Do you have a fear? Imagine walking down a dark, spooky road in the middle of the night. You think you are alone, but then out of nowhere, a clown is standing ahead of you. Just imagine the chills running down your spine.

When a young woman, Victoria Vanklaveren, was around the age of nine, she went  to her sister’s Halloween party when something horrifying happened to her. This incident changed her views on clowns forever. 

Her father’s friend dressed up as a clown and scared her in front of all of her family and friends. This left her petrified and embarrassed, now hating clowns with a passion. 

 “They are just creepy to me. It is the idea of some random person with face paint that tries to make you laugh,” Vanklaveren said. 

In 2018, there were incidents when people dressed up as clowns and harmed others, as well as scared them. For Halloween, if anybody dressed as a clown they would get into trouble or even get charged. It got to a point where most people were even nervous to go to the circus, or even do daily tasks outside of the house.

“I do not enjoy the circus anymore. The last time I went to the circus was in fifth grade.” Vanklaveren said.

Movies around the world have impacted people’s views on clowns. The first time the idea of scary clowns got media’s attention was in the 1980 horror movie, “ It”.

“I would consider myself to have Coulrophobia,” Vanklaveren said.

Clowns were created in 1805 to bring joy and amusement to people. Throughout the decades, clowns were used in a more horrifying way to scare children, and even adults. 

“I felt like I was going to totally freak out if any of them got near me,” Vanklaveren said.