Return of the Phantom Clowns

Benjamin Radford

In August 2016, creepy clowns were reported in Greenville, South Carolina, allegedly luring children into the woods behind a block of apartments. It’s scary and alarming—but whether they’re real or rumor is another matter. Most of the handful of reports were from children. No one was actually harmed by the menacing clowns, who children believe live in a house located near a pond at the end of a trail in the woods. Police who investigated this sinister Hansel and Gretel–like tale found no signs of suspicious activity or anyone dressed as a clown.

According to an ABC News story (http://tinyurl.com/zjrv3gp):

One resident said she was in front of her apartment one evening when one of her sons “approached her and stated that he [had] seen clowns in the woods whispering and making strange noises.” The resident added that she “went over to the area that her son mentioned and observed several clowns in the woods flashing green laser lights” before seeing them run off.

If this report is to be credited, it suggests that pranksters are afoot— perhaps teenagers with store-bought clown masks and laser pointers having fun. If so, it would be only the latest in a series of creepy clowns reports; in fact, there were two recent cases in Quebec and Wisconsin. In the former case, a pair of teenagers dressed as clowns were having fun in a park scaring younger kids; in the latter, a nocturnal clown was revealed to be part of a viral marketing campaign for a scary film.