# When and why did clowns become creepy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900 "2004-10-18T21:02:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/1 "2004-10-18T21:02:30Z")
“If it were funny, clowns wouldn’t be doing it” I’m paraphrasing Terry Pratchett from one of the Watch books (don’t remember which). And a little while ago, I saw a re-run of C.S.I. and there was that thing again. CLowns are creepy and kids don’t like them. Then there are [this,](http://www.clownz.com/) [this](http://www.scottsmind.com/evil_clown.html) and [this.](http://www.scaryornot.com/) The first time I think the evil clown was channeled was in Stephen King’s **It** with the truly creepy clown Pennywise. This was in '85, but King must have picked up on some undercurrent. Where did it start? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/2 "2004-10-18T21:15:23Z")
Clowns have [always](http://silentgents.com/Chaney/Chaney39.jpg) been terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/3 "2004-10-18T21:15:59Z")
They just _are_. **shiver** I have always hated clowns. They creep me out like nothing else except maybe spiders. I can’t imagine that this feeling is all too common. Otherwise, clowns wouldn’t be as popular as they seem to be, right? Most kids I know seem to love them. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/4 "2004-10-18T21:16:26Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > Where did it start? John Wayne Gayce? ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/5 "2004-10-18T21:17:48Z")
Yeah, thanks for the nightmare fodder, Eve. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/6 "2004-10-18T21:27:39Z")
> [@shamrock227](#): > > Most kids I know seem to love them. Most kids I know find them boring. But in pop culture, they’re scary, creepy and evil. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/7 "2004-10-18T21:32:05Z")
> [@shamrock227](#): > > They just _are_. **shiver** I have always hated clowns. They creep me out like nothing else except maybe spiders. > > I can’t imagine that this feeling is all too common. Otherwise, clowns wouldn’t be as popular as they seem to be, right? Most kids I know seem to love them. Most kids I know find them scary or boring; I don’t know many who find them genuinely entertaining; clowns doing magic tricks and making balloon animals at children’s parties are among the most threatening. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/8 "2004-10-18T21:38:06Z")
Mrs. Kunilou has been creeped out by clowns ever since she was little, so I assume that as long as there have been clowns, there have been kids creeped out by them. At least from the Baby Boomer era. I can remember 50’s TV shows that had the bad guys dressing up as clowns, and I’ll bet that part of the myth goes back a lot further. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/9 "2004-10-18T21:40:32Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > Where did it start? My theory, almost entirely unpolluted by facts or evidence is “Some time in the neolithic.” I’m pretty sure that we conceive of as a clown today is a direct descendent of something like [this.](http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/season4/vidcaps/78b_49.jpg) Much like fairy tales, clowns were never meant to amuse children. They were meant to terrify them into obedience. Modern ideas about childrearing have mostly neutered the old fairy tales into something more acceptable to contemporary propriety, but clowning has been more resistant. Let’s face it, no matter how much you lie to your kid about how clowns are safe and funny and whimsical, they’re still smart enough to recognize that there is something deeply disturbed about a grown person dressing up like [this.](http://www.gibsoncostume.com/costumes/clowns/_img/clowns.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/10 "2004-10-18T21:43:35Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Mrs. Kunilou has been creeped out by clowns ever since she was little, so I assume that as long as there have been clowns, there have been kids creeped out by them. At least from the Baby Boomer era. I can remember 50’s TV shows that had the bad guys dressing up as clowns, and I’ll bet that part of the myth goes back a lot further. Of course, for every Boomer who saw a TV show with a clown-villain, there were a million who saw Bozo the Clown. And Ronald McDonald. I tried this same thread a year or so ago; didn’t get much further, either. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/11 "2004-10-18T21:50:35Z")
It’s the makeup, particularly the stuff that makes them look like their mouths go from ear to ear. ::shudder:: ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/12 "2004-10-18T21:54:27Z")
When did clown first appear, then? The court jester? Commedia del’arte? Some time after that, the grease painted guy with the bucket of white wash and a pie turned up. Vaudeville? Was Victor Borge a clown? Marx Bros? Harpo certainly had some clownish feaures. And mimes? Does anyone like them? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/13 "2004-10-18T21:55:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > My theory, almost entirely unpolluted by facts or evidence is “Some time in the neolithic.” I’m pretty sure that we conceive of as a clown today is a direct descendent of something like [this.](http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/season4/vidcaps/78b_49.jpg) Man, Whoopi Goldberg has really let herself go! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/14 "2004-10-18T21:56:07Z")
I know what Miller was getting at, but I think **The First Slayer** was never meant to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/15 "2004-10-18T21:56:34Z")
**Auntie Pam** - “All the better to _eat you with_, my dear!” StG ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/16 "2004-10-18T21:59:11Z")
Sometimes a creepy clown can also be hilarious. [Case in point.](http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?display=/rednews/2001/03/08/build/breaking/0ronald.inc) Though Ronnie loved his “Happy Meals,” the resulting periods of depression eventually became too much to bear… ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/17 "2004-10-18T22:09:13Z")
I’ve never had a clown phobia but I remember when I first realized that not all clowns were like Bozo or Clarabell. It was _the Joker_ on Batman… an evil clown if there ever was one. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/18 "2004-10-18T22:18:30Z")
I remember reading something about children in medieval times who were kidnapped, tortured and disfigured by the kidnappers, and then sold to kings to be court jesters. Children’s mouths were often slashed ear to ear into giant, creepy smiles, leading to the image of the modern clown with the big red smile-mouth. Can anyone give a cite with more information? All I know is that’s a horrible story, and clowns ARE scary. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/19 "2004-10-18T22:22:25Z")
I remember reading something about children in medieval times who were kidnapped, tortured and disfigured by the kidnappers, and then sold to kings to be court jesters. Children’s mouths were often slashed ear to ear into giant, creepy smiles, leading to the image of the modern pale-faced clown with the big red smile-mouth. Can anyone give a cite with more information corroborating this horrible story that has haunted me for years? By the way, clowns ARE scary. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900/20 "2004-10-18T22:28:47Z")
As a young child I cried hysterically at the sight of actual human beings dressed as clowns (a fact my mother still has never ceased taunting with). I don’t know why I did it, but I remember doing it. Very strange. Ronald McDonald never creeped me out…it had to be a real person. Something about the face… Marionettes with human features had the same effect. I remember a puppet from Mexico my uncle had sent me, I wouldn’t sleep in the same room with it. I don’t do it anymore though, good thing. Wish I still had the puppet, it was pretty cool. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-why-did-clowns-become-creepy/269900.md?page=2)