Kulsoom and the Carnival of Chaos
What happens when a carnival appears overnight and no one questions it, not teachers, not parents, not even police officers?
In this episode, Kulsoom notices what everyone else ignores: the wind that came humming from the east carrying colours too bright and scents too sweet, the striped tents that shimmer like silk, the carousel that sings lullabies just slightly wrong. Armed with her sidekick Miso (a blue-eyed lemur with a tail like a question mark), Kulsoom enters the carnival where rides shift places when you look away, every prize at the hooka-duck stall has her own face, and a mirror in the Hall of Mirrors shows a boy spinning endlessly on teacups with a sign that reads: "Winners never leave."
Following a fortune card's cryptic message "Find the Laughing Man. He holds the key to the exit" Kulsoom must solve a riddle, navigate the House of Silent Air where sound doesn't exist, and use a golden token that appeared mysteriously in her shoe that morning to escape before the carnival claims her forever.
Atmospheric, unsettling, and hauntingly lyrical, this is a story about seeing through illusions, about being the only one awake in a town that's been enchanted, and about the carnival that remembers you escaped.
This story proves what one Year 6 student told us: "The only superpower you need is imagination."
About the Story
Story Type: Dark carnival fantasy with fairytale logic
Themes: Perception vs. illusion, being awake when others are enchanted, escape and memory, the price of curiosity
Setting: A town overtaken by a carnival that arrived "long ago, though really only last Friday"
Key Elements:
- A carnival that appears overnight and erases itself from memory
- Adults who smile as if it had always been there (mass enchantment)
- A lemur sidekick with a tail like a question mark
- Hall of Mirrors showing trapped children: "Winners never leave"
- The Laughing Man: 10 feet tall, spinning eyes, joints like hinges, juggling clocks
- Candy floss machines that spin fog instead of sugar, coconuts with blinking eyes
- The House of Silent Air where sound is "thicker than soup"
- A golden token that appeared mysteriously in her shoe
- The fortune card that keeps changing its message: "You escaped once, but the carnival remembers you"
Why This Story Matters
Kelsum has created something genuinely chilling: a carnival where the horror isn't loud—it's the silence. Notice the restraint in the writing: "Beautiful but false." "Laughter echoed across the fairground, high, wild, and full of teeth." "Silence thicker than soup."
This is a child who understands atmospheric dread. The carnival doesn't attack Kelsum directly—it simply exists, wrong in ways only she can see. And that opening line "Long ago, though really only last Friday" immediately establishes a fairytale tone while anchoring us in unsettling recent time.
When children are given complete creative autonomy, they write stories with narrative voices that bend reality, with villains who are systems rather than simple monsters, and with endings that refuse neat resolution. That fortune card keeps changing. The carnival remembers. Kelsum escaped, but she carries proof in her pencil case that it was real.
This is horror that trusts its reader to understand: some things don't end just because you get away.
About StoryQuest™
StoryQuest is a validated methodology that achieves 100% engagement across all learners, including reluctant writers, boys, and students with SEND. The approach is simple but profound: give children complete creative autonomy over something that truly matters to them.
Resources & Links
Bring StoryQuest to Your School:
Visit my-storyquest.com to download the curriculum guide and discover how your students can become published authors.
Start Friday Night Storytelling at Home:
Download Gabriel's StoryQuest Family Kit at theadventuresofgabriel.com
Read Gabriel's Adventures:
The international #1 bestselling series that started it all, co-authored by Kate Markland and her son Gabriel Khan. Available at theadventuresofgabriel.com
Connect with Kate:
Website: katemarkland.com
Share This Episode
Know a teacher struggling with reluctant writers? A parent whose child says "writing is boring"? A school leader looking for proven literacy solutions? Share this episode with them.
Because every child has a story. And when we give them the freedom to tell it, extraordinary things happen.
Keywords
Child authors, creative writing for children, literacy education, reluctant writers, StoryQuest, student engagement, children's storytelling, authentic writing, educational innovation, child-led learning, carnival horror, dark fantasy, atmospheric writing, lemur sidekick, fairytale logic, mystery stories, UK education
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Production: StoryQuest
"When given complete creative control, children don't just create great stories—they discover their voice. And that voice deserves to be heard." — Kate Markland