Coulrophobia

coul·ro·pho·bi·a [kool-ruh-foh-bee-uh]   

noun. an abnormal fear of clowns. 

The term was first used in the 1990s.

Coulrophobia is said to be one of the top 10 most common phobias, and even has celebrity sufferers such as Daniel Radcliffe, Johnny Depp and P. Diddy. Johnny Depp explained his fear of clowns coming from nightmares he had as a child where he would see clowns faces and it was the painted faces and fake smiles that upset him.
 "There always seemed to be a darkness lurking just under the surface, a potential for real evil. I guess I am afraid of them because it's impossible — thanks to their painted-on smiles — to distinguish if they are happy or if they're about to bite your face off.''

Most people agree that the main reasons for coulrophobia are the make-up and exaggerated features of the clown. Painted eyes and smiles, as well as the big, red nose, which can initially be frightening to children.

A clown act usually features clowns being hurt or hurting each other. The fact that the clowns inflict pain on each other with a painted smile on their face suggests that they enjoy causing others pain and that you cannot trust the painted expressions of the clown.


Coulrophobia can develop because of the following reasons:

•  A bad experience with clowns as a child.
• Meeting TV characters in person. Children can find this frightening as the character seems huge or tall compared to what they see on the TV
• Having a parent with coulrophobia means that the child is more likely to develop it (learned behaviour)
• Associating clowns with bad things e.g. in some cultures, clown masks are used by parents to discipline their children by saying that the clowns carry off children who misbehave
• Media portrayals 

Media Portrayals

Clowns have been portrayed in various different ways in the media. The most famous clown in the media was Ronald McDonald, who was the mascot for McDonald's. Many people find Ronald McDonald to be creepy, especially small children, from the painted on face and permanently happy expressions. 


We have also found that nowadays clowns seem to be portrayed in a negative way, as many people experience some sort of coulrophobia. The videos below are an example of how clowns can be stereotyped. 

John Wayne Gacy was a rapist and a serial killer, who used to dress up as a clown. This is a real life example.