Carnival of Souls

“Carnival of Souls” (1962) depicts the rapid decline of an accident survivor’s sanity—or does it? This atmospheric B-Horror classic depicts Mary, a young woman who finds herself wandering through a bizarrely off-kilter world after a car wreck. Stalked by a creep with an unnaturally pale face (“The Man”), she finds herself increasingly distressed by her weird encounters, which happen to lead her to the carousel at Salt Lake City’s old Saltair Pavilion II.

Until the final frame, the film invites viewers to seek explanations for Mary's experience, one of which could be schizophrenia. This possibility occasioned UEN SciFi Friday’s exploration of the topic with James Poulton in our Science to go with the Show interview.