BOO! Are you scared to see that word on your screen? Most people probably aren’t, but if they are, maybe they have cyberphobia, which is the fear of a computer. There are many more phobias as well! According to Petri Kajander, everyone is afraid of something.

Fear is an emotion based on the belief that someone or something is dangerous. There are roughly 530 phobias total. One of the most recently popularized fears is of clowns, otherwise known as coulrophobia. Those creepy circus acts have a big red nose, huge shoes and that strange outfit that gave you nightmares as a kid. People are afraid of clowns because they have been associated with dark and disturbing things. In Egyptian times, their version of a clown could get away with making fun of just about anything. Even the Pharaoh.

Nowadays, clowns are going door to door terrifying people in their own homes. According to CNN, clowns have been sighted over the last few months. They said that clowns have been luring people into the woods. They have been chasing others around with machetes and hatchets.

How did this killer clown thing start? Well The Verge answered that question.  It started in South Carolina. It was said that they were lurking outside of Greenville in the woods. One lady said that her son saw them and heard weird noises. The article says, “Just a few examples: a man in Kentucky was arrested for dressing up as a clown and hiding in the woods. In Alabama, a woman called 911 because she was terrified after seeing a man dressed like a clown in a Walmart parking lot. Schools in Ohio were closed because of clowns. Even a clown in New York chased a teen out of the subway. “

Some say they seem to be supporting the movie IT by Tommy Lee Wallace. Others don’t know if IT is true. IT’s the clown apocalypse! If you see a clown, run for your life! Don’t go into the woods. Whatever you do, run from those red noses.  Unless it’s Ronald McDonald, though you may wish to run from that place for entirely different reasons, but that’s a totally separate story.