Creative Commons Killer clowns are back.
Killer Clowns are trending as people share viral videos on TikTok and elsewhere that purportedly show creepy clowns in 2020. People are worried that killer clowns are “back” because they were a big trend that scared people around the United States – and vexed law enforcement – in 2016.
The Gaming Weekly posted a video on September 9 on YouTube, warning, “Killer Clowns Are Back In 2020 – Victim Warns The Public.” Yeah, it’s been that kind of year. What else could go wrong? Killer clowns.
“Many people have been speculating: Can 2020 get even worse? Well, it might already have. … In a couple weeks, we may very well face another pandemic. One that is more creepy, one that is downright sinister. … Over the past couple days … all over the internet, something that rose in 2016 has duplicated yet again. … I’m alluding to the ‘killer clown’ scare,” the announcer says.
People say they are seeing “clowns in the streets all over the nation,” he revealed.
It all stemmed from a TikTok video that went viral showing “killer clown” sightings throughout the United States. That video started, “Everyone thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse. Well, the clowns are back.”
People on Twitter are hoping killer clowns is a TikTok joke but with Halloween still weeks away, who knows?
“When we said we wanted 2016 back WE DID NOT MEAN THE F-ING KILLER CLOWNS,” a woman wrote on Twitter. A TikTok page called @killerclownsightings2020 has more than 1.4 million followers. That page has posted multiple videos that supposedly show killer clowns throughout the country.
The TikTok Video Says Killer Clowns Have Been Spotted in 2020 From Wisconsin to Tennessee
A TikTok video shares photos and videos purporting to show clown scares in places like Birmingham, Alabama, Nashville, Tennessee, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. The video starts with clowns running through a field and contains a trigger warning. Green Bay was hit by a scary clown in 2016, when witnesses called police after a clown carrying black balloons terrified people in that city, ABC 7 reported.
The new TikTok video, which has gone viral, says killer clowns were spotted from September 2 through September 7, 2020. “Something traumatic happened that changed my life,” a woman says in a TikTok video. Another woman says, “What is that? Oh no. Oh my God. Oh my God.”
The video shows a clown walking down a darkened road.
The page @killerclownsightings2020 has shared a variety of videos showing clowns from Michigan to Oregon that supposedly were spotted in 2020. Here are screenshots of some of those videos.
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One video includes the caption, “HEY‼️ SO APPARENTLY ALOT OF PEOPLE ARE GETTING ANXIETY FROM MY POSTS AND I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT THIS PAGE IS A JOKE✨ still be safe ofc.”
Killer Clowns Were a Big Thing in 2016
The killer clown trend popped up throughout the country in a big way in 2016. Law enforcement agencies throughout the United States reported then that people dressed as killer clowns or creepy clowns were terrifying people throughout the country who spotted them standing on street corners and roadways in many cities and communities. At least 44 states reported clown sightings that year, and some schools were even closed down as the trend spread.
That year, creepy or killer clowns were sighted in Kentucky, Alabama, New York, Pennsylvania and many other states throughout the country, according to Rolling Stone, which said police started charging people with crimes for the scary prank. In other words, law enforcement agencies believed there weren’t actually clowns killing people; rather it was a craze in which people dressed up in creepy clown outfits to terrify people.
“In Alabama, seven people are facing felonies for making a terrorist threat, while two more juveniles face lesser charges. In Middlesboro, Kentucky, a 20-year-old man was arrested for wearing a clown costume while hiding in a ditch. In Virginia, two teens were taken into custody for donning clown costumes and chasing children,” Rolling Stone reported in 2016 of just some of the killer clown cases.
The trend then fizzled out. Until now?
THE KILLER CLOWNS ARE BACK?? NAH THIS MUST BE A JOKE BECAUSE I AINT GOT TIME FOR THIS SHIT PERIODT
Some people are hoping not. “not people saying the killer clowns might be back, have we not already dealt with enough in 2020,” wrote one person on Twitter. “IM CALLING IT RIGHT NOW, KILLER CLOWNS ARE COMING BACK FOR 2020,” wrote another.
READ NEXT: List of Creepy Clown Sightings From 2016.