As Halloween nears, clowns are terrorizing residents across England in what could be a repeat of incidents from years past.
The Daily Star reports that in the British town of Doncaster, a clown with a Facebook page has been posting ominous messages throughout the week.
“I’m coming back, kids. Who wants to play?” one message read.
“I’ll be going live in Cantley this weekend,” read another. “Who wants a balloon?”
A woman also has reported that a man wearing a clown mask attempted to forcefully enter her vehicle.
The driver posted the encounter on social media, explaining that she was at a stoplight when a car stopped too close behind her.
“I was unnerved straight away as the car behind me parked too close with high beams on,” the woman wrote. “A guy got out and banged on my windows wearing a horror clown mask.”
She added:
“Terrified is an understatement. We are okay and it’s been passed to the serious crime unit but please please be careful.”
“He tried my door but I always lock them. The man wasn’t bright though and left a fabulous set of finger prints on my window.”
Three other incidents have been reported, according to The Daily Star.
In previous years, pranksters dressed up in clown costumes stood outside of schools to scare children.
The so-called “Killer Clown” phenomenon stems from Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel “It,” although the incidents didn’t start in earnest until in 2016. Pranks in the United States spiked last year when King’s novel was made into a movie and jumped the Atlantic to the United Kingdom.
Police in the England community of Kent took in more than 50 reports of incidents involving clowns over the span of just three days last October.
Authorities in 2017 arrested a British teenager in one case. Michael March, then 18, has been holding onto an axe when he scared a pregnant woman. He was sentenced to six months in jail.
Facebook users are none too happy with the return of the clowns.
As one person put it: “Come and see me and I will smash your head in so hard – big mistake. Going round scaring kids – come and see me if you dare – I will knock your head off your shoulders.”
[Feature image: New Line Cinema]
