An eerie US trend reached Europe. Unknown in clown costumes threaten adults and children. For many this is not fun anymore.
. London It started in the United States: Scary clowns that put in public places passers in fear. Now spills the wave spreading to the UK. The police announced in recent days, more and more incidents in which, dressed as clowns strangers who were partly armed, children and adults intimidating and even hunted.
The police in the region Thames Valley west of London reported 14 incidents reported over the weekend. In the past week alone there were in the county Northumberland six cases in which so-called killer clowns jumped out of the bushes and frightened passers pursued. The most dramatic incident occurred in Durham when a masked man with a knife in his hand a group of eleven- and twelve-year old children threatened and pursued them to the school. Other sightings are reported from London, Manchester, Norwich and Sheffield.
Scary clip turned out to be advertising
“We believe that it is part of a much larger movement, propagates straight in the US and in parts of the United Kingdom that,” said Durham police Sergeant Mel Sutherland. Newspapers are already talking about a “Clownpocalypse”. The clown sightings are reported under headings such as “Clownsighting” on the Internet, divided – and find more imitators, even if many of the clown videos are provided.
Thus emerged a creepy clown clip, which was divided in the network 1.5 million, advertising for a Halloween party in Massachusetts. The Ghost Festival on October 31, many also explain the current invasion of the sinister jester: There is just horror season. But who is behind the phenomenon?
The police is serious about jester
Mostly bored teenagers, which is the game “Trick or treat” to harmless, think from coarser Pranks to elicit reactions to their environment. However, the antics get angry undertones when the alleged pranksters knives or batons perform with him. Or a hammer, as in an incident in Plymouth last weekend, as a disguise with red wig and baggy pants man threatened a passerby.
For people who suffer from the so-called COULROPHOBIA, it also does not matter whether the masks stuck pranksters or fiends. Such as Megan Bell, who has a morbid fear of clowns, and just ran a copy in Newcastle on the way. “I never ran so fast in my life,” she told the newspaper “Guardian”, “and I screamed and called for help, but no one was near.” Fortunately the clown left off after a short chase her.
As Shakespeare wrote of creepy clowns
Clowns are a really bring the laughs, but as a study by the University of Sheffield found out, you can find just kids scary. The fear of the unknown is behind it, if we can read no emotion at the rigid, thick painted facial features of a Clown Face.
In popular culture the clown has long played a role as a sinister figure. Starting with Shakespeare, clowns occur in the Hamlet gravedigger, to the most famous incarnation as the Joker in the Batman movies. Even horror writer Stephen King made his novel “It” of 1986, the laughter to scary number: His infanticide clown Pennywise is evil personified.
Scare people is the UK offense
British police in any case does not regard the attacks as a prank, but takes seriously the clowns. Perpetrators should expect arrests and an entry in the criminal record, warned Andy Boyd, chief superintendent in the Thames Valley. To frighten other people through these pranks, is unacceptable and also a punishable offense under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. The Chief Constable of Durham, Dale Check Field, made it clear on Twitter: “killer clowns are not cool and funny.” In the USA there already was a dozen arrests, for instance because clowns wore licensed weapons.
Even real clowns are anything but amused. Professional clown Justin Brodie described the US broadcaster CBS that he would again booed and insulted during performances, also his car was pelted with garbage.
Horror writer Stephen King is committed to Clowns
Ironically, Stephen King, who had contributed to his horror book significantly to loss of image of clowns, now jumps for them in the breach. “Hey guys, time to shut down the Clown hysteria something,” the US writer called on Facebook to. “Most of them are good and there to cheer children and people having fun on wide.”