Halloween is still six weeks away, but someone dressed as a clown has already been roaming the streets of Northampton, England and scaring everyone.
The man, whose appearance many liken to the clown Pennywise from Stephen King’s IT, was first spotted on Friday the 13th, slowly roaming through the city streets. “He doesn’t juggle. He doesn’t twist balloons into animal shapes. He just stares,” the Northampton Herald & Post explains. The photo of him that has been widely circulated on the internet shows the white-faced, red-haired clown doing just that —staring. Another time he was spotted in the company of a forlorn looking clown-faced teddy bear.
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While the Northampton Clown keeps his identity hidden behind face paint, he is very active on social media. He started a Facebook, which has since racked up nearly 50,000 subscribers, and he posts frequently, correcting facts, and protecting his reputation. For example, when a recent YouTube video showing a man being interviewed in clown mufti made waves, he took to his Facebook page to deny it. He has also started a flurry of activity on Twitter under the #northamptonclown hashtag.
While the mystery of who is wearing the clown makeup has not been solved, his Facebook page sheds some light on his mission: “I don’t terrorise people,” he wrote. “I just want to be spotted.” The Northampton Clown may have drawn on a sad face when he added, “If what i am doing does get too much for people, I will have to stop.”
The Northampton Clown must have had a change of heart (and face paint) when he later added: “For those of you with phobias and fears, you don’t have to like and comment on this page. See you around soon :)” Perhaps even more ominously, he also wrote, “So glad there’s a picture from last night. I didn’t wear my clown shoes as they’ve got holes in them from all the drains i’ve been climbing into…”
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