Horrormovies have all sorts of different characters that jump out at us and leave us hiding behind our cushions, from creepy kids to dolls with a life of their own. In the past few decades, creepy clowns have become a character type in horror movies and television shows that are consistently terrifying and fit quite well into the horror genre. Even without the chilling storyline of ahorror movie, the shocking twists, or theunexpected jump scares, clowns alone have become a fairly common fear, especially in young children. Is this because of their increasingly popular association with horror movies?
While we used to associate clowns with funny makeup, jokes and children’s entertainment, they have now taken on a darker and, in most cinematic cases, murderous disposition; from the scaryclown panic of 2016to theITfranchise and the recent filmThe Black Phone, clowns have gotten dark. So how did clowns find their role in horror movies, and what makes them go together so well to create a sinister atmosphere and generate such a deep fear within us?
Where Did Clowns Come From?
Coulrophobia is the extreme or irrational fear of clowns, but how did this fear become so popular? While most clowns are trying to be innocent, silly, and fun, nowadays, most children actually don’t like clowns and find them weird. Yet, clowns were originally joyous and jolly characters—pranksters, jesters, jokers, and tricksters—which have been around for centuries and were important figures incultural history.
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They typically appeared in most cultures long before the dawn of TV, and were used to serve as entertainment, even making Egyptian pharaohs laugh. Ancient Rome’s version of a clown was a stock fool called the stupidus, and in the 18th and 19th centuries, the clown figure of Western Europe became the pantomime clown. Not long after, they began to appear at children’s birthday parties. All these versions of clown were made to be fun or the butt of jokes, and the ultimate goal was to make people laugh, so where did it take this modern horrifying turn?
Well, clowns are silly and mischievous—and mischief can easily be dark. The clown’s manic behavior and urge to cause mischief (and their love and joy for causing it) can easily be associated with chaos, which can be seen with the Joker fromBatman, the ultimate association of the clown archetype with chaos itself. Furthermore, the clown has recently become synonymous with malice and murder, which is exactly what has happened in the horror genre.
Clown Mischief Turns To Murder
Clowns have now become a common theme in horror movies, which makes sense if one considers that horror often stems from childhood memories turning dark; primal fear is tapped into and becomes scariest when it resonates with childhood terror.Possessed creepy dollsand haunted childhood homes, for example, are both easily twisted from an innocent memory into something that is capable of creating absolute terror.
So, the clowns that we might remember from the circus, or our birthday party, or the stories we hear about them being jolly and making balloons into funny shapes, or even from McDonald’s, have now been re-written and turned to something that will scare us. However, is the fact that they’re supposed to be happy and fun even scarier? Sometimes, jarring incongruity creates the best horror, as the things which should feel safe and fun are turned into terror (something seen in the many Christmas horror movies, the aforementioned dolls, the animatronic horror ofFive Nights at Freddy’s, and so on). Clowns are typically, large, clumsy, and always smiling or laughing—imagine that chasing you with a chainsaw; it’s terrifying.
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When clowns are portrayed in horror, they act as essentially the opposite of what they are supposed to be. For example, Pennywise fromITprays on children; kids are supposed to love clowns and their relationship is supposed to be fun and lighthearted, but when they become dark and disturbing instead, it’s no wonderpeople start freaking out. The stereotypical clown personality is one that we would not expect to be a raging lunatic, therefore creating the perfect horror movie villain. The large physique can add to the terror that the main character would feel as they are being chased, and the smiley, chuckling clumsiness is just downright freaky. This can be seen beyondITin a wide variety ofscary clown moviesand series (Stitches, Carnival of Souls, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Rob Zombie movies,American Horror Story, and more).
John Wayne Gacy and the Horror of Clowns
The appearance of clowns in real life and on the big screen alone can be terrifying, especially when exaggerated. What lies behind that bright white skin? Why is the smile painted on so large? The features that we recognize have been amplified, and they appear almost human, but not quite. They essentially blur the lines between human and demon, as the makeup can distort their features. The reason we might feel scared they mightunleash a creepy killer clownis that, behind the makeup, you can’t tell who the clowns are or what they’re feeling. That’s part of what makes Ethan Hawke’s performance soscary inThe Black Phone, he perpetually hides his face, whether through thick clown-like face paint or terrifying masks.
For example,serial killer John Wayne Gacywas a beloved children’s entertainer, but soon became known as the Killer Clown. Something seemed incredibly but horribly appropriate about a serial killer disguised as a clown (something echoed inThe Black Phone). Children are incredibly vulnerable, and clowns are endlessly associated with children, so we get scared when they become unpredictable. It is said that we only tend to feel scared when we’re confronted with the uncertainty of the threat; as such, part of what makes clowns so scary and us so vulnerable to them is that their behavior can be so unpredictable, which is why they work so well in horror.
Perhaps clowns do not deserve the horror they are now receiving, but maybe they’re just too creepy to ever turn back to their original jolly, silly persona as entertainers. The scares that clowns now create in the horror genre are extremely popular, and let’s admit, they can be terrifying. If we saw a man dressed as a clown, with that abnormal makeup and creepy smile (not to mention the weirdly large feet) walking towards us, we’d be creeped out. The union of professional clowns may be hurt by all this, but horror lovers cannot complain, because they make great villains and will likely continue to be for generations to come.
