Though clowns are supposed to delight and entertain us, there is something ominous about their perpetual grins and cheery personalities. However, how many stories are we told in modern media of evil, demonic clowns drenched in blood?
These stories aren't just restricted to fiction. Here are some real life clown ghost stories to think about the next time you visit the circus.
It came from the basement
Online database Your Ghost Stories has a tale from a man whose sisters' childhoods were suddenly changed forever. One night, the two sisters (aged 13 and 14) were in the bathroom getting ready for bed.
This particular bathroom was attached to a basement door, and soon the sisters noticed a strange noise emanating from the adjacent room. When one girl carefully pried open the door to investigate, she saw something she'll likely never forget.
"She saw this person or demon crawling up the stairs like how a baby would," the author writes, "dressed in this clown suit, holding what looked like a knife in his hand."
The strange creature desperately crawled up the stairs, but seemed to tumble back down when the girls screamed. Upon further investigation by their confused father, no evidence of the clown was found.
Creepy clown doll
An excerpt from Jeff Belanger's book Real-Life Ghost Encounters reveals the frightening tale of a demonic clown doll.
One particular interviewee had a little red rocking chair he was attached to as a child, as well as a clown doll. One evening he placed the doll on the chair and went to sleep. However, in the middle of the night he awoke to see it moving by itself.
"I'm looking at my clown," the interviewee said, "and I'm noticing that my rocking chair and my clown are rocking, and not only are they rocking, but the clown is playing with the flower on the windowsill."
The clown then turned to look at him and got out of the chair, but the interviewee hid under the covers before anything more happened.
Interested in seeing some ghosts of your own? Dare to try one of our haunted ghost tours tonight.