Guest Post by Richard Vaughan- Carnival Diablo and meeting Scott McClelland

Last week Richard and I decided to take a last minute vacation to Ottawa so that we could see Carnival Diablo. I was planning on writing a post about it but Richard asked if he could write the post instead, and after seeing his excitement after meeting Scott McClelland I couldn't say no. 

So read on for Richard's take on Carnival Diablo. 

This passed weekend my wife and I had the privilege of visiting Carnival Diablo's World of Wonders Roadside Attraction in Kemptville Ontario and I actually got to meet one of my idols, Scott McClelland.

Kemptville is a small country town near Ottawa, about a four hour drive from our home here in Brampton. Being a generally glum fellow there aren't many things in this world I genuinely enjoy, so when something does actually tickle my fancy I tend not to mind going a little out of my way to see it. Thankfully I've had the good fortune to marry a woman who's just as fanatical as I am about the paranormal, Halloween and all things dark, unusual and bizarre.

We've gone as far north as Cold Water Ontario and as far south as Buffalo New York in search of haunted attractions in the month of October. One year we got ourselves good and lost in search of Screamfest (now closed) at the White Rock Ostrich Farm in Georgetown. MapQuest had informed us that our destination was just off of Front Street and 4th Line, sadly failing to mention that nearly every street in the tangled side roads of Georgetown are either called Front Street or 4th Line. We eventually found the place entirely by accident about an hour after we'd given up looking for it.

It was on a little adventure such as this that my wife and I first encountered Carnival Diablo back in 2011. They were performing out in Kingston for Fort Fright, a Halloween Haunt put together in the historical landmark of Fort Henry. The haunt itself was pretty lame, just a sparse smattering of store bought decorations and a handful of actors dressed as circus clowns (to tie into the carnival theme... I guess?) all awkwardly standing around with hardly enough room between themselves and the crowd to breath, much less jump out and yell 'boo!' at anybody.

The carnival side show itself more than made up for this however. The show is hosted by the fiendish Nikolai Diablo (Scott McClelland) who performs such ghoulish feats as swallowing razor blades (which he washes down with boiling water), impaling his lovely assistant Jessica Silver with a wooden stake and hammering a six inch nail into his nasal cavity. All of this was interspersed with acts of hypnotism and magic and seasoned with a healthy sprinkling of dark humor. I fell in love with Carnival Diablos's sinister showmanship and Victorian goth aesthetic and although it wasn't the reason we'd gone to Kingston I was glad we'd made the trip to see it.

A while later I came across a newspaper article in a discarded copy of the Sunday Sun in the break room at work. The article discussed Canadian stereotypes and to my surprise began with a short interview with Scott McClelland. I was stunned to read that he was born in Alberta (the Texas of Canada), a province known more for its old world conservative values than its macabre subculture; this, of course, was the point of the article. It was also in this article that I learned just how long Carnival Diablo had been around (over 20 years now!). Fascinated, I looked up more about Carnival Diablo online and began following the show on Facebook, even voting to have Scott McClelland nominated for Canada's Walk of Fame.

I'd first heard about the World of Wonders (which I remember being called the Festival of Wonders) last year. This was the year after my wife and I got married and it was a particularly busy one with my best friends wedding, my sister in law's baby shower and my brother in law's wedding all happening within months of one another. We just didn't have the time or money for a trip to Ottawa last year so I made my wife promise me that we wouldn't miss it the next time. So on May 16th, when I saw the update on Facebook that the World of Wonders would be opening its doors on June 1st in Kemptville next to Charly's Place, I told Paula right away.

In the last week of May we booked a room at a Days Inn in Ottawa, rented ourselves a Ford Escape (because our car likely wouldn't have survived the trip) and as soon as I got off work we were on our way! The journey was long and the weather was appropriately moody with overcast skies, rain and fog. I hadn't been to Ottawa since I was a kid. My dad had to go for a business trip once and he'd bought the family along for the experience... of the city, I mean, not the business. I remember it feeling like we were driving to the edge of the world. The trip didn't seem quite as long this time. We arrived late Saturday evening, got some McDonald's and watched episodes of Archer on Paula's lap-top before turning in.

The next morning we were up early to take advantage of the complimentary breakfast which consisted of cereal, muffins, toast and various other forms of bread masquerading as something more appetizing. After checking out of our room we started planning our route to Kemptville only to find that our Tom Tom had no idea where's Charly's Place was. Setting aside the Tom Tom we scribbled down directions from MapQuest on a piece of paper instead and set off to our destination. We found our way to Kemptville alright but my heart was soon deflated with a stab of despair when the first road we passed after the turnoff was the dreaded 4th Line. Luckily we didn't get lost this time and found our way safely to Charly's Place and the World of Wonders.

 When you're driving along a lonely country road a sign like this is hard to miss.

When we arrived the World of Wonders was just being set up so we stepped into Charly's Place for a real breakfast of sausage and eggs, during which I got my dumbass locked in the men's washroom, which wasn't as funny as everyone seemed to think...

Ahem...

So, moving right along...

I wasn't entirely sure what I'd been expecting, but I certainly hadn't expected to actually meet and talk to Scott McClelland and Jessica Silver face to face.  I tried to play it cool and nonchalant, which in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done because for me cool and nonchalant tends to come off as chilly and off-putting. At the very least this time I managed not to have a total mental meltdown like I did when I met Neil Gaiman at a book signing.

Neil: "Hello, and what's your name?"
Me: "Uh, Richard... Vaughan, Richard Vaughan."
Neil: "Hello Richard! Would you like me to make this out to Richard or Rich?"
Me: 0_0 "... whichever you like."
Neil:"Um, well... I'll just make it out to Richard then, okay?"
Me:"O... okay."
Squealy voice in my head:"He's talking to meeeee!"

When we walked up to World of Wonders admission booth we were given a warm and friendly greeting. We chatted a bit and Mr. McClelland showed us around the grounds while my wife snapped photos (none, of course, of the exhibits in the main attraction itself). We got to see sculptures and paintings all made by Mr. McClelland and purchased two water colour prints, both of which he signed for us.

In addition to this is a poster advertising Mr. McClelland's  human pin cushion act. 

We were told later this stand would be used for movie nights featuring old horror films, 

we hope to make it back out for one of these.

Prof. Crookshanks Purveyor of Wonderment wagon

A Jack Russel Terrier named Frankenstein

 (who proved almost as difficult to photograph as Bigfoot)

And of course the exterior of the World of Wonders itself.

Inside were some of the most wonderful specimens of the strange and surreal I've ever seen, including a homicidal ventriloquist dummy, an actual Hand of Glory and the most beautiful Feejee Mermaid I've ever laid eyes on to name just a few.

Afterwards Paula got a shot of me with Mr. McClelland.

And one of Scott McClelland and Jessica Silver together.

As we made our way home I was all smiles. As I mentioned before I'm usually rather glum and I was doubly glum last week after having failed to even make the cut as a runner up for the piece I'd sent off to the Zharmae Publishing Press annual short story competition. A piece which, apparently, was not even deserving of a 'don't quit your day job' e-mail response. This trip was just the pick-me-up I needed, as well as an inspiration for me to keep at it. One day I may just shock and amaze the world with my own flavor of the dark and macabre.

As for my next pilgrimage I have a few places in mind. I hope one day to make a visit to Ghoulie Manor in Taunton Massachusetts for Halloween and maybe meet Victor Bariteau, another one of my idols. I'd also like to pay a visit to the House on the Rock in Wisconsin. Beyond this, who knows? But I'll keep searching. Searching for the most bizarre, the most unusual and the most wonderful sights there are to see!