10 Scariest Movie & TV Clowns

The Haunting Hour was a TV series based on R.L. Stine’s less famous book series The Nightmare Hour. Pitched to be much darker than Goosebumps, it had some very disturbing stories, including the fourteenth episode in season one, Afraid of Clowns.

It centres on a boy called Chris who has developed a terrible phobia of clowns after a clown scared him when he appeared at his twelfth birthday party. After being stalked by scary clowns seemingly everywhere he turns, he is given a ticket to Kaptain Krazee’s Cavalcade of Clowns for his thirteenth birthday and goes along to impress a girl.

Kaptain Krazee is quite terrifying, with his makeup and voice making him appear evil and psychotic. He drags Chris on to stage as an unwilling volunteer during the show and turns him into a clown in a magic jack-in-the-box.

Chris runs backstage and is cornered by the clowns, realising he can’t take his clown makeup or wig off. His parents run in before the ultimate horrifying twist is revealed. Clowns are not dressed up but are a separate species. His parents take off their ‘human’ masks to reveal their true form. We leave Chris in his worst nightmare as the clowns descend on him.