Earlier this month we all began hearing about something that sounded like It came from a Stephen King movie. Clowns began to appear in southern states apparently trying to lure children into the woods by bribing them with money and candy.

First of all I am not scared of clowns. But there are people that are deathly afraid and those people suffer from coulrophobia (The fear of clowns) This fear usually begins when the person is younger and it stays with them through adulthood.

The first sightings of the clowns was in late August and early September. I first found out about this craziness over twitter. I didn’t think much about it at all because it had only happened about three times and it was so far away from me.

But as time went on I began to hear more and more about this. One article I read was from a clown sighting in Kentucky, not far from Cincinnati.

It didn’t take long for these killer clowns to spread throughout the country. The affected states so far are: Alabama, Arizona,  Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The one that sticks out is obviously Ohio. The first report is of a girl who reported being attacked by a clown on her way into her apartment.

Since then there have been multiple reports of clowns in Ohio and even the greater Cincinnati area. And it seems these clowns are spreading more in Cincinnati than any other city.

A women reported that a man dressed as a clown grabbed her around the neck and made threats against Reading high school and herself. Reading Local School district and also Mount Notre Dame High School were closed as a result of these threats. The man was never arrested.

There was another threat on Colerain High School and it turned out to be a middle school kid. He was arrested with juvenile charges for inducing panic and making terrorist threats.

Just recently on twitter a clown video blew up. A guy and his friend were running in a park in Newmark, Ohio, when he reported seeing a clown. He pulled out his camera to get this chilling footage. The video is blurry but he says the clown has a knife.

Clowns are not just taking over the states, they are also taking over social media. Clown Clan is a twitter, Instagram, and snap chat account of clowns around Cincinnati. They ask kids where they want them to go and scare people. Clown clan gave our neighbor Seton High School a shout out on twitter recently.

Clown clan gained over twenty thousand followers over the past month and are still growing. I do not believe that these clowns are harmful. I think that they are doing this for attention and the fame.

Many people are wondering if this is illegal to dress up as a clown and go scare people for fun. Just dressing up as a clown is okay but when you are making threats and inducing panic that is when this turns to illegal.

Another question people are wondering is about Halloween. If these clowns are a threat then people are not going to know if they see a person dressed as a clown during Halloween is a threat or not.

I have been very fortunate to be able to speak with a real life clown from Cincinnati. Her name is Cookie the Clown and Just wanted to know how or if these sightings were effecting her business and what she though about this. She was forced to suspend all clown work until these scares blow over.

“I am concerned about the public reaction to me more now than ever. I used to drive to jobs and people would smile and wave …now I’m worried they will be afraid and mistake me for the people trying to scare people,” Cookie said.

She also said “Now even more children might grow up afraid of clowns and may never have the chance to experience the magic of a real clown that makes you laugh.”

This is very unfortunate that these people are affecting others businesses. Cookie said she wants people to know that there aren’t many clowns left in Cincinnati and her last statement was   “MANY PEOPLE LOVE ME so please give clowns a chance.”