Freaks go to Winter

I have long had an infatuation with life and history circus freaks. I know this isn't such a rare interest. I have met plenty of punky little boys and girls who like to read about the exploitive and oddly fascinating life of freak shows. BUt my interest isn't like slowing down to watch a train wreck. this interest is not a voyeuristic novelty. what really enamors me about freaks isn't a quirky need to find beauty in the grotesque i often find is what other "fans" are about. What most fascinates me about the human oddity is that for all the diversity of humanity, world cultures, cultural aesthetics, people are essentially... biological all the same. the same cookie cutter shape. whether your a fat American or a shapely Latina from south America or Nordic beauty. The Freak just doesn't fit the mold. they turn the idea of average on it side and show that though the human body is a simple well functioning machine it can work just as well without a piece here or there, or even with a few extra pieces.
A place i very much want to visit it the town of Gibsonton, Florida.

Gibsonton was famous as a sideshow wintering town, where various circus "freaks" would spend the off season. It is an unincorporated town with a population that was about 8,000 in the 2000 census.
I first discovered Gibsonton from an X-Files episode "Humbug."
Dean Koontz book Twilight Eyes featured a character who sought refuge in the circus community and came back to "Gibtown" with them.
Gibsonton is roughly 75 miles south of Disney World and 20 miles away from Tampa’s Busch Gardens.
Classic freak show performer founded the town. They would do shows all summer and then in the winter the alligator boy would work as the town sheriff while his wife the donkey girl answer the phones.
sure the legacy of the town interesting but really the normalcy of it all is what make me most want to go there. i know that it is will most likely be like most unincorporated towns in the south . A sad dilapidated place bordering on this absurd on how boring and backwood it can be. But Gibsonton calls to me. Its like my mecca...i must go there.


season close.