A plague of "Evil Clowns"
If you harbor a fear of clowns, then 2016 is not your year. For some reason we have seen a rash of "evil clown" sightings, and the terror just won't end.
Evil clowns have been reportedly luring children into the woods in South Carolina, and have been terrorizing people throughout Britain and North America all year. The problem is so severe that many stores (including Target) are pulling clown outfits off their shelves for Halloween.
The most likely reason is a heady combination of "monkey see, monkey do" and social media. Every time someone posts something about a terrifying evil clown sighting, a cartoon lightbulb appears over the heads of at least a dozen people.
There are solid psychological underpinnings to the fear of clowns, which is technically known as "coulrophobia." People who suffer from coulrophobia have a visceral reaction to clowns, which are unsettling for a number of reasons.
A clown's painted-on face masks any real emotion, while displaying another (either "sad clown" or "happy clown"). The clown make-up lies about the clown's emotional state, while hiding the truth.
Combine this with the clown's odd, ill-fitting clothing, and you have a look which is custom-designed to make sane people feel like they should back away a few steps.
Clowns also "target" children, ideally for the better. A clown is meant for a child's birthday party, not an adult's. But for those who are already predisposed to finding a clown unsettling, this behavior - gravitating towards helpless young - only raises more red flags.
Recent studies have shown that the feeling of "creepiness" arises from ambiguity. When your mind can't quite place something in one category or another, or you sense something is wrong without being able to put your finger on it, it reads as "creepy." And that's clowns to a T, isn't it?