A Closer Look at Clown Panics

Since the scary clown panic that started about a month ago shows no signs of ending (and is in fact getting worse, with at least two Alabama schools put on lockdown in recent weeks over alleged clown threats) I thought I'd explain a bit about what's going on.

There’s actually two distinct but related things going on here: what in my book I call stalker clowns, and phantom clowns.

The first, stalker clowns, are absolutely known to exist; they’re typically pranksters or publicity seekers who dress as clowns and stalk streets at night, not really threatening or harming anyone but just trying to draw attention to themselves. One of the earliest and best-known examples was the man who dressed as a scary clown in Northampton, England, in October 2013. He and some friends created a Facebook page and encouraged people to seek out and photograph the clown; he was later revealed to be a local filmmaker. That clown later inspired several copycats, including in Staten Island, Bakersfield, California; in France, and elsewhere.

The second type of clown has been reported, but never proven to exist. These are known as “phantom clowns,” a phrase coined by writer Loren Coleman. These are claimed to be much more malevolent, and said to attempt to lure children into waiting vans for unknown reasons, presumably murder or molestation. The first reports of these clowns emerged in the 1980s and continued occasionally through the 1990s in America, Europe, and elsewhere. They hadn’t been reported in recent years until last month, in Greenville.

It’s important to understand that there are no reports of any children actually being harmed or abducted by these clowns— despite police searches no evidence was ever found of their existence. It’s mostly fueled by children sightings, schoolyard rumors, and fearful parent warnings. These are essentially folkloric entities, similar to boogeymen or Slenderman.

The idea of an adult dressing up as a clown to lure children for evil purposes is straight out of a horror movie, not real life. For one thing, many kids (and adults, for that matter) are scared of clowns, so they’re more likely to run from a clown than toward one.

Second, if you really intend to harm kids and want to get away with it, a clown is pretty much the last thing you’d want to dress as, since it immediately draws attention from kids and adults alike. Criminals typically want to blend in, not stand out like a greasepainted, fright-wigged sore thumb. Especially with all the news and attention over the past weeks, anyone dressed as a clown outside of their normal habitat (a circus or backyard party for example) and around kids will immediately draw suspicion, if not a visit from police or angry parents.

In the end, all these reports are just creating unnecessary fear and concern in the communities. The fact is that the average child is in far greater danger from being hurt in a car accident or killed by a parent or caregiver than by any random creepy clown. For much more on this, see my new book Bad Clowns!