Re: [DL] Something Wicked This Way Comes

[Ghoull@aol.com]

How about a voodoo circus? It's secretly run by Clyde, the scary, 
dumb-looking guy in charge of the snake-oil booth. The potions which he sells 
are actually a slow form of poison which kills anyone who uses them after a 
few days, at which point Clyde and his servants dig up the bodies and raise 
them as zombies. The zombies are then put to work in the circus, as ticket 
sellers, laborers, booth operators, or clowns.

Other points of interest:

The ringmaster, although seemingly a very flashy and dominant individual, is 
actually scared stiff of Clyde. He knows that his own occult powers (he's a 
minor huckster) are nothing compared to Clyde's voodoo, and secretly obeys 
the houngan's every word. 

The freakshow members are all unfortunates who were cursed by Clyde. In many 
cases, they are far more disfigured than their outer appearances would show. 
The tattooed man, for instance, is almost mad because his tattoos talk to him 
at night. Although the blockhead doesn't feel any pain when he hammers nails 
into his skull or swallows broken glass, a warm spring breeze or the caress 
of a pretty girl can send him into agony. The fat lady can only eat things 
like rats and vermin, and she's been given an insatiable appetite. Although 
the freaks all despise Clyde, they obey his commands and will even fight for 
him because he can send down even worse curses against them. The only person 
in the entire circus who still has his free will and a modicum of morality is 
Louis, the geek. Louis understands what is going on, but doesn't speak out 
because doing so would put him in danger. The only reason he's still alive is 
because Clyde thinks he's just a harmless, mindless drunk.

Daisy is an elephant belonging to the circus, and is the main attraction. 
Clyde got her cheap because when he bought her, she had been shot and 
preserved. She's one of the undead now, with an elephant-sized hunger for 
rotting meat. When Clyde can't get enough dead cows to satisfy Daisy, he'll 
feed her some of the zombie laborers or a troublesome guest. 

Hope these ideas help!

                                ---Ghoull