Kiss: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child/Gloomvale

Gloomvale 1


All kidding aside, this level is really long and much harder than any other level. You will encounter all types of non-boss enemies here. Some of really strong foes will appear in huge packs. You will even encounter Spawners producing menacing monsters like Ballbusters, Unipsychoes and others.

You appear in front of some tall building with a few layers. Some Blademasters are situated on different layers of the structure. Not all of them can be seen now. Also, when you come to a slope, another Blademaster and some Stumps will jump down from behind.

Here’s a Rage Orb really hard to reach. Go up the fist half of the slope and look to the right. You can jump down into lava and grab the item as you fall down. When you reach lava, you will die, so pull yourself to a ring on the tower nearby before you burn to death. This is a hard trick and not always worth it.

Go up the slope and you will appear on some sort of a small plaza with a lavafall. A bunch of Fire Strutters have gathered in front of exploding barrels. It’s much easier to destroy the barrels than to get rid of Strutters one by one. Blademasters will also shoot you from the big building keeping their distance.

You need to reach a room behind the lavafall. A Ballbuster and two Unipsychoes are inside, so stay on your toes. When you’re done, pull the lever to open the door across the plaza. As soon as you do it, four Ballbusters will come out and walk to you, so leave the room as quickly as possible unless you want to fight them in close quarters.

When you’re done with Ballbusters, the bars will open revealing a path ahead. Before going in, visit the room where Ballbusters came from or you might miss two Health Flasks.

Proceed forward destroying the barrels not to get hit by explosions later. Don’t rush into the next room since some Unipsychoes will be shooting from above. Get rid of them one by one with caution. If you use weapons that produce explosions like a Windblade you might push those monsters down providing them with ability to move around and chase you.

Two Unipsychoes are across the entrance, one more is to the right of the door you walk in. Also, when you enter the room with a pond of lava, two Spawners will awaken in the room to the right. Low ceilings and columns make it hard to dodge enemy attacks, but there are four Elemental Tablets in there which makes it worth clearing.

Secret: Look up and you will see a ring between two big pipes. Use it to reach a place where the third Unipsycho was and grab a Fire Cube.

Follow the stairs avoiding Batwings. Spawner with Stumps inside and two Blademasters are waiting for you at the top of the stairs. Draco can get rid of them in no time.

Do you hear Fat Lady’s moan? Open the door, don’t be afraid, this monster is too far away for now. You will get the last piece of armor which will also instantly increase your health to 250. Nice! But the next part will make you sweat.

Better save your game now. When you try to reach the next building, 10 Fire Strutters and 5 Ticklers will ambush you! Strutters will jump from above, Ticklers will come from the corridor with stairs behind. Staying on a big open space is not the best idea, so you might want to retreat past Ticklers and fight monsters while not being surrounded.

The corridor ahead is guarded by a solitary Grinder.

Follow the corridor until you arrive at a big open space before a tent. There are three kinds of enemies that can be encountered:
 * Two Blademasters are sitting on two tall poles near the tent. Easy to kill, but being distracted by other foes will complicate the job.
 * Ballbusters will be constantly appearing from under the stage on the right. To stop them destroy a Spawner there. Careful! There’s an Arachniclown right after the Spawner.
 * When you come to the open space, a whole lot of Headless will spawn.

You can see a short wall with a few bricks missing. There’s a Ticket visible behind that wall that you need to grab. So close, yet so far. You can take it by jumping on a Jack In The Box or a Headless and jump over the wall, but that’s not the path developers meant to be taken.

If you’d like to get the Ticket the hard way, go to the room under the stage where the Spawner and Arachniclows were and jump down. You will be assaulted from all sides, so be prepared. Strongman will come to you from a niche. A few Blademasters will stay behind the bars and throw shurikens at you from there. You can easily hide in a corner from all the monsters except Strongman.

When you deal with the Strongman, two Unipsychoes will be spawned and attack you. They can move and will chase you no matter where you go. There is a relatively safe spot behind the curtains. Sometimes it saves you from a Unipsycho or both and it definitely provides you with cover from a pack of Meanie Beanies.

Try to get rid of as many Meanie Beanies and Blademasters as possible before killing Unipsychoes. When both Unipsychoes die, a curtain will open revealing a path ahead, but also a Blademaster will come from there and attack you. Getting rid of Unipshychoes too early will make you surrounded and outnumbered.

There’s a plate you might want to avoid stepping on before all the monsters are killed. This square is clearly visible. Stepping on it reveals a Tickler and a few Fire Strutters. Draco can kill these foes pretty quick and defeating them will give you two Health Bottles and a Pamphlet.

There’s a big corridor ahead which looks more like a quaint ballroom. Its size will give you plenty of room to dodge enemies’ attacks, but don’t rush in. Carefully make a few steps until a Unipsycho and a Spawner will attack you. Kill the Spawner as quickly as possible from afar, then get rid of the Unipsycho.

When you’re ready, proceed forward and that’s where the real fight begins. Two Ticklers will spawn behind you and two Spawners will start producing monsters ahead. A ton of other monsters will also try to get you including two Arachniclowns and two Blademasters, but here’s a hint. Instead of going down the slope jump down from it. This will prevent monsters from spawning until you make a few steps ahead and thus allow you to grab a Blood Rose or both from under the slope.

Fighting all the enemies at once is really hard, so you can quickly get rid of both Spawners using Draco or a Windblade, retreat and get rid of other foes one by one. But this is just one way to beat the first half of this corridor.

There’s the third Spawner behind the corner which will spawn Stumps only when you get close to it, so you can ignore it until you beat most of the enemies. When you’re ready to go ahead, beware of two Ballbusters and two Unipsychoes which will appear behind you when you get too close to the end of the corridor. Haven’t you noticed that most of the enemies come in pairs here?

Anyway, kill the last Spawner to open the bars to an underground tower at the end of the corridor.

Before heading upstairs don’t miss an Elemental Cube under the stairs. As you will ascend, you will hear sounds produced by Ballbusters. There are four of them on the stairs. Punisher and Draco are nice weapons against them, just try not to allow them shooting at you.

When you’re near a top of the stairs, you will hear Grinder’s jolly melody and Strongman’s mumble. The first enemy you see will be the Grinder which you should try to get from afar (or lure closer to you). The Strongman, whom you’ve heard before, hides to the right behind the curtains.

If you’re low on health, you might want to pick up some of the four Health Bottles where the Strongman was. Be careful since doing so will result in spotting you by another Strongman. Don’t let him corner you.

Next you will enter a hall with a floor missing at the center of it. There you will find a Unipsycho, a Ballbuster and an Arachniclow who will attack you on sight. Killing them is pointless since two Spawners on the top floor will produce more. Use the scaffolds or your long-range weapons to reach and terminate monsters. Also beware of Fire Strutters.

There are a few paths to follow. There is a Blood Rose and a door you need to open on the top floor on the scaffolds. You can pick up the Blood Rose, but the door is locked. Read the next two paragraphs in any order.

There is a rectangular pit on the ground floor. Jump down and prepare to fight about 15 Gasbags. Get all the items and pull the lever to open the door you saw earlier. Get back using the Scourge and kill a Spawner on the topmost floor behind the newly-opened door.

When you get close to the way on the middle floor, three Meanie Beanies will charge at you, also a Strongman will attack you from behind. Jump down and pull the lever. You will pick up an Angel Charm which is really useful now.

Now it’s time to proceed forward for the Ticket to the show. Behind the door and the Spawner on the topmost floor you will meet another Spawner and a Unipsycho. If you haven’t wasted the Angel Charm, getting rid of them will be quite easy.

When you leave the tent, you will see the Ticket you need. Don’t be hasty. A Ballbuster is waiting for you ahead and most likely he will hit you with his cannonball as you try to grab the Ticket. Also don’t miss two Health Bottles in the corner.

Jumping over the brick wall will make you appear in the open where you’ve already been before. Right now a new bunch of monster has arrived: Ballbusters, Meanie Beanies and a single Grinder. When you jump over the wall, try to take cover as quickly as possible.

When you’ve finished the monsters, use the Ticket on the skull near the big tent. About a dozen Ticklers will appear. You can retreat to a corridor and fight them one by one or you can charge past them to the end of the level.

When you’re done, go to the tent and to the level exit which is now open. When you pick up a Blood Rose, you will hear Fat Lady’s scream meaning that she’s right behind you. You don’t have to fight her, just make a step to finish the level.

Gloomvale 2


Blackwell makes a speech finishing with “Welcome to the show” line. This line also ends the original Psycho Circus composition. Anyway, now you will have to fight the boss.

By the way, the song Mr. Blackwell by Kiss is expected to be heard during your adventures but it’s not in the game.