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They don't bother me but, some people get freaked out by them
There have been reports of more clowns in more cities spotted lurking in the woods.
In the past month, police in the Carolinas have received multiple reports from people claiming clowns with white-painted faces were acting strangely in the area – at least once attempting to lure kids into the woods with money.
The reports have fueled speculation that the sightings could be a hoax, or possibly even morbid fans trying to promote the 2017 movie release of Stephen King’s It, about an evil clown known as Pennywise that terrorized a group of young boys.
One local TV station wondered if Rob Zombie’s upcoming film, about a group of kidnapped carnival workers, might be involved in guerrilla marketing – but the distributor said they were not.
“If this is a hoax or publicity stunt it is not funny,” Greensboro police spokeswoman Susan Danielsen tells PEOPLE. “It is alarming to the public and a drain on police resources. We just don’t know at this point, because we haven’t had the chance to interview any clowns.”
The latest sighting occurred on Tuesday, when a man brandishing a machete chased a clown into the woods near an apartment complex in Greensboro, North Carolina, police said.
The person, who was wearing a scary clown mask, red curly wig, yellow dotted shirt, blue clown pants and clown shoes, ran back into the woods and disappeared from view, according to police.
“We don’t know why he was there or what he was doing there,” Danielsen says. She says officers scoured the area, but couldn’t find anyone.
While it’s not illegal to dress as a clown in Greensboro, Danielsen says the city has an ordinance that prohibits people from wearing a mask within city limits.
The police department, she says, is also discouraging “copycat behavior
There have been reports of more clowns in more cities spotted lurking in the woods.
In the past month, police in the Carolinas have received multiple reports from people claiming clowns with white-painted faces were acting strangely in the area – at least once attempting to lure kids into the woods with money.
The reports have fueled speculation that the sightings could be a hoax, or possibly even morbid fans trying to promote the 2017 movie release of Stephen King’s It, about an evil clown known as Pennywise that terrorized a group of young boys.
One local TV station wondered if Rob Zombie’s upcoming film, about a group of kidnapped carnival workers, might be involved in guerrilla marketing – but the distributor said they were not.
“If this is a hoax or publicity stunt it is not funny,” Greensboro police spokeswoman Susan Danielsen tells PEOPLE. “It is alarming to the public and a drain on police resources. We just don’t know at this point, because we haven’t had the chance to interview any clowns.”
The latest sighting occurred on Tuesday, when a man brandishing a machete chased a clown into the woods near an apartment complex in Greensboro, North Carolina, police said.
The person, who was wearing a scary clown mask, red curly wig, yellow dotted shirt, blue clown pants and clown shoes, ran back into the woods and disappeared from view, according to police.
“We don’t know why he was there or what he was doing there,” Danielsen says. She says officers scoured the area, but couldn’t find anyone.
While it’s not illegal to dress as a clown in Greensboro, Danielsen says the city has an ordinance that prohibits people from wearing a mask within city limits.
The police department, she says, is also discouraging “copycat behavior
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