Bring in the clowns; the scary, sinister and serial-killing clowns - it is almost Halloween, after all! The evil clown has become an archetype of villainous behavior in post-modern American pop culture and scholarly papers have even been written on the topic such as "Cotton Candy Autopsy: Deconstructing Psycho-Killer Clowns" by Mark Dery.
Being scared of clowns, whether murderous, maudlin or just happy-normal, is actually labeled by psychologists as an irrational fear called "coulrophobia.
" Coulrophobia has to do with the disconnect between person and persona when the face is disguised with layers of paint.
Play up this fun-house horror character and scare your friends by dressing in an evil clown costume for Halloween.
There have been many demented and deviant clowns in the movies and television, perfect inspiration for your scary clown costume.
The most recognizable clown of dastardly disrepute is The Joker from the long-popular Batman franchise of comic books, television shows, and blockbuster movies.
As the arch nemesis of Batman, The Joker is a maniacal supervillian whose was bleached chalk-white skin, red lips and green hair were a result of chemical accident during a scuffle with the authorities.
There are several styles of The Joker costumes available if you'd like to dress as this sadistic psychopath who has been portrayed by the likes of actors Cesar Romero, Jack Nickolson and Heath Ledger.
For decades, horror genre movies have featured a circus-like assortment of evil clowns.
Check out flicks such as "Killer Clowns From Outer Space" (1988), Stephen King's "It" (1990), "Clownhouse" (1989), and "Poltergeist" (1982) for inspiration.
Most of these evil clowns have the stereotypical look of bright clothing, exaggeratedly large shoes, red tufts of hair, scary face paint and a few weapons.
Between visiting your closet and an online costume shop, you can gather up most of these needed items for a scary clown costume.
While you'll have some sick fun scaring your friends in an evil clown Halloween costume, your buddies may be spending the next couple years in therapy!