John Wayne Gacy and the Horror of Clowns

Theappearance of clowns in real life and on the big screen alone can be terrifying, especially when exaggerated. What lies behind that bright white skin? Why is the smile painted on so large? The features that we recognize have been amplified, and they appear almost human, but not quite. They essentially blur the lines between human and demon, as the makeup can distort their features. The reason we might feel scared they might unleash a creepy killer clown is that, behind the makeup, you can’t tell who the clowns are or what they’re feeling. That’s part of what makes Ethan Hawke’s performance so scary in The Black Phone, he perpetually hides his face, whether through thick clown-like face paint or terrifying masks.

For example, serial killer John Wayne Gacy was a beloved children’s entertainer, but soon became known as the Killer Clown. Something seemed incredibly but horribly appropriate about a serial killer disguised as a clown (something echoed in The Black Phone). Children are incredibly vulnerable, and clowns are endlessly associated with children, so we get scared when they become unpredictable. It is said that we only tend to feel scared when we’re confronted with the uncertainty of the threat; as such, part of what makes clowns so scary and us so vulnerable to them is that their behavior can be so unpredictable, which is why they work so well in horror.

Perhaps clowns do not deserve the horror they are now receiving, but maybe they’re just too creepy to ever turn back to their original jolly, silly persona as entertainers. The scares that clowns now create in the horror genre are extremely popular, and let’s admit, they can be terrifying. If we saw a man dressed as a clown, with that abnormal makeup and creepy smile (not to mention the weirdly large feet) walking towards us, we’d be creeped out. The union of professional clowns may be hurt by all this, but horror lovers cannot complain, because they make great villains and will likely continue to be for generations to come.