The Killer Clowns of 2016

Does anyone remember the killer clowns of 2016? Some people think that was just promotion for the new IT movie but that shit was totally wild.

Basically, people would dress up as killer clowns and then go hide in the woods and stalk and scare people.

The most famous sightings began in August 2016 in Greenville, South Carolina, where residents reported clowns standing near forests, allegedly trying to lure children into the woods. Aided by the rapid spread of viral videos and pictures on social media (such as Facebook and Twitter), the craze quickly snowballed. By mid-October 2016, clown sightings had been reported in nearly all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Canada, the UK, Australia, and over a dozen other countries.

While the vast majority of these incidents were harmless pranks, internet hoaxes, or cases of mass hysteria where people imagined threats, the phenomenon did have real-world consequences. Several people were arrested for making terroristic threats, chasing people, or filing false police reports.

Law enforcement agencies were flooded with calls, and in some cases, large groups of people—such as students at Penn State—formed mobs to go "clown hunting." Professional clowns reported losing business and being afraid to wear their costumes in public out of fear of being attacked. Even McDonald's temporarily limited the public appearances of its mascot, Ronald McDonald.

Many people initially suspected the craze was a viral marketing stunt for the 2017 remake of Stephen King's It, but New Line Cinema explicitly denied any involvement. 

The Killer Clown 2016 craze was just the peak of a much older phenomenon. The "creepy clown" panic actually dates back decades, both as a real-world urban legend and a pop-culture trope. Oh, and also true crime, of course.

The first, documented, major, real-world clown scare happened in the spring of 1981 in the Boston area. Rumors spread rapidly that men dressed as clowns were driving around in vans, trying to lure children inside with candy. The panic spread to other U.S.cities, including Kansas City and Omaha. Police investigated, but no evidence or actual clowns were ever found; it was purely a mass hysteria event.

The real-life horror of the "killer clown" was cemented in the public consciousness when serial killer John Wayne Gacy was arrested in 1978. Gacy famously performed at children's hospitals and charitable events as "Pogo the Clown." His crimes forever linked the image of a clown with hidden, psychopathic danger.

This lead into the 1980s Horror Boom. The decade was packed with cinematic evil clowns, including the possessed clown doll in Poltergeist (1982) and the cult classic sci-fi horror movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988). Stephen King also capitalized on this growing cultural unease with his 1986 novel It, featuring the shapeshifting clown monster named Pennywise.

In May 1990, a real-life assassination cemented the fear of clowns when Marlene Warren was shot and killed on her doorstep in Wellington, Florida. The killer arrived dressed in full clown costume, complete with an orange wig and a red nose, and handed Warren flowers and balloons before pulling out a gun and shooting her. The case went unsolved for nearly 30 years until DNA evidence eventually led to the arrest of Sheila Keen-Warren, the mistress (and eventual wife) of Marlene's husband.

In 1991, an urban legend caused massive panic throughout Chicago. Rumors spread rapidly that a child abductor or serial killer dressed as Homey the Clown (a popular character from the sketch comedy show In Living Color) was roaming neighborhoods in a van, attempting to kidnap children. The panic forced police to investigate and schools to issue warnings, though it was ultimately deemed a case of mass hysteria fueled by the era's "stranger danger" anxiety and the city's lingering trauma from John Wayne Gacy.

Chicago experienced another distinct wave of creepy clown sightings and rumors in 2008. This localized panic mirrored the 1991 scare and acted as a bridge between the analog urban legends of the 1980s and 90s and the viral, social-media-driven clown phenomenon that would emerge in the 2010s.

The Northampton Clown 

The Northampton Clown was a mysterious figure who began appearing on the streets of Northampton, England, in September 2013. Instead of attacking people, the clown typically stood silently on street corners, waved at passers-by, or held props like balloons and a teddy bear. One peculiar incident involved a pair of clowns knocking on a door asking to paint window sills without having any equipment. [1, 2, 3] The person was unmasked as Alex Powell, a 22-year-old filmmaker and university student. He later revealed it started as a harmless marketing stunt or art project for a university film assignment.

The "Wasco Clown" was also another prominent figure, but it was just some guy cosplaying as a creepy clown and doing nighttime photography for his Instagram. He inspired a bunch of copycats and panic. Wasco clowns started terrorizing California for a while.

Some artsy kids made a horror/comedy film called "Gags the Clown" that only fueled the ruckus. The Staten Island Clown was also another publicity stunt for some indie movie as well.

wBy the time the 2016 sightings started in South Carolina, the "killer clown" was already a deeply ingrained urban legend just waiting for social media to turn it into a global fad.

The Killer Clown panic eventually died down shortly after Halloween in 2016, largely fading back into internet history as one of the strangest fads of the decade.