Where does the evil clown persona come from, and how have the hoaxes truly been affecting the nation?

A surge in recent clown hoaxes has pushed the nation into a state of hysteria in recent months. With Halloween approaching, it is a perfectly timed scenario to scare citizens, and prepare them for a spectacularly spooky Halloween. However, some argue the hoaxes have gone a bit too far, putting people’s lives in danger, and adversely affecting the clown community. To understand the current stigma that surrounds clowns, their history must be understood.

Clowns date back to 2400 BC, originating in Egypt. They didn’t become a mainstream form of entertainment until the 1800s when Joseph Grimaldi created the white face make up design. They were brought to America in 1792, after John Bill Ricketts brought the circus to town. Famous traveling circuses, such as Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, picked up the new form of entertainment, and spread it throughout the rest of the nation.

Even though it wasn’t until recently that the media had popularized the fear factor of clowns, clowns have always had a dark side. The original comedy in clown acts stemmed from overeating, sex, drinking and manic behavior. The darkness associated with clowns was further exacerbated in the 1970s when John Wayne Gacy, a local Chicago clown, garnered the name Killer Clown, after being convicted of the murder of 33 boys and men. Gacy’s side job had no correlation with his criminal actions, but the association stuck. Hollywood added fuel to the fire with the release of Stephen King’s novel It in 1986. The novel centered on a killer shapeshifter named Pennywise that morphs into a clown. With the help of the media, clowns have become a common terrorizing image.

It is important to note that the recent hoaxes are not the first incidents of real life clown terror. In the fall of 2013, Alex Powell, a university student, dressed up as Pennywise in Northampton, England and scared locals as a prank. The mischief caused such uproar that he began receiving death threats. A more local account of clown terror occurred in Mar. 2014. A clown was frequently spotted in Staten Island, N.Y.  frightening the public. It was later found out to be a promotional stunt for an upcoming movie.

The first sightings this year were in late Aug. in Greenville County, S.C. There were rumors that the clowns were using money to lure kids into the woods, but none of the rumors were confirmed. The hoaxes became more serious when a man in a clown mask fatally stabbed a 16 year-old boy in Reading, Pa. on Sept. 25. The clown sightings first spread along the east coast, until finally in early Oct., they reached Dallas. The clowns began threatening to visit local high schools via social media, creating Twitter and Instagram accounts to announce their upcoming targets, but there are still no confirmed campus appearances. There were sightings in Snider Plaza and on Greenville Ave.

By the end of Oct., across the nation, there were 12 people charged with making threats, multiple death threats issued and several schools went into lockdown due to these hoaxes. Many believe that teenagers are behind the continuation of the terror as pranks, but it is affecting a lot more than the general public. The clown community themselves are offended by the evil clown persona. They see their job as bringing smiles and joy to people, and they find it terrifying to think of the threats that have been released to hurt clowns. The evil clown persona is hurting the professional clown’s way of life.