“It”: That’s why Stephen King himself is afraid of clowns
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“It”: That’s why Stephen King himself is afraid of clowns
There is a disease called “coulrophobia”: the pathological fear of clowns.
Since Stephen King, no one has been able to see the giant feet of a made-up puppet waddling up without getting their heart racing. “It” was released in 1986 and was about the fight of seven children against a monster from outer space. The “It” had no name, but it knew how to disguise itself in order to gain the trust of the little ones.
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With King, horror entered clown life, an entire industry was reinterpreted, unfortunately there are no statistics on how many painted circus comedians have had to live on the streets for 31 years. Since the eighties, countless films have flooded the market, mostly from the B segment, whose titles alone set the tone: “The Clown at Midnight” or “Klown Kamp Massacre”. As King Clown, it called itself Pennywise, and Pennywise brought balloons that could even fly against the wind. “We all fly down here,” said It, poking its head out of the sewers. The little ones got big eyes. Then the clown pulled her down with his claws.
Stephen King played a fair game with Pennywise. His assumption about how clowns affect children was almost naive. King assumed that the children in his novel would be attracted to the grotesque creature; eventually, after initial shyness, all the little ones started talking to him. Pennywise only presented his monster mouth with sharp teeth and claws when he had the victim completely on his side.
“It”: That’s why Stephen King himself is afraid of clowns
This is how the novel finds its motif on the first pages. Bill Denbrough, one of the boys, wants to avenge his little brother who was murdered by “It”. George was playing outside, alone in the rain, with his paper boat. He was found with one arm torn off in front of a sewer shaft.
King himself once suffered clown damage. “When I was a kid,” he said on Conan O’Brien’s talk show in 2005, “I went to the circus. There I saw twelve adults driving miniature cars in circles in the ring. Their mouths as red as blood. They were screaming like crazy.” King took a pause in the conversation. “What’s not to like?”
“It”: That’s why Stephen King himself is afraid of clowns
A clown has secrets, we cannot know what is going on inside him. Being afraid is completely normal. This is why the much-invoked “wisdom of clowns” or even “tears of clowns” have such a great impact. Because comedians amaze us with this introspection. But would we actually believe their great honesty? Aren’t her feelings perhaps just a masquerade?
There are certainly adults who have given up their fear of costumed devils. It’s the parents who reassure their little ones: “Oh, look how funny he is” – while their son and daughter want to run away screaming.
No, no: We can be afraid of clowns. Stephen King even had to sit next to one. At 10,000 meters altitude, during a flight. The clown, King said, marched into the first class and sat in the first available seat, which was right next to the writer.
“It”: That’s why Stephen King himself is afraid of clowns
“Well, I just attract crazy people,” King recalled on O’Brien’s show. So there the two of them sat next to each other on the plane, the horror author and a clown in full gear, and the clown asked for a gin and tonic. “I came from McDonaldland in Cleveland,” he said, quite exhausted, “now I’m flying on to the next branch.”
Wouldn’t that be funny, thought Stephen King. If our plane crashes, I’ll die next to a clown.