Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Here come the clowns & other frights at Faribault Halloween circus October 18, 2026

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The entrance to the Scare Grounds and Circus De Soulless. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

ANYONE LOOKING FOR HALLOWEEN fright and fun in Faribault need look no farther than the Cauldron County Scare Grounds, home to Coy and Kathy Lane.

A challenge on a tombstone upon which clowns rest. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

Located at 234 First Avenue Southwest, the Lanes’ hilltop front and side yards and porch are transformed each autumn into a space for the community to celebrate Halloween. This marks the fifth year the couple has created a display locally.

Clowns push a hearse across the yard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

And each year the theme changes with 2026 bringing a yard full of clowns to the Circus De Soulless. A wedding, class reunion and clown daycare were among past themes.

The largest of the clowns, made by the Lanes, blocks the driveway and serves as a photo backdrop. The clown’s eyes glow red in the dark. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

If clowns creep you or your kids or grandkids out, then be prepared. A whole lot of creepy clowns have crept into the Halloween yard, which is open from noon to 9 p.m. daily in October. That includes clowns drawn by Coy and painted by Kathy, one a menacing clown that serves as a photo op backdrop reaching to the second story.

One of the creepiest clowns. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

At seemingly every turn, clowns lurk, wait, threaten, their bright clothes no cover for the darkness within. But it’s all in good fun. The Lanes clearly love Halloween and sharing that love with others. It’s their “thing,” says Coy, who this year was sidelined a bit by knee surgery necessitating tapping into friends to help set up the display.

Next to a chained hand, a step on pad activates a display. These pads are located throughout the yard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Macabre versions of familiar tales are showcased in the Scary Tales Tent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
A towering, ghoulish character by the crypt. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

I’ve been to the circus, just up a steep hill from my house, thrice. Once for a quick check and chat. Then with my elementary-aged grandkids, who claimed not to be frightened although their body language showed otherwise. And finally, during the golden hour before sundown to take photos.

Probably the scariest part of the display. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

Come here after sunset and the fear factor notches up because everything seems scarier in the dark. I’ve stuck with daylight. The back side yard, where towering animatronic characters surround a crypt, seems the most frightening.

This sign directs visitors to a tent filled with frightening characters, including a Flying Monkey seen here to the left. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
A Flying Monkey lurks at the Scary Tales Tent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
In the “Beauty & the Beast” display. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

By far, my favorite section of the Halloween yard this October is the Twisted Big Top Scary Tales Tent. A chained “Wizard of Oz” Flying Monkey guards the tent entrance. Inside, ghoulish versions of well-known tales bring visual and auditory fright to the likes of “The Three Little Pigs,” “Beauty & the Beast,” “Alice in Wonderland” and more. And, yes, more than one creepy doll moves, blood dripping, eyes glowing.

The fortune teller talks, greeting visitors as they enter. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

This circus-themed Halloween display features lots of glowing eyes, including those of the ticket booth fortune teller. The ticket booth is just a themed prop. The Lanes don’t charge an entry fee, even though they’ve spent $1,100 on candy alone this October and endless more on other expenses.

This photo shows two of the games: the high striker and the skull toss, right. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

Some of their spending goes toward small prizes for games. The couple makes their Halloween display interactive, adding an element of fun for kids with basketball, bean bag and skull tosses and a high striker. They’re always thinking of the kids.

Approaching the Lanes’ Halloween display at 234 First Avenue Southwest. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)

And Coy tells me he’s already thinking ahead to Halloween 2027 with a theme chosen, and which I won’t divulge. Soon he’ll start building, creating, preparing for the next opening of the Cauldron County Scare Grounds just blocks from downtown Faribault high atop a hill.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The circus connection to a Massachusetts university May 23, 2017

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
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A sculpture of Jumbo the elephant (in the background) looms over attendees at the Tufts University 2016 commencement. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2016.

 

WHEN RINGLING BROS & Barnum & Bailey Circus performed its last “Greatest Show on Earth” in New York state this past Sunday, my thoughts immediately shifted to Tufts University in neighboring Massachusetts.

Why?

 

On graduation day 2016, students and others gather at a recently installed new Jumbo sculpture on campus. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2016.

 

Because an elephant is the mascot at Tufts University in Somerville/Medford.

So what?

Well, there’s a connection to the circus. P.T. Barnum and Jumbo the elephant hold historic importance at this elite private research university. Barnum was an early Tufts trustee and benefactor who donated the stuffed hide of Jumbo to the college. For nearly 90 years, Jumbo was on exhibit at Barnum Hall until a fire destroyed both in 1975. Now the famous elephant’s ashes are kept in a peanut butter jar in the athletic director’s office.

 

Posted on an athletic field fence at Tufts University. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2016.

 

Despite the loss of the original Jumbo and changing attitudes toward circuses and the treatment of elephants, this mighty mammal remains Tufts’ adored mascot. I’m good with that because this university has established the Tufts Elephant Conservation Alliance to save elephants and to educate on the topic.

 

The commencement ceremony begins at The School of Engineering, Tufts University in May 2016. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2016.

 

So why do I, as a Minnesotan, take any interest in this when I’ve never been to the circus or, up until a few years ago, had never heard of Tufts? Well, my son graduated from Tufts last May with a computer science degree and now continues to live and work in the Boston area.

 

Picnic lunches served after the 2016 commencement were bagged in Jumbo stamped bags. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2016.

 

During his three years as a transfer student into Tufts, I fell hard for the Jumbo mascot, although not hard enough to purchase a spendy Tufts Mom t-shirt or sweatshirt. But when my husband and I attended Caleb’s college graduation at this time a year ago, I got my Jumbo fix on campus.

 

Caleb poses in front of the Tufts’ sculpture of Jumbo. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo May 2016.

 

I couldn’t help but consider that on Sunday, the date the circus closed out its 146-year history at that final show in New York, a new group of Jumbos was graduating from Tufts University and posing next to the iconic elephant sculpture on campus.

© Copyright 2017 Audrey Kletscher Helbling