If you've had access to any form of media for the past several months, you're probably more than aware of the sudden emergence of creepy clowns. Urban legends regarding creepy killer clowns isn't a new concept; these kinds of stories have been around for decades. Since long before Stephen King’s It, people have found clowns to be creepy. There’s just something about hiding yourself behind a mask of eccentric paint that doesn’t sit quite right with people.

What I don’t understand is: How and why was this crazy killer clown hoax brought back into the light? In the news, there have been numerous accounts of false reports regarding the presence of clowns. The individuals who made the calls were arrested, but since people started crying clown, people have actually began to dress up as clowns, lurking around various areas across the country.

First, it’s not funny to dress up as a clown and chase people; it’s creepy as hell. And second, more than once, large groups of people have been seen actually hunting for the clowns that have been sighted. While you may think dressing up as a circus clown to scare people will be a good time, I promise you that it will not be when you’re hit over the head by some college student who watched "The Purge" one too many times.

While most of the clown sightings and threats put on twitter and other various social media platforms have turned out to be disturbing hoaxes, people have already taken it too far in actually dressing up, and they will probably continue to do so as long as this clown epidemic is receiving massive attention.

All I can say is this: don’t dress up as a clown to scare and chase people down, and don’t make false claims that there are creepy clowns lurking around. If you do either, you’ll probably get arrested, and you might actually get beaten up. Jokes are meant to be funny, but being chased down by a stranger who wishes you ill is something that is not funny, and it is something that people are already afraid of happening.

Halloween is coming up, and the last thing we need is a bunch of creepy clowns lurking around the streets while families and children are trying to trick-or-treat and have fun. Birthday clowns and circus clowns are already traumatizing enough to many people. Bringing nightmares and horror stories to life is a reality we just shouldn’t have to deal with. The world has enough horror and tragedy without people taking this disturbing hoax too far.