In the past few months or so, Ohio and many other states have seen an invasion of creepy clowns, and rumors are circling among students that clowns have made an appearance on campus.
Although no students have been harmed and there isn’t much evidence that suggests the clowns have been to Capital, many students are frustrated by the situation, and a few are even afraid of the clowns.
“I think it’s stupid,” First-year student Albany Fridley said. “They’re ruining a fun costume.”
The “clown epidemic,” as many have called it, has also moved online. Anonymous users have made accounts on Twitter and Facebook, where they post “warnings” from the groups of clowns. One post circulating the social media platforms in the past few weeks said that we should cancel Halloween or face serious consequences.
There have also been threats from these accounts toward high schools, causing some closings and lockdowns.
Some Facebook users have found an unusual number of creepy clown accounts in their group of suggested friends.
“I was scared at first,” First-year student Petyn Scanlan said, “but then I realized it was just a bunch of trolls.”
The clown craze started earlier this year when grainy photos surfaced on social media of a clown wandering the streets of Green Bay, Wisconsin. This ended up being a publicity stunt for a small, local horror film.
The damage was already done, though. Several other clowns popped up, and they were a little more threatening this time. Scanlan said that the scariest part of the whole thing was seeing these creepy events occur in a similar fashion across the country.
While rumors continue to circulate that some students have seen clowns here at Capital, several others are skeptical that any exist on campus.
“I won’t believe it until I see it,” First-year student Hannah Hunt said.
It seems that students on campus are more annoyed than worried about the clown situation, but it’s always a good idea to walk with a buddy at night. At the very least, a clown costume will be extra scary this year.
