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There’s nothing quite like a carnival; all of the sights and sounds bring out the child in all of us. The colours and the music fill us with wonderment, bombarding us with images both strange and wonderful. Whether it’s a three-ringed circus, a county fair or a lively parade, a carnival is an unforgettable experience. Yet there is a darker side to a carnival. The sights and sounds that fill us with wonder are often strange and alien. The masks of revelers can twist and warp, the sound of laughter haunts the mind. The people who travel with circuses and fairs are strange nomads, who live outside of society and make their living off of outsiders. The visitor is a stranger in the carnival, surrounded in a sea of celebration, a person can be left alone to have a friendly chat with his inner-demons. There is no shortage of fiendish things lurking in the shadows of the merriment. Tricksters con gullible villagers, freaks crouch in filthy cages, and faceless clowns laugh at us from the darkness. The possibilities for mischief are endless. Savor the fun while it last for by dawn the carnival will vanish like a dream and those left behind will question what is real. Some will long for its return, some will curse it, but a few will have joined the laughing strangers and grinning fiends among the dancing shadows of those crazy carnival lights.