#phobiafriday

[grahamr7]

Day 23: Phobia Phriday... Automatonophobia!

[fearthehaunter]

Coulrophobia: The Fear of Clowns (#PhobiaFriday)

Maybe it's the excessive makeup, the way they smile too much, or the fact they can squeeze into smaller places than physically possible, but some phobics can't get over how terrifying clowns are!

Thank you all for joining me today on this #PhobiaFriday! I was supposed to start this last week, but ran into some computer complications. As most of you know I act as a clown named Dizzy Cheeks in the haunted attraction I work for, Haunted Nightmare, which is why I chose coulrophobia for this week! Also, we open in 8 days, and we are in the homestretch to get everything completed! I am so nervous and excited; I can hardly wait!

Now, I am SUPER excited for American Horror Story: Freakshow to come out in 6 days. The fans of this show know that each season of AHS has a main scary villain. The first season was the man in the rubber suit, the second season was Bloody Face, and the third season had the Minotaur. One of the main reasons I am so excited for this season is because the main villain in Freakshow is a clown named Twisty! (shown below):

Holee Canolee! I would not  want him anywhere near me! Now, I haven't read up much on this character because I want most of AHS to be a surprise, but I have read up a little on the subject because I plan on conversing about it at a later date. However, I did read about two crew members with no prior fears of clowns who got nightmares from watching this guy act. Needless to say, I have never been more excited in my life to get scared.

Anyway, back to Coulrophobia. Not many people actually suffer from this so much as find clowns absolutely creepy. Which, I was shocked to learn because I was thinking they were going to be somewhere in the top 10 or 20 fears.

Clowns go WAY back! Pygmy clowns were depicted as far back as 2500 B.C.E. as they entertained the pharaohs in Egypt. The fact that they're so old school could be the reason why so many children, the ones who are supposed to like them, dislike and even fear clowns.

When clowns became a little more mainstream and were seen in circuses, like Barnum and Bailey, they were meant to act mischievous and like drunkards which may have been funny then, but a little on the creepier side as of today's standards.

Another creepy factor could have started with dear ol' John Wayne Gacy. For those of you who don't know who this is, he is a man that would dress up as his clown character, "Pogo the Clown" for charities and events while on the side, raping and killing teenage boys and young men. If that doesn't give clowns a bad name, I don't know what does.

(John Wayne Gacy dressed as Pogo the Clown)

I think the biggest reason they have become so terrifying though is because of people like us at Haunted Nightmare and other haunted attractions as well as mainstream media who've amplified the creepy factor of clowns in order to try to scare men, woman, and children alike. Movies like IT, the juggalos of Insane Clown Posse, and shows like American Horror Story reach back into the part of your brain that finds clowns a little off putting, rip that out, and shoves it in your face!

Personally, I love the creepy clowns and dark freakshow themes, but I'm a little bias because of my wonderful character I have cared for so much! I don't know what intrigues me about it so much, but I do know that Cirque Du Mal at Haunted Nightmare is going to be a frightening and mesmerizing good time! ;D Hope to see some of you out there!

OH! By the way, if you are interested in more information about the history and psychology of clowns being scary, the Smithsonian has a really cool article you should check out right HERE!

Thanks for reading about our first Phobia Friday! If you have any suggestions for what I should write about next week, feel free to email me at [email protected]!