| Carnival of Souls | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | The Wishing Tree |
| Cover: | Wishingtree_carnival.jpg |
| Released: | September 1996 (original edition) January 2001 (enhanced re-release) |
| Recorded: | Live Oak Studios, Berkeley; UTB Studios & The Racket Club, 1996 |
| Genre: | Folk rock |
| Length: | 43:41 (original edition) (two-disc edition) |
| Label: | Dorian Music, Racket Records (re-release) |
| Producer: | Steve Rothery |
| Next Title: | Ostara |
| Next Year: | 2009 |
Carnival of Souls is the title of the first album by The Wishing Tree, a project by Marillion's guitarist Steve Rothery and singer Hannah Stobart. It was originally released in 1996 on Steve Rothery's short-lived label Dorian Music and was re-released in 2001 on Marillion's label Racket Records. The new version includes some bonus material, two live videos and two demos of previously unreleased songs.
The music was mostly written by Rothery; although Stobart gets writing co-credits on each track, her input is described as "additional vocal melodies" in the liner notes. Except for one track, all lyrics were written by John Helmer, who regularly contributed lyrics for Marillion after the departure of Fish. Marillion's second singer Steve Hogarth is credited with "additional vocal melodies" on one track, "Nightwater". This is because the song had originally been rehearsed for Seasons End (1989), but was eventually rejected. Apart from Rothery and Stobart, the lineup includes Marillion's Pete Trewavas on bass guitar, Enchant's drummer Paul Craddick (also on keyboards on some tracks) and Rothery's wife Jo (backing vocals on two tracks). Produced by Rothery, the album was recorded and mixed with the help of Stewart Every and Mike Hunter, both longtime engineers with Marillion.