The creepy clown craze is showing no signs of slowing down, and with Halloween around the corner, it's expected to become worse as reports of a "purge night" have started making rounds online.
Dressed in clown costumes, nefarious individuals have been terrorizing innocent pedestrians — both children and adults alike — harassing, assaulting, chasing and even going as far as threatening to kill them and luring kids to the woods.
Origin And Spread Of The Craze
Sightings of these "killer clowns" started back in August in Greenville, South Carolina. Not soon after, the bizarre trend went beyond the United States, reaching other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Killer Clown Purge Night Before Halloween
On Oct. 12, Facebook Page Clown Hunters posted a warning, starting the rumors about the purge night happening right before Halloween.
"WARNING clowns are allegedly planning their own purge the night before Halloween. Stay inside, keep all pets inside and keep all doors and windows locked. Share this post with your family and friends!" it said.
Snopes.com deemed them as false, and there haven't been any concrete reports of the purge night being true. However, that doesn't mean they don't cause problems.
"Clown Threats"
According to WCPO, Sheriff Josh Neale of Gallatin County has issued a warning that anyone who makes these "clown threats" may face charges of "inducing panic and terroristic threatening."
In light of the event, the government official has alerted the FBI and Homeland Security because of the potential threat, Morning News USA reports.
Clown Costume This Halloween Is A Bad Choice
This Halloween, it's probably a terrible idea to go as a clown because of the craze, as people may be wary of those who do and report them to authorities even though they didn't do anything wrong.
Back in September, Kentucky police arrested a 20-year-old who was wearing a "full clown costume" and lurking in the woods near an apartment complex in the state.
"Dressing as a clown and driving, walking or standing in public can create a dangerous situation for you and others," the Barbourville Police Department said.
McDonald's Mascot Ronald Goes Into Hiding, Target Pulls Clown Costumes
In other related news, Fortune said that McDonald's is benching its iconic mascot Ronald until the clown sightings blow over.
"McDonald's and franchisees in the local markets are mindful of the current climate around clown sightings in communities and as such are being thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald's participation in community events for the time being," a spokesperson of the fast-food chain told the news outlet via email.
More than that, the New York Post reported earlier this month that Target is taking clown costumes off the shelves presumably to reduce the number of people who intends to join the craze, following McDonald's decision to pull Ronald from the scene.
"Given the current environment, we have made the decision to remove a variety of clown masks from our assortment, both in stores and online," the retailer explained.
More Victims: Professional Clowns
Aside from innocent passersby, professional clowns are also victims of this craze, as not only are their livelihood negatively affected by it but also their safety.
"This is nothing to do with clowning, it's to do with people hijacking a costume and for some sinister reason trying to scare people," Rob Bowker, Clowns International spokesperson, told The Guardian.
Stephen King And It
Stephen King's It is widely believed to be the inspiration of the craze, as the main antagonist of the story is a clown called Pennywise.
In an attempt to ease the tension brought by the unusual trend, the novelist took things over to Twitter.
Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria--most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 3, 2016
To boil things down, it's unclear whether or not this killer clown purge night will really happen, but everyone's still advised to exercise caution this Halloween, especially for parents who are going to let their children go trick-or-treating this year.
