# Clowns in woods try to lure children with money, residents say
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 31, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567 "2016-08-31T14:27:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/81 "2016-09-06T00:37:50Z")
> [@eschereal](#):
>
> No, they will quietly slip through Virginia and work their way up the coast to Connecticut. Some will appear in California and Colorado, pursuing the alliteration. Gods help us when they make it to Kentucky and Kansas.
And they’ll pronounce Arkansas with the emphasis on the second syllable so they can claim that. And God help Canada!
---
### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/82 "2016-09-06T15:01:27Z")
I am going to spend a week at our family mountain home deep \*in the woods \* near Asheville later this month. I hope this mess is cleared up by then.
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. And I will be stuck in the middle.
---
### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [September 6, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/83 "2016-09-06T21:28:24Z")
> [@Biotop](#):
>
> I am going to spend a week at our family mountain home deep \*in the woods \* near Asheville later this month. I hope this mess is cleared up by then.
>
> Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. And I will be stuck in the middle.
I live near Asheville and I can assure you there are no creepy clowns here. (_ **Yet** _.) And if my former clown co-worker\* has anything to say about it, there never will be. She is very :mad: about these weirdos giving clowns a bad name.\*\*
\*Seriously. Went to the Ringling Bros. Clown College and everything. That makes my college summer jobs all look lame. ☹
\*\*Yes, I know.
---
### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/84 "2016-09-07T00:25:16Z")
Clowns got college???
This is bad.
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/85 "2016-09-07T06:15:03Z")
Another day, [another clown](http://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/police-man-chases-clown-with-machete-near-greensboro-apartment-complex/article_1f17f97f-1983-5675-8125-04474afd04ec.html).
---
### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/86 "2016-09-07T19:35:09Z")
[And again (+ Bonus Bear)](http://www.wltx.com/news/local/police-possibly-clown-sighting-in-lexington/314549418)
And more…[This time the Clown had the machete](http://fox8.com/2016/09/07/three-more-creepy-clown-sightings-reported-in-north-carolina/)
[Yet more](http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/clown-sightings-reported-in-fayetteville-hope-mills-laurinburg/article_dc693b23-3935-50df-9eb4-4b4740653bc3.html)
We are now reaching clown epidemic numbers.
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/87 "2016-09-07T20:02:51Z")
Holy Crap. This has been going on for a while!
[Chicago Cemetery Clown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhgqBs90678)
[This one is FANTASTIC!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w53BeMtPwd0).
---
### Author:  [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/88 "2016-09-07T20:24:05Z")
From your link:
> [@](#):
>
> A woman reported a clown wielding a machete tried to lure her into the woods…
Pro tip: if you’re dressed as a clown and want to lure women into the woods, maybe keep the machete out of view.
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/89 "2016-09-07T20:52:28Z")
> [@TroutMan](#):
>
> From your link:
>
> Pro tip: if you’re dressed as a clown and want to lure women into the woods, maybe keep the machete out of view.
As a woman, I’d be much more likely to follow a machete-wielding maniac into the woods than a clown.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/90 "2016-09-07T23:28:13Z")
> [@Catamount](#):
>
> As a woman, I’d be much more likely to follow a machete-wielding maniac into the woods than a clown.
Indeed?
Why so?
Well, of course, I should ask, “Why follow anyone you do not want to be alone with into the woods?”
I should think that clowns, machete wielding maniacs, Cub Scouts, and used car salesmen would be equally unlikely to be followed into the woods.
---
### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/91 "2016-09-07T23:37:55Z")
> [@Biotop](#):
>
> Police were looking for several clowns supposedly spotted in the area yesterday, but the only vehicle they saw nearby was a extra-small compact speeding away, and all those clowns couldn’t have been in that one car.
Maybe the rest took off in a Lincoln Clown Car.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/92 "2016-09-07T23:43:07Z")
> [@TBG](#):
>
> Maybe the rest took off in a Lincoln Clown Car.
Speak to your Physician or a Man of the Cloth.
Admitting that you have a problem is the first step.
Get help!
---
### Author:  [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/93 "2016-09-07T23:57:26Z")
> [@Biotop](#):
>
> [Clowns now in North Carolina](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/winston-salem-police-increase-patrols-clown-sightings-41875320).
>
> They are migrating north. Someone stop the clowns before they get to Virginia!
I have lots of friends and family in Winston-Salem. One of my friends just posted a long anti-clown rant - her teenaged daughter won’t go outside to check the mail or take out the trash because she’s afraid of clowns. I don’t know if something happened or if she’s just afraid because of the stories or if she just finds it a convenient excuse for not taking out the trash.
So if you plan on dressing up like a clown and getting near my friend Patsy, YOU WILL GET SUCKER PUNCHED! Hard! And the crazy will be unleashed! Consider yourself warned.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/94 "2016-09-08T00:16:18Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#):
>
> I have lots of friends and family in Winston-Salem. One of my friends just posted a long anti-clown rant - her teenaged daughter won’t go outside to check the mail or take out the trash because she’s afraid of clowns. I don’t know if something happened or if she’s just afraid because of the stories or if she just finds it a convenient excuse for not taking out the trash.
>
> So if you plan on dressing up like a clown and getting near my friend Patsy, YOU WILL GET SUCKER PUNCHED! Hard! And the crazy will be unleashed! Consider yourself warned.
Sounds like they are screwed.
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### Author:  [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/95 "2016-09-08T00:39:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> Speak to your Physician or a Man of the Cloth.
> Admitting that you have a problem is the first step.
> Get help!
Try repeating this over and over:
> [@](#):
>
> He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
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### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/96 "2016-09-08T01:14:24Z")
> [@Wolf333](#):
>
> Unless they were terrible.
… Or ninjas
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/97 "2016-09-08T16:40:31Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> For those who didn’t see this when I first posted it. These are very likely pranks (stupid dangerous pranks).
After watching several of those videos with a sick fascination, I believe they have to be faked. I would think such pranksters, if real, would soon prank the wrong person and find themselves in the hospital or morgue. Did you watch the videos by the same people, [but with a creepy screaming kid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0ODOSyg4s)instead of clowns? I tried to show the clips to my wife and she was, to say the least, not amused.
Oh, and today’s new vocabulary word is [Coulrophobia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulrophobia)
---
### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/98 "2016-09-08T20:30:05Z")
> [@Biotop](#):
>
> After watching several of those videos with a sick fascination, I believe they have to be faked. I would think such pranksters, if real, would soon prank the wrong person and find themselves in the hospital or morgue. Did you watch the videos by the same people, [but with a creepy screaming kid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0ODOSyg4s)instead of clowns? I tried to show the clips to my wife and she was, to say the least, not amused.
>
> Oh, and today’s new vocabulary word is [Coulrophobia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulrophobia)
The thought definitely crossed my mind. One guy who posted a number of those videos has a link to where you can buy the scary clown masks and costumes, so it’s very possible he faked the videos to make some money.
That said, all of the news reports make me think that others who’ve seen the videos may have stupidly decided to do it for real.
---
### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/99 "2016-09-08T20:45:02Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> The thought definitely crossed my mind. One guy who posted a number of those videos has a link to where you can buy the scary clown masks and costumes, so it’s very possible he faked the videos to make some money.
>
> That said, all of the news reports make me think that others who’ve seen the videos may have stupidly decided to do it for real.
Right. And someone could get hurt.
Everyday, life just gets to be weirder and harder to understand.
---
### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/100 "2016-09-08T21:25:51Z")
> [@Biotop](#):
>
> After watching several of those videos with a sick fascination, I believe they have to be faked.…
Perhaps they are trying to attract attention to their new indy film, _The Blair Clown Project_?
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