2021: Spiney & The Showman

Some familiar faces have returned to play. And one must stop and wonder, are you truly witnessing a sideshow performance in the present... or merely reliving memories past?


What's inside the big tent?? As the pointing sign says, "Enter This Way for Some Amazing Tricks and Treats" at The Carnival of Souls Sideshow #9!

Tickets, please. What might be inside the tent?

> The Backstory

An eerie sideshow has popped up in town, and rumor has it this isn't the first time it's been around. Passers by are mesmerized at some unbelievable sights, including a mysterious Showman and a ghastly oddity behind the curtain known only as Spiney.

It's the ever-mysterious Carnival of Souls, a ghostly traveling show which seems to manifest in exactly the same spot on seemingly random years, yet only around Halloween.

They're baaack...

Legend states that the original sideshow, which set up on this spot well over 100 years ago as they traveled along the former railway just up the road, was either run out of town or possibly burned to the ground. Now, as the ghosts of trains past travel the old right-of-way since dotted with massive electricity pylons, the spirited carnival comes and goes too, perhaps looking for new souls to add to their menagerie. 

Revisit the strange history of the Carnival of Souls...

• The carnival Midway appears: 2016: Madness On the Midway
• Spiney's second showing: 2015: The Return Spiney & the Backbones
• A surprise re-appearance by The Showman: 2012: Picture If You Will 
• Spiney's first appearance: 2009: Spiney & the Backbones
• The original Carnival of Souls: 2008: The Carnival of Souls Presents "It's A Circus"

In this appearance of the Sideshow, the Showman first drew you in with a little music and some of his mysterious illusions, warming up the crowd before a rather breathtaking reveal...

The Showman's ready to entertain.

What in the world is behind that curtain?

First, how about some sleight of hand?

Are you sure you really want to know?

Let's hear it!

As the curtain falls...

 

...For Spiney!

It was always at this precise moment that several jaws needed to be lifted off the floor. You'll all be needing those to eat your candy, kids.

Spiney and The Showman!
Together again for the first time!

Offering tricks and treats as always.

The Showman wears many hats.

 

Scared? Just remember, Spiney can't actually chase you. Right?

  

Sinister or silly?

 

Another look at this Sideshow oddity.

 

The world from Spiney's point of view.
Thankfully clown-free, at the moment.

 

Until next time...

 

> The Trick

Things were a bit more off the cuff and less scripted this year, however we did have some fun using the chorus of Alice Cooper's "Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me" as a vague answer to the question of what happened to Spiney.

Our latest homage to Alice,
obtained at a show just weeks before.

And no wonder Spiney's unhappy,
what with this ticket booth "help."

Spiney's obvious clown-o-phobia did allow those NOT dressed as clowns to pass the "treat test" and get a packet provided by The Showman, after he dazzled them with those delightful illusions and tricks. (Okay, we may have also given the horrible clowns a treat too. But just to make them go away.)

FREAKY FACT: While the Carnival of Souls has popped up in different variations over the years, Spiney's sideshow has been somewhat more elusive. However, there have now been three verified sightings always separated by exactly 5 years between. (While this might have something to do with the fact that Spiney seems to show up on weekends, recent plans were precluded by a real, live pandemic, and this year was expected to have been quite different...)

We've long found a Sideshow is the quickest thing we can throw together, especially since we've kept Spiney's second box and the ticket booth roughly intact for all these years. A borrowed tent, with thanks to our church, some red and white striped walls, and a few lights and props for ambience are all it takes to set the stage.

Some Sideshow-sized spiders.

More of the Showman's setup, including a duck-themed trick.

Additional oddities inside Spiney's box.

A touch of that Halloween ambience.

See you in your dreams...

> The Treat

Turns out this year's shipping crisis played a few tricks on us, with rubber duck options markedly limited. While we'd hoped for some classic carnival ducks, we instead obtained slightly smaller pumpkin ducks, similar to one of our standard Halloween quackers, some of which were also included as leftovers from last year.

Even our candy choices were modified, so we moved to a Mars-branded mix, adding in the contents of a bonus bag of sweets given to us for attending this year's Grant's Farm Halloween Drive-Thru. And while it took a second trip, we did ultimately locate our classic pretzels in hopes of providing something fun for everyone, salty or sweet, well aware of the many food limitations these days.

A Carnival of Souls sticker rounded out the treat bag as a special memento for visitors, along with those haunting dreams to come...

Duck-or-treat!

In a very unexpected turn of events, all of our 96 bags were completely GONE just before 8 p.m.! Thankfully, we had some spare treats available for later groups dropping by. Several adults came round on their own just to see what we were up to. One even suggested a Christmas show! (Truth be told, we've done many a Christmas performance over the years, though nothing yet in our own garage...) We're so excited to see you all every year, and this was an overwhelming turnout. Thank you for treating us!

Our fancy card came on bright orange paper and read like so...

JUST THE TEXT:
Welcome back, my friends! Welcome to the Carnival of Souls sideshow, featuring none other than that classic curiosity called Spiney, alongside the spectacular Showman, with all his astonishing amusements.

While the sights and sounds of a mysterious sideshow might draw you in with plenty of tricks and treats, we’re even more excited to be mesmerized by some of the surprising spectacles happening in the world all around us.

What spectacles, you ask? Well, take the creativity behind this particular planet and everything on it. From highest mountain to deepest ocean are incredible wonders and creatures to behold. Further fascinating, it all spins in the shining spotlight of a perfectly positioned ball of fire so blazingly bright we can’t even stare its way!

Truly, then, it was a real wonder when the spectacle maker behind it all came to visit his creation. Brilliantly better than any sideshow, he introduced himself not with magic tricks but miracles. He lived alongside regular people not with mere performance but majestic perfection. He accomplished the most fantastic feat of all... A return from death to life! And he did it all so we, the ordinary, could know the Extraordinary—The Creator, God Himself, now known to us as Jesus, full of mystery and love and wonder.

There’s infinitely more about Jesus to astound children of all ages, and the best place to get a glimpse of all his grandeur and glory is in the Bible. For more excitement, visit hallowsgarage.blogspot.com. You’ll see some of our past Halloween spectacles, along with the Big Story and Bible links directing you to even more amazing things about Jesus.

Never stop being amazed, friends! And we wish you a spectacular Halloween.
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Learn this Sideshow’s history: HallowsGarage.blogspot.com
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