There’s a meme of sorts being shared around the Internet. A dialogue, plays on a conversations between God and Americans. In the one I have seen, it goes like this:

Americans: At least 2016 couldn’t get any weirder.

God: Send in the clowns!

It made me laugh, because the clown phenomenon in the States sure has gotten out of control. Law enforcement has set up protection barriers around schools, and have banned people over the age of 16 from wearing masks.

Read more about that HERE.

But what’s funnier – and scarier – is that it has now made its way across the pond to the UK, and across the other, bigger pond to Australia.

While many have credited the rise in clowns to Stephen King’s It (even more so because the movie’s being re-released next year), Rolling Stone was quick to point out that the epidemic has been around longer than that:

Unfortunately, the situation is nothing new. In 1981, “sinister” clowns were seen in Boston and neighbouring towns throughout New England. The clowns, who harassed small children, were never seen by adults. They would coax children into vans with candy, usually driving alongside children walking down the street or in front of schools.

The Phantom Clowns, as they were dubbed by cryptozoologist Loren Coleman given their allusive nature, spread to Kansas City, Denver, Omaha, and Pennsylvania.

Since the 1980s, clowns have made appearances across the country, usually in the weeks and months leading up to Halloween.

Coleman’s phantom clown theory is rooted in the “primal dread that so many children experience in their presence.”

The first notable instance of a creepy clown is when serial killer John Wayne Gacy was captured in 1979. His alter ego Pogo the Clown frequented children’s parties, so his capture drew a connection between a killer and a clown.

Three years later came Poltergeist, in which a sinister clown doll lives underneath the bed. Stephen King doubled down and only increased the public’s fear of clowns – his 1987 novel It, featuring Pennywise the clown, was made into a horrifying film in 1990.

People just love to fear clowns – and unfortunately it never ends well.

Although they have been so-called “killer clowns”, it’s really not a healthy way to look at them. King even tweeted, asking the public to be friendly:

You can see a full list of “killer clown” sightings in the UK HERE, and check out some of the sightings below, shared thanks to the power of social media:

Then there’s this:

Man, I really hate clowns.

[source:itv&rollingstone]