Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns.^[1] In discussions of causes of coulrophobia, sufferers seem to agree that the most fear-inducing aspect of clowns is the heavy makeup, often accompanied by the bulbous nose and weird color of hair, that conceals the wearer's identity.

Sufferers sometimes acquire a fear of clowns after having a bad experience with one personally, or seeing a sinister portrayal of one in the media.

Not all sufferers of the phobia experience the same degree of fear.^[2]

Examples of Clown fears

• Macho Man Randy Savage is said to have a weakness to clowns. He compared it to Superman and Kryptonite.
• The animated series The Simpsons; see "Can't sleep, clown will eat me." (Later used as the basis for an Alice Cooper song.)
• In the animated series Johnny Bravo, Johnny fears very little with the possible exception of clowns. In one episode, there was one on the wing of the plane in which he and his mother were flying, a possible reference to the similarly-themed Twilight Zone episode.
• In the animated series Rugrats, Chuckie Finster is deathly afraid of clowns, as is Didi Pickles.
• The animated series Animaniacs; in the episode "Clown and Out" it is revealed that the characters Wakko and Thaddeus Plotz have severe cases of "clownophobia."
• In the sitcom Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer had a recurring fear of clowns which was most prominent when the psychotic "Crazy" Joe Davola, who was after him, was wearing a clown suit as a disguise.
• In the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xander Harris is revealed to have a childhood fear of clowns in the Season one episode, "Nightmares."
• In the animated series The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Billy had a fear of clowns (which results in him continually screaming that they're going to "DES-TUH-ROY US ALL!!"), but later grew to just hate them.
• The clown doll pictured on the BBC's Test Card F has been found to be an object of fear for some [1]
• On an episode of Family Guy (Petergeist), Chris Griffin is cowering in his bed and says "I wish that scary clown at the end of my bed would go away!" The scene cuts to the end of his bed where Ronald McDonald is casually sitting in a chair and draws a pair of golden arches in mid-air. Chris screams.
• In the TV series Monk, the title character claims to have a fear of clowns. He does, however, possess multiple phobias and anxieties.
• In the TV series Living Single, John Henton's character, Overton, displays a distinct fear of clowns.
• In Doctor Who, the Doctor's companion Ace is established as having a fear of clowns, even before the events of The Greatest Show In The Galaxy.
• In the television show Supernatural, Sam Winchester has a fear of clowns.
• Garfield the cat is repeatedly menaced by Binky the Clown in the animated TV series and comic strip. However, Binky is more annoying than evil, though he can climb through the TV screen.
• In Life on Mars, Sam Tyler is haunted by the Test Pattern Girl and her clown.
• In the PBSKids Series Caillou, Caillou's sister, Rosie, is known to be afraid of clowns.
• One of Jack Handey's Deep Thoughts states, "To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kind of scary. I've wondered where this started and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus, and a clown killed my dad."
• In the sitcom Frasier, Frasier once gave therapy to a woman suffering from coulrophobia.

See also

• "Can't sleep, clown will eat me," a well-known phrase from the Simpsons episode "Lisa's First Word."
• Evil clown
• It
• John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer known as the "Killer Clown"
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space
• Supernatural Season 2 Episode 2 Everybody Loves A Clown

References

1. ^ Macmillan Essential Dictionary Resource Site - Word of the Week - Coulrophobia. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
2. ^ Kloer, Phil (2007-02-15). Fears of a clown: The circuses are in town, but not all is fun and laughter. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

External links

• Coulrophobia & The Trickster Scholarly paper on Coulrophobia by Joe Durwin (Trickster's Way V.3 #1)