Monster of the Month with Colin Dickey: Freak Shows - Atlas Obscura Experiences

Monster of the Month with Colin Dickey: Freak Shows

Members Only
1 hour
Free
See Dates
Free
Free
See Dates
What We’ll Do

What's hiding in those woods? Is there something under your bed? Have you heard the stories about the creature in the water?

Join Atlas Obscura, and author Colin Dickey for Monster of the Month, for an online show where we'll explore various cryptids, ghosts, and other creatures that lurk just below the surface of polite debate. Is there any truth to the stories? And why are we drawn to them in the first place? During this hour-long event Colin will share the lore and the history, the myth and the science of the world of the monstrous!

The circus sideshow has its origins in P. T. Barnum's American Museum, and by the second half of the nineteenth century had become incredibly popular Victorian entertainment. The people who made up the sideshow were, by and large, normal people (we'll be using the term "freak" exclusively in its historical sense), talented performers who used their singular appearances and talents to make a living. How did they get to become so popular and such an enduring part of popular culture? Come join us for April's Monster of the Month--we accept you, one of us, gobble gobble!

Where We’ll Be

ZOOM!

About Your Host
Colin Dickey
Colin Dickey

Colin Dickey is the author of four books, including The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained; and Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places. He is a cultural historian who has traveled the country in search of ghosts, aliens, and monsters, and whose work focuses on the morbid and the macabre, as well as the fringe beliefs that linger at the margins of culture.

What Else You Should Know

Access to this online experience is free for Atlas Obscura Members. Unlock more wonder by becoming a member today!

Once registered, you can access the Zoom room for this experience through your confirmation email or Eventbrite account. Atlas Obscura online experiences are recommended for attendees age 13+.

This online experience will be recorded. A temporary link to the recording will be provided in a follow-up email to all ticket holders within 72 hours after the event. Access to this recording will be available for seven days.

We provide closed captioning for all of our online Member Experiences, as well as transcripts upon request. Please reach out to us at membership@atlasobscura.com if you have any questions, requests, or access needs.

This event is one of Atlas Obscura’s Membership Experiences. At Atlas Obscura, our mission has always been to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share. Now, more than ever, there’s a need to stay connected—not only to our sense of wonder, but to each other.

We encourage you to follow and share the hashtag #AOExperiences for more incredible online experiences and courses with Atlas Obscura and our friends. And check out AtlasObscura.com, the definitive guide to the world’s hidden wonders, to keep virtually exploring the world through the website’s atlas of amazing places, unique stories, and videos.

Dates and Availability
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