In my last blog, I mentioned our plans to go to one of the Paranormal Cirque shows while they were in town. If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while, you may already know about Spooky Gang; for those who don’t, my boyfriend, his sister, her best friend and I have attended a series of spooktivities every October for the past few years, so we self-proclaimed ourselves the Spooky Gang.

Things got started with our visit to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and the headless horseman in 2018 and have since escalated to things like a Halloween classics candlelit concert during sunset at Laurel Hill Cemetery, a creepy tour of Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, and front-row seats to a startling Halloween-themed circus … needless to say, anxiety- and adrenaline-inducing experiences.

You see, my memories of the circus involve a large amount of cotton candy, smelly animals and lots of laughter. I also vividly remember having to cover my eyes for some of the acts because I couldn’t handle the anticipation. Still can’t! And yes, I know it’s an illusion but … still.

Fast forward a few years, I’m now listening to Halloween classics (something I did not grow up with) all day at work and looking forward to a more PG-13 kind of circus. Although there were some kids in the audience, I found the overall theme of the acts on the raunchier side, which I definitely got a kick out of.

The tone of the night set itself as you pulled into the parking lot, overshadowed by a massive red-and-white striped tent — ominous, neon-red lettering spelling out “Paranormal Cirque” lighting the night sky. Once our tickets were scanned, we proceeded through a series of dark twists and turns, haunted characters waiting in the dimly lit corners to scare and guide us through. Unlike most haunted houses, these characters had no qualms about reaching out to touch us as we made our way through. Inside the actual tent, we were guided to our seats by an usher (of course, we were smack in the middle of the otherwise completely full front row). After some shuffling, we took our seats and awaited the show.

And what a show it was! Full of acrobatics and magic, risqué sketches (complete with audience participations) and a mix of laughter and scares, trying to describe it in words wouldn’t quite do it justice. I don’t want to give away the magic of the show, as they are still touring in case you can catch them in a city near you.

Although the season is drawing close to its finale, I hope to enjoy a few more spooky memories with some spooky people before Halloween!

— Yasser Ogando, advertising & production manager