Left 4 Dead 2: Map Secrets: Dark Carnival

In most L4D2 playthroughs, you’ll head straight from one safe room to the next without really paying attention to the map itself. As such, there’s oftentimes plenty of small details and hidden areas that you end up missing.

This is part 3 of a series of guides focusing on the many secrets in L4D2s maps. This guide relates to Dark Carnival, and future guides will each relate to a different campaign.

Remember, most of the details will be story or lore related, and in many cases the exact story that’s told is open to interpretation; there is often more than one answer that works or makes sense.

The Jimmy Gibbs Jr is noticably more damaged at the start of Dark Carnival than it was at the end of Dead Center; it was likely driven through several hordes of infected between the events of each campaign.

A camping lantern is present near the Jimmy Gibbs Jr. Given that Jimmy probably didn’t keep one in his stock car, the survivors likely found it when they stopped to look for supplies on their road trip.

This sign shows that the survivors were heading towards west Atlanta. Atlanta is the capital of Georgia, and also its most populated city. Based on the map in Dead Center, we know that Atlanta has already fallen to the infected by the time the game takes place. As such, it wouldn’t make sense for the survivors to want to travel through Atlanta and deal with all the infected. One possible explanation is that the survivors were originally heading towards Columbus (Its en route to New Orleans, and according to the map it hasn’t fallen yet), however upon reaching Columbus they discovered that it had since been overrun (which again would align with the map as it’s within the grey circles), and then took a detour up towards west Atlanta.

Many cars have their doors left partly open, as if the drivers had to get out and leave in a hurry.

Potential evidence of a Tanks presence: the car is heavily damaged, but it doesn’t appear to have crashed into any nearby objects.

A large number of dead infected are strewn about in this ditch. There’s no signs that they were dragged there after they died, and the abundance of blood and various wounds suggest that any infected individuals trying to evacuate may have been lined up in the ditch and killed.

Some suitcases on the ground, lying flat, likely dropped by someone attempting to evacuate on foot, who was suddenly forced to run due to an incoming horde or special infected.

These barricades were set up after the traffic jam occurred. If it was safe enough to set up the barricade, then that suggests either the area was devoid of infected at the time (meaning the people trying to evacuate were able to get out safely on foot) or those who were infected didn’t become aggressive for quite some time.

The position of the blood stains here indicates these infected may have been run over by a vehicle, possibly the military one further down the road.

Several Sheriffs cars can be found on the road towards Whispering Oaks; the police force likely assisted with the evacuations.

Since this campsite is on the road, it was probably set up at least a few hours after the traffic came to a stand still, if not by the passengers in the cars then maybe by another group of survivors that passed through just before the L4D2 survivors.

A few bodies are near the campsite, covered by blankets rather than body bags. The positioning of the blood suggests they died due to a wound to the head, so likely either suicide or they were killed by another survivor. It may have been infected members of the group that set up the camp, and they were covered with blankets due to the rest of the group not having the time or resources to do much else.

Like the one in Dead Center, this barricade suggests CEDA was running low on resources.

One of the first hints towards the finale, a Midnight Riders billboard. Considering that it’s peeling, it has likely been up for quite some time.

There’s a large blood stain on the billboard, right next to the hunting rifle spawn. However, there is no dead body nearby to provide extra clues as to what happened.

This room at the motel contains some of the best environmental story telling in the entire game, and requires several pictures to explain:

First, a large pile of bodies and blood is near the door, which is already partly broken.

Next, we see a chainsaw and gun on the desk, alongside some more blood. Clearly someone had been holding out in here and made their last stand against the horde.

Finally, the lower half of an infected is inside the building, whilst the upper half is outside. Whoever was in here didn’t go down without a fight!

The pool has been drained and used as a mass grave, with the bodies being doused in gasoline and set on fire.

Most of the Motels bathrooms still have power. Considering the amusement park is also partly operational, the power infrastructure in this area is probably still intact.

Another last stand scene, with a large pile of bodies and blood coating almost every surface. Since the door and window to this room are boarded up, the infected likely broke through the wall to get to whoever was camped inside.

This infected was killed with an axe and dragged into the bathroom. The axe itself is still bloody.

First aid supplies can spawn in almost every room of the motel. This might be due to CEDA advising people to prepare any prescription medication before setting up their safe rooms; some of those same people may have been evacuating and camped out in the motel.

This wall was probably broken by the infected. The victim in the other room appears to have been wounded on one side of the room, then dragged back over to the wall. They may have been attacked by an infected and later succumbed to their wounds.

Several piles of infected are near the motel exit. They don’t appear to have been dragged to these spots, and may have been executed there.

These AC units have been leaking, and the wall is stained.

A small survivor camp site, likely only used by a single person. The abandoned weapons suggest they left in a hurry.

Slightly down the hill is a dead body near some item spawns. This might be the survivor who made the camp site, and they may have fallen down the hill and died on impact with the ground.

The bridge to Whispering Oaks has collapsed, a likely explanation for the traffic jam.

The shallow, muddy water and the presence of a car at the bottom of this ditch suggest that there wasn’t always water here. The collapsing bridge, or perhaps recent rainfall may have caused a small flood. It’s possible that the ravine was used to help with evacuations.

At certain angles, the Screaming Oak is visible from outside the park.

The large number of busses in this car park serves as further evidence that they were used to help with the evacuations, carrying groups of survivors to the evac zones.

This is the only graffiti in the safe room. The room itself was probably only used as an entryway to the park, rather than a proper safe room.

The Midnight Riders had 2 performances planned for Georgia. The first is in Cornelia, and the second looks to be in Griffin. According to the L4D2 wiki, Whispering Oaks is located in Griffin county. The county is also around 50 miles from West Atlanta, which is where the road sign was pointing at the start of the campaign, and its location would also not contradict the ‘Overrun Columbus’ theory explained in the first chapter.

The front gate is said to be under video surveillance, however there are no cameras present.

Given that Moustachio is used as a target in the various carnival games, he seems to be a sort of villain character, in contrast to Lil Peanut who is supposed to be avoided in the shooting gallery.

The Whispering Oaks menu has a somewhat strange selection. You can purchase a single pickle, a meat sandwich (with the type of meat not being specified), or some fish. At the very least, $4 for bottled water is a very realistic amusement park price.

The refreshments stand is almost always walked past, but it contains several melee weapons, and sometimes ammo upgrades or healing items. If you’re looking to get a katana, guitar or baseball bat early on, this is the place to check.

There are several food stands in the amusement park, though many players outside the US may not be familiar with what the foods are.

Fried Okra is a Southern US dish, typically eaten during the summer. Okra itself is a type of edible seed pod.

Kettle Corn is a type of sweet popcorn, traditionally cooked in a cast iron kettle.

Elephant Ears refers to deep fried bread dough, but it also goes by other names such as Beaver Tails depending on the region.

Candy Apples are made by inserting a stick into an apple, and coating it in sugar.

Twice Fried Chicken is, as the name suggests, chicken that has been fried, left to rest, and then fried again. Corn Dogs are deep fried hot dogs covered in cornmeal batter.

There is a train ride in Kiddieland that follows a track high above the ground. There are no safety barriers. A kid could easily fall out, and the drop would be lethal.

Whispering Oaks uses a ticket system for its rides, wherein money is exchanged for tickets upon entry and the tickets are later exchanged for turns on the rides. This is a common system used in amusement parks and other entertainment venues, as it makes it harder for the customers to keep track of how much money they’re really spending on each ride, leading to them spending more than they otherwise would.

The minimum height to ride is 48 inches, or about 120 centimetres. The survivors are much taller than this sign however, so either it isn’t to scale, or the survivors are almost 8 feet tall.

It’s possible for laser sights to spawn at the back right section of Kiddieland, relative to the entrance. This area is almost always skipped, since there’s nothing else there.

Peach Cobbler is a bit like a pie with peach filling, in this case served with vanilla ice cream. This building also has around half a dozen weapon spawns, though it is often skipped.

This side room can contain T3 weapon spawns. Again, it is always skipped.

The queue space for the tunnel of love is one of the largest out of any of the parks rides.

Despite looking dry, there is actually a very shallow layer of water in the tunnel. Shooting the ground will cause a splash effect in addition to the usual concrete debris.

This side room frequently spawns a medkit, but is occasionally skipped. If a survivor is injured, it’s well worth checking.

This vent can be entered. Not only can it prompt a vent related voiceline from the survivors, but it’s also useful for avoiding tanks.

Nothing says ‘romance’ quite like fuse boxes and exposed cinderblocks.

These vats/boilers look to be made of copper, which has oxidised over time. The vats themselves may have been used to make the fog in the tunnel.

Throughout the tunnel, the survivors will refer to various items as “X of love”, such as the Swan maintenance room of love.

The Screaming Oak looks to be built on top of and through an existing, renovated house.

The height requirement for the Screaming Oak is the same as that for the Kiddieland rides.

This ride is visible in the background. It resembles a real world ride known as the Zipper, where the riders sit inside metal cages and are spun around as the central beam rotates. Zippers are notoriously dangerous, as the cage doors can open mid ride and send the rider falling to the ground, resulting in serious injury or death.

Funnel Cakes are another carnival food, made from deep fried batter.

The cattle in the barns are dead, with the skin on their heads removed. A common theory is that they were killed to prevent the spread of the flu, and the skin was removed to test for any illness. Mice and flies can be heard throughout the barns, so at least some animals survived the outbreak.

A CEDA evac center is set up outside the stadium…

… though based on the piles of dead infected and the massive amounts of blood, things didn’t quite work out all that well.

Posters of each of the Midnight Riders band members are hung outside the stadium. Each member has their own title: Dusty the brawler, Jake the lover, Ox the drummer and Smitty the drinker.

Compared to the other safe rooms so far, this one contains quite a lot of graffiti. Some noteworthy comments include the mention of busses being used to evacuate people, some misinformation and confusion relating to the fate of the Midnight Riders, and a reference to the mall reopening in Dead Center.

Dark Carnivals finale contains a massive number of gas cans, as well as the unique fireworks crate reskin.

The microphone on the stage is usable, and will make your characters voice sound louder. In addition, standing near it can prompt Coach and Ellis to sing parts of Midnight Riders songs. The trigger near the microphone will set off the fireworks cannons, which prevents common infected from attacking from the front of the stage.

A sticker on the Midnight Riders instrument case says “I survived Earls Gator Village”, which is the village in Swamp Fever. Assuming this sticker is more than just a reference to Swamp Fever, it suggests that the Midnight Riders have not only played there, but also that the village has a souvenir shop.

In the chapter 2 safe room, Ellis mentions that the Midnight Riders song “Every Lady’s Crazy” has only been played live and was never recorded. However, the song can be heard during the finale, as well as on jukeboxes on other maps.

The fireworks display is actually quite cool to watch, but most people miss it due to the tank fight and not bothering to look up in general.