Is it my imagination or will creepy clowns become the most popular costume this year? After watching last night’s shocking episode of American Horror Story, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a bunch of Twisty the Clowns coming to my door on Halloween night. I really had no idea there were that many people that were so afraid of clowns in the first place. Then I started to think back to the scary clowns I’ve seen in movies and about the real life serial killer clown, John Wayne Gacy. I guess I can understand peoples apprehension towards them. After all, they are supposed to be someone you could trust to entertain your child. Maybe it’s the fact that they can get that close to someone’s heart and imagination that is so frightening. They can make you let down your guard, and when you are completely vulnerable, when you least expect it…BAM! They can turn on you and become your worst nightmare. To add fuel to the fire (literally), watch this prank where a crazy clown scares people with a flamethrower. Personally I’d run from anyone with a flamethrower! Watch the video, then let’s discuss the creepiness of clowns.
Ok looking closer I don’t know if that’s a clown but that would definitely be freaky.
Let’s talk about the most recent popular clown, Twisty. He was this season’s number one creepy character on American Horror Story Freakshow. Twisty is a mysterious and freakishly spooky looking clown. Just look at him. If you haven’t noticed yes, that’s a human scalp he’s wearing on his head. The rest of his costume is dingy, lacking any luster of newness. Obviously hasn’t used a washing machine in some time. There is something so dreadfully sad and scary about his eyes too. Oh and we can’t ignore the most obvious piece of his costume…his mouth mask. It is huge and shows a menacing grin of dingy dirty teeth. His mask is hiding something that is far more frightening underneath, but I’ll leave that for you to find out. I’ll admit if I saw Twisty on the street, I’d probably turn the other way and run…fast! When he appears on the show, you already know something’s wrong with him. He doesn’t talk and bows before pulling out bowling pins from his large dirty sack. Moments later you witness the extent of his indiscriminate brutality.
There is no question, Twisty is scary, and there are a lot of other scary clowns from movies. Just like Jigsaw (Saw series), Captain Spaulding (House of 1000 Corpses), and the Joker (Batman movies and comics), all evil clowns that definitely look the part. The movie It, based on the book by Stephen King had one of the scariest clowns of all…Pennywise. Tim Curry did a magnificent acting job portraying this evil clown that scared the crap out of a bunch of TV viewers in 1990.
Let go. Be afraid. You all taste so much better when you’re afraid. ~Pennywise (It, 1990)
One of my personal favorite scary clowns from film was not exactly human. In the Steven Spielberg film Poltergeist, Robbie has a clown doll. The clown sits in the corner of his room. After a hell of a lot of other supernatural stuff that has already happened, the family thinks their house is no longer haunted and decides to stay one more night. So as Robbie gets ready to go to sleep, he notices the clown is no longer sitting in the chair…GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! But of course he doesn’t. Oh no, Robbie decides to looks under his bed. Why am I trying to explain this to you when I can just show you.
So even inanimate toys that are clowns can be scary. A clown is supposed to be silly, and fun. But often their job is to toy with audiences by poking fun at them. There is a point where this mischievousness can turn into something ugly and that is what frightens people. I’ve heard recent stories about lone clown sitings late at night in cities across America. People are capturing pictures of them and posting on social media channels. It very well can be pranks spawned by the recent popularity of creepy clowns. As I’m writing this, I can see someone that looks like a clown across the street. Is he looking at me? Oh man…forget this…I’m outta here! Happy Halloween everyone! Just keep an eye out and be careful kiddies!
