Killer Clown Pandemic
Trend that became a nightmare
COULROPHOBIA ‘Fear of Clown’
Suffering from coulrophobia and getting spooked while watching a movie with a killer clown are very different things. One is a trigger for deep-seated panic and intense emotions, whereas the other is fleeting and confined to a 120-minute movie.
“KILLER CLOWN”
An epidemic/purge/outbreak whatever you say, was an incident that technically started in 1981 by a group of teenagers and continued for decades but became a way of kidnapping and murder in the name of trend in 2016. Some incidents even led to the lockdown of elementary and middle schools in Alabama.
“YEAR 1972: Pogo the Clown”
John Wayne Gacy, commonly known as “Pogo the Clown,” was an American serial killer and sex offender. He gained notoriety for his double life as a respected community member and an individual who committed heinous crimes.
Clown Persona: Gacy performed at children’s parties and charity events as “Pogo the Clown.” He used this persona to gain the trust of his victims, many of whom he lured into his home with promises of work or money.
Serial Killer: John Wayne Gacy was responsible for the murders of at least 33 young men and boys in the 1970s. His crimes took place in and around Chicago, Illinois. The year 1972 was the starting period of John Wayne Gacy or Pogo the Clown
Arrest and Conviction: Gacy was arrested in December 1978 after a police search of his home revealed evidence of his crimes, including the presence of human remains. He was convicted of multiple counts of murder and sentenced to death.
Executed: Gacy spent over a decade on death row before being executed by lethal injection in May 1994.
Shocking Discovery: The discovery of Gacy’s crimes shocked the nation due to the seemingly normal life he led in the community. It also led to increased scrutiny of individuals in positions of trust and authority.
Investigation and Victim Identification: After his arrest, a lengthy investigation was carried out to identify his victims. Many of the young men he murdered were initially unidentified, and their remains were found on his property. At the time of Gacy’s execution, only 26 of his 33 victims had been positively identified.
“YEAR 1981: PHANTOM CLOWN SIGHTINGS”
During the start of year 1981, after John Wayne Gacy was caught a group of teenagers started dressing as scary clowns in Pittsburg. Scaring kids in their local area. This scared kids a lot but the problem and a strange thing that adults noticed was that these clowns were only seen by kids but never had been seen by any adults. Many times when kids reported these cases to their parents and police, no one was found at the place of the incident. At first, it was accepted as a fear and imagination of kids caused by horror movies. But later when the reports of these clowns started to increase they weren’t taken as a joke because it was happening a lot in different parts of different countries. But never, not even once any adult saw those clowns, and this was later declared as Phantom Clowns. These incidents happened in different years with a gap of 3 4 years for 3 decades
Year 1981: Brookline, Kanas City, Pittsburg
Year 1985: Boston, Providence, Omaha
Year 1991: Chicago, New Jersey
Year 1994: Washington D.C., Maryland
Year 2000: Wisconsin
Year 2008: Chicago
Year 2014: California
Year 2015: Chicago, Wisconsin
During these incidents of Phantom Clown, Stephan King released the novel “IT” which gave a boost to killer clowns and enhanced the fear of kids. A story of a clown or entity that only comes back every 27 years to hunt fear.
“THE YEAR 2016: GAGS THE GREEN BAY CLOWN”
Before we get deep into the killer clown epidemic let’s first understand how the Phantom Clown sightings ended and how the Killer Clown epidemics start. The fear that this sighting was caused amongst the public and it was something that law enforcement was taking seriously from the day creepy clowns started staring at a local family eating dinner at their home and yes that was an actual incident. The 2016 creepy clown wave all started with just one image of somewhat a joker holding black balloons at midnight known to be Gags the clown spotted in Greens Bay, Wisconsin…
This place sounds familiar, the last state where Phantom Clowns were spotted. Just one appearance was enough to get 911 on hold since everyone who saw this instantly called the police and the image went viral on social media.
“The YEAR 2016: KILLER CLOWN SIGHTINGS and PURGE”
Even though Gags was a promo stunt for the movie, suddenly menacing-looking clowns began popping up across the United States, especially in the South. Even though they looked creepy and scared the hell out of anyone all of them were harmless and people were just trying to follow the trend of killer clowns like taking photos to gain popularity and followers but still we didn’t know what this clown thing was and raised concern that there might be some danger associated with this phenomenon.
“YEAR 2016, AUGUST: LURING KIDS INTO WOODS”
If you don’t believe what could possibly go wrong with these, just check out some of these reports in late August in South Carolina or read this headline.
In that same area, the following month a clown was reported to have repeatedly stalked children at a Pottsville Pennsylvania playground and another clown in Georgia reportedly chased a 12-year-old boy and his brother as they were waiting for the school bus to arrive () with the actions of these particular clowns in mind it becomes clear that some were taking this act or prank a little bit too far to the point where you can’t even accept it as a prank.
“THE YEAR 2016, SEPTEMBER: KILLER CLOWN PURGE”
If you think that these clowns and the wood thing might be another harmless act for just some popularity, how about a clown that attacked a kid with a knife? While most of the clown's attacks seemed random at first later it was noticed that most of the clowns were found near playgrounds or Elementary and middle schools. On Sep 30th, 2016 she was attacked by a clown who then threatened to hurt her students and the staff
“THE YEAR 2016, SEPTEMBER: FLOMO CLOWN FACEBOOK PAGE”
As the clown thing escalated in the summer so did their social media as many created clown alter egos on sites like Facebook. These clowns often post disturbing videos with public threats within these posts creating a bizarre horror in the cyber landscape as well as the real world which takes us to the FLOMO CLOWN PAGE.
The “Flomo Clown” was a social media phenomenon that emerged in 2016, targeting the town of Flomaton in Alabama. The name “Flomo” is derived from the town’s name. The individuals behind the Flomo Clown page posted disturbing photos and made threats to the public, causing concern and fear in the community. This online presence attracted the attention of local schoolchildren, who followed the page out of curiosity. Some of these children were allegedly threatened with physical violence, causing further distress. Eventually, due to the negative impact on the community and the harm it caused to the children, the Flomo Clown page came to an end. This serves as a cautionary tale about the potential dangers of engaging with online content that promotes harm or harassment.
“THE YEAR 2016, SEPTEMBER: COUNTRY SCHOOL LOCKDOWN”
On Sep 15th, a concerned parent whose child felt threatened by the Flomo clown, traveled to the local police station to file a complaint, providing all the threats and messages from Facebook. Police were already intrigued by the Flomo clown and did take the threats seriously. Police also mentioned a complaint about a phone call that an elementary student received. With the provided data and also the growing rate of this clown. None of the words were taken lightly and as for that, on Sep 15th all schools in Escambia, Alabama were put on lockdown and the community was in FULL FLOMO FRENZY.
The FBI was brought on board to end this Flomo situation for good and unmask the truth. IP addresses were recovered and within 24 hours, 4 suspects were named and reportedly charged for the crime. 3 of these suspects were minors but one was an adult, her name was Michaela Smith, and implicated as one of the people behind those threats posted. She was given 10 years in prison but later suspended and was placed on probation for 5 years. During the probation, Smith was prohibited from creating any social media and if she did make one, she would be switched to 10 years in prison.
This was the first time a legal judgment was taken on these clown attacks.
One year later “IT” was released and was just a live-action for the IT NOVEL. It did not have any impact on society but was surely a great KILLER CLOWN movie.
“YEAR 2021: REBIRTH OF KILLER CLOWN?”
After the end of 2016, there was a dead silence about killer clowns for the next 4–5 years. But, at the start of 2021, there was again an increment of clown sightings and unlike the last time where they would just stand at a distance and give you a creepy eye staring contest, they were spotted near schools everywhere and this time they made it creepier as they asked kids to follow them. Luckily there was no news of a missing child or anything this time.
This happened for a month or so and then again, everything vanished as there was no such thing as a killer clown.
So as for now, there are no new cases of the killer clown incident and I Hope there won’t be any. So, for this Halloween, I think, dressing as a clown would be a terrible idea but in case you still want to become one, Maybe try Ronald Macdonald instead of Pennywise.
Stay Safe…
Peace Out…
