What
a great day this is for me... to finally find others who
share my loathing and fear of clowns!!! I think I've been
afraid of clowns since I was @ 6 or 7. I remember that
my mom had taken me and some other kids to see Ronald
McDonald, live and in person. It was in the middle of
summer, late afternoon, and it was HOT!!! We all waited
in anticipation to get a glimpse of Ronald and to maybe
even say hi. Finally, Ronald showed up and he was very
frightening. He had this mean look on his face, as if
he resented all of us. He was also sweating profusely.
Not glistening or damp, this clown was sweating so badly
that I remember his white clown makeup was beginning to
drip off of his face. When I was finally close enough
to Ronald to say hello, get a candy, whatever, I was terrified!
He looked at me, kind of growled a greeting and I froze.
All I wanted was to get away from this guy. I started
crying and the rest is history. I think clowns have got
to be the freakiest, most demented interpretations of
happiness and fun. They're NOT funny and they're not cute.
Thanks so much for an excuse to vent my clownophobia!!
-anonymous
When
I was in the 4th grade, my babysitter had a variety of
scary movies. Every Friday, Her daughter and I got to
watch one. I had never thought that clowns were bad until
one Friday i picked out Clownhouse. I swear, to this day,
I can not go to parades with clowns, Circus', or be by
an open window without thinking a big, ugly, painted,
bloody-mouthed, killer clown will suddenly appear. I actually
have panic attacks whenever I see clowns! I'm talking
sweating, dizziness, blurry vision, weak knees, adrenaline
overdrive, insomnia causing panic attacks. Clowns should
be illegal.
-Jessi
Question:
which is more terrifying: the clown itself, or the clown
that breaks character? I don't have the answer, but I
will submit this story, second-hand, for your consideration...
A close friend of mine is a Scottish Rite Freemason (seems
normal . . .) and was working a hot dog/bratwurst stand
which his lodge had set up as part of a local street/neighborhood
festival earlier this summer. Yes, you guessed it - there
were a certain amount of clowns present. My friend, incidentally,
does not claim any phobic fear of clowns, and, as a matter
of fact, is not a small man, capable of 'taking care of
himself'.
At one point in the afternoon, my friend noticed a clown
surrounded by a small group of children, gathered right
near his stand. My friend noticed that the clown was treating
one young black boy differently than the rest of the kids
(white). Verging on ignoring the kid, by the sound of
it. I don't know if the child had a sense that this was
the case or not, but apparently he was tugging and pulling
at the clown's outfit, annoying him as he was 'entertaining'
the other young ones.
That the clown was apparently a racist ( like a clown
alone isn't bad enough...) was not sitting well with my
friend, but not wanting to bring this into clear focus
for the boy, he began to egg the child on, telling him,
"Go ahead, step on his shoes! Look at those shoes! Step
on 'em, kid!" This, the kid did, smilingly, jumping on
the annoyed clowns big, dumb shoes.
Eventually, the boy's mother rounded him up and the crowd
moved off to a different part of the parade. At this point,
almost unnoticed by my friend, the clown in question,
walked back over to him, and said, I quote, "I don't ever
want to f#%$ing hear you tellin' some kid to jump on my
shoes! You know how much these shoes COST?? Watch yourself,
pal," and walked away.
My friend was frozen in place with fear. Never said a
word.
sincerely,
-pavlak
During
Halloween last year me and my friends went to a haunted
house. We took the 20 minute drive to what was supposed
to be the best haunted house for halloween time. Well
you guessed it their was a clown at the Entrance of the
place. Sometimes he would flash a flashlight at people
and laugh manically with a psychotic undertone.....wait
their really wasn't any undertone. He had a rainbow wig,
crude makeup, and costume.
I quickly past and very much wanted to enter all of the
fake blood and gore to get out of site from this IT. Well
anyway after going though what turned out to be the most
lame haunted house I ever been too. I had to confront
the clown again. He shined a flashlight in my eyes sort
of penetrating my inner fears about clowns. HE looked
me straight in my eyes and laughed psychotically as he
looked at me. I left a quickly as I could leave. To this
day that it the only thing a remember clearly about the
haunted house. All after going though seeing SATANIC references,
blood, monsters and people jumping out from corners in
costumes trying to scare didn't frighten me. But I will
never never ever ever forget that smeggin clown.
-E~So
I
think that my fear of clowns stems from the place that
my fear of Santa Clause did when I was a small child.
To give you some background whenever it was time to have
my picture taken with Santa when I was a kid, I'd freak
out screaming, crying, kicking, all in all creating mass
hysteria in the mall. Reason being, was I was sure this
man with his white hair & beard and red suit was following
me, and Christ he was everywhere. Some would just say
I had an overactive imagination when I was a child, or
suffering from an extreme case of paranoia (which I've
never been diagnosed with! :-) so they can't prove it!).
But I think it was always more than that. Well, anyway,
I was never a BIG fan of clowns to begin with, they're
loud, obnoxious, and they carry balloons (which I also
hate). However, it has now actually become a phobia. Once,
when I was at a thing in my town called "Saturday Market"
I was walking around looking at all the different things
the street merchants were selling. When all of a sudden
this guy with big baggy pants, floppy shoes, and make-up
that could make the trampiest whore jealous, asks me if
I want a balloon shaped like an animal. I calmly say no,
and begin to walk away. He grabs my arm, and repeats again
"Hey, do you want a balloon shaped like an animal?" now
I'm actually beginning to freak out a little bit - he
doesn't notice he just keeps on talking "what's your favorite
animal? I can make a snake, a poodle, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah" Just when I'm about to scream in holy terror,
a friend of mine spots me from down the aisle and calls
to me. I ran to her like she was a lighthouse beacon,
and I'd been stuck out at sea for months in a little rubber
raft. When I turned around to look back my assailant was
gone. However, later in the day as I continued my shopping,
I would see him from time to time down the ways, staring
at me. Now, most would say he was just some bum, who wanted
a dollar or two to go by some cigarettes. I can't help
to think there was something more to those balloon animals
'cuz when he'd look at me from a distance it was the look
of a cult leader who's eying the one who got away. I now
fear clowns, and you know what...fear is what keeps you
alive sometimes :-)
-Amber
-Portland, Oregon
My
inborn loathing of clowns made the following a nightmare.
I used to work in a small rural hospital in Texas. Since
I am also a firefighter, I am on the "Code Red" search
team. I was working late in preparation for a health fair
sponsored by the hospital the next day. As I was locking
up, something triggered the fire alarm, and the overhead
announcement placed the alleged fire in a janitorial closet
near my department. Whenever the fire alarm triggers,
the fire doors are automatically shut to prevent the spread
of fire; these doors won't be opened until the alarm is
canceled. I checked the closet and there was no fire.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw what looked remarkably
like a clown walking down the hallway in my direction.
I was sure this was due to long hours, optical illusions
or some other quirk. I looked up, and to my horror, a
clown that looked incredibly like Pennywise was walking
toward me. How he got past the fire door is beyond me
(they can not be opened manually once the fire alarm is
triggered). Rather than investigate, I retreated back
to my department and locked the door. That insidious clown
followed me and kept pounding on the department door.
I called security to cancel the fire alarm, and to check
a report of a suspicious character in the area of the
alleged fire. The security guard was there when the fire
door opened, and guess what, no clown !!!
A few weeks later, I was questioned by the hospital VP
about this incident . It turns out that whoever was in
the clown suit reported a "rude" employee who made no
attempt to help him when he was trapped in the corridor
during the fire alarm. However, I know better, that was
no ordinary person, but rather a Pennywise/JW Gacy clown/devil.
-J.
George Houston, Texas
Now,
I hate clowns and circus folk alike. There is nothing
more scary than a clown. NOTHING. Here's my story. I work
at the local fast food joint where my job is to hold birthday
parties for kids. What my job is, essentially, to act
like CLOWN (shudder) without the makeup and stupid clownsuit
(though you can sortof classify my uniform as a clownsuit).
One day, I did this party that wanted a clown. I refused.
I mean, no human being in their RIGHT mind would dress
up in clothes meant for Serial Killers. But after a few
attempts by a manager, I did it. Reluctantly. So I donned
the ugly costume looking somewhat like the mascot of the
store. Not mentioning any names. I put on makeup and a
poorly fitting bowler hat complete with corny fake flower
on the top. The only thing missing was horrible shoes
and a cigar or butcher knife. I felt like I had just stepped
into the shoes of a cretin. There is nothing more depressing
than being a clown. After the makeup, I felt like a different
person. I felt like I was hiding from the world. Going
out to the birthday party, some kids clapped. **What are
these people teaching their kids? Haven't they _EVER_
seen IT?** To my utter HORROR, the birthday girl took
one look at me and began to cry. I felt like a complete
moron, a jerk, a creep. I wanted to run to the bathroom
and smear off the evil hideous smile. I wanted to destroy
myself for stooping so low as to use the sadistic inhuman
smile of a clown as entertainment value for children.
The poor kid.
-Jon
C.
For
the longest time I thought that clowns were hiding their
evil intentions behind all that paint and those fake smiles.
When my daughter was about 9 months old we went to a parade.
I was sitting on the street curb minding my business when
I heard someone ask me, "Would you like a balloon?" I
turned my head and there was this frightful clown holding
a balloon. My daughter was in the stroller on the other
side of me and she started screaming at the sight of the
clown. I started trying to do the crab crawl away from
him and I started screaming also, but before I could put
much distance between me and the freak my husband (no
longer) grabbed me and asked me what I thought I was doing
making such a scene. I told him that the clown was evil
which he did not believe. What really got me was that
we lived in a small town and I probably knew the person
under the makeup, but that only confirms my belief that
evil people hide behind the paint so no one knows just
how bad they really are.
-Holly
I,
too, think clowns are evil incarnate. So does my brother
and my sister-in-law. I also hate it when people dress
up in mascot costumes. Disneyland was a nightmare for
me as I had to run away from Mickey Mouse, various dwarves,
etc. I have no idea where this all began, but I *hate*
clowns. Not the people dressed up as clowns, mind you,
but the clown image itself.
-Cheryl
ehh.
my own opinion on why clowns terrify so many people has
to do with the costume itself. as soon as i see someone
wearing makeup, or clothes that are clearly a costume,
i think that they have something to hide from me. and
because so many parents stupidly trust their kids around
clowns, i immediately think about Gacy. i mean the potential
for evil alone that a clown has is enough to frighten
me. my worst exp. with clowns was at a local circus. a
clown came up to me while i was in line buying my little
brother some cotton candy, and grabbed him by the hand
and asked him if he wanted to come with him to "look at
the elephants". i freaked and paneled the ?@%. the police
got mad but the bastard had no right to grab my little
brother.
