--- description: Stephen King is really not amused with the widespread clown paranoia that has been playing out across the country. title: Even Stephen King Has Had Enough of Your Clown Fears image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ff82729237b670f/6988a8982dce01479e9eae3c/stephen-king-clowns1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Even Stephen King Has Had Enough of Your Clown Fears  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 4, 2016 2:44 PM CUT  Stephen King appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Nov. 2, 2015. Stephen King appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Nov. 2, 2015.Lou Rocco—ABC via Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 4, 2016 2:44 PM CUT Stephen King, the creator of the nightmare-inducing clown in the horror novel and miniseries _It_, is [not amused](https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/783018957263568896 "undefined") with the widespread clown paranoia that has been playing out across the country. The best-selling author stood up for clowns on Monday and urged calm as threats of armed clowns [shut down](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/10/03/merrimack-college-students-told-shelter-place-after-armed-clown-reported-campus-dorm/FezWwPSVbULieFniVQ8XLP/story.html "undefined") a Massachusetts college and a mob of Penn State students rushed the streets to [hunt for clowns](http://time.com/4517709/penn-state-clown-hunt/ "undefined"). “Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria—most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh,” King wrote on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/783018957263568896) It’s a stronger stance for King, who [first spoke out](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/08/stephen-king-discusses-north-carolina-scary-clowns "undefined") about the clown hype early last month, telling his hometown newspaper, _The Bangor Daily_ _News_, that “the clown furor will pass, as these things do.” “But it will come back, because under the right circumstances, clowns really can be terrifying,” King said at the time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4517916/stephen-king-clowns/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4517916/stephen-king-clowns/"},"headline":"Even Stephen King Has Had Enough of Your Clown Fears","datePublished":"2016-10-04T14:44:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:14:21.735Z","description":"“Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria\"","url":"https://time.com/4517916/stephen-king-clowns/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ff82729237b670f/6988a8982dce01479e9eae3c/stephen-king-clowns1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ff82729237b670f/6988a8982dce01479e9eae3c/stephen-king-clowns1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ABC's \"Good Morning America\" - 2015","caption":"Stephen King appears on ABC's \"Good Morning America\" on Nov. 2, 2015.","creditText":"Lou Rocco—ABC via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4517916/stephen-king-clowns/","name":"Even Stephen King Has Had Enough of Your Clown Fears"}}]}] ```