We all know that one person who is terrified of clowns. Perhaps you are that person. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? Why is it that approximately 12% of adults in the United States suffer from coulrophobia (the fear of clowns)?
Scientists and doctors believe coulrophobia is the result of not knowing who lies behind the excessive makeup, red nose, and hair color. The colorful makeup of the clown , in a sense, deconstructs the typical facial features of a person, creating a new identity. Something recognizable, but not quite right. According to Steve Scholzman, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, the fear comes down to pattern recognition. “Pattern recognition allows to see when things are recognizable but off just enough to where you take caution,” Scholzman explains. “That’s why a little kid can recognize something as being a little bit dangerous without quite knowing why they know it’s dangerous. They recognize it as familiar but not quite the same as what they’re seeing.”
“With clowns, you have two arms and legs and a face — it’s human,” Scholzman says. “Like most monsters, it’s a recognizable shape that’s tweaked. The perpetual smile is by itself is a different type of pattern recognition because we look at people’s expressions to get a sense of what to feel upon seeing them. But a clown doesn’t do anything but smile, so you don’t really know what it’s thinking or feeling. And all of those things are playing on pattern recognition.”
Additionally, clowns break the social norms, hiding behind their masks of makeup, fake noses and outlandish hair, to do things that are generally difficult for the average person – such as interacting with strangers with ease. Researchers have also attributed an increase in this fear, to releases of movies such as “IT,” and even the portrayal of the Joker in the Batman comics/movies. Even the World Clown Association has blamed “IT” for the fear, and the subsequent loss of jobs for many clowns.
Then the year 2016 brought a whole new reign of fear. People began reporting clown sightings in unexpected places, such as near schools, in parking lots, and even in forests. And these weren’t your average, happy clown. They were “evil” clowns, and appeared menacing.
August 2016, just outside the town of Greenville, South Carolina, a woman filed a report with the police reporting that her 9 year old son had seen “clowns in the woods whispering and making strange noises.” The boy claimed there were two clowns, who were trying to lure him into the woods with them.
Shortly afterward, incidents were reported in Canada, and then the United Kingdom and Australia. British communities were “horrified,” and the police were pressured to find resolution.
Then a man in Kentucky was arrested for dressing up as a clown and hiding in the woods. An Alabama woman spotted a man dressed like a clown in the Walmart parking lot and dialed 911 immediately. Then in New York, a clown in the subway spotted a teenager and chased them.
Schools in Ohio were closed due to the clown scare, and clowns were subsequently spotted in all 50 states, and Puerto Rico. People took to social media to report new sightings and compare experiences. The World Clown Association encouraged people to stop dressing as clowns to scare people. Clown-related businesses took a hit, and even McDonald’s decided to keep a low profile when it came to their clown – Ronald McDonald.
Then came the “Clown Purge.” October 25, 2016, news outlets began reporting on an alleged clown “purge” or “attack,” which was to take place on October 30, 2016. Police cautioned residents in the regions affected by the “purge” threats to take caution. While no widespread attack occurred, there were a few small incidents, in which people dressed as clowns attacked people with knives, clubs, bats, etc…
Here are a few notable incidents:
September 25, 2016 (Pennsylvania, United States): 16-year-old Christian Torres was found stabbed to death on the front porch following a scuffle during a party in Reading when a man wearing a clown mask showed up at the party. The assailant, 29-year-old Avery Valentin-Bair was later arrested & charged with first degree murder
September 29, 2016 (Ohio, United States): A woman was attacked while on her porch while she was smoking. She claimed that a man dressed as a clown grabbed her throat and said “I should just kill you now…” The victim also stated that he said that “some students and teachers would wish they were never born at the junior and senior high school today.”That prompted Reading school superintendent Chuck LaFata to cancel Friday classes in the area, prompting local private school Mount Notre Dame to close as well
September 30, 2016 (Colorado, United States): in Denver, a student reported to the police that a person dressed as a clown grabbed her.
October 1, 2016 (Kentucky, United States): A woman reported that while she was walking on a trail at night, a clown came out of the woods, assaulted her and attempted to drag her into the woods. Officials reported that the woman was able to fight the clown off and escape,
October 5, 2016 (California, United States): A person dressed as a clown was accused of trying to kidnap a 1-year-old child from his mother in Concord. No arrests have been made
October 7, 2016 (Wales): A 10-year-old schoolboy in Tredegar, South Wales was left with a large bruise after a stone was thrown at him by someone dressed in a clown costume.
October 7, 2016 (Northern Ireland): A clown threatened children with a knife in Riverside Park, Ballymoney, County Antrim.
October 11, 2016 (England): A a teenage boy was hospitalized for a cut to his head after a clown threw a log at him in an alleyway in Dinnington, South Yorkshire, near Rotherham.
October 27, 2016 (Scotland): “Killer Clowns” were spotted at two schools in Livingston, and one in Bathgate. Students were locked in their classrooms, fearing a break-in from the clowns.
October 31, 2016 (Florida United States): A group of about 20 people in clown masks and masks from the movie The Purge, allegedly attacked two people who were checking their cars in Orange County. One man was stabbed and injured, and another was assaulted with a hockey stick.
Just as abruptly as the sightings began, they stopped. That is until September 2018.On September 14, 2018, a man dressed in a clown costume chased two boys carrying what appeared to be a knife. The boys reported they were biking when they spotted the clown, who ran after them shouting, “run or die” through Joyden’s Wood, near Dartford in Kent. The suspect has yet to be apprehended.
New calls are continuing to come in as the days go by. Perhaps the fear of clowns is a healthy fear after all. So when you taken your kids trick-or-treating this Halloween, be wary, and stick together. Most dressed as clowns are likely harmless, but you can never be too careful. In fact, there was once a clown named Pogo, but his real name was John Wayne Gacy.
