A Trip to the Haunted Circus

Hello Sunshine!

First off, you may have noticed the blog looks a bit different... I decided to personalize it a bit! Now all the photos on this site were taken by me or of me (Hooray no more generic background image!) and I've added in a few pages to help organize the blog a bit better. I'm excited about it but please let me know if you want to see anything else.

Anyway on to the adventure!

So for those of you who don't know Gandini's Circus was an attraction in Edmond, Oklahoma between the 1900's and 1930's. It mysteriously burned down and the ruins were left in their places. I've heard many urban legends regarding the circus. For instance, I've heard that when the place caught fire it killed everyone who worked in the circus and when you go there you can hear chains rattling as if the ghosts are telling you to leave.

Now, I can't confirm or deny that these stories are true. Even after countless hours of internet searching all I've come up with is the information here. I'm sure if I could get a hold of Edmond newspapers from that time period I could get something, but the internet did not prove useful in learning the history of this place. What I CAN say is my roommate and I heard no chains, saw no ghosts, and we had a great time exploring the ruins together.

*DISCLAIMER* not all of the images taken are shown here. If you would like to see more of the circus check out the photos in the Gallery.

I had to make her pose a few times. =)

After parking in a nearby neighborhood we doused ourselves in bug spray and made our way to the circus. I will say, you really don't think to stop and explore when you pass by the entrance, but it was kind of thrilling to cross the gates.

After we walked through the field we made it to our first stop on the tour (my roommate had been here a few times before and she was showing me around). It appeared to be an old abandoned house. I'm not really sure what the house had to do with the circus, perhaps it was where some of the performers slept, but I may have been one of my favorite parts of the trip.

I took a lot of pictures here, one of which is the new backdrop to this blog. I think what made this place so fascinating to me was the complete destruction of it.

One thing Addison pointed out is that the circus looks different every time you go. I isn't uncommon for high school/college studnts to explore the area and it is apparently a fun hideout for local stoners to blaze up. The thing about ruins is people have no interest in preserving them. If it's broken then it's OK to break it more.

Personally I wish I could have seen it before it was so used, but I think the busted floors, ceilings and walls make for more interesting photos. Additionally, I am a strong purveyor of the arts and I love how the graffiti give the place more personality.

After the house she lead me to an old tour bus. It was also littered with graffiti which you can see in her smiling picture above. She mentioned that she would have taken me inside the bus, but she wasn't sure it was safe.

In this same area there were trailers decorated in spray paint that were apparently used to smoke weed. 

Anyway a little further into the circus we came across the old barn that she said used to house some of the animals. This area felt like a skeleton because most of the building was gone. All that remained were support beams and parts of the ceiling.

 Next we stopped at the train cars. This was probably my other favorite part of the trip. The train cars showed the most evidence of the place actually being a circus. Of course by now most of the paint has worn away, but if you look closely you can see the red and yellow swirls on the sides of the cars.

                           

The rest of the time we spent taking photos of smaller parts of the circus and making our way back to the car. I think this trip was one of the funnest I've been on in a while. Personally, I love old abandoned things. They make me feel happy and sad all at once, but in a way that makes me want to stay. I may return to the haunted circus someday just to see how it changes. 

I hope you've enjoyed exploring this place with me. There are more photos of this adventure in the Gallery. Let me know where I should go or what I should do next.

-Allie