Writer's Within!: The Unexplained S1E7 Bedtime Stories: The Legend of Clowns

The Chira Project is covering different types of bedtime stories that will scare the pants off of little children. If you know of any kind of scary bedtime story, please share it with us. This is our Seventh bedtime story is none other than... Clowns!

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What is the origin of 'Clowns'?

The origin of the word "clown" is uncertain. It first appears around the 1560s and may come from a Scandinavian linguistic root meaning "clumsy, boorish fellow" (Icelandic klunni and Swedish kluns). A similar term also exists in North Frisian — klönne and in Dutch-"kluns", meaning "clumsy person". The meaning of clown as a fool or jester is c. 1600. "Clown" as a verb appears much later — the early 20th century — and may be linked to music hall.

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Who gave birth to Clowns?
Joseph Grimaldi

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When was Clowns born?
Around 2400 BC

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Where did Clowns come from?
The most ancient clowns have been found in the Fifth dynasty of Egypt.

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Why do Clowns go from funny to evil?
Well, Clowns can go from cute and funny at a kids birthday party like Krusty the Clown or Pollachi but where did this go wrong, from funny to evil? Honestly, I'm not sure. Most people like clowns and there are those people who are afraid of clowns.

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Fear of clowns
A depiction of an evil clown, a character depicted in the media, which might cause anxiety to someone with coulrophobia. The term coulrophobia has been proposed to denote an abnormal, exaggerated, or irrational fear of clowns. The term is of recent use and is not commonly used in psychology. According to one analyst, it "has been coined more on the Internet than in printed form because it does not appear in any previously published, psychiatric, unabridged, or abridged dictionary". In particular, the term is not recognised as a specific disorder by the American Psychiatric Association in its latest categorisation of disorders, nor is it recognised by the World Health Organisation as a valid disorder.

In the Space To Care study aimed at improving hospital design for children, researchers from the University of Sheffield polled 250 children regarding their opinions on clowns; all 250 children in the study, whose ages ranged between four and sixteen, reported that they disliked clowns as part of hospital decor. Many of them, including some older children, stated in the poll that they, in fact, actively feared clowns.

Clown costumes tend to exaggerate the facial features and some body parts, such as hands and feet and noses. This can be read as monstrous or deformed as easily as it can be read as comical. Some have suggested, however, that a fear of clowns may stem from early childhood experience, when infants begin to process and make sense of facial features. The significant aberrations in a clown's face may alter a person's appearance so much that it enters the so-called uncanny valley—in which a figure is lifelike enough to be disturbing, but not realistic enough to be pleasant—and thus frightens a child so much that they carry this phobia throughout their adult life.

Some also argue that notorious clown figures in literature (Pennywise in Stephen King's It) and real life (John Wayne Gacy) have contributed to adults being averse to clowns. Additionally, the fact that much clown behavior is "transgressive" (anti-social behavior) can create feelings of unease. The British arts and music festival Bestival cancelled its planned clown theme in 2006 after many adult ticketholders contacted the organizers expressing a fear of clowns.

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Critic's Pick: Clowns