Happy Coulrophobia Day!

On this day:

A Chicago jury finds John Wayne Gacy guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys. The next day, he is sentenced to death; after years on death row, Gacy is finally executed in May 10, 1994.

Seems like a good day to ponder the surreal horror we inflict on our kids by subjecting them to clowns. Even the non-mass-murdering variety are straight-up creepy.

The irrational rational fear of clowns is called 'coulrophobia'. Ain't we all got that as adults? Yet we still take our kids to the circus and pretend clowns are funny somehow. Phil Snyder, the author of the essay “Exorcising Shameful Visions” recalls a childhood encounter with clowns:

“Somehow, I knew that something was wrong. Why the pasty makeup?…They tried so hard to make us laugh that they made me nervous. I was uncomfortable in their presence because I knew they were really just people in disguise. When you realize that this grotesque creature is another person in makeup, the clown act loses its humor and becomes intimidating”

Happy Coulrophobia day!