Killer Dummy on Display in Wierd Freakshow

By Jerry Ciring

"Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth!" Welcome to Carnival DIablo, and be sure to leave your prejudice and sketicism at the door.

Carnival Diablo is a 19th century side and freak show, of the type common in Canada from 1880 to 1950, when the last touring carnival closed down. It comprises exhibits of freaks and unusual items collected from around the world, and includes the estate of Professor N.P. Lew'Chuk, the grandfather of Carnival Diablo's proprietor Scott McClelland.
Lew'Chuk owned the largest travelling vaudeville show and carnival in Canada, which was active from 1920 to 1940. The estate was sold to his grandson in the spring of 1992. Scott McClelland greets all who enter the establishment with a hearty welcome and a macabre smile.

No matter how logical a mind becomes, there is still a portion of it that wants to believe in the extraordinary. At Carnival Diablo, one has the oppotunity to allow one's imagination to run wild.

The two exhibits I found most interesting were the Feejee mermaid and a ventriloquist's dummy with homicidal tendencies.
The Feejee mermaid is the remains of a "mermaid"that was discovered by P.T.Barnum, of Barnum and Bailey's Circus, and was used in his side show until it disappeared two years after his death. The Feejee mermaid was bought at auction, and has since been on exclusive shoing at Carnival Diablo.
At the very back of Carnival DIablo, locked and chained to a chest filled with 300 lbs of buck shot, sits a ventriloquist's dummy. The dummy has quite a violent history. Its original owner was found dead in his dressing room, just as he was to go on stage. The cornoner's report stated that the man had been beaten to death..by the fists of a five-year-old child - similar to those of the dummy's. The dummy was then given to the ventriloquist's sister, who dies with her husband in a mysterious fire which nothing - except the dummy - survived. The dummy was later bought at auction, as the sister had no living relatives. The man who purchased the dummy dies shortly thereafter. The dummy was again put up for auction and was purchased by Carnival Diablo.

As ridiculous as all this sounds, Carnival Diablo is extremely intriguing. It provides an outlet for those illogical fantasies that we all have.