History Main / CircusOfFear

** 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 third [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxcqoCjRPTE opening]] of ''(Goku) Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei''.

* Creator/ChristopherLee starred in a 1966 film actually titled ''Film/CircusOfFear'', where a circus becomes the location for stolen loot and murder..

* '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]].
* Creature Feature's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Yb5jzRTBI "The Greatest Show Unearthed"]] and its sequel "The Greatest Show Unearthed Returns" is about a travelling carnival of fantasy and terror, where your every wish can come true (for a deadly price) and the sights will drive you to insanity.

* 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.
* 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 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]].

* A K-pop version is the video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBHPvYW3GkI Midnight Circus]] by the group Sunny Hill.

* ''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.

** 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.

* 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...]]

* Gamzee from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' more or less has this as his overall intention now that he's "sane", a turn of events which could arguably be the most utterly terrifying moment in the comic to date. Just listen to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=m5RJOBPc1fM "Midnight Calliope"]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APWIMf9cIro "The Carnival."]] It's recommended you have a spare pair of pants on hand.

* Once you enter ''WebAnimation/TheAmazingDigitalCircus'', you can never leave, you lose your memories, you are trapped in the body of a wacky character, and you can't even die. The AI that runs the circus will try to help you stay sane by giving you "adventures" to do, but isn't very good at it, and if you lose your mind, you'll permanently turn into a glitched-up monster. As described by the show's creator, Creator/{{Gooseworx}}, it's like "Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream" set in a twisted SugarBowl.

* 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.