Seeing a dude dressed like Pennywise the Dancing Clown outside of your window is enough to terrify the bejeezus out of even the most mildly coulrophobic (or “afraid of clowns,” for the rubes) among us. That’s the gist of the mysterious entity known as the Northampton Clown, who, after granting his first interview to a local paper, seems less terrifying and … more like a dork.
Creepy as balls though he may be, the infamous Northampton Clown told the Chronicle and Echo that he’s not trying to scare anyone, calling his bizarre and random appearances “a bit of harmless fun.”
“Most people enjoy being a bit freaked out and then they can laugh about it afterwards,” he said. “It’s like watching a horror movie. When people get scared, they usually start laughing.”
I mean, I guess.
In any case, the still anonymous clown has become a bit of a meme on social media since appearing late last week (on Friday the 13th, no less). His Facebook page which, yes, he owns and operates, has skyrocketed to 128,000 “likes” in less than a week and his antics have even spawned a nemesis in the form of Boris the Northampton Clown Catcher.
Still, he doesn’t want anyone to be afraid, even though he regularly referenced the Stephen King film It throughout his interview and seems to have based his “act” on the terrifying Pennywise character (star of the film and your nightmares).
The only noble thing we could pick from his motives was that he’s pleased that his actions are bringing attention to the town of Northampton. Otherwise, he shared plans to appear “for as long as people are interested” and hold a “clown” day once a week even though it’s becoming “more difficult to keep his identity a secret.”
Personally, I just think he’s into the attention. Check out his Facebook page. He posts every little thing anyone writes about him there and teases appearances around town like he’s Diddy or something. Decide for yourself, but I think it would have been preferable for the Northampton Clown meme to stay more of a mystery.
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