YMMV / The Pilo Family Circus

• Complete Monster: The Matter Manipulator, a flesh sculpting "artist" that lives in the Circus funhouse, is not meant to be a likeable or funny villain. It says a lot that he's nightmarish even by the standards of the book, with even the somewhat sadistic and easily angered Gonko finding himself creeped out by the MM. He "disciplines" poor old Winston by merging a hot coal with the flesh of his stomach and is responsible for the creation of the Freaks, including the one who's constantly melting. It's implied that some people ended up even worse off than that - recycled into living wallpaper and organic furniture for his studio.
• Fridge Logic: Why didn't the Freedom Movement just break Shalice's crystal ball instead of hiding it?
• Nightmare Fuel: It's a novel about an extradimensional Circus of Fear replete with Monster Clowns and Body Horror (along other nasty stuff) whose goal is to steal your soul, kill you or worse through a Deal with the Devil, all in service to a whole race of Eldritch Abominations. It's probably not meant to give you warm fuzzy feelings.