Now the rise of creepy clown sightings has gone international.
On Thursday night, the threat to the community of the scary costume enthusiasts became all too clear for residents of the northern city of Rostock in Germany. According to German police, a man disguised as a "horror clown" beat up a 19-year-old man with a baseball bat, causing head injuries.
To the west of Germany, in Wesel, Thursday also saw a 48-year-old woman attacked by a chainsaw-wielding clown who jumped out from some bushes. He reportedly tried several times to start the chainsaw but failed, allowing the woman and her dog to escape unscathed. The fact that the woman escaped serious harm has done little to allay the fears in Germany that more attackers could follow suit — particularity, in the run up to Halloween.
I hope this crazy clown craze is over before Halloween.. 😱 #CantCope
— Bobby Norris (@BobbyCNorris) October 18, 2016
"I'm afraid that the very, very ugly trend of clown attacks will spread in the big cities over Halloween," the head of Germany's main police union, Rainer Wendt, told the Huffington Post newspaper on Thursday.
"The clowns are not only idiots but criminals. To scare someone in such a disgusting way is an assault."
A wave of confusion and hysteria in the US, England, Australia, Scotland, Canada and Germany too, has forced multiple police forces and schools to issue public statements pleading with pranksters not to follow suit.
Police have asked the clowns to consider the impact that the scary interactions could have on children. However, so far, their pleas have been falling on deaf ears. Social media continues to be abuzz with footage of frightening encounters.
A Facebook group called Clown Sightings UK has a compilation of photos of 'crazy clowns' across the UK, which includes alarming images of men loitering around children's play grounds at night.
Earlier this month, in a bizarre White House briefing, press secretary Josh Earnest was asked by reporters for President Obama's position on so-called 'Crazy Clowns'.
"I don't know that the president has been briefed on this particular situation," Earnest said.
"This is something that I've read about in some of the news coverage. Obviously, this is a situation that local law enforcement authorities take quite seriously, and they should carefully and thoroughly review perceived threats to the safety of the community, and they should do so prudently."
In the meantime, some fancy dress shops in Northumbria, in the north of England, have been asked by police not to sell clown costumes this Halloween, to try and discourage other wannabe-clowns from joining the craze.
London's Metropolitan police have also warned people dressing as clowns that they could be committing an offence, saying that the prank "can leave people feeling scared, anxious and intimidated."
