Episode 329: The Heart of the Carnival - Circuses Amusement Parks & Fair Grounds in Fiction

This week the dragons are delighted to welcome back special guest Hamish Steele to talk about his forthcoming Netflix series Dead End: Paranormal Park. Based on the DeadEndia graphic novels, the setting of the series makes Hamish the perfect person to join this week's discussion.

Carnivals, circuses and fair grounds are niche but popular settings for speculative fiction. As liminal spaces where the usual rules are suspended, they are ideal places to look at the world in a different way or challenge mundane boundaries. Their inherent whimsy, surreality and eeriness allow them to fit into multiple different genres - mystery, fantasy, horror, even science fiction. But where does this setting and the sense of suspension of rules originate? And what exactly is out fascination with them born of? Find out in this week's episode.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic