Standard News

Hide Advertisement
  • Business
  • Culture
  • News
  • Technology
  • Trending
Site logo
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Carolina clown sightings scare me, says horror master Stephen King

By Reuters 2 min read
Advertisement - Continue reading below
Author Stephen King enters the East Room to receive the National Medal of Arts during a ceremony at the White House in Washington

(Reuters) – A spate of creepy clown sightings in South Carolina has perplexed police and worried parents, but their frightening appearance was no surprise to best-selling U.S. horror author Stephen King.

King, whose 1986 novel “It” tells the story of a supernatural being that appears as a clown to terrorize the residents of a small Maine town, told the Bangor Daily News that fear of clowns touches a nerve with children and adults alike.

Advertisement

“Kids love clowns, but they also fear them; clowns with their white faces and red lips are so different and so grotesque compared to ‘normal’ people,” the newspaper quoted King as saying in an article posted on Friday. “The clown furor will pass, as these things do, but it will come back, because under the right circumstances, clowns really can be terrifying.”

The clown sightings started around Greenville, South Carolina, last month when police began getting reports of clowns standing silently by roadsides, lurking near laundromats and trying to lure children into the woods with bags of cash and green laser lights.

Police in North Carolina have over the past week also reported a wave of sightings, suggesting a slow migration in the direction of the fictional town of Derry, Maine, where King’s Pennywise carried out his rampage.

But police urged residents to remain calm after an adult man saw a clown emerge from the woods and chased the clown with a machete in Greensboro, North Carolina on Tuesday. A 911 dispatcher calmed the man down and the clown escaped unharmed, police said.

King’s macabre imagination has produced dozens of shiver-inducing works including “The Shining” and “Misery.” In 2014 he was awarded the U.S. National Medal for the Arts in recognition of his large oeuvre.

King admitted he’d be unnerved to find a pale-faced, red-lipped prankster skulking near his Bangor home.

“If I saw a clown lurking under a lonely bridge (or peering up at me from a sewer grate, with or without balloons), I’d be scared, too,” he told the newspaper.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

tagreuters.com2016binary_LYNXNPEC880T4-VIEWIMAGE

Advertisement - Continue reading below

Hollywood stars pose for 2017 Pirelli Calendar
Entertainment
Reuters 1 min read

Hollywood stars pose for 2017 Pirelli Calendar

California wildfire forces closure of scenic Highway 1
News
Reuters 2 min read

California wildfire forces closure of scenic Highway 1

Homeless teen charged with murdering University of Texas student
News
Reuters 1 min read

Homeless teen charged with murdering University of Texas student

Check out these 5 organizational hacks from Season 2 of ‘The Home Edit’ to help get your home in tip-top shape!
Lifestyle
Ethan Blake 7 min read

Check out these 5 organizational hacks from Season 2 of ‘The Home Edit’ to help get your home in tip-top shape!

Maximizing Your Potential: How to Bring Out the Best Version of Yourself Without Psychic Abilities
Lifestyle
Ethan Blake 9 min read

Maximizing Your Potential: How to Bring Out the Best Version of Yourself Without Psychic Abilities

Texan puts baby in fridge after leaving her in hot car: police
News
Reuters 1 min read

Texan puts baby in fridge after leaving her in hot car: police

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. Increased in February
Business
Jason Owen 2 min read

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. Increased in February

Officer Draws Praise for Helping Elderly Man With ID, Banking Hiccups
Culture
Jason Owen 2 min read

Officer Draws Praise for Helping Elderly Man With ID, Banking Hiccups

Terrorist Kills 59, Injures 527 in Worst Mass Shooting in Modern U.S. History
News
Jason Owen 1 min read

Terrorist Kills 59, Injures 527 in Worst Mass Shooting in Modern U.S. History

Chicago immigrant claims U.S. retaliated over her activism
News
Reuters 2 min read

Chicago immigrant claims U.S. retaliated over her activism

load more Loading posts...

sidebar

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

sidebar-alt

  • About Us
  • Imprint
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • For Advertisers