In mere weeks, thousands of Juggalos and Jugalettes, hardcore devotees of horrorcore/hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse’s ethos, will drive across highways lone and flat until they reach the middle of the middle of nowhere.
Here, upon the 115-acre HogRock campgrounds in Cave-in-Rock, IL, the 13th annual Gathering of the Juggalos will descend. The Neanderthal concision of the site’s name belies the event’s sprawling “shantytown psycho-porn amusement park” nature. The 96 hours of madness, mayhem, and ostensibly, music, have been relentlessly documented by the media with an almost scientific precision. (Last year Deadspin added the newest epithet “demented utopia” to the growing list). And Psychopathic Records, the gathering’s parents and promoters, promise this year’s festivities to be the biggest and best yet.
“Whaaat exactly is making the 13th annual stand out above all others?”, says the promo blog. “Well, because it’s what’s happening now! Every year we say that it’s going to be the biggest and best to date and you know what? WE AIN’T FUCKIN’ LYIN’!” For the still unconvinced or curious, it seems like the perfect time to revisit last year’s “American Juggalo”, documentarian Sean Dunne’s vivid short portrait of the “often mocked and misunderstood subculture of Juggalos.” Dunne ditches tabloid snark in favor of a straightforward subject-oriented approach. If you’re on the fence this August about taking the highway to hell (which might be to say, another man’s heaven, or perhaps more objectively, the marriage of both) at least you can see and judge for yourself in HD glory.
