It ain’t easy being a clown in this day and age.

Firstly there were all those sickos dressing up as clowns terrorising people around the world, from the US through to the UK and Australia.

We covered some of those odd occurrences HERE, HERE and HERE.

Well, that’s nothing compared to what’s about to go down, because when It hits the big screen a whole new generation of children will be terrified of clowns.

TIME on how the World Clown Association is gearing up for the challenge:

“Last year we were really blindsided,” World Clown Association president Pam Moody told the Hollywood Reporter of 2016’s spate of evil clown sightings. She said that the association has created a press kit to help clowns prepare for the movie. “Even the character in the movie ‘IT’ should be understood to be a fantasy character — not a true clown,” reads a line in the press kit.

According to Moody, clowns lost work at schools and libraries thanks to the scary sightings. And with It’s terrifying Pennywise about to come back in full form to the silver screen, they’re gearing up again to face an unwanted backlash against their chosen character roles.

For his part, Stephen King is sorry — but not about his story. In a tweet shared back in April, King explained his view: “Kids have always been scared of clowns,” he wrote. “Don’t kill the messengers for the message.”

You don’t apologise for anything, Stephen – even if the original It from 1992 still haunts my dreams.

Feel like gearing up for the horror show? Here are two trailers to set the wheels in motion:

No thanks!

[source:time]