Are Killer Clowns Real

Are Killer Clowns Real ?

Do killer clowns exist ? Are there any true stories related to these clowns? Can reality exceed fiction? Between humor, make-up and drama, clowns from all over the world are the talk of the town, but not only… 🤡

Whether you’re a fanatic for scary clowns, dark stories, or using chainsaws for unusual acts… be welcome to Rebel Skull!

Today we’re going to highlight some colorful characters who don’t just make the headlines when it comes to making kids laugh. Because indeed, the red-nosed character born in circuses to act silly has evolved well, to be today one of the most terrifying symbols… 😵

In this article you will discover, among other things, the true stories of killer clowns. How the image of this character at the base childish has been transformed. Why and how he is regularly found in movies with the role of the villain. And how humor sometimes turns to drama very quickly. Ready to be amazed? Let’s go!

clown mask

John Wayne Gacy

We can only start our article by talking about this man. Why? We explain it all to you:

John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, USA. He is one of the biggest serial killers in the whole American history. He murdered 33 boys (minors) and young men (adults) in the 1970s. And by now you should have an idea of why we are talking about him in this article: The Chicago community and the suburb where he lived were rather shocked to learn that this man quoted as sociable and kind had a bit of a passion… For one of the things he was known for was performing as a clown at charity events and children’s parties… 🧐

Gacy was born into a blue-collar family and seems to have had a fairly ordinary childhood. But he showed a growing tendency toward sadism, which led to several encounters with the law in the 1960s. In 1968, after his conviction for sexually assaulting a teenager, he was incarcerated in the Iowa State Reformatory for Men and required a psychological evaluation. After his release in 1970 and while still on parole, he was again arrested for sexual assault, but the charges were later dropped. Gacy then became a fairly successful independent contractor and bought a house in the Chicago suburbs.

John Wayne Gacy

In 1978, after one of Gacy’s victims (Robert Piest) was reported missing, police learned that the man was the last known person to have seen him. After obtaining a search warrant, police discovered the bodies of 29 boys and young men in or near Gacy’s home. Four more bodies were found in the nearby river. Indeed, the area of the house had been smelling foul for years… 🤢

According to newspapers at the time, the murderer was telling his guests and wife that the smell was the result of moisture build-up. At his trial, Gacy pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. This was confirmed by the testimony of several psychologists who diagnosed him with schizophrenia. The jury found him guilty of the 33 murders he was accused of and he was executed by lethal injection in 1994.

John Wayne Gacy has thus remained as the ultimate emblem of all evil killer clowns. His disguise combined with his makeup to entertain young children during the day and the horrible character with bloody hands went around the world. The nickname of “killer clown” fits him perfectly. His stage name was Pogo the Clown. 🩸

American Killer Clown

The Clowns of 2016 : Big Panic

Surely you remember this event that invaded the media: television and especially social networks… It all started in the UK on Friday, September 30, 2016. Newcastle police received calls reporting a person dressed as a “scary clown” jumping out of bushes to scare children. 😩

Over the next few days, about 10 such incidents were reported. A teenage clown was arrested in possession of a “sharp knife.” By October 5, there was talk everywhere of “terrifying clown madness.” And so the clowns made the news… The first named victim was Megan Bell, a 17-year-old student who had “always been afraid of clowns” and was chased down the street by a clown at night. Soon, other people in disguise began to appear: in Wales, the United States, France, in short, all over the world.

Concerned parents created Facebook pages about clowns, inadvertently contributing to the spread of the phenomenon. Some observers have knowingly spoken of a classic “social panic,” since only a few incidents involving clowns have resulted in actual physical attacks.

The Killer Clown Reality…

However, a few weeks later, in the United States, people with much worse intentions surfaced and clearly turned from jokes to drama. People dressed as clowns (often young people) popped up in frightening fashion all over the country. There was speculation that this was all a publicity stunt for the upcoming release of a movie version of Stephen King’s horror novel “It,” which features a famous and sinister clown named Pennywise. 👿

But far from a marketing stunt, the following clowns began terrorizing children and sometimes attacking people (often at night). In Pennsylvania, a teenager was murdered by someone wearing a clown mask. Police later reported that the murderer placed the mask on his victim’s face before leaving the scene. Two weeks later, a clown stabbed a teenager in Varberg, Sweden. Terrifying clowns were everywhere. There were many terms used to describe this phenomenon at the time: “the great clown panic”, “the clown awakening”, “the clown invasion”, or “the clown craze”.

clown face mask

Evil Clowns

In culture, clowns have never been really funny. Fans of novels will obviously cite Pennywise. Comic book fans will think of Batman’s antagonist, the Joker. Anti-capitalist activists will probably point to Ronald McDonald. And many other artists have not hesitated to ride the wave of passion for this character. Films about killer clowns form endless queues in front of cinemas.

Thus the image of the evil clown is rooted in a very sordid reality. David Wilson, a professor of criminology at the University of Birmingham, gives an annual lecture on the subject. 🧐

He announces, “We have a brand new module that I teach in my final year on serial murder. I show the students some images of killer clowns. And these stories are seriously starting to pile up. The first in this long chapter is obviously that of John Wayne Gacy. And I hope with all my heart that this “fashion” of wearing makeup to kill will not happen again in the future.”

Pennywise Clown

Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns)

The fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia. It’s a fear that grows with each passing year. And it’s understandable when you consider the number of sordid stories linked to these colorful characters.

“Clowns deliberately exaggerate facial features by covering them with paint to make them less human,” says writer Paillardet (author of the book Bad Clowns). “When a young child is learning about the world, having exaggerated features is incredibly disturbing. Of course, clown behavior is supposed to be funny, but you still find a large portion of children naturally afraid of clowns.” 😫

And even when we are adult enough to understand what fictional characters are, many people keep that childhood angst with them to sometimes find themselves to the point of being terrified of such a character. And it is quite understandable that Coulrophobia is gaining ground all over the world when you know a story like the one about Gacy, the 33 boys killer in the 70s.

Aaron Balick, a psychotherapist and author, suggests that strong feelings about clowns that we half-remember from childhood contribute to the dual virality of the current phenomenon. The virality of stories about clowns, and the virality of the idea that one can dress up as a clown to scare people. By ‘contagion’ psychologists mean the spread of an idea, a feeling or a behavior within a group,” he explains. And today, social networks allow movements (good and bad) to spread like never before. 📱

The idea of the scary clown fits this pattern perfectly. This mix of feelings via social networks leads to contagion by spreading the idea of participating in an event. And even though only a small percentage of people get into the idea of scaring people on the street by being dressed up as a clown, we still see the phenomenon grow to a large number of incidents.

Nasty clown

Origin of the Phenomenon

Any type of mask is scary. The idea of terrifying people by wearing a disguise and/or a mask was not born yesterday. Before clowns, bank robbers wore balaclavas (or masks). Fans of the movie Point Break will remember that the gang that Keanu Reeves infiltrated is called the Ex-Presidents. They rob banks while wearing rubber masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon and LBJ. 👺

They almost look like real faces, but not quite. This is known in psychology as the “uncanny valley” effect. As Tom Stafford, senior lecturer in psychology and cognitive science at the University of Sheffield, explains, “There is something particularly disturbing about something that is almost real but is not.” We know, for example, that the clown is only a fictional character. But we find it hard to detach ourselves from this painted face and return to a state of consciousness that reminds us that we are simply facing a person in disguise.

Moreover, hiding one’s face is often perceived as a threat multiplier. Because ultimately, we judge people by looking at their faces. And clowns, by hiding their faces, give us no access to their person. This is where the fear of clowns, and therefore coulrophobia, comes from.

terrifying clown

The News about Scary Clowns

The creepy clown thus embodies the broader cultural flaws of our time. Should we forbid people to wear masks, for example? This brings to mind the controversies of the last few years, especially the one about women wearing the burqa and thus keeping their faces covered in public. Remember also that the clown is a grown man trying to curry favor with young children. Some measure of pedophilic anxiety sometimes comes into play… 🧐

And the way the clown craze has spread is also problematic. In some ways, it’s what’s known as “radicalization” on the internet. The fact that young people (who are rather suggestible) find the idea cool and identify with the movement, until they act on it. And this is supported by the power of the networks which leads the movement to spread on a large scale, and especially at high speed.

Scary clown

Halloween and Killer Clowns

It has been noticed for some years that the red noses are becoming more and more numerous at the death festival. Halloween has an infinite number of characters. But one of them is never missing from a group of friends celebrating October 31, and you guessed it, it’s the Killer Clown! 🔪

Here, we find the fictional and festive side of the holiday of the dead. If you want to celebrate pumpkins the right way, then arm yourself with your evil clown sweatshirt and spread terror throughout the neighborhood! Just click on the image below to get yours.

killer clown face mask

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