Thursday, January 17, 2008

Coulrophobia

Any guesses what this is the fear of? CLOWNS. Yes, that's right. For many years now, I have thought that clowns are scary. I am even a huge fan of Cirque du Solei, yet even their more upscale clowns I find somewhat creepy. It seems like such a silly fear though, for something that is supposed to make us laugh. Yet, I am happy to know that not only am I not alone in this fear, but there is now a STUDY that backs it up. In this study done by the University of Sheffield found that when they surveyed several hundred children in hospitals, all of them age 4 to 16 (250 total) disliked clowns and many older ones thought that they were scary. In the "authoritative" Wikipedia entry on coulrophobia, some individuals attribute this fear of clowns initiating from Stephen King's IT but I've never read that so I have no idea where mine came from. Also, the article cites other tv shows/movies/etc that have featured people who are afraid of clowns. What's your take on them?

1 comment:

Kim said...

Cheryl - I think it's fairly obvious that clowns are insanely scary. My worst nightmare is waking up to find a clown standing next to me. I mean really, what could be more frightening?
I'm so glad I found your blog! It's great to get a little glimpse of your life. And I am so envious that you are in California while I am enduring a freezing mid-western winter...