Fear Of Clowns

I have developed an irrational fear of being killed by clowns due to the way movies and music often portray them for the teen and adult audience. I established this fear around the age of twelve when I first watched Stephen King’s IT, a horror movie. In the story, an evil clown by the name of Pennywise tries to kill a group of seven teenagers. After being overpowered by the kids, he returns thirty years later to accomplish what he could not many years earlier. I placed myself in the shoes of those seven kids and had horrifying dreams of a white-faced, red nosed clown chasing me through the sewer, only to brutally kill me. This fear intensified after seeing an evil clown doll in the movie Poltergeist by Steven Spielberg. The clown doll, which innocently sat with his malevolent smile on the rocker in the children’s bedroom, came to life. It grew long arms to reach out to grasp the young boy from under the bed and strangle him.

I fear that, just as in the movie, the small clown doll with an ominous stare that sits on my shelf could come alive and kill me by means of strangling. More than the movies, the extremely vulgar lyrics of the rap group Insane Clown Posse send chills up my spine. They wear face paints to resemble clowns. The group uses their lyrics to convey hatred and fear to the listeners. They sing of mass slaughter and actions only to be approved by the devil himself. Lyrics like, “You fall asleep and wake up dead; With a broken broom sticking out of your forehead; I sing you lullabies till you dose off; Tie you down and bite your F****** toes off; And spit “em out back in your face; Splat! F*** wash your feet B****!” are just some of the less raunchy words they sing. After hearing that these “so-called clowns” want to split my face in two with an axe, I begin to stereotype all clowns as evil killers. After all, who knows what could be hiding behind the happy painted faces, colorful costumes, and the big red nose???