The Circus
The "Exhibition of Wonder" is a peculiar circus investigated by Bragg (Kevin O'Connor), a cynical and skeptical columnist for a major newspaper who specializes in debunking frauds and charlatans. The ringmaster, Dr. Nis (William Hickey), welcomes the reporter with open arms, and shows him how his particular circus showcases genuine, authentic, real-life monsters as its main attractions, such as a feral vampire, a caged wolfman, a desiccated mummy, and a headless Frankenstein. Determined to prove that everything he's seeing is a plethora of special effects, Bragg tries to dig into the inner workings of the Exhibition of Wonder, but Nis and his "troupe" don't take kindly to the reporter's snooping.
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Evil: Dr. Nis doesn't appear overtly evil, because although his circus features gruesome monsters that actively feed on animals, he truly believes the Exhibition of Wonder is entertaining to his fans, specializing in proving the existence of the unbelievable to the disbelieving.
- And I Must Scream: Bragg ends up dying of a heart attack as he tours the exhibition, then has his head torn off and sewn onto the headless Frankenstein, turning him into one of the Exhibition's performers.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: A rather unorthodox example, but Bragg dies of a heart attack and later has his head ripped off and attached to the headless Frankenstein, forced to entertain folks in Nis' circus forever.
- Angry Guard Dog: Nis has a pair of them on standby to protect the Exhibition from intruders and to keep the performers in line, as the vampire flees back into its coffin when they approach. They are later seen attacking the Frankenstein in the ring, its head falling off from the trauma of their attack.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Whether he's genuinely malicious or not isn't proven, but Nis has his "performers" let Bragg "join the troupe" when he doesn't stop sticking his nose in the wrong places.
- Chromosome Casting: No women are present in the episode.
- Circus Episode: Bragg, an investigative journalist who enjoys debunking tales of the strange and bizarre, investigates the Exhibition of Wonder, a circus that offers real-life monsters on display.
- Circus of Fear: The Exhibition of Wonder, aptly enough. Dr. Nis genuinely thinks that showcasing monsters feeding on animals to numerous audiences per week fulfills a great and noble purpose in ridding the world of skepticism and disbelievers, and he isn't happy about Bragg rebuking the whole thing as fake and threatening to shut it down.
- Contrived Coincidence: Bragg tells Nis that he was driving along a country road when his tire burned out and he crashed into a tree, which brought him the (mis)fortune of inspecting the Exhibition.
- Darker and Edgier: The atmosphere, the gruesome monsters, and their disgusting acts make this episode significantly more horrific than others in the series.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Bragg may be rather immoral, but he's completely disgusted that Dr. Nis' performers are monsters who "entertain" children with gruesome animal deaths and acts of Body Horror that would scar anyone for life. The near-end of the episode has him dementedly screaming that the Exhibition deserves to be burned down.
- After the vampire feeds on the lamb, Nis tells the mortified Bragg that live performances have him substituting snakes and rodents so the children don't watch a cuddly creature like that get brutally slaughtered.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: The guard dogs Nis has stationed in the Exhibition furiously bark at Bragg, apparently knowing that he's not the most trustworthy individual.
- A Father to His Men: Nis is shown to take pretty good care of his monstrous menagerie, only caring to accumulate enough profits to keep them comfortable and well-fed.
- Feral Vampires: Nis' vampire is an example, both in appearance, and because it's too busy relishing the taste of lamb's blood to answer Bragg's questions about it's "act".
- Frankenstein's Monster: One with a removable head serves as a member of Nis' troupe, and the reanimated Bragg ends the episode having his severed head sewn to its neck.
- The Freakshow: Nis' menagerie of monsters are put in cages that the guests get to see before each show, allowing them to get as up-close and personal as possible.
- Fright Deathtrap: Bragg's tour of the Exhibition of Wonder keeps unnerving him more and more with the genuine monsters and the acts Nis has them perform for children, so much so that he ends up dying of a heart attack at the end of the episode, after which we see that his head has been sewn onto the body of the headless Frankenstein he saw earlier.
- Ham-to-Ham Combat: The collected-yet-exuberant Dr. Nis, versus the raspy and overly-cynical Bragg.
- Homage: The episode acts as a Bloodier and Gorier reimagining of the Universal Monsters, accompanied by mournful violin music straight out of Frankenstein (1931).
- Immoral Journalist: Bragg specializes in debunking charlatans and frauds for his newspaper, and notably showcases an irritating smugness when he ruins someone.
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: The episode is set on one to better befit the spooky atmosphere.
- Looks Like Orlok: The vampire that Nis keeps resembles Orlok with its hairless and scabby appearance.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Bragg is an unrelenting cynic who feels perpetually disgusted by the world, and he gets paid to debunk "frauds" like Nis to put his misery to good use.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Dr. Nis, the ringleader of the Exhibition of Wonder, genuinely believes that his shows entertain people, despite said shows heavily involving monsters and nightmarish images.
- Off with His Head!: The Frankenstein has its head fall off when Nis' guard dogs attack it. Bragg similarly ends the episode having his head torn off and sewn onto the headless Frankenstein's body after he dies, becoming Nis' newest performer for the rest of time.
- Oh, Crap!: When Bragg sees the vampire feed on the lamb, learning that the Exhibition isn't smoke and mirrors. It only escalates from there.
- Our Vampires Are Different: The vampire in Nis' menagerie is a feral beast that resembles Nosferatu, and Nis feeds it animals so it doesn't attack the audience members.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: The werewolf that Nis has on display looks just like a normal man instead of a wolf. It emits wolf growls and ravenously feeds on a hunk of raw meat after the reporter claims its appearance to be false advertising, and it does appear more wolf-like during the closing scene of the episode.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The desiccated mummy remains conscious, and the headless Frankenstein is capable of independent movement without a brain.
- The Quiet One: Dr. Nis' assistant Nanoosh, who only makes one grunt in the whole episode.
- Skepticism Failure: Bragg debunks fraudulent con artists and swindlers for a living, so he sees everything from a cynical viewpoint. He's thoroughly convinced that the monsters Nis shows him aren't real, but he learns the hard way that they're the real deal, even dying of a heart attack at the episode's end.
- Smug Snake: Bragg acts as one to project the disillusionment he feels at the world on everything he writes about, saying that doing so keeps him from going insane.
- Vegetarian Vampire: Nis tells Bragg that the vampire he keeps in the Exhibition of Wonder gets to feed on snakes and rodents in front of the crowds so it doesn't feed on them. For Bragg's "private performance", Nis feeds it a live lamb.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Dr. Nis goes about it in a sadistic and twisted manner, but according to him, the whole purpose of the Exhibition of Wonder is to instill a sense of amazement in children, and debunk charlatans like Bragg who think that there's no such thing as monsters. Sure, his sense of wonder is macabre, but the way he sees it, it's much better than looking at the world through a cynical lens like Bragg.
Dr. Nis: If a man who believes sees a ghost, he's merely frightened. A man who disbelieves, and comes face-to-face with what he denies, may well die of shock.
