FreakShow

(The Twisted Tale Behind The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Prologue

T'was a long time ago, longer now than it seems, in a place that perhaps you've seen in your dreams, for the story that you are about to be told, took place in… a circus. Where the most twisted fates were met at the hands of The Ringmaster. This tale is unknown to many. A tale of the cruel fates dozens of people had faced in isolation. The deformities that were forced upon them were sick and disturbed. Only a truly disgusting mind could come up with such cruel and unimaginable torture and agony to be inflicted upon other human beings. I suppose in order to tell this story properly, I should start at the very beginning. Very well then, I shall do just that. But, allow me to warn you, many of the things mentioned beyond this point could turn people mad. The perverse tendencies of The Ringmaster may very well destroy you. I'll begin now, but remember, you've been warned.

Ringmaster

Let's start our story with The Ringmaster, after all, without him this circus wouldn't have existed. Born under the name of Jack Skcell, he had a normal childhood. But at the age of 12, he started running into some hard times. In the sixth grade he realized that his misshapenness was becoming a problem. He was exceedingly taller than all of the other students, which didn't seem like a bad thing, until it got out of hand. Standing at 6'3'' by the time he turned thirteen, he begged his mother to take him to Doctor Finkelstein. Jack knew he was abnormal and couldn't take not knowing what was wrong any longer. Jack's doctor was a close family friend and had known Jack since the day he was born; he had foreseen troubles like this coming to fruition while Jack was still very young. When Jack and his mother paid him a visit, he knew what it was for and he had unfortunate news for them.

"Mrs. Skcell, your son has been diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome..." Doctor Finkelstein said with much remorse.

"What's Marfan Syndrome…?"

"It's a skeletal disorder that can affect the heart. It can cause aneurysms and it has no cure. There are treatments but, his case is rather extreme. Luckily, we caught it rather early, but he will have several bone problems throughout his life and it won't be easy to say the least." The doctor explained.

"Please… Put me on whatever treatments are necessary…" Jack pleaded.

"Very well," Doctor Finkelstein agreed, "I'll do whatever I can to make this as easy as possible for you to live through, Jack."

"Thank you… Thank you so much…" Jack began to cry; his mother comforted him and brought him home so they could talk some things over and figure out what to do.

Jack had done some research and he had discovered some of the symptoms of Marfan Syndrome. That's when it when it was apparent to him that he would grow to be even more deformed than he already was. Some of the symptoms he had learned of were: Being extremely tall, having a thin body structure, having arms and legs that exceed the average length, being very loose jointed, being very flexible (having almost spider-like movements), having a curved spine, and having "flat" feet. Without even having a second thought, Jack knew that all of these things applied to him and it was clear at that point that he would have to live his life with the many issues that came with this disfigurement.

In his freshman year of high school, just a short while after he had turned 16, other students started bullying him. His deformity had earned him the nickname "Jack Skeleton", because of his disfigured skeletal structure. This name haunted him through the years he had spent in high school. By the time he turned nineteen, in his senior year, he stood at an alarming 7'5''. When graduation came around, he was ecstatic to finally be away from all of the stuck up kids who tormented him day in and day out. When his graduation ceremony was over he was relieved to not have to deal with any of those people he despised. He sat and relaxed for a few minutes until from behind him he heard someone say another demeaning comment, yelling out "Jack Skeleton" and laughing. After four years of keeping calm, collected, and to himself, Jack snapped. He went on a rampage, punching the laughing student in the chest. Others came to fight Jack off of the other graduate, but he took them all on. Continually punching and kicking his way through the crowd of people that constantly ridiculed him. At this point in time, something changed within Jack. He walked home after the brawl, while people in the crowd screamed "monster" at him as he walked away.

Hours after he had returned home, he noticed something odd. His mother had never come home. He continually tried to contact her, but with no prevail. He just decided to go to bed, and hope that she was alright. He was awoken in the middle of the night to a phone call from an unrecognizable number. He picked up with a reluctant "hello", and shortly after, darted for the door. He ran to his car and raced to the hospital. His mother had gotten into a car crash on her way home from the graduation. She was unconscious until later that night. She woke up and told her doctor to call her son. She gave him any basic information that he required along with a number to call. Shortly afterwards, she had fainted again. Her injuries seemed fatal, with much head trauma and 4 broken ribs the doctors were astounded that she was still alive. Jack arrived at the hospital a few moments after she had reawakened. She knew that it would be the last time she would see her son. After sitting with her for 3 hours, talking, crying, and saying their goodbyes, Mrs. Skcell had passed away.

Jack drove home and went directly to sleep. He went to bed in his mother's room in hopes of gaining some kind of comfort. He cried himself to sleep, and prayed to not wake up. A few days later, Jack realized that he simply couldn't continue the way he had been. He changed his name and began to go by 'Jack Skellington'. He did this because it was similar to the name 'Jack Skeleton'. He had officially accepted what all of his peers had seen him as, just a monster. He knew he was slowly losing his mind, so he left home, never to be seen again. After wandering through the woods for days, he stopped to collect whatever clear thoughts he could come up with. He needed to figure out where he could go, what he could do, and how he would survive. He got an idea to start a freak show attraction, Jack always enjoyed the circus when he was young, so he figured that he could start one of his own, where people could come and see him, for the anomaly that he is. They could point and laugh or whatever they had to, Jack needed whatever money he could get, no matter what. Jack successfully handed out flyers and hung posters saying: "Come see the human freak show; Jack Skellington!" That night, around 20 people showed up to come and see him. They laughed and teased Jack, just like people did to him while he was in school. After the "show" Jack, looked in a mirror and smiled. He was glad that he was able to make others happy. And he liked being put down by others. Jack had fully adopted the idea of masochism, and he loved it.

Now then, I feel as if I should halt our story here to remind you of the dangers that lurk ahead. At this point things begin to take a turn for the worse. This is your second warning, please keep this in mind.

Continuing, Jack's strange freak show gained a "usual crowd", the same people over and over again. Jack needed to gain more of a diverse audience, but he knew in order to do that, he needed another mutilated person to join his show. He had no way of finding anyone who was born with a deformity, so he decided to mutate someone himself. When Doctor Finkelstein came home from work that night he discovered a peculiar flyer hung on his door. "Come see the human freak show; Jack Skellington!" At that point in time, he knew Jack was alive. He hadn't seen him in months and everyone had assumed he killed himself, but they had never found a body. The doctor knew that he had to attend and find out about Jack's whereabouts. That night, nearing the end of Jack's "performance" he noticed Doctor Finkelstein in the crowd. He got a twisted smile on his face, and he ended the show right then and there. His spectators were displeased, but they complied, still saying that they would return next week.

Jack handed the doctor a small cup, "You look parched doctor, have something to drink. It's the least I can do." Jack said with a smile. Doctor Finkelstein drank the whole thing, and thanked Jack for his kind offer. Little did he know, he had just ingested a strong anesthesia. Suddenly, Jack forcefully grabbed the doctor from out of his seat and took him aside. "Doctor, do you know of anyone that's deformed like me?" Jack said with a disturbing grin.

"N-no Jack, I can't say I do. Why do you want to know…?"

"Really…?" Jack said, ignoring the confused doctor's question, "I guess that's too bad for you." In a swift movement Jack propelled Doctor Finkelstein's head towards the ground, rendering him unconscious. Jack strapped Finkelstein's lifeless body into a chair, grabbed the saw he stole from the doctor's garage, and began to hack off the top of the doctor's head. Jack peeled off the skin from the top of his head, revealing his skull. He then chopped the bone open to expose the brain. He added door hinges to the back of his skull, allowing the brain to be accessed at any time. He put nails into the front of his skull to make him seem like more of an oddity than Jack was. He closed the skull, and then it occurred to him that he might try to escape. Jack didn't want him to run from this cruel fate, so he sliced open the doctor's back and lacerated parts of his spinal cord, making him a paraplegic; all the while, Jack was laughing.