The Circus of Dr. Lao is a 1935 novel

1935 in literature

The year 1935 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* June 15 - W. H. Auden enters a marriage of convenience with Erika Mann.* July 30 - Allen Lane founds Penguin Books to publish the first mass market paperbacks in Britain....

 written by Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 newspaperman Charles G. Finney

Charles G. Finney

Charles G. Finney was an American fantasy novelist and newspaperman. His full name was Charles Grandison Finney, evidently in honor of his great-grandfather, famous evangelist Charles Grandison Finney.-Biography:...

, and illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff

Boris Artzybasheff

Boris Artzybasheff was an American illustrator active in the United States, notable for his strongly worked and often surreal designs....

. Many later editions omit these illustrations.

Plot summary

The novel is set in the fictional town of Abalone, Arizona, the inhabitants of which epitomize ordinary Americans as they are simultaneously backhandedly celebrated and lovingly pilloried for their emergent reactions to the wonders of magic and of everyday life. A circus owned by a Chinese man named Dr. Lao pulls into town one day, carrying legendary creature

Legendary creature

A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...

s from all areas of mythology

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

 and legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

, among them a sea serpent

Sea serpent

A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of sea monster either wholly or partly serpentine.Sightings of sea serpents have been reported for hundreds of years, and continue to be claimed today. Cryptozoologist Bruce Champagne identified more than 1,200 purported sea serpent sightings...

, Apollonius of Tyana, a medusa

Medusa

In Greek mythology Medusa , " guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone...

, a satyr

Satyr

In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....

, and others. Through interactions with the circus, the locals attain various enigmatic peak experiences appropriate to each one's particular personality.

The tale ends with the town becoming the site of a ritual to a pagan god whimsically given the name "Yottle", possibly an allusion to the Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

n god Yaotl, whose name means "the enemy". The ritual ends when the god himself slays a virgin, her unrequited lover and the priest. The circus over, the townsfolk scatter to the winds. Apparently few of them profit from the surreal experiences. A "Catalogue" (similar to an appendix), notes all the people, places, items and mythological beings mentioned in the novel, summing up the characters pithily and sardonically, revealing the various fates of the townsfolk and listing a number of plot hole

Plot hole

A plot hole, or plothole, is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot, or constitutes a blatant omission of relevant information regarding the plot...

s and unanswered questions not addressed in the book.

List of Dr. Lao's Captured Animals:

1. Satyr: 2,300 years old, he was captured in Tu-jeng, China near the Great Wall. He was born of the union of a goatherd
   Goatherd
   A goatherd or goatherder is a person who herds goats as a vocational activity. Similar to a fisherman who catches fish for a living, the drover here herds goats. Goatherds are popular in countries where goat populations are significant; for instance, in Africa and South Asia...
   
    and one of his goats.
2. Medusa: She was very young and wore very little clothing. She had many species of snakes in her hair only three are mentioned: Tantillas, the brown, with black ring around their necks, Night Snakes, grey snakes with black spots on them, and Arizona elegans, faded brown snakes. She was a Sonoran Medusa from Northern Mexico.
3. Roc Chick: The roc chick had hatched from its egg (which would sweat salt water) Its feathers were the size of Ostrich's and the corners of the mouth were as yellow as butter. Its bill was yellow as well. The book describes a full grown roc as, "No where near as big as Sindbad said it was, but plenty big enough to do what Sindbad said it did!"
4. Hound of the Hedges: Created when water touched a dry ricefield for the first in many years, the hound was born. He was the only one of his species, no mate, no offspring. He had a tail that was made of ferns, his fur was green grass, instead of teeth he had rose thorns, his blood and saliva were chlorophyll.
5. Mermaid: She was captured in the Gulf of Pei-Chihli, the same day as the sea serpent. Her tail was sea-green and sleek scaled, her tail fin was as pink as a trout's. Her hair was seaweed green, her human half was young and slender with slight breasts.
6. Sphinx: A hermaphroditic, African Sphinx. Its head was blunt nosed and womanlike, it had breasts like a woman and had the voice of a man. It is not mentioned whether it had wings like the Greek sphinx, or no wings like an Egyptian sphinx.
7. Chimera: The chimera was male unlike the chimera in Greek myth thus its body was different. Although it still had a lion's body and a snake's tail, it had eagle's wings and a metal barb at the end of the tail.
8. Sea Serpent: He was almost a hundred feet long and was dark grey, his tongue was as thick as a man's arm and bright yellow. His eyes were bronze and had black slits for pupils. His tail was paddle shaped similar to a sea snakes. The Sea Serpent that is the only animal that did not become tame after being captured. He planned to escape with the mermaid and return to the sea.
9. Werewolf: She started her transformation as a large gray wolf. When she transformed she changed into an old woman, not the young lady the men were expecting.
10. Unicorn: a Kirin of Asian Myth.
11. Golden Ass: A man who had been extremely rude to Isis was transformed in to a golden haired donkey and was kept by the circus.

Film adaptations

The novel was later adapted by Charles Beaumont

Charles Beaumont

Charles Beaumont was a prolific American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres. He is remembered as a writer of classic Twilight Zone episodes, such as "The Howling Man", "Miniature", and "Printer's Devil", but also penned the...

 into the script for an effects-filled 1964 movie 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

7 Faces of Dr. Lao

7 Faces of Dr. Lao is a Metrocolor 1964 film adaptation of the 1935 fantasy novel The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney. It details the visit of a magical circus to a small town in the southwest United States, and the effects that visit has on the people of the town...

.