It is interesting to note that the fear of clowns is a legitimate fear and even has a name - Coulrophobia. Coulrophobia is an abnormal or exaggerated fear of clowns. According to the Web site way2hope.org, "Coulrophobia is very common...one of the top 10 most common specific phobias. Symptoms can range from high anxiety to outright panic attacks around people in clown outfits or other bizarre attire and make-up...even Santa Claus." Yep, the fear of clowns is certainly real. This is the reason many haunted houses include clowns alongside the actors dressed as zombies, werewolves and witches.
Of course, it is not only adults who are fearful of clowns. Although clowns are meant to entertain children, many children are scared of them. As a former haunted house manager, I believe the fear of clowns comes from the fact the clown make-up obscures the wearer's face. Is Bozo really happy or is he only smiling because he has a painted-on grin? We do not know. Also, I think we instinctively realize that brightly colored outfits do not mean the clowns are always happy go lucky. What dark thoughts lurk inside the mind of a clown? No one except the clown knows.
Furthermore, I think as a society we can't help but remember John Wayne Gacy, Jr. He did nothing good for the professional clowns of the world who work hard to make us laugh. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was an American serial killer also known as the Killer Clown who committed the rape and murder of 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978, according to Wikipedia. Twenty-six of Gacy's victims were buried in the crawlspace of his home, three others elsewhere on his property and four victims were discarded in a nearby river, the online database states.
Gacy was dubbed the Killer Clown because he entertained children as "Pogo The Clown." He was eventually sentenced to death, and on May 10, 1994, was executed by lethal injection. The world breathed a sigh of relief. But, many adults cannot help but remember photos of Gacy dressed as a clown. These images were published in newspapers and today are on the Internet. I am sure those images play a part into our fear of clowns.
Of course, it takes more than just one man to make us afraid of clowns. According to the site phobias.about.com, there are two main theories surrounding why some people are scared of clowns. The Web site states, "In a 2004 review article for Trinity University, Joseph Durwin postulates that there are two commonly accepted schools of thought. One is that the fear is based in a negative personal experience with a clown at a young age. The second theory is that mass media has created a hype surrounding evil clowns such that even children who are not personally exposed to clowns are trained to dislike or fear them."
Durwin's theory that society has created hype around evil clowns is fascinating to me. It is true that Stephen King scared us through the book and film version of It. The novel and film revolve around an evil alien-type creature that disguises itself as "Pennywise the Dancing Clown." Also, as I mentioned earlier, there are many haunted houses that feature killer clowns. There is Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988), the famous b-movie from the 1980s that brought clowns into our nightmares, as well.
So, has society brought this fear of clowns on itself? It becomes a chicken and the egg issue. Did books, movies, haunted houses, and the image of Gacy cause our fear of clowns? Or did movies and haunted houses start using clowns to strike terror because society was already afraid of them? Which came first? Sadly, there does not seem to be an answer yet.
All I can conclude with certainty is the fear of clowns seems here to stay and haunted house owners should take advantage of this fact!
