnival in a post-apocalyptic world.
* 'Circus metal' is slowly becoming its own sub-genre for a combination of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin circus music (or more generally dark cabaret) and metal]]. Good examples of this are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHDhA35KR_I Stolen Babies]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvgDLx4VA1k Unexpect]].
* The circus folk in Music/PanicAtTheDisco's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc6vsl5dkc "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"]] are a subversion since, while definitely creepy, they're [[CreepyGood actually the good guys]].
* The aptly named Dark Cabaret group The Carnival are centered around this.
* ''Music/{{Nightwish|Band}}'s'':
** The song ''Scaretale'' has a part like this.
** As does the music video for ''Storytime''.
* "Cirkus" by Music/KingCrimson is a rather [[MindScrew mind screwy]] version.
* The album cover of ''Music/StrangeDays'' by Music/TheDoors features some freaky [[note]] Well, not exactly ''freaky'', but wearing dark clothing and appearing to be vaguely poor, which was unsettling enough for the 1960s. [[/note]] circus people too.
* ''Music/MiracleOfSound'''s song "Call of Duty Circus" portrays ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' as one of these.
-->Roll up and see the terrifying ripper with his blade!\\
His magic knife will end your life\\
Of one-hit-kills it's made
* The titular Music/EvelynEvelyn ConjoinedTwins spent their teenage years a part of a freak show act. It was better than their previous place, though that's not saying much as they used to be pimped out to people. It's implied they were sexually abused by the clowns, the elephants were fed so poorly that they died, and the twins were overworked and beaten. The only good thing about their experience at the circus was that they learned how to play the ukulele, which helped them get interested in a music career.
* A K-pop version is the video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBHPvYW3GkI Midnight Circus]] by the group Sunny Hill.
* The music video to Music/AnimalAlpha's "Bundy" is set in a creepy circus to go with its MurderBallad theme.
* Creator/SeananMcGuire's song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFI9xOqO_g0 The Poisonous Circus]]" is about a circus for {{Nightmare Fetishist}}s. Some of the lyrics are on the quotes page for this trope.
%%* The exact details aren't specified, but Rachel Rose Mitchell's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBgHqG2ZHM8 Carnival]]" is clearly set in one of these.
* The Song "Devil's Playground" by the Rigs is seemingly inviting someone to one of these, though, the Devil being the Devil isn't exactly trustworthy. The attendee is given a throne, encouraged to feast from the fruit of every tree told that they can look and touch and given "Chains of Freedom". Constant reassurances are: I promise that it's safe and [[FalseReassurance "I swear it won't cost much."]]

* The Circus of the Other (more accurately translated from the original Russian as "Another Circus") from ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'' certainly qualifies as this. It has had disturbingly deformed freaks in its freak show (including people without ''heads''), kidnapped a child and forced him to walk a tightrope as two clowns fought brutally below, and ripped an audience member's skin off as part of an advertisement. It toured in Russia in the 1940s and 50s and was never seen again, until it returned in London in 2013. [[spoiler: It serves as the ArcVillain for Season 3, with its ringmaster being Nikola Orsinov, a mannequin who wears people's skins.]]

* The ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' has the Midnight Circus, a wandering circus of horrors and evil that eventually got its own sourcebook to reveal its secrets. It's literally packed with ''every'' kind of monster that exists in the World of Darkness, from vampires to werebeasts to faeries to Formori to witches to full-fledged demons. All of them are either evil, or so deformed and horrific that they have nowhere else to go. To put this in perspective, a Midnight Circus member who almost qualifies as a TokenGoodTeammate would be "Tub of Flesh", a Nosferatu who had the misfortune of falling into the hands of Sascha Vyskos. Consequently, whilst he deeply loves children and strives to protect them, he's basically a roiling mass of semi-liquid purple-black flesh that constantly forms and reabsorbs eyes and fanged mouths. And even then, he's still a vicious killer when he needs to be, and he has to feed on blood. That's right, one of the nicest members of the Midnight Circus is a blood-drinking Shoggoth-expy with a soft spot for kids.
** In the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'', ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' 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 Swords & Sorcery ''TabletopGame/ScarredLands'' setting has a Circus of Fear ''nation''. The Carnival of Tears in Blood Bayou.
* Appearing in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' spinoff game ''TabletopGame/{{Mordheim}}'', and referenced in Warhammer too, is the Carnival of Chaos, a circus staffed by Chaos worshippers and daemons of Nurgle (who, despite being the Chaos God of despair, is a rather jovial fellow). The show seems to be benign until the climax when the Carnival members and and their stage's true putrid corruption is revealed. At this point the entertainers slaughter anyone who hasn't already fallen to the diseases secretly spread during the performance. They then round up the women and children who survived, the Carnival Master [[{{Fingore}} taking a finger]] from each woman and taking them as his [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe "wives"]].
** The ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' roleplaying game ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' introduces The Menagerie, which uses carnivals, revels and fetes as a cover to expose innocent people to [[BrownNote sanity-blasting]], [[BodyHorror flesh-warping]] horrors. [[MadnessMantra Come and see! You must come and see!]]
** The Carnivora from ''Literature/{{Ravenor}}'' is a Roman-style circus where gladiators fight to the death as the main event, while acrobats perform death-defying stunts without safety nets and drugged clowns get eaten alive by alien beasts as sideshows. Ravenor’s people infiltrate the Carnivora as part of their investigation into the flect trade, getting into fights with some of the staff and beasts in the process.

* The ''TabletopGame/{{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.
** Second Edition has the Adventure Path "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkIr4jwRfPc Extinction Curse]]", in which your group of circus performers has fled from one of these dubbed "The Celestial Managerie" to StartMyOwn competing circus.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has the sado-masochistic hedonist Cult of Rakdos with its [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Rakdos_Carnarium_Cropped_851.jpg circuses]] [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom of DOOM]].

* The Pale Moon clan of ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'' is less grisly than most other examples on the page, appearing to all intents and purposes a regular circus run by fetish-appealing performers, but these staff are monsters, the circus animals are chimera, and one stronger performer of note is a giant UncannyValleyGirl.
** And considering they're also [[CarnivalOfKillers all top tier assassins]] for the Dark Zone Nation...
* One of the canon Abyssal ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' is The Melkin Fool in Red, who is the ringmaster of the Circus Moribund. Little information is available about the Circus itself, but much can be inferred from the fact that it is run by an Abyssal.

* The yearly summer sideshow event in ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'' turns all the specimens into circus-themed versions of themselves. For instance, the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast flesh pound]] becomes the flesh clown, and the patriarch becomes a ringmaster. There is also a map made for said event called "Abusement Park."

* Okay, so it's a carnival, but Tokkentakker's little three-ring terror ride that is the basis of ''VideoGame/{{CarnEvil}}'' certainly fits the bill, complete with demonic floating clown head.

* The first mission of Circus Park in ''VideoGame/BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg'' certainly fits the bill. And the second stage too. Sure, it may not be dark anymore, but that's a pretty messed up funhouse you have to go through.
* The Nation of Fools from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin''. Enemy types include demonic clowns and evil acrobats. The circus appears to be in some post apocalyptic world surrounding a black hole. [[spoiler:At the end of the level, the black hole turns out to be the level boss Legion.]] The creepy mock-circus music just to drive the point home. There is also another Circus Level at the HubLevel within the HubLevel.
* [=LeChuck=] converts a part of Monkey Island into an amusement park of doom (the "Carnival of the Damned") in ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' as part of his master scheme: Reasoning that the first thing a sailor wants when he arrives to port is a family-oriented fun-park, he builds the Carnival of the Damned, and its centerpiece ride, the Rollercoaster of Death, leads straight into Big Whoop and converts everyone who boards the ride into a ghost pirate minion.
* ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDeadOverkill'' has one with [[MonsterClown Mutant Clowns]] and a freakshow complete with a freak as a boss. A freakier freak than a normal mutant.
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' 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, there's a variation on the circus tent being where the monsters are held, as [[spoiler:the tent itself is a monster]].
* The aptly named Wonky Circus in ''VideoGame/WarioWorld''. There's also the circus setting for the third boss (Chortlebot) in ''VideoGame/WarioLand: The Shake Dimension'', although it's only ever used as a battle arena against said MonsterClown.

* ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim 2'' provides an example with ''Circus Of The Scars'', also known as ''Inflated Head'', best summed up by Website/SomethingAwful forumite Phiggle in his LetsPlay of the game as such:
-->''"You ever been to a carnival? You know that game they have with the water guns and they're shooting water into these clowns' mouths and there's a water balloon that inflates and inflates, eventually it explodes, everybody's happy, whoever won the race gets a prize from, you know, the carny who's got, like, three thumbs on both hands, you know what I'm talking about? Well, that's basically this level. Except for the part where everybody's happy. [[DifficultySpike This level's hard]]."''
* Donbalon's stage from ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'' probably qualifies for this.
* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'' has the flash game aptly named ''Carnival of Terror'' and has a world called The Deserted Fairground. Both are located in the Haunted Woods.
* ''VideoGame/KissPsychoCircusTheNightmareChild'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin

* The Dead Moon Circus of ''Franchise/SailorMoon''. If [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the name]] hasn't clued you in, the henchmen are all dressed like circus performers, and the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] (called Lemures) are themed after circus acts, props and animals.
* Buggy the Clown's pirate crew from ''Manga/OnePiece''.
* In the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession20PierrotLeFou Pierrot le Fou]]", Spike faces off against Mad Pierrot in a creepy circus inspired by ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. It's also called ''Space Land'' and can be seen as a mockery of Bebop itself.
* The titular ''Anime/RobotCarnival'' is one of these. It used to be a normal circus, but years of wear turned it into this and it turns the citizens of the towns it visits into its new performers. Or just [[StuffBlowingUp makes them explode]].
* There were hints of something called a "Nightmare Circus" sub-arc within the Mahorafest arc of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi''. Sadly, it was cancelled due to the main story taking up much more time than expected.

* Near the end of the ultra- {{squick}} horror manga ''Manga/{{Gyo}}'', the protagonist visits a circus where all the acts are composed of or powered by victims of the "death stench" gas-producing virus that has ravaged Japan.
* Another short manga by Junji Ito, ''Circus ga Kita'' also has a travelling circus where performers die one by one during the show. [[spoiler: It doesn't matter that the circus loses performers or that the audience witness these horrors, since every single spectator will become part of it.]]
* In Tite Kubo's short lived ''Manga/ZombiePowder'', Balmunk has a Circus of Pain/Fear that just springs up from the ground.
* The third [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxcqoCjRPTE opening]] of ''(Goku) Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei''.

* ''Manga/CopernicusBreathing'' may or may not fit neatly into this trope. Although it does not contain any supernatural elements, le Cirque de Soir is pretty gritty and the way it is visually portrayed is like a horrifying acid trip for a vast majority of the time [[spoiler: and not to mention, the ringmaster pimps out several of the performers.]]

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': While most [[TheHeartless Witches]] hide in their [[PocketDimension barriers]] when they strike, [[TheDreaded Walpurgisnacht]] doesn't need to, likely due to her [[TheJuggernaut sheer power]]. As such, she and her familiars travel the world like a delirious circus troupe. Various trained animals pull Walpurgisnacht using strings of circus flags, and a personal army of clowns usually dance around the stage-setting Witch herself, who doubles as both the fire-breather and the apparent ringleader.

** The Circus of Crime is exactly what it sounds like, a circus troupe as a GangOfHats. It consists of guys like [[TheStrongman Bruto the Strongman]], [[SnakeCharmer Princess Python]], the HumanCannonball, the Great Gambonnos, [[VillainousHarlequin the Clown]], Live Wire, and the variously threatening-and-not so much [[RepulsiveRingmaster Ringmaster]], whose [[MindControlDevice hypnotic]] hat is 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.

* The graphic novel ''ComicBook/TheLastTemptation'' had one. It was written by Creator/NeilGaiman and Music/AliceCooper.

* The second arc in the first volume of ''ComicBook/IHuntMonsters'' has the heroes dealing with a circus run by werewolves.
* ''Hoax Hunters'' has a traveling circus as a front for a murderous cult. It ''used'' to just be a regular circus, until the ringleader met an EldritchAbomination and went insane. Most people who come in contact with it never suspect there's anything wrong -- and also probably think that goat guy is wearing a costume.
* A young ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} ran off one day and found one of these. It was run by one [[LouisCypher "A.T. Roth"]].

* ''ComicBook/AndThenEmilyWasGone'' has the Circus of the Night, led by Billy Styx.
* ''ComicBook/TheGoon'' had in one issue, Brigadoon's Dreamland Carnival, operated and patronized entirely by deformed Circus Freaks, who killed normal people in deadly carnival games, in revenge for the mistreatment they suffered in their lives. {{Averted|Trope}}, however, in [[CircusBrat the Goon's own happy childhood working in a traveling circus]].

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''Fanfic/ClowningIsASeriousBusiness'' deals with Vetinari's devious plan to force change and modernity on the Guild of Fools - specifically, by coercing it to follow the lead of the Thieves and the Assassins by taking its first girl students. And then treating them decently when they arrive. A group of female Thieves and Assassins are hence sent to the Fools as a sort of Mature Students' Class. They adapt their own trade skills into a genuinely new and innovative circus performance which is truly memorable for all who witness it - just to prove the point, practically, that women can be the equal of men. Things are ratcheted up when an attempt is made to kill up to three high-wire acrobats. The woman who has introduced lion-taming as a brand new circus discipline has firm ideas about this. Mayhem ensues. Leading to a Civil War in the world of clowning - a Clown Army marches out of Überwald.
* In ''Fanfic/EquestriaDivided'' we have the Cult of Laughter which combines the worst traits of necromancy, cosmic horror and this trope, and it's run by [[spoiler: a MonsterFromBeyondTheVeil Pinkie Pie]]
* The setting for the Fairy Tail fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Fear}}'' is a circus that goes from town to town offering two nights of entertainment. The first nights always go swell for the townsfolk but come the second night things don't go well. They are made to see their worst fears as the circus crew ransack their towns. Natsu and Lucy take up a request to stop them, despite Lucy having a fear of clowns, something that a circus is going to have. When they reach the town that the circus is currently at they watch the first night's show and decide to intercept the second night's. They get caught and are made to see their fears. Although Lucy's fear of clowns does come up her true fear is [[spoiler: Natsu dying.]] While Natsu's fear is [[spoiler: killing his guildmates, Lucy in particular.]] They are both forced to watch each other go through their fears by their captors. They break free and make sure the circus wizards pay for everything they did.
* In ''Fanfic/BetweenMyBrotherAndMeMorsOmnibus'', Yvonne and Yusho have to duel Yuya and Zarc in an Action Field called "Carnival of Lost Souls" while they all songs like [[Music/CreatureFeature "The Greatest Show Unearthed"]] (which itself is a reference to ''Literature/SomethingWickedThisWayComes'') and "The Circus Comes To Town" (the opening to ''WesternAnimation/BigTopScoobyDoo''). Yuya's deck for this duel is known as "Nightmare Mirror Circus" which contain EvilCounterpart versions of people (Shuzo, Yoko and Yusho), pets (En and Core) and duel monsters (Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon) with a dark circus aesthetic.

%%* ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'' and its "Flesh Fair".

* Creator/ChristopherLee starred in a 1966 fim actually titled ''Film/CircusOfFear''.

* In the ''Film/JamesBond'' film ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'', the titular female lead uses a circus as a cover for her criminal activities as well as using circus acrobats and aerialists to commit crimes for her, while a [[RenegadeRussian renegade Soviet general]] plants a nuke in her circus. Not necessarily evil, but initially misguided.

* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' books had ''Literature/LegendOfTheShadowWarriors'' in which the Circus of Dreams had their performers replaced with evil Mandrakes and ''Literature/{{Stormslayer}}'' where the hero could encounter the Menagerie of Monsters.

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'' ran on this trope: some of the usual suspects include a freak show full of dark secrets, killer clowns, sadistic side-show managers, and the like.

And people are disappearing, either consumed by or [[TheVirus turned into]] the circus denizens.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsjTBdiPq8o "Dark Woods Circus"]] of the Music/{{Vocaloid}}s. Perfect example.

%%* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': ''The Carnivorous Carnival''

* The ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''A Nightmare on Clown Street'' has an interesting example. At first it seems like the circus itself is up to no good, when in reality [[spoiler: the clowns are generally good guys and the real evil is a man named The Frightener who all bad clowns are sent to as punishement]].
* James A Moore, writer of ''Literature/TheBlastedLandsSeries'', had a horror trilogy called ''Serenity Falls'' about the titular cursed town. After a number of horrific supernatural events, it climaxes with the sinister necromantic Circus of the Fantastic coming to Serenity Falls.

* One episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' had a circus that was run by an anthropomorphic manifestation of fear (depicted as a MonsterClown, naturally).

* A lot of Music/TomWaits' stuff, especially the albums ''Music/{{Swordfishtrombones}}'', ''Music/FranksWildYears'', ''Music/RainDogs'', ''Music/{{Alice}}'' (which includes a song about Johnny Eck), ''Music/TheBlackRider'', and ''Music/BloodMoney''.

* In episode 20 of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', Spike faces off against Mad Pierrot in a creepy circus inspired by ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. It's also called ''Space Land'', and can be seen as a mockery of Bebop itself.

* Creature Feature's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Yb5jzRTBI "The Greatest Show Unearthed".]] is all about this:

* Wrestling/TheOddities, in 1998 Wrestling/{{WWE}}, started as this, as a traveling carnival freak show complete with creepy music led by [[Wrestling/DonCallis the Jackyl]]. The group [[HeelFaceTurn turned Face (Good)]], and the Jackyl was replaced by Wrestling/{{Sable}}, and the Music/InsaneClownPosse came on board and would rap their new theme song, "Oddities", as the group danced down to the ring. ICP later [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]] on their way out of WWE in late 1998. The Oddities, by early 1999 down to [[Wrestling/John Tenta Golga (John Tenta)]], Wrestling/{{Kurrgan}}, [[Wrestling/GiantSilva the Giant Silva]] and [[Wrestling/GeorgeSteele George "The Animal" Steele]], suffered through BadassDecay[=/=]RedemptionDemotion and were released in February 1999.

** The titular organisation from ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'''s Carnival box set seems like this at first, with the workers divided roughly between mutated freaks and [[EnemyMime spooky, utterly silent folks in bizarre face paint]], many of which work as [[MonsterClown rather disturbing clowns,]] but it actually subverts the trope. The Carnival is one of the most accepting and hospitable places in the Demiplane of Dread, and most of the workers are good people. Most of them... there are some members who are actually evil, though they've managed to hide this from their fellows. One of the options for the true nature of Isolde, their leader, (and which has more or less been adopted as the truth), is that [[spoiler: she's a rogue angel who came to Ravenloft to pursue the [[HornyDevils incubus]] known as the Gentleman Caller, with the Twisting resulting from the interaction between her nature and the sheer corrupt nature of Ravenloft]]. The original workers for Isolade's Carnival, however, are escapees from a now-dead Darklord called "The Puppetmaster", who ruled a domain (the Carnival l'Morai) that played this trope straight (''Carnival of Fear'', mentioned in Literature above, deals with the original domain, not the current Carnival).

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

** The Seal Pompy the Presumptuous in 'VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' is fought in one set up by the Snomads.

** Lakeside Amusement Park is actually first visited near the end of ''Silent Hill 1'', and also features a bloody battle on the carousel, this time with [[spoiler: Possessed Cybil]].
* The first mission of Circus Park in ''VideoGame/BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg'' certainly fits the bill.
** And the second stage too. Sure, it may not be dark anymore, but that's a pretty messed up funhouse you have to go through.
* The Nation of Fools from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin''. Enemy types include demonic clowns and evil acrobats. The circus appears to be in some post apocalyptic world surrounding a black hole. [[spoiler:At the end of the level, the black hole turns out to be the level boss Legion.]]
** The creepy mock-circus music just to drive the point home.
*** There was also another Circus Level at the HubLevel within the HubLevel.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', the Darkmoon Faire is a recurring event, and definitely qualifies for this trope. It is most assuredly not a wholesome thing; much of the staff is undead, the colours are flatly ugly, the designs on the tents are disturbing, and then there are the quests.

* Sweet Tooth's circus in ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal 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 Circus Of Fear HumongousMecha BaseOnWheels MilitaryMashUpMachine flanked by many [[MonsterClown psychotic clowns]] carrying [[ChainsawGood chainsaws]], [[ActionBomb suicide bombs]] and/or piloting [[BadHumorTruck transforming ice cream trucks]]. And the ''entire thing'' is the FinalBoss. Just friggin' look at it [[http://cghub.com/files/Image/200001-201000/200758/520_large.jpg]]

** The Circus of Crime is exactly what it sounds like, a circus troupe as a GangOfHats. It consists of guys like [[TheStrongman Bruto the Strongman]], [[SnakeCharmer Princess Python]], the HumanCannonball, the Great Gambonnos, [[VillainousHarlequin the Clown]], Live Wire, and the variously threatening-and-not so much [[RepulsiveRingmaster Ringmaster]], whose [[MindControlDevice hypnotic]] [[NiceHat hat]] is 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.

* ''Music/{{Nightwish}}'s'':

Overnight, the circus came to town. But something's wrong -- ''very'' wrong. The [[RepulsiveRingmaster ringmaster]] is abusing the animals and performers, and the circus music, which should be cheerful, [[CreepyCircusMusic seems menacing]]. The attractions (especially TheFreakShow) seem off, the cotton candy is a sickly shade of green, the [[KnifeThrowingAct knife thrower]] ''doesn't miss'', and the [[MonsterClown clowns]]... well, the less said about the clowns the better.

* The Vocaloid fanfiction ''Fanfic/RottingCamellias'' takes place in one of these.

* ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCatTheMovie'' takes place in one of these for most of the film, since the BigBad sends the DamselInDistress there to perform for his amusement.

* In ''Film/TheLadyFromShanghai'', before he gets to the famous HallOfMirrors, Michael O'Hara is dumped in one of these.

* The first phase of ''Series/BigBrother 17's'' final competition required players to survive hanging on "candy apples" in one of these.

* The exact details aren't specified, but Rachel Rose Mitchell's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBgHqG2ZHM8 Carnival]]" is clearly set in one of these.

* The Megadrive game ''VideoGame/NightmareCircus'' is set entirely in one of these.

** An early arc of James Robinson's ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'' features this type of circus. The "freaks" themselves are mostly nice people, but they are controlled by the ringmaster and his evil lieutenant. Because this is ''[[ContinuityPorn Starman]]'', the lieutenant comes back during the invasion of Opal City.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, 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 [[NiceHat 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 Circus Of Fear, and so far hasn't fallen to VillainDecay. Probably because he has so many Murderworlds.
* Also in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, in a ComicBook/NewMutants 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.
* ComicBook/TheAwesomeSlapstick, 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.
* ''ComicBook/WolverineAndTheXMenMarvelComics'' featured Murder Circus. Home to a witch who worshipped longtime X-villain Azazel and stole the souls of children... and that was ''before'' it was taken over by none other than the Frankenstein monster, who had gone full-on KnightTemplar and was traveling the country looking for relatives of his creator to kill. Creepy attractions feature zombie clowns and a sideshow made of brainwashed X-Men.
* ComicBook/TheJoker likes doing variations of this in the various ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' incarnations. Most famously, he buys an AmusementParkOfDoom in ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' and crews it with circus freaks, using it to [[spoiler: attempt to drive Commissioner Gordon insane by showing him naked pictures he'd taken of Gordon's daughter after he shot her through the spine.]] And there was a song.
* Also from Batman, in Creator/GrantMorrison's ''Batman and Robin'', the first arc features an evil circus troupe led by the Nightmare Fuel inducing Professor Pyg. In the second issue, the new Robin visits the actual circus and more Nightmare Fuel starts when he is attacked by Professor Pyg's masked henchmen.
** Pyg's major underlings all resemble sideshow freaks, as well, including a grossly overweight bearded lady in a tutu and a human flame act who can burn others but not himself.
* In ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'', Norman "The Goblin" Osborn recruited his inner circle from the circus freak show. The Vulture was a geek who had become more animal than man, Kraven was an animal tamer, the Chameleon had the uncanny ability to alter his facial features, Ox was a strongman, Montana did rope tricks, and Fancy Dan was a promoter. As it turns out, [[spoiler:Norman himself was a refugee from the same freak-show, where he had been put on display since childhood as "the Goblin" because of his thick, green, scaly skin. He hides it under a latex mask nowadays.]]

* An early arc of James Robinson's ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'' features this type of circus. The "freaks" themselves are mostly nice people, but they are controlled by the ringmaster and his evil lieutenant. Because this is ''[[ContinuityPorn Starman]]'', the lieutenant comes back during the invasion of Opal City.

* The hero ComicBook/DarkHawk has an origin involving witnessing his father take a bribe inside a creepy, abandoned carnival and stumbling upon the mysterious amulet that would eventually give him his powers.

* ''ComicBook/TheGoon'' had in one issue, Brigadoon's Dreamland Carnival, operated and patronized entirely by deformed Circus Freaks, who killed normal people in deadly carnival games, in revenge for the mistreatment they suffered in their lives.
** Averted, however, in the Goon's own happy childhood working in a traveling circus.
* ComicBook/KidColt twice fought groups known as the 'Circus of Crime'. In #106, he was forced to join a small a small travelling circus that visited small towns and used their circus skills to rib them. And #127, Colt's Archenemy Iron Mask organized a LegionOfDoom consisting of several other foes of Kid Colt (Bennington Brown, Dr, Danger, and the Fat Man) who posed as circus performers to rob the inauguration ball of the new governor of Arizona.
* ''ComicBook/BrotherPowerTheGeek'' was once imprisoned as a circus freak at the villanious Psychedelic Circus.

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]

[[folder: Toys]]

* ''VideoGame/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, there's a variation on the circus tent being where the monsters are held, as [[spoiler:the tent itself is a monster.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/CyberSix'': [[TheDragon Jose's]] mechanical circus seems pretty cool to the audience but is actually an elaborate death drap for the titular character. Of course if you get out of line, like [[BigDamnHeroes Lucas does]], you get taken to the back and thrown to a massive two-headed robotic snake.

* Sea Gate Amusement Park, a DLC level on ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight''. (Seriously, sometimes one has to wonder why the Gotham zoning board even lets these things be built, seeing as the Joker always seems to turn them into nightmares). Simply getting to the place requires riding a rickety old cable car perched over a derelict oil rig. Why? Supposedly it was built by a now-deceased oil baron with a thing for monstrous fish, for his five year old daughter. But it was never opened because said daughter died, most likely because of the [[AdultFear dozens of lethally hazardous rides]] lying in wait for the heroes.

* The movie ''Film/{{Freaks}}'' both used and defied this trope. The [[TheGrotesque freaks are all loving and caring people]], the clowns are good-natured and charming (although one of them has a hilarious [[AcceptableTargets speech-impediment]]), and the animal trainer is frigging gorgeous. There's a bit of black comedy involving a pair of conjoined twins, one of who is getting married, and the soundtrack is slightly creepy, but that's about it. Unless you get them angry, as the evil female trapeze artist and misogynistic strong man do. Do NOT get the freaks angry.

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'''s Slagar the Cruel runs a traveling show which ''seems'' perfectly benign (except that all the performers are [[AlwaysChaoticEvil weasels and stoats]]). The show is used to distract the good guys while a performer drugs their drinks and Slagar himself hypnotises them, and when they wake up the "show" has vanished, taking their children with it.

* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': ''The Carnivorous Carnival''

** The ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' roleplaying game ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' introduces The Menagerie, which uses carnivals, revels and fetes as a cover to expose innocent people to [[BrownNote sanity-blasting]], [[BodyHorror flesh-warping]] horrors. [[MadnessMantra Come and see! You must come and see!]]

** The third-party setting of ''Heckna!'' takes place in The Revelia, a magical realm that looks like a circus and drifts in and out of different planes. The Revalia's master, the RepulsiveRingmaster [[AntagonistTitle Heckna]], likes to lure people to his carnival in his search for greater, more spectacular challenges. Some of The Revalia's notable residents include {{PuppeteerParasite}}s that look like clown noses and turn their hosts into zombie-like Clown Thralls, bloodthirsty and mischievous {{HumanoidAbomination}}s that look like small, colorfully dressed children, and a giant AntlionMonster that lives under the ballpit.

* In the ''VideoGame/SpiderMan'' game for Sega Genesis, the Green Goblin takes over Coney Island in the second level, and you have to fight your way into the fun house to capture him. The music on the soundtrack is very Music/DannyElfman-like, creepy and catchy, and among the {{Mooks}} you have to mop up are strong men, fire-breathers, and armless cobra people(!).