Stephen King, the original writer of It (one of the most famous stories involving the horror of clowns that you can read about here) Tweeted on Monday about the clowns that are showing up around American cities and wooded areas. He claimed that, "most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh."
Well that's easy for Stephen King to say. After King's film was adapted into a miniseries, the public had an easy time picturing clowns creeping on street corners. But now we can for real in this new epidemic.
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It started in towns in the Carolinas like Greensboro and Greenville. And while it is "lawful" to dress like a clown in public, the police warned North Carolina residents that, "given the heightened tensions about these entertainers, officials are discouraging 'copycat' behavior by individuals who may find it humorous to mimic suspicious behavior." The Greensboro ABC news story also reported tactics used by the clowns such as talking to kids and offering them candy. Yikes.
That was in late August and early September. Since then, there have been sightings in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, and a handful of other states. There have even been reported sightings in New York State's capitol region. Some cases have been left unsolved, both reported and unreported to the police. But the case in Alabama involving a clown persona named Flomo Klown was resolved when the police arrested 22-year-old Makayla Smith for threatening local schools. While not all reports are verified or prosecuted, it is possible that pranksters like Smith are unleashing terrifying but ultimately harmless clown pranks on the country. You can read a comprehensive list of clown sightings here (you know, just in case).
But why in 2016 are clowns still so unnerving? Why are people dressing up and eliciting conflict just for the sake of pranks? Is it a performance piece? Does one clown sighting bring together a small nation of creeps who want to scare the public with baggy clothes and uncomfortably bright makeup? Some even say that the new movie edition of It set to come out in 2017 is behind the sightings saying it's a publicity stunt (though New Line Cinemas says they aren't behind it). This is just further proof that 2016 is either a large practical joke or a year-long nightmare of our worst imagination.
Granted, we can assume that there are real people behind those masks. People have been clowning around for millennia from YuSze in ancient China to Pygmy clowns in ancient Egypt. Clowns are historically cited as both entertainers and reflections of the fallacy in human behavior ranging from gluttony, vanity, or rage.
It was only in the nineteenth century that the sad, dysfunctional and possibly homicidal clown persona became prominent in western cultures. For instance, there was the stage clown Grimaldi in nineteenth century England who suffered from depression between his wildly outrageous performances and became disabled from his constant tumbles and jumps for people's entertainment. Then there was Pierrot in France around the same time; the person behind the mask Jean-Gaspard Deburau was arrested and later acquitted for killing a boy with a cane for making fun of him. Read more about the history of scary clowns in the Smithsonian Magazine.
This metamorphosis of entertainer to sand and crazy can be seen in clown characters like Pennywise from It, The Joker in the Batman media, and even real-life serial killer John Wayne Gacy. While the real-life killer clowns caused fear on the local and national level, fictional characters have done nothing to assuage the public fear. It's no wonder that these recent clown reports have incited panic in certain communities such as the "clown hunt" at Penn State after another recent clown sighting where over 500 students gathered and stormed the campus and surrounding community looking to stop these clowns.
There has even been backlash from the actual clown community citing the joy and entertainment that many clowns adhere to in their passtimes and occupations as jesters. One woman even started a "Clown Lives Matter" march and movement in Arizona to combat the stereotypes people perpetuate.
So where do you stand? Are you scared of the recent sightings or understanding of the clown plight? What face of human error do clowns reflect for you? And will you go at a clown if they approach you or simply walk away? Only time will tell.
