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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why are people so scared of clowns?

85 replies

AbsentmindedWoman · 28/10/2019 16:40

Just wondering if I have missed something. Is it all to do with the clown from It? Or were there other scary clowns in movies or books?

OP posts:
PaulaSmith1 · 28/10/2019 16:41

I think I missed something as well.

Now Victorian/Edwardian dolls - they are really scarey.

dayslikethese1 · 28/10/2019 16:41

I have always hated clowns, even before I knew about IT. It's the painted on smile thing, creepy as fuck. I actually don't like anything with a painted on smile so ventriloquists dolls, china dolls etc., all creepy in my opinion.

omikron · 28/10/2019 16:42

Stephen King (IT Maybe)

TheDarkPassenger · 28/10/2019 16:43

I agree with pp.. painted on faces are not my thing. I don’t actually find IT that terrifying!

ArnoldWhatshisknickers · 28/10/2019 16:44

I reckon it's the 'uncanny valley' effect. They look human, but not quite human.

PralineCookies · 28/10/2019 16:47

The Uncanny Valley effect and it's difficult to read their emotions because of their makeup and painted smile/frown. People tend to find it very unsettling when they can't read someone's face.

DefConOne · 28/10/2019 16:47

My fear goes back to the BBC test card so pre-school days. I remember having nightmares about it. Something about the fake painted on smile hiding real emotions?

WilheldivaHater · 28/10/2019 16:54

John Wayne Gacey

PumpkinP · 28/10/2019 16:56

I was scared of clowns before IT. Use to watch killer clowns as a kid, always been terrified of them

MrsBethel · 28/10/2019 17:01

They hide their face and they try to interact with children. Scary AF.

The mask is a staple of horror: Friday-13th-Jason, the-Halloween-guy, Texas-chainsaw-massacre-bloke, the-scream-mask, etc...

PennyNotSoWise · 28/10/2019 17:04

For me it's just the fact that they're disguised and you don't know who they really are. That and the fact that they could be plotting your brutal murder, yet have a big permanent smile on their face.

CaptainKirksSpikeyGhost · 28/10/2019 17:08

The fear of clowns predates it by a long time.

Didn't John Wayne Gacy used to be a party clown to get access to kids, pretty sensible fear if you ask me.

CharDeeMacDennis · 28/10/2019 17:10

There's an image halfway down this list of odd pictures of a scary clown from 1930 - look at the poor kids' faces Shock

TricklBOO · 28/10/2019 17:11

Way before IT (around 1973) my parents took me to the circus and I soon as the clowns came on I started screaming.

1Morewineplease · 28/10/2019 17:18

My own fear dates back to when I was 4.
My mum took me to the circus with one of her friends and DCs. My mum was called down to the ring to sit on a chair during a magic act.
My mum refused but two clowns came up and took her down. I’ll relay the rest of the story as I saw it.
They put her in a chair and put a box on her head. The magician ( didn’t know what magic really was) started to stick knives in her head. I was hysterical.
The thing is, I made such a fuss that people started to tell the magician to stop. He did. In the meantime clowns appeared, to try and lighten the mood of the audience.
Of course mummy was ok , and when I was older she actually told me how the trick worked.
Have found clowns sinister ever since.

Original poster
AbsentmindedWoman · 28/10/2019 18:09

@1Morewineplease that sounds horrific! Shock I'm not surprised you were terrified!

The picture linked by @CharDeeMacDennis is admittedly scary - the FEET on that clown are bloody disturbing! As well as the peculiar facial expression.

OP posts:
BucketOfTheDetective · 28/10/2019 18:12

Pennywise (IT)
Psychotic
Just because they are creepy looking 😬😬

EmpressLesbianInChair · 28/10/2019 18:17

Me? I’ve had a phobia of slapstick, food fights etc, since I was a preschooler. It used to make me vomit but now I’ve got it down to retching.

I associate clowns with flying food so get away fast at the mere sight of one. To be fair though, I get away from messy eaters equally fast.

wanderings · 28/10/2019 18:54

In the film Brassed Off, I expect a few children were traumatised by the clown (an ex-miner trying to make ends meet) at a Harvest Festival, suddenly going into a huge swearing rant about the Tory Party and God, in front of the children.

And the two clowns we have running our country and the USA are enough to terrify anybody. Halloween Shock

insancerre · 28/10/2019 19:10

Its the painted on face, the upside down smile and those shoes
I don't trust them, they are up to no good
I have a deep mistrust of magicians too

ThebishopofBanterbury · 28/10/2019 19:13

Maybe because they're grotesque!!

EdWinchester · 28/10/2019 19:14

Does anyone know a man who is afraid of clowns? Not being goady, it just always seems to be women.

yellowallpaper · 28/10/2019 19:21

Hated clowns since I was a kid. Then It came along and confirmed they were many people's worst nightmare. They are creepy

TSSDNCOP · 28/10/2019 19:23

The child’s fear of clowns is the reason Pennywise presents as a clown isn’t it?

I think it’s the exaggeration of the features and the fixed expression, they look like they’re having fun/enjoying themselves when they are often cruelly and continuously pranking.

Tinkerbell456 · 28/10/2019 19:26

I think it’s because you can’t see their face really. Facial expression is a big part of the way we communicate, and if you can’t really read that it’s disturbing. Masks, the same really. Clowns look like their smiling all the time but are They?