Why do clowns scare some people?

Because we expect them to act like Pennywise. He seems like a normal clown,

I truely don't know but I'm scared as well... I'm also very terrified of dolls! Maybe because they look like dead people?

What happened to people that are scared of clowns?

Were they traumatized as some point in their lives?

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

Clowns don't scare me if I am somewhere you would expect to see a clown. But if I just saw one standing in my front yard, or crouched on my roof it would freak me out.

This is why:



[link to www.youtube.com]

people are scared of clowns because it's cliché

b/c they saw the movie Poltergeist

i saw that as a kid and it F'd me up

The first time you ever met a clown was probably at the circus, or a birthday party or as a friendly puppet... those aren't scary places and yet somehow... later on... there can be fear... maybe it's because clowns are invasive? They violate your personal space? Maybe it's just that smile or frown... that pasted on smirk or pout, that no matter how dire the circumstances... it's emotion never changes

or maybe... sewers... okay... I never saw that pennnnyywise before... excuse me... I have to find Xanax

There are a number of theories as to why a number of people find clowns scary. One common theory involves a connection between the presence of clowns and a personal trauma suffered during early childhood. For a young child, a circus can create a sensory overload with all of its unusual sights, sounds and smells. When professional clowns begin their routines, a child can easily become overwhelmed by the surreality of it all. Heavy makeup, colorful costumes and over sized prosthetics all help to mask the true emotions and intentions of the performers, which can become very unnerving to a child.

There is also the concept of what role clowns play in society. According to the established "rules," children have the right to behave as children and adults have the responsibility to act like adults. Some people find clowns scary because they are permitted, even encouraged, to become adults acting like children. If clowns are not restricted by the same social norms as their audience, they could be capable of doing other things besides entertaining crowds. Subconscious fears of molestation by a masked or disguised attacker may be one reason some people find clowns scary.

Clowns are often portrayed as emotionally unstable or even psychotic in many forms of media. The idea of a "killer clown" has been used in horror films and novels for decades. Photos of serial killer John Wayne Gacy as a clown have been published numerous times. Clowns are also portrayed as emotionally conflicted, projecting a false impression of happiness to their audiences while hiding great personal pain. These images may instill a sense of dread or fear in impressionable children, which in turn could lead to coulrophobia later in life.

Not all people find clowns scary, but they do consider them to be annoying or unfunny. Much of a clown's humor is meant to be broad and physical, complete with pratfalls and pies in the face. The interaction with audience members, which often involve acts of humiliation, could be another reason some people find clowns scary. Feeling humiliated or ridiculed in public can be a very traumatic experience for some people, even if the performer's actions were done in the name of comedy. Many audience members dread the idea of becoming part of the act, so the association of public mockery and clowns could leave a long-lasting scar on a person's psyche.

There are actual treatment centers which specialize in treating coulrophobia and other unusual social phobias. Treatment usually involves intensive personal counseling or psychotherapy, along with group therapy and a supervised desensitization program involving real clowns. True sufferers of coulrophobia often experience the same social anxieties as agoraphobics, remaining indoors rather than risk an incidental encounter with a clown or seeing images of clowns in public areas.

I think I was sexually molested by a gay clown once after that I was never the same

this was at the age of 7 at a circus

Let's see grown men wearing excessive amounts of make up...hmmm

so there might be people suffering from coulrophobia that are afraid to even post on this thread!!!

I wonder if some might feel compelled (even though they're afraid) to want to click on the title?

Because it's an adult guy that isn't identifiable that wants to hang around kids. I worked with a perv, he made balloons for kids, and was a clown on weekends. Sure enough, child molester...

His mom was some higher up at the company, Medco. He got out of training and got the best schedule everyone else had to wait months or years for, and they let him come back after jail but he quit from the ostracizing.. Asshole.

maybe he is the one that sexually molested me

Ronald McDonald... talk about a permanent fixture in the psyche of the world

why are people scared of clowns?
well.. they seem to want all the world to be islamic and to treat women like sh....


oh.. other clowns then sorry


right.. sorry where was I

ahh yes

ok say your on your computer blissfully catching up on the worlds doom, sipping your morning coffee as the sun shines through the window blind slits

you pull the strings to rotate the blinds and see the outside beautiful morning




and theres a clown, standing there.. blue, yellow, red hair... white face.. red nose.. big smile.. baggy pants

its eyes look soulless and cold, it looks at you motionless then turns and walks out of your side gate off into the distance

are you telling me when that happens its all apples mate?

BECAUSE IT ISNT!

makes you wonder what goes through a clowns mind... besides homicide

and anal rape

why would someone want to be a clown? Is is like a legacy profession... like father clowns pass on the red nose and squirting flower to their sons and their sons sons?

my 11 year old daughter has JUST developed this phobia

i'm baffled

it has come out of nowhere

also, she has a phobia about scary dolls. we were talking about Chucky one day, so i got this picture up from google..

[link to indiequill.files.wordpress.com]

and she screamed and started crying her eyes out.

honestly, she never used to be like this. she'd look at things like that and laugh, but now, i dunno.

i'm baffled, honestly.

ive always been afriad of a van full of clowns kidnapping and raping me.

The infamous gay pedo murderer, John Wayne Gacy (why do they always have 3 names?) was a clownster.

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

I wonder if clowns have a secret society?

i think that sounds about right

PENNYWISE HORROR!!!

ehow: How to Overcome Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns)

Do you think clowns are cute and funny? Do you laugh at their red noses, puffy hair and floppy shoes and comical antics? Or do these colorful characters seem menacing and strange, inducing more fear than mirth? Many adults and children suffer from coulorophobia (fear of clowns), but fortunately, it is a treatable condition.

[link to www.ehow.com]