The Black Circus, Part 1: Letters

Letter 1 New England 21/7/1896 Dear friend, I have finally found my call. I shall tour in these landscapes with a circus of old times. A carnival that belongs to the ancient travelling people of the old continent. I would like to write and bid you welcome to the show. It is nothing like you know but it will surely be something to remember. I have writed for so long to get to move along and now it's funny how I can feel so small. I am not going to waste more of your time with my bleak writings and shilly rhyme. I will write you about this fantastic show and maybe in a while you will know. My dear friend, I bid you welcome to the show!

Submitted by NecroGod — Apr 26, 2025

Letter 2 New England 31/7/1896 I saw the fluttering worn-out black flags in the wind, torn by weather and time. Belonging to the travelling circus that is situated on a hill in the countryside. It is calling to me with a silent chime! The circus is simple in its construction without a trace of silver and gold. It is covered in dark silk and ivory but it's awful yet awesome to behold. I was bewitched by its magic as are the crowds that attend, it is a beautiful sight. Something urged me forward through the gates, those gates that seemed to swallow me. A promise of horror through a ride so wild! The black circus made my sanity flow like a poisonous river, leaving a trail of despair. but it also seems to drag the weakest of souls into its treacherous lair. Everything I saw and everything I heard I cannot remember but I shall always fear. I sense a kind of underlying madness in the thrill of the fair. In all its majesty it stands so perfectly and reaching from the ground to the sky, from the worm to the crow flying high. It is the perfect illusion and the ultimate intrusion. I almost feel like I'm caught in a web like a fly. I feel so happy that I could die and not give a thought about it.

Submitted by SerpentEve — Apr 26, 2025

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Letter 3 New England 4/8/1896 My Friend as you visit the mind-bender he presents his show in an extraordinary fashion: "Welcome to my charming stage, feel free to volunteer, spectacular hypnosis all for you who are gathered here. So don't be afraid my friend, all I can steal is your mind, seek absolution and you shall find!" He picked a young woman for hypnosis and said: "Digging in your past I see your secrets now, all your childhood fears they will surface anyhow. So don't be afraid to let it all out, the only thing I can do is plant a seed of doubt. Stare into my eyes and feel your body relaxing and believe in my lies. Look into your soul, think that it belongs to me and fall into the endless hole!" In an even eerier voice he bellowed: "I'll take your fantasies into a deep pit from where they won't disappear. I will alter your brainwaves so you'll never again think clear. Now don't be afraid to let me in, all I can steal is your mind!" And so his chant went on and on! "Stare into my eyes and feel your body relaxing and believe in my lies. Look into your soul, think that it belongs to me and fall into the endless hole!" I stumbled out of the frightening tent and let my mind wander as I ran into the woods surrounding the circus.

Submitted by The Void — Apr 26, 2025

I've worked at the carousel for awhile now, it seems strange, the people almost seem to be smaller when they exit the ride. Maybe just small in mind but nevertheless shrunk in some way, foul things are happening here, something is profoundly wrong.

Submitted by Sexy Gargoyle — Apr 26, 2025

Letter 4 New England 14/8/1896 My dearest friend, standing in the middle of the playground site you see the giant carousel with a sign saying children come to me. Awe striking and full of life it surges through the air, one of many things you'll find to thrill you at this fare. As electrical power engage you take your seat and enjoy the ride, round and round in circles you go and move into the light. The innocence feature on this fantastic carousel makes you ride the light-shining carrier until they ring the bell. I hear the children cry: "Mommy, can I go?" Faster it feels like this ride will go on and on, forever caressing your mind and eating your soul till you're blind. Faster I feel like this ride is forevermore, once you try this carousel you never want to stop. Horses, dragons, demons, you'll feel the magic of the tour as speedy merging lights create a dizzying blur. In the freezing night you won't feel the numbing cold as you stare at the pictures of the creatures of old. Oh, how the children plead "Mommy, can I go, come on, let's go!" Faster it feels like this ride will go on and on, forever caressing your mind and eating your soul till you're blind. Faster I feel like this ride is forevermore, once you try this carousel you never want to stop.

Submitted by Nargaroth — Apr 26, 2025

Letter 5 New England 18/8/1896 My dear friend, I have visited the freakshow in the circus. I am appaled at what I saw but at the same time it attracts me and it makes me wonder who is the freak between the spectators and the sad souls performing. Some of them are amputated, some are mutilated, they're marked and they're scratched as if cut by knives. Others are mentally abnormal and disfigured but they have no other way to get by in their lives. Stones and rotten fruit thrown at them are breaking them down day by day, it's an immense institution of humiliation. I'm sure the screams of pain and endless disgrace will haunt them forever, to me it's organised desecration. But when the curtain finally falls and the crowds recede, the show is over and done. The freaks of the show are counting their money and fall asleep one by one. They repress the fact that tomorrow will be another day so they silently dream away, trying in the minds to keep out the unease and meet the scoffing, come what may. Oh, what money can make people do...

Submitted by NecroGod — Apr 26, 2025

Letter 6 New England 25/8/1896 While the gypsies dance around on the fairground's down trod grass they grin, and I can hear their music coming from everywhere as if born from the wind. Nothing can take away the arousing energy the men resemble nor the beauty of their women clad in dresses so overwhelming. I am in heaven every night when the gypsies dance. Dancing in small steps and making the gravel jump in a colour display Reflecting the light of the shiny torches, burning their fuel away. Thousands of light bulbs illuminate the summer night in eerie shapes that twist and turn and makes me dizzy with excitement and euphoria. Oh, to be in heaven, my words are too weak now.

Submitted by The Void — Apr 26, 2025

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Letter 7 New England 3/9/1896 In the presence of a young and mysterious attractive fortune-teller I had my future laid out before me in detailed descriptions. The wind was howling outside but I felt safe and warm on this night, her emerald eyes shone directly through me when she said: "When I put down the tarot cards I look at your desires, longings, wishes and an urge for acceptance" The interior of her small compartment seemed to melt into the density of the air. I couldn't help staring into those penetrating eyes. She took my hand in her own and spoke into the air: "When I read in the palm of your hand I see a spark of desire, submission, chaos and intolerance" I vanished in the gypsy woman's hazel green eyes, couldn't resist to let her have my inner self. The eroticism of it all is still a mystery to me. She had a sad look upon her beautiful face as she whispered to me: "When I gaze in the crystall ball I see your secret desires, greed, perfect wisdom, lust and degradation. When I look into the crystal ball..."

Submitted by Celtic Frost — Apr 26, 2025

I've been given an offer by the gypsies, to become one of them. I already feel a bond I can't explain so I can't see a reason to turn them down. It's as if I'm losing my sanity but gaining so much more instead. They discovered me an evening while I saw something I was not supposed to see. It was a secret meeting that took place in the big tent of the gypsy that bends minds. I have been invited to the next meeting by the Romany. They call it the daily summoning, the daily gathering. At midnight, when the circus is empty and the people are gone, this is so exciting.

Submitted by MetalElf — Apr 26, 2025

Letter 8 New England 11/9/1896 My friend, the ceiling of the tent is sparkling with diamonds and pearls which seems unnatural but explains the visions of another world. Through the piercing flash of light that hits me in the eye, I was afraid but was told no one's here tonight to die. I have seen star maps in conjunction with gates to infinity, doors will be opened for the creatures of old mythology. As ancient phenomena are about to happen within this circus site, I have been instructed not to reveal a thing to anyone. But I might just get on with my story! Between the sawdust and the smell of hay I cannot possibly describe for you today how wonderfull my visions are of life, deriving from this soul-devouring force. If you just knew about the power these people hold in their hands, you would want to be part of this too. I will join the dance that will finally summon them all from far beyond the gates. Do expect my letters to be fewer and shorter these days. Between astonishment and smell of fear I can't describe for you in this letter here how incredible our visions are of the power emerging from this ghostly soul-devourer.

Submitted by Iron_Wraith — Apr 26, 2025

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