Freaks of the 1930s, however, who might not have found another place offering a future than a carnival, tended to be celebrities in the period.[1][2][3] Daniel Knauf expanded the plot with a complex fictional universe based on a good versus evil theme, led by carnival healer Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin Crowe, a California preacher. In his story pitch to HBO, Knauf presented Carnivàle as a collection of media samples from the perspective of a fictional author trying to uncover Ben's mysterious story.