This episode was suggested by Tessa K, June, Butz-Megie, and Brinley. If you'd like to suggest a topic,

you can do so on Facebook and Instagram at Morbid Curiosity Podcast, on our website, www.com,

www.morbidcuriositypodcast.com and on the MCP patron discord server.

This episode contains discussions about the exploitation of vulnerable and differently abled peoples, racism and colonialism.

If any of these topics are a trigger for you, this may be a good episode to skip.

Music good episode to skip. Humans are fascinated by gore and violence, but even more so the mysterious and unsolved.

Interest in these disturbing and unpleasant subjects is called morbid curiosity, and it has gripped

millions of people throughout the ages.

I am one of those people.

My name is Halley, and this is the Morbid Curiosity Podcast.

Hurry, ho, hurry, step right up. Come one, come all.

This phrase brings to mind for most of us the bright lights, fried foods, and spectacle

of the circus, carnival, or fair.

This call promises us a view of something amazing, unusual or fantastic. This could be stunt performances, magicians, the largest pig you've

ever seen, or even animals doing incredible tricks. Back in the 19th and 20th century, this type of call brought

curious onlookers to gaze upon humans with atypical attributes that both frightened and fascinated.

This type of exhibition was known as a freak show, and while they're rare today, they were intensely popular for much of history.

Historically, the term freak was often used to describe individuals with physical and mental abnormalities

or unusual characteristics that were considered abnormal.

Today, the term freak is considered derogatory,

so I'll be using phrases like people on display or freak show performers instead. This episode is

going to focus on the freak shows of the Victorian era in England and in the USA, as this is a huge

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