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When I was a local reporter in New York City, I wrote the most insane crime story of my life: “Clown Holding Kitchen Knife Chases Teen Off 6 Train.”
It was about this time of year in 2016, when for some god-forsaken reason, people across the country dressed up as clowns to menace unsuspecting people. It happened so frequently that there were numerous headlines about separate events and actual professional clowns were worried about being profiled by police. I wish I were making this up!
Time Out even wrote a column about why we should ban all clowns.
As someone who cried when she saw any clown as a child, I was unusually wary, especially riding the 6 train ... 2016 was hard.
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Well, just in time for Halloween (and the weird 10th anniversary of this phenomenon), Hulu is releasing a documentary about the Great Clown Scare for Huluween called, Clown Panic. How fun?
According to the doc, “clowns” hid in the woods in a small South Carolina community and sightings exploded across the country. Eventually, there were school lockdowns while TV news and social media covered the hysteria.
Deadline says the film will feature interviews with witnesses, law enforcement, clowns and cultural commentators and tries to unpack how the urban legend spiraled into a national panic.
The trailer, which you can watch below, is both full of horrifying imagery and humor. One interviewed clown says, “I don’t know any clowns that wanna go and kill a bunch of kids. I mean, that’s your customers.”
Ed Perkins is the director and Lightbox’s Jonathan Chinn and Simon Chinn produced it.
If you're so inclined to relive it or learn about it, Clown Panic premieres October 12 on Hulu and will be on Disney+ as well.