Monster Carnival

Monster Carnival is an Island that was supposed to be released in 2008, but strangely disappeared from the map. Left incomplete with all the Creators too busy with other projects to get it finished, it was finally completed and brought back 5 years later in February 2014. It was the sixth island made as a beta island and the fourth to be released with beta. It was the 38th island to be released on Poptropica. In the dead of night, a caravan rumbles into town. The traveling carnival has returned! But this is no day at the park. Behind the lights and the laughter, the carnival harbors a dark secret. Buy a ticket if you dare, but beware — once you enter, you may never be able to escape the Monster Carnival!

Disappearance
The island was meant to be released in 2008, even pictured on the map with the words "COMING SOON!" displayed beneath its icon. However, for previously unknown reasons, it was scrapped. Monster costumes were accidentally leaked into the Poptropica Store, but were quickly removed upon discovery.

A few years later, the Creators released a sneak peek of a concept art of what appeared to be a circus and stated that it was for an unfinished island which was presumed to be Monster Carnival Island. This was evidence that the release of Monster Carnival Island was cancelled because it was not completed.

Later still on February 3, 2014, Captain Crawfish officially announced on the Creator's Blog that Monster Carnival was never released because it was announced too early on without being finished back in 2008 and none of them were able to complete it, having other projects to work on. The name kept popping up in the discussions for new islands every year. Everyone agreed that it should be revived and sure enough, it was.

Beliefs of Return
Multiple times it had thought to be returning. Sneak peeks of monster-related islands were posted on the Daily Pop, but they turned out to be sneak peeks for Cryptids Island and Zomberry Island. When a sneak peek of what seemed to be a carnival appeared, some people assumed that it was for Monster Carnival Island. However, it was meant for the Carnival Costumes store on Night Watch Island. There are four monster costumes currently in the store that resemble the previously leaked costumes. On the Creator's blog, a post by Captain Crawfish revealed notes for a "Haunted Amusement Park Island", supposedly an early name for Monster Carnival Island. At the end of the blog post, Captain Crawfish quotes: "You never know, I guess.", hinting at its return. A piece of paper in the trash can of Mocktropica had the words "Monster Carnival NOPE" on it.

Return of Monster Carnival Island
On the Poptropica Creators' Blog, Captain Crawfish announced that Monster Carnival Island would return in February 2014, with all new features and members' only items soon to be released. The teaser trailer only revealed a picture of a mysterious ringmaster-like Poptropican with a black bird mask and red monster eyes.

Trivia

 * The username MonsterCarnival2012 is very briefly seen in the Poptropica Friends trailer. If you enter the username MonsterCarnival2012 on the Avatar Studio, a Poptropican called Monster Carnival will appear. The account was probably created to hint towards the Island's revival and is most likely being used by one of the creators themselves.
 * In the video, Poptropica Tour, posted by the creators, you can also see a username box, and in it was the username "monstercarniv-" However, the typing was cut off abruptly.
 * A blog post called The long, strange journey of Monster Carnival in the Creator's blog stated that the island wasn't finished and all the other Creators were "too busy with other projects to give it the attention it needed". http://blog.poptropica.com/2014/02/the-long-strange-journey-of-monster.html
 * There are brief references made to The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the old newspapers found in Dr. Dan's apothecary. One article is written by a reporter credited as "Esmeralda Modo"- an amalgamation of the names of the gypsy, Esmeralda, and the titular hunchback, Quasimodo. Another article mentions the "Bird Boy" hiding from the townspeople by stowing away in a bell tower, reminiscent of the book's protagonist.
 * Interestingly, both storylines to the book and Island carry overtones regarding society wrongfully mistreating people due to difference or prejudice.
 * The Fly-Man in the Haunted Lab is a reference to The Fly, a horror movie and short story about a mad scientist who accidentally turns himself into a fly-human hybrid.
 * A statue in the Haunted Lab is a statue of Ro-Man from the movie Robot Monster
 * The character Edgar may have been named after Edgar Allen Poe, who is most famous for his poem The Raven. This is supported by the fact that the main antagonist of the island uses the raven's image as an emblem of sorts, even adapting "Ringmaster Raven" as his stage name.
 * The story takes place exactly 20 years after the carnival last visited the town.