With vibrant paint adorning their faces, huge red smiles and patterned jumpsuits, clowns have traditionally represented fun and happiness for children and families and been an integral part of circuses. Recent reports of creepy clowns luring kids into forests have heightened fear associated with these entertainers.  

Creepy clown reports have surfaced across the U.S. in at least 39 different states since August, including California. Although some incidents were discovered to be hoaxes, others were found to be real threats and have led to arrests and, in some cases, the closure of school districts.

A creepy clown scaring little children was sighted in the Silver Creek area. Residents later discovered an adolescent in the costume.

“It’s unsettling, [going] from like a viral meme to something a little more nerve wracking and a little less funny,” Haris Hosseini (10), Silver Creek resident, said. “I checked my door to see if it was locked that night.”

Although meant to be sources of comedy, clowns can also terrify both children and adults with their vividly painted faces and exaggerated features. This fear of clowns is known as “coulrophobia.” Criminologists agree that the root of coulrophobia comes from clowns’ wearing heavy makeup and paint that covers up their true faces.

Reports of these clowns first started in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. 29, where residents of a housing complex complained about suspicious people in the woods behind the complex. Local children also mentioned that clowns had tried to lure them into the woods with money.

A few weeks later, on Sept. 14, children in Georgia reported that clowns chased them on their way to the bus stop.

Threats directed against students of local schools and areas started to emerge online after this phenomena spread. On Sept. 15, a woman named Makayla Smith was arrested for threatening students at Flomaton High School in Flomaton, Alabama, with Twitter accounts named “FLOMO KLOWN.”

On Sept. 28, the East Side High School district in San Jose announced that it would not allow students to dress up as clowns or in any other costumes that concealed their identities for Halloween. The district also reported social media threats of clown attacks to the police.

Mobs of students going “clown hunting” to search for the clowns have emerged at universities including Penn State and Indiana University, in response to clowns being sighted on campus.

Professional clowns and entertainers have responded to these attacks by creating the “Clown Lives Matter” movement to show that clowns are not dangerous. The subject received many negative responses from users on Twitter, who criticized its use of the words from the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Nikki Sinn from Tucson, Arizona, scheduled a peaceful protest for this movement on Oct. 15. The event was cancelled due to her receiving death threats.

Due to the influx in these sightings and the potential danger they hold, the San Jose School District advised students to exercise caution at all times.

“I would watch out more and be more aware of the things around me,” Grace Huang (9) said.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on November 16, 2016.