Unless you live under a rock, you've probably seen pictures across the Internet of people dressing up as "murderous" clowns.

One of the first clown sightings was in Wisconsin, where 'Gags' the 'Green Bay Clown' (pictured above) gained viral status, as he was seen walking the streets late at night.

Yes, you heard that right. People are actually taking time out of their day to dress up as disturbing clowns. Could you imagine walking outside at night and seeing this? Some of these clowns are less violent, and merely stand on a street corner,while silently holding a balloon. Others, however, are more frightening.

A video has recently gone around of two males taking a run in a nearby park early in the morning. In the video, one of the two males yelled at the clown, realizing soon after the clown was carrying a knife. It doesn't just stop there, though. The clown literally began chasing after the two men. Yes, the clown began chasing the two men with a knife. You can take a look at the video here:

There has been another instance in South Carolina, where clowns allegedly chased children waiting for their school bus.

In Tennessee, State Patrol issued a tweet warning people of clowns trying to lure children into the woods.

Many people are calling this mass hysteria over clowns fake; and they believe the people dressing up as clowns aren't actually psycho -- just teenagers trying to have fun. Some believe it's fake because they don't believe anyone would ever get close enough to one to capture them on video or camera.

Honestly, I think there may be some cases where people are dressing up as clowns just for the thrill of it. But, I do believe that there are actually crazy, sick people out there who do this because they get some type of sick pleasure from scaring innocent bystanders.

I could understand this craze being a joke in some cases, but when children become involved, that's when the joke has been taken too far. No one wants to send their child to school, and fear that they will be harassed by some weirdo in a clown suit. No child wants to go to school and get the life scared out of them. The "joke" has been taken too far, and it needs to stop. Only sick-minded people have it in them to intentionally frighten children.

Not only have there been sightings of these clowns in my state, but there have also been sightings of clowns in my city. So, now that I am personally affected by this horrendous fad, someone needs to put an end to it immediately.

Clowns are a legitimate fear for thousands of people across America. There have already been instances where people have shot those dressed in clown outfits. The clown epidemic needs to stop immediately, before a clown ends up scaring the wrong person and gets seriously injured --just like the one who was critically shot in the head.

Leave it to America to be the only country wild enough to be in a panic over demented clowns; I really, truly don't think any other country will ever have to experience something as ludicrous as this. I think this is one of the first times in my life that I am actually ashamed (scared) to be an American.