Coulrophobia: Fear of Clowns

Coulrophobia

I think the fear of clowns derives from the complex social fear of the unknown, being tricked, being fooled, preying on the innocent and the evil clown archetype that Hollywood has fed for years.  The elongated grin, the personality of the crazy Joker, the mental bamboozling of mixing pain and pleasure, fear and happiness, innocent jokes with cruelty.  Even further, Coulrophobia is more common in those born in the 80's thanks to the author and continued remakes of the famous story, IT. 

Aversions, specific scenarios and scenes that stuck deep in our minds, being replayed in our nightmares, and tickled each Halloween with gruesome images of terrifying clowns.  I remember specifically the EDGE OF HELL haunted warehouse in down Kansas City, MO. where a man with a chainsaw comes running after you at the end.  I freaked out, slid flesh down in the gravel at night, clambering over strangers to run away from this man paid to scare the shit out of me.  I remember as a child my dad trimming the branches, hanging over the old Mimosa tree with a heavy chainsaw. The branch broke and my dad, the ladder, the branch and the chainsaw all fell. He screamed at me to run and I didn't know which direction to go.  As a teenager at this haunted house, I was back in my childhood nightmare, and a specific aversion of fear was born. 

I read IT as a child and skimmed through the movie too.  Luckily I was desensitized by my older sister who had a love of horror movies. I was being haunted by Hitchcock, Tales from the Crypt and Nightmare on Elm street and the bloody noses and make-up didn't strike any fear in me. I, instead, took great pride in playing the role of scary Harley Quinn for a few Halloweens and loved to dance around in this strange psychological purgatory; a place of happiness and fear. 

Is it the choice of victim, the idea that clowns prey on children that amps their evil?

The idea of being a different character, having many personalities... evolves to 'crazy' in the mind. Unpredictable...

Is it the developmental retardation that we question? What adult would 'pretend' to be childlike if they weren't stopped in their tracks by some trauma? Freud and other psychologists suggest the stage is important... The pretending.

Today is the National Day of Clowns and therefore the image might pop up on a Meme or your Google algorithm will notice the trend and the hashtag might appear on your Timeline. If you know your heart skips a beat when the image of a scary clown pops up, if you're already having palpitations having read this far... ask yourself why? 

Psychology teaches that humans are only born with two innate fears and then fear breaks down from intrinsic to extrinsic motivations/fears.  We all are born with the innate fear of falling and of loud noises; babies will shutter and cry across cultures at the bang of a loud bat by their head.  Most all of us humans also have a biological, intrinsic fear of poisonous predators but our perceptions are so muddled by popular culture it is hard to say for sure universally.  However, knowing a person's fear is knowing a unique vulnerability to their mental state and therefore I would encourage you to explore your own fears and those fears of your loved ones. 

To learn more about The Fear of Clowns, check out my article at Ghost Village!