"You have two days to pass your audition. You better pass it, feller. You’re joining the circus. Ain’t that the best news you ever got?" Delivered by a trio of psychotic clowns, this ultimatum plunges Jamie into the horrific alternate universe that is the centuries-old Pilo Family Circus, a borderline world between Hell and Earth from which humankind’s greatest tragedies have been perpetrated. Yet in this place—peopled by the gruesome, grotesque, and monstrous—where violence and savagery are the norm, Jamie finds that his worst enemy is himself. When he applies the white face paint, he is transformed into JJ, the most vicious clown of all. And JJ wants Jamie dead!

Jamie is rebuilding his life after his previous escape from the Pilo Family Circus, with no memories of the circus besides the clown outfit in his cupboard. Far below, as the circus stirs back to life, Jamie finds himself filled with urges to be a clown again (making inappropriate jokes at work, an urge to put on his clown outfit, etc.) He also finds that his friends and family do not trust him, because of that night he was found by police in a clown suit with blood on his shoes, and no memory of what happened. But there are those who do remember what happened. As the circus rebuilds itself, seeking out past performers and enslaving new cast members, Jamie finds himself drawn back into the dark world of the diabolic big top. But this time, the clown paint has no effect on him. His evil twin—JJ—is dead and buried. Jamie believes there is no way to bring back that twisted side of himself. That is, until the body is found and reanimated . . .