SC - Clowns spotted trying to lure kids into South Carolina woods

[Caffeine]

For some reason I keep thinking this is some obscure viral marketing for the new remake of Stephen King's "It"....

 

[CocoChanel]

For some reason I keep thinking this is some obscure viral marketing for the new remake of Stephen King's "It"....

I know, right?!?
It certainly would not be the first or unfortunately the last time the public was duped for the sake of publicity.
Everyone wants to go viral.
Just 5 years ago we would not have used that phrase unless we were referring to an illness.
Well, now that I think about it, it still might apply. If it's it's a hoax, it certainly is sick.

 

[wfgodot]

Meanwhile in Bad Clown Land....

Daily Mail: Ohio schoolboy is chased by a man wearing a clown mask armed with a knife

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

http://www.ihateclowns.com/home/

There are people in this world who dress up and act like clowns; I don’t like these people.

I am not clownophobic (or to be politically /scientifically correct, coulrophobic). I do not fear clowns. Really. I don’t. They are just not nice people. They scare little kids, they cause neurosis in some adults, they have big floppy feet, they try to fit too many of their kind in a car, I could go on and on.

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[wfgodot]

 

[tlcya]

For some reason I keep thinking this is some obscure viral marketing for the new remake of Stephen King's "It"....

Interesting thought. Or a group of individuals who are trying to create an urban legend? Slenderman started as stories online if I remember and a whole mythology sprung up around the character.

I have been terrified of clowns since the original IT novel and clowns I think speak to a very visceral instinctive part of our brains. Especially ones who appear out of context in a normal everyday setting all unexpected like.

 

[charminglane]

And mimes. Not fond of them, either.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

And mimes. Not fond of them, either.

OMG! Hate mimes!

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[GeeEm]

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is MOVING with teeth!

I won't sleep tonight wfgodot, that is just not right! **shudder**

 

[Caffeine]

Have there been any updates lately about this? I swear in one article I read there was a report of shoots fired at the clowns, haha.

 

[GeeEm]

And mimes. Not fond of them, either.

Believe it or not, mimes do not frighten me.

I had a hilarious experience with a mime in Hawaii, several on the streets in Honolulu, I kept my eye on this particular one, no one could get him to move or anything. Well, you would have to know me, to laugh you butt off, however, I ended up dancing on the sidewalk with the cowboy mime!!! LOLOLOL, I still laugh about that, along with my family, only me, lol.

ETA: I can't tell you how many people stopped to watch that event LOL near wet my pants I was laughing so hard!

Now clowns?? Forget that, mortified of them!

 

[wfgodot]

Have there been any updates lately about this? I swear in one article I read there was a report of shoots fired at the clowns, haha.

No shots fired that I've heard, though the real possibility of such convinces me, as does the location, that this is not an exercise in viral marketing -- though if this were the case it would more likely be for the Rob Zombie film ('31') than for the more mainstream, higher budget Stephen King ('It') remake.

Also good: What the hell is going on? ‘Creepy clown’ panic spreads from South Carolina to Ohio

 

[Caffeine]

Yeah, this would be pretty radical and reckless for the sake of "going viral"...however, a good ol' sick prank could be a possibility.

I'll have to double check about the shoots fired, if I recall my wife was reading an article that mentioned it. Wouldn't surprise me, if true.

 

[charminglane]

Even though the clowns are flashing the cash ---- no one is going for it!

 

[cuffem]

Not sure if it has been mentioned but this might have something to do with Rob Zombie's movie 31 coming out.It is guerilla marketing.

 

[Armchair-reader]

It's the beginning of things to come. Something ugly has been unleashed. First it's the clowns standing around loitering under street lights with blinking noses and riding bicycles with their big floppy feet hanging over the pedals. Next we will find those creepy a** porcelain dolls found in the spare bedrooms at every Nanas house across the globe. With their frilly dresses, long curls and those giant glass eyes that follow you whenever you walk through the room. They will be out full force in communities just sitting .....just looking at ya.

 

[anonypotomous]

I don't understand why so many people are afraid of clowns. I used to think it was a "phobia of the week" that just caught on, and people just started agreeing, saying "oh, me too! I'm afraid of clowns too!" - because I couldn't imagine people actually being frightened. But it must be true. Is it the makeup? I'm curious.


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[CSIDreamer]

I don't understand why so many people are afraid of clowns. I used to think it was a "phobia of the week" that just caught on, and people just started agreeing, saying "oh, me too! I'm afraid of clowns too!" - because I couldn't imagine people actually being frightened. But it must be true. Is it the makeup? I'm curious.


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My adult daughter has *always* been terrified of clowns and anyone in character costume, including Santa Claus. She says you have no real idea who is inside those costumes or behind the makeup.

 

[dotr]

The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary

You aren’t alone in your fear of makeup-clad entertainers; people have been frightened by clowns for centuries

rbbm.

Clowns had a sort of heyday in America with the television age and children’s entertainers like Clarabell the Clown, Howdy Doody’s silent partner, and Bozo the Clown. Bozo, by the mid-1960s, was the beloved host of a hugely popular, internationally syndicated children’s show – there was a 10-year wait for tickets to his show. In 1963, McDonald’s brought out Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown, who’s been a brand ambassador ever since (although heavy is the head that wears the red wig – in 2011, health activists claimed that he, like Joe Camel did for smoking, was promoting an unhealthy lifestyle for children; McDonald’s didn’t ditch Ronald, but he has been seen playing a lot more soccer).

But this heyday also heralded a real change in what a clown was. Before the early 20th century, there was little expectation that clowns had to be an entirely unadulterated symbol of fun, frivolity, and happiness; pantomime clowns, for example, were characters who had more adult-oriented story lines. But clowns were now almost solely children’s entertainment. Once their made-up persona became more associated with children, and therefore an expectation of innocence, it made whatever the make-up might conceal all the more frightening—creating a tremendous mine for artists, filmmakers, writers and creators of popular culture to gleefully exploit to terrifying effect. Says Stott, “Where there is mystery, it’s supposed there must be evil, so we think, ‘What are you hiding?’”
Most clowns aren’t hiding anything, except maybe a bunch of fake flowers or a balloon animal. But again, just as in Grimaldi and Deburau’s day, it was what a real-life clown was concealing that tipped the public perception of clowns. Because this time, rather than a tragic or even troubled figure under the slap and motley, there was something much darker lurking.
Even as Bozo was cavorting on sets across America, a more sinister clown was plying his craft across the Midwest. John Wayne Gacy’s public face was a friendly, hard-working guy; he was also a registered clown who entertained at community events under the name Pogo. But between 1972 and 1978, he sexually assaulted and killed more than 35 young men in the Chicago area. “You know… clowns can get away with murder,” he told investigating officers, before his arrest.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-...wns-being-scary-20394516/#1JsEQJX4fVTDy2yZ.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

 

[AliceInPain]

1. Clowns have rights too.
This sounds so stupid but seriously, you can wear whatever, from burkas to bathing suits, but dress up as a clown and it's suddenly a crime. ?

2. In response to a poster claiming clowns may have been shot at. I have followed this story and I haven't heard that.
There were however reports of 2 clowns being chased out of a playground by a group of small children. Photographic evidence of broken fence exists.
No idea if there is any relation to the Greenville sightings, but so funny. (These kids were SMALL)

3. Most posts here crack me up.

There is a word for when something bad happened, and it didn't actually happen?
Like "mass psychosis", but not those words.... ?