Paranormal Cirque Specter in Kutztown and Wyomissing: What the Horror Circus Is and What to Know Before You Go

TL;DR: Paranormal Cirque Specter is a horror-themed circus from the touring company Cirque Italia. It plays six shows under a big top at the Kutztown Fairgrounds from Friday, October 16 through Monday, October 19, then six more in the Berkshire Mall parking lot in Wyomissing from Friday, October 23 through Monday, October 26. Tickets run $20 to $65 from the producer. Nobody under 13 is admitted, and anyone 13 to 17 needs an adult who is 21 or older with a photo ID. It's about two hours of aerial acts, contortion, illusions, clowns and a Wheel of Death finale, with R-rated jokes and a haunted walk-through on the way in.

A circus tent with a horror show inside it is coming to Berks County for two weekends in October, and it's the first time this show has set up here. Paranormal Cirque has played Pottstown, Whitehall, Langhorne and the Philadelphia area for years without crossing the county line. Both runs are on our theater and shows calendar, one listing for Kutztown and one for Wyomissing, each with every showtime and the ticket link.

What is Paranormal Cirque Specter?

It's a traveling big-top show from Cirque Italia, a Florida company that started in 2012 with a water circus, the kind where the stage holds 35,000 gallons and the acrobats work over fountains. Its founder grew up in Italy's Orfei circus family, and the company has never used animals. In 2018 they took the same circus skills, dressed them in horror, and called it Paranormal Cirque. It did well enough that there are now four separate Paranormal units on the road at once, each with its own name and its own tent: Voodoo, Specter, Inferno and Nightmare.

Specter is the unit that toured for years under the name Paranormal Cirque II. This fall it's working a loop through Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh first, then Langhorne, then Carlisle, then Kutztown and Wyomissing, before it heads to Ohio for Halloween weekend. Cirque Italia's water circus did come to Wyomissing once, back in 2017. The horror version hasn't been here before.

Is it like Cirque du Soleil?

Not really, and it's better to know that going in. Cirque du Soleil is a theater production with a plot and a live score. This is a European-style traveling circus: one ring, canvas overhead, folding seats on risers, the whole thing painted black and lit red. The acts are real circus acts done by people from circus families, and the horror is the styling on top of them. You walk in through a haunted-house corridor with actors in makeup who get close, a ringmaster works the crowd, the comedy runs blue, and then the show itself is a variety bill of acrobats and specialty acts dressed for October.

What happens in the show?

Plan on about two hours with an intermission. The entrance walk-through opens roughly twenty minutes before the listed showtime, and that's when the costumed cast is loose in the crowd, so if you want the full effect, don't cut it close. Plan on about twenty acts: silks and aerial hoops, a contortionist, a tightrope walker, jugglers, a sword swallower, illusions, a singer, and a pair of clowns who carry the intermission and, by most accounts, steal the night. The finale is the Wheel of Death, the big rotating steel apparatus with a performer running on the outside of it, which is exactly as unnerving in person as it sounds.

There's no storyline to follow. A specter shows up at the start, sets the mood, and then it's one act after another. If you go expecting a plot you'll be disappointed, and if you go expecting a circus you'll have a very good time. Audience interaction is part of the deal, and the front rows get the most of it. Strobe lights are used, so anyone sensitive to that should sit farther back or sit this one out.

Two practical notes. The tent can run cold on an October night, so wear layers. And bring some cash, because the concession and merchandise stands have run cash only.

When is Paranormal Cirque in Kutztown and Wyomissing?

Both stops run the same six shows, one weekend apart.

In Kutztown the tent goes up on the fairgrounds, a fenced thirty acres with three gates and parking for more than a thousand cars. In Wyomissing it goes up in the Berkshire Mall lot, and you won't need directions once you're on State Hill Road, because the tent is the landmark.

How much are tickets, and where do you buy them?

Buy ahead from the producer's own ticket site, which our event listings link to. As of 2026 the prices are the same at both stops and are sold by seating level, with a lower price for ages 13 to 17.

There's a $5-off code, FACE5OFF, good on full-priced seats. Wheelchair and companion seating isn't sold online; the box office handles it at 941-704-8572 by phone or text. If your night changes, tickets can be exchanged for another show at the same location up to four hours before the one you bought.

Who is this for, and who can't go?

Adults, and teenagers with an adult. The rule at the door: nobody under 13 is admitted, and anyone 13 to 17 has to be accompanied by an adult who is 21 or older with a photo ID. The ID can be checked at the tent, so bring it. Anyone under 18 buys the youth ticket in the table above.

Why the rule? The language and the humor are R-rated, the jokes lean on innuendo, and the walk-in is built to startle. If you'd take a teenager to a haunted hayride and an R-rated comedy, this is both in one evening. If you wouldn't, pick a different October night out.

What are people saying about it?

People who've seen it this year agree on two things. The performers are the real deal, athletes who could work a Las Vegas stage, and the comedy is what makes the two hours move. The practical advice repeats too: the seats are folding chairs on risers, so pick a level you'll be comfortable in for two hours, and bring that extra layer. Nobody comes out saying it was scary the way a haunted attraction is scary. The horror is the styling, and the circus underneath it is a good one.

Make a night of it. The Kutztown run puts you a few blocks from Main Street, and the Wyomissing run is a short drive from the restaurants in West Reading and Wyomissing, so start with dinner and let the show run late. Our Where to Eat pages can settle the argument.

Frequently asked questions.

How long is the show? About two hours including an intermission. The entrance walk-through opens about twenty minutes before showtime.

Is it indoors? It's under a big top tent with seating on three levels of risers. October nights get cold under canvas, so dress for it.

Can I bring a 12 year old? No. The minimum age is 13, and 13 to 17 year olds need an adult who is 21 or older with them.

Are there animals? No. Cirque Italia has never used animals in any of its shows.

What if it rains? The show is under canvas and goes on. Only the walk from the car gets wet.

Is the Kutztown show the same as the Wyomissing show? Yes. Same unit, same cast, same show, one weekend apart. Pick the closer one.

Both runs are on the Berks County Halloween calendar. Pick a night and go.