A clown chased a girl from the library to our dorm and apparently got in.
I saw the text the next morning, rubbing sleep out of my eyes as I skimmed over the words. I rapidly texted back a reply,
What? How? Are you okay?? What happened?
My friend had been in her dorm room at Texas Tech University when the residence hall went on lockdown. For two hours, the police searched stairwells and hallways for the creepy clown, but to no avail. He was gone, and the campus was on edge. For the rest of the night, my friend stayed huddled in her room, scared that she would be murdered by the random psychopath in a clown costume if she left for any reason.
If you’ve ever read/watched the movie It, then you know that the fear of clowns is completely rational. The idea of an insidious presence lurking behind a painted smile and goofy clothes is enough to freak out any person. So when reports came in that people dressed up as clowns were trying to lure kids into the woods in South Carolina in August, the nation was freaked out; however, for the states other than South Carolina, this was simply a conversation topic, something to cluck our tongues at and shake our heads, Aw, that’s very scary. That's too bad for them.
It wasn’t real. Yet.
I don’t know what inspired residents from other states to catch on to the clown trend, but for some reason clown sightings began appearing everywhere. North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Wisconsin—clowns have even started to appear in the United Kingdom and Canada. It has become such a problem that the topic of the “creepy clown sightings” appeared at a White House Briefing.
What would possess people into thinking they should dress up as an already-scary creature (because they really are creatures) and torment the population? I realize that some of these reports may be hoaxes. Others may be jokes, teenagers dressing up as clowns to scare their town without intending to hurt anyone. The fact of the matter, though, is that some of these reports are real and are threatening. There are some people who want to hurt others, and this clown epidemic appeared as the perfect reason to do it.
I've spoken to some of my classmates about this topic and was shocked to learn that many at NYU had no clue what I was talking about. Maybe they haven't seen the reports in the paper or had any of the clowns appear in their hometown. But that doesn't change the fact that these clowns could be tormenting your community at any minute. Therefore, it is necessary to spread the word that these clowns are out there.
Listen, we’ve got Halloween coming up in a few weeks. I’m not naïve enough to think people will leave the clown costumes at home. To some, it will be hilarious to chase random strangers down the street. Maybe you're one of those people considering it. But here’s my warning: If you see a clown, run. If you are the clown, consider what you're doing before you paint on that dripping smile. People are becoming aware and if you're really doing this as a joke, you could end up seriously injured. Just look at what happened when one clown tried to scare a group of teenagers in the United States.
I wouldn't get too close to those things even before this strange phenomenon began, but you can bet I will not be anywhere near them now. For your safety, be aware, stay informed.
And to my fellow classmates and neighbors in New York City, a knife-wielding clown was reported chasing a teenager out of the subway, so be extra careful when you board the train on Halloween night.
