Today we feature a Halloween costume character which, in theory, is supposed to be linked to comedy, but in practice has scared both children and adults over the years.  A version of this persona featured as Pennywise in master horror writer Stephen King’s book, ‘IT’. If you have not guessed ‘it’ already, we are talking about the Scary Clown.

Some may argue that clowns are scary enough already without getting a special mention for Halloween. You do not necessarily need to be a full coulrophobic (clown-phobic) to find them a bit creepy and despite common belief, many children, and for that matter quite a few adults, find them unsettling. Although the whitened face and permanent painted smile is cited as a reason, many of those who dislike clowns put it down to a bad childhood experience and certainly horror stories such as Stephen King’s ‘It’, featuring Pennywise the evil clown, play on such fears. In the same theme park, so to speak are characters such as The Joker from Batman who, though going through several incarnations, still hides evil behind the painted smile.

We stock a variety of clown outfits, in fact, you could make any clown into a brilliant Halloween outfit.  Props n Frocks stocks a wide range of clown accessories, as well as costumes, so if you want to put your own costumes together at home, it is very easy and cost effective.

The essence of the Scary/Evil clown is that, from a distance, they appear normal, so the costume can be much the same as you would wear for any clown, although some would say the brighter and more colourful the better, to counterpoint his or even her true character. It is the clown close-up that reveals their true colours.

There are a good number of clown masks on the market and some may even do tricks such as popping eyes and moving hair. Whilst they save time and effort, they are a problem when it comes to eating, talking, etc. Make-up may be preferable and we will be looking at this in more detail tomorrow.