MovieChat Forums > Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) Discussion > So who here actually suffers from Coulro...

So who here actually suffers from Coulrophobia?

posted 13 years ago by SteveM-1
10 replies | jump to latest

...which is, of course a Phobia of Clowns.

I have no Phobias, so I'm interested in the subject. I'm not saying I don't experience Fear. I have been afraid a number of times for Normal Reasons (such as when a Tornado comes near by, or receiving news that a person I care about may be dying), but I don't have what can be considered an actual Phobia. Meaning, the Unreasoning almost Paralyzing Fear of certain objects, animals or situations. I used to have a Phobia of Mice and Rats when I was a kid (real ones, not cartoon ones), but I grew out of it by the time I was a teenager.

Clowns never bothered me. Maybe sometimes when I was little kid, I would have been scared if somebody in a Clown costume was right in my face and acting relentlessly weird, but it never carried over into adulthood. For the most part, I liked them and sometimes found them comforting. Like Ronald McDonald or Bozo.

I'm not bothered by so-called "Scary" Clowns. You see them a lot when you go to Haunted House Attractions around Halloween time, and I see people running away from them screaming. However, I guess they don't bother me because down inside, I know they're not a Threat to me. Just a person in make-up and costume.

I've seen TV specials and reports on people who suffer from Coulrophobia. I remember one woman who would break out into a sweat if you just showed her a photograph of a Clown, and when a man in clown costume entered the room, she began moaning and crying uncontrollably (they were trying to break her of her fear).

So, anybody here suffer from this particular Phobia? Know what started it? How bad is it? Are you even able to watch movies like "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" or "It"?

Talk amongst yourselves.

[–] HorrorMonkey 12 years ago

I don't think someone with an honest phobia of clowns would be caught dead on a board like this...

I have NEEDS now, Alfred - dirty, horrible needs! -- Batman

[–] vandyvch 12 years ago

I sometimes wonder if these clown movies might be actually worse for us non-coulrophobic people - part of the eerieness of these movies derives from the fact clowns are SUPPOSED to be funny and innocent, and that gets flipped on the head with them being the actual killers.

But for someone who's already been conditioned to view clowns as evil or scary their whole life? I wonder if these movies are any scarier than the average non-clown slasher to them?

[–] HorrorMonkey 12 years ago

I sometimes wonder if these clown movies might be actually worse for us non-coulrophobic people - part of the eerieness of these movies derives from the fact clowns are SUPPOSED to be funny and innocent, and that gets flipped on the head with them being the actual killers.

I get the sense that you don’t actually understand what a phobia is. A phobia goes beyond simple fear. It’s an irrational fear/hate of something. There is a big difference in simply being afraid of (or creeped out by) clowns and having a full-fledged phobia of them.

You can be afraid of spiders, or clowns, or heights, or dentists because you don’t like the way they look or you fear getting hurt. That’s normal fear. A phobia is normal fear--taken to the extreme. These fears might not even be rational. There may be no point to them, or no real reason behind why a person develops one.

There are phobias for the obvious things, like needles, blood, water(drowning). But because a phobia can go beyond rationality you have phobias such as a fear of mustard, or buttons, or hair, or pine trees, and a thousand other common, everyday items/places/people.

These are fears that don’t just make a person nervous or jumpy, but can frighten them so much that they can develop problems, like not being able to breathe, shaking, blacking out, having a panic attack, or developing hives on their skin.

A phobia isn’t just a simple fear of something. In severe cases it’s a body crippling terror which can have negative health effects on a person.

But for someone who's already been conditioned to view clowns as evil or scary their whole life? I wonder if these movies are any scarier than the average non-clown slasher to them?

Once again I don’t think you understand just what a phobia is.

Are these clown movies any scarier to coulrophobics than the average non-clown slasher? You bet you’re a$s they are.

Something as simple as a picture of a clown or a toy could send someone suffering coulrophobia into a panic attack.

My brother suffers from a mild-to-severe case of claustrophobia. I say mild-to-severe because most of the time he can handle it and keep his fear under control (like when in a car), but other times it got so bad that he had to physically get up and leave or else risk blacking out.

I guess the main difference between an everyday fear and a phobia is that, a person suffering from a phobia will go to great pains to alter his/her daily life to fit around a phobia (like with agoraphobia or germaphobia). This isn’t because they want to, but because they have to. Sometimes the fear of something is so elaborate that a person can’t function any other way. This is way I said in my earlier post that a true coulrophobic would not be caught dead on a board like this one.

I have NEEDS now, Alfred - dirty, horrible needs! -- Batman

[–] MsMelbaToast 8 years ago

*raises hand*

[–] insomniacmovie 8 years ago

I'm a school teacher, and I remember a time several years ago when we had Ronald McDonald here on campus doing a magic show during our Christmas program. One of our most "Alpha male" high school students cowered in the corner the whole time. It was actually pretty amusing to me.

[–] hurricanehorton 8 years ago

In his defence, Ronald McDonald is a bit sinister.

He's a clown that goes round pestering kids into eating burgers. Wasn't there a series of commercials where he'd randomly appear in peoples homes, and be like; "Hey kids, want a burger?"

Weird bastard.

[–] liscarkat (19416) 5 years ago

It's an interesting phenomenon. When I was a child (late 1950s, 1960s) clowns were popular figures in circuses, kids' tv shows (Bozo et al.), and advertizing (Ronald MacDonald). They were most commonly associated with cheerfulness and laughter. At some time after the 1960s the public attitude began to shift toward revulsion and horror, to the point that the majority attitude to clowns in recent years has been negative. Most people seem to regard all of clowndom as a tacky, creepy joke. Clowns were occasionally represented as sinister in the past, but in the last thirty to forty years that image has come to dominate.

[–] HorrorMetal (874) 5 years ago

Not me. I freaking love clowns.

[–] Quasimodo (16388) 5 years ago

Not afraid of them but they are creepy.

[–] PaladinNJ (21772) 2 years ago

My wife's best friend has Coulrophobia. Can't get within twenty feet of a clown without having a panic attack. Ironically she likes this movie.