Do so many people fear clowns?

It's not JUST clowns for me, it's all masks or covered faces. Mimes are just as freaky, although more annoying.

And Stephen King didn't help....

Ummmm John Wayne Gacy did it for me.

Yeah, but they're trapped in a box, so they can't get you.

That is true.

There wasa CSI episode about a woman who hired clowns for her kids so she could nasty nasty afterwards with them.... and her hubby caught her in the act and he killed clownie.

Freaky deaky icky oooey.

It's strange how clowns send so many folks running for the exits. Actually, maybe not. Anyone who's read "It" by Stephen King or stumbled across a picture of serial killer John Wayne Gacy in floppy shoes is understandably a bit on-edge at the circus (or the rodeo, for that matter).

The official term for this irrational aversion to red-nosed entertainers is coulrophobia. While many are merely creeped out by clowns, the fear runs much deeper for others, affecting their daily lives.

I thin most are afraid of clowns because it's impossible to gauge a clown's true emotions. Thanks to painted-on smiles, people can't distinguish if the clown is as happy as he seems or if he's actually about to bite somebody's face off.

Several celebrities are decidedly anti-clown. Rapper P. Diddy has a "no clown" clause in his concert contracts. Johnny Depp had nightmares of clowns as a kid. And, of course there's Bart Simpson, whose utterance "Can't sleep, clown will eat me" speaks volumes about his feelings on the subject.

Thank goodness Jerry Lewis' "The Day the Clown Cried" was never released, lest we all be in straitjackets.

I'm not so much scared of clowns unless they are dipicted as evil clowns. I mostly feel sorry for clowns and am curious of the people behind the makeup. I got a really nice home made clown from a boyfriend when I was a teen, that his sister made!! And, I bought one from Russ and my baby stole it from me. His name is Artie, short for Arthur Hulock Campbell the 3rd. He's STILL around after 24 years!!
But, when I had a fever once as a kid, a pile of laundry turned into an evil mocking clown and it scared me to death.
Seeeeee, not all clowns are evil or wicked!!! It's just like men!!! Some are sweet behind their facades and some are evil!!!

Well, wait a minute. That quote was in reference to a clown-themed bed Homer had made for him -- which WAS pretty scary.

Bart's HERO, though, is Krusty the Clown -- he owns every Krusty product ever made --

Whatever your feelings towards clowns may be, I can't stand idly by and see Herschel Krustofski demeaned in this manner!



(Besides which, Jackie Mason is his dad.)

I've heard children fear them, too. Maybe it is just innate to human nature. Resembling a universal symbol, perhaps?

Something about a clown driving a plain white van around the neighborhood with no pants on

one word IT!!!!

i'm not afraid of all clowns, my sister gave me a set of 4 porceline (sp) babies dressed as clowns that i loved

but omg IT did it for me i cant look at your typical clown with out wanting to run and hide but i manage now that i've gotten out of my preteen years

So try and explain the fear......

hard to explain it, granted when i was little i was also afraid of trash cans for the longest time thanks to oscar the grouch

clowns just don't do it for me,

I have a t-shirt that says "Your powers are useless against me. I have the clowns on my side."

Poltergeist wasn't much help for the clown's bad reputation either.

I had received an elf when I was pre-kindergarten from my grandmother. It had a real wicked painted face and my mother hung it up in my room. I had so many nightmares about that thing as a child. But my mother would not take it down..."because grandma had given it to me"

About 5 years ago we were talking about stuff and I told her that I would never forget that horrid creature.

"We all float down here."

V for Vendetta

My favorite man behind the mask

Because:

http://sciencefictionfantasyhorror.com/images-articles/2005/09/scary-clown-2005.gif

great movie.

my ex was so afraid of clowns... and he was 6'3 and 215 lbs.