It spreads: Invasion of the scary killer clowns

A clown spotted at a cemetery waves when he's illuminated by car headlights. (courtesy CBS Chicago)

A clown spotted at a cemetery waves when he's illuminated by car headlights. (CBS Chicago)

WASHINGTON – Sightings of scary killer clowns have gone national.

Is it real?

Is it a spoof?

Publicity stunt?

Early Halloween fun?

Or maybe "Coulrophobia," the actual clinical name for fear of clowns?

Whatever, the recent spate of hysteria started in South Carolina.

Police say they are doing extra patrols in a Winston-Salem neighborhood after two children reported seeing a clown trying to lure kids into the woods with treats.

The "clown" was described as wearing white overalls, white gloves, red shoes with red bushy hair, a white face and a red nose.

About four hours later, a caller who refused to give a name reported another sighting about two miles away. Police say again they found no evidence of a clown.

More unverified scary clown sightings in northern South Carolina have been in the news recently.

In the Greenville area, multiple law-enforcement agencies are investigating a rash of incidents involving clown sightings at apartment complexes and other areas of Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

Deputies in Greenville County said the clowns were initially seen in wooded areas, where they allegedly tried to entice children to join them, but sightings have now increased with reports that clowns were also knocking on the doors of homes.

The clowns have been reported to use laser pointers, stalk kids, and use money in attempt to lure them into a nearby wooded area by showing them large amounts of money.

Then North Carolina got into the act.

Two children in Winston-Salem, some 175 miles northeast of Greenville, reported very similar sightings.

Just like investigators in their neighboring state to the south, police in Winston-Salem have stepped up patrols, but haven't been able to substantiate any of the reports.

Authorities say two North Carolina children said they saw the clown, and one adult reported hearing the clown. According to the two kids, the clown was wearing white overalls, white gloves, and red shoes and had red bushy hair, a white face, and a red nose. They told police he offered them treats like candy if they would come into the woods.

Officers say they found no evidence of a clown in the woods.

About four hours later, a caller who refused to give a name reported seeing a clown about two miles away. Police say they found no evidence of a clown in that incident either.

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The phenomena began on Aug. 21 in South Carolina with six similar sightings in the area.

Earlier this year, a knife-wielding clown was reportedly seen in Columbus, Ohio. A 14-year-old boy told police that a 6-foot-tall man in dark clothing and a clown mask chased him a short distance as he walked to a school-bus stop.

The boy said he fended off the clown by throwing a rock at him and then fled to the bus stop.

According to the report, the man was wearing a mask, black pants, compression sleeves and tennis shoes. He also wore a glove on his right hand and a bandage on his left, the police report said.

Earlier, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a disheveled clown was reported to have been spotted roaming the streets at night carrying four black balloons. Photos of the clown went viral, but the whole thing turned out to be a marketing ploy for an independent film.

But even before the Green Bay hoax, a couple in Chicago claimed to have seen another scary clown near a cemetery at night.

Here's how CBS Chicago reported the story: "The cell phone video tells it all: A person dressed in a clown suit, trespassing at historic Rosehill Cemetery in the dead of night. Julia Graham says she was 'freaked out' at the figure as it ran toward the main gate. She and her husband were driving by around 10 p.m. 'When we get closer, we realize it's a clown, which is super weird,' she says. The first picture her husband snapped was of the clown scaling the 7-foot-tall gate at the Ravenswood Avenue entrance."

The clown appeared to stand in front of the cemetery as if waiting to be illuminated by the headlights of a passing car. Once he was seen, the clown paused, waved slowly, then scaled the gate and and vanished.

Perhaps the first creepy clown-sighting to achieve international notoriety was the so-called "Northampton Clown," a masked fiend who prowled the streets of Northampton, England, in October 2013. He did not harass, attack, or threaten anyone, he just appeared long enough to frighten people – and get his photo taken. He soon had his own Facebook page where people who glimpsed him were encouraged to post their sightings and photos. He was later revealed to be a local prankster and amateur filmmaker.

Less than six months after the Northampton Clown scare faded, another clown was seen lurking on the roads of Staten Island at night. That, too, turned out to be a publicity stunt for a movie company. Clowns reappeared shortly before Halloween 2014 when residents in the California towns of Bakersfield and Wasco reported seeing scary clowns at night. Some were photographed holding weapons, but no one reported being threatened or hurt.

Around the same time a cluster of reports swept across France. According to a paper presented at the 2015 International Society for Contemporary Legend Research by Belgian folklorist Aurore Van De Winkel, the European clown panic "began in France on Oct. 10 with a disguised teenager chasing his terrified neighbor with a plastic knife in downtown Périgueux, simply as a practical joke."

Meanwhile, the killer-clown threat seems to have coincided with the debut of the remake of "It," Stephen King's thriller, which originally was produced as a 1990s TV miniseries.

Tim Curry as "Pennywise" the clown from Stephen King's original TV miniseries, "It."

The new film debuts in theaters Sept. 8.

In the book and movie, the scary clown is called "Pennywise." And, again coincidentally, he made his 21st century appearance in an exclusive photo shoot from Entertainment Weekly. The part, which was originally played by the terrifying Tim Curry of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" is now being played by Bill Skarsgard of Hemlock Grove and Allegiant fame.