Send in the Clowns! A Review of Clowns in Horror: A Film and Television Guide by Glenn Tolle
Who doesn’t love a clown? Well, apparently many people who have Coulrophobia, or the fear of clowns. Clowns are popular characters in all kinds of venues including children's parties. But they are also scary figures in horror films. Glenn Tolle, in his book, Clowns in Horror: A Film and Television Guide (McFarland, 2026) looks at both the history of the clown and its image in horror films and television shows.
Tolle starts his book by examining the history of clowns noting that the clown figure, in its various forms, can be found in ancient Rome, medieval Europe, and even in the Imperial Court of ancient China. However, he clarifies that the face of the modern clown is most often seen in Joseph Grimaldi, a 19th century performer. Tolle also examines the idea that circus and clowns often go hand in hand, but he points out that the first circuses in America had no clowns until Dan Rice started performing in the early 1800s. Clowns then moved on to the American television with the introduction of Bozo and Clarabell the Clown, a character on The Howdy Doody Show.
Tolle moves on to the early 1980s, when America was introduced to John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer who was widely known in his community as a clown who entertained children, and indeed, Gacy would capitalize on this reputation by selling paintings of his clown persona. Gacy was executed in 1994, but his clown image lives on.
Does the fear of clowns stem from John Wayne Gacy? Tolle doesn’t think so. He says, “No matter how sinister a serial killer John Wayne Gacy might have been, he couldn’t overturn what appeared to be centuries of previous good relationships between people and clowns as form of entertainment.” Tolle then spends some time discussing the idea of fear and why we fear clowns. He cites a 2023 study that asked participants about this fear. Why are they afraid of an image that is supposed to bring laughter and joy? Their top answers? Negative media portrayals, unpredictable behavior and hidden emotional signals.
The rest of the book is a guide exploring clowns in films and television shows. Tolle explains his set parameters in the preface of his book. He notes that sometimes in films or television shows, the clown image or character may only play a minor part, while in other films or shows, the clown is a major character. The cutoff date for inclusion in this book was 2023.
So what kinds of films or shows are covered in this book? Tolle does catalog movies that instantly come to mind when the clown horror figure is mentioned. For instance, both It, the 1990 television movie and It, the two feature films released in 2017 and 2019, are mentioned. He calls Terrifier, a “newly minted cult classic” with the inclusion of Art the Clown. He also explores the clown in such films as Demonic Toys; the classic film, Freaks; the Halloween franchise; House of a 1,000 Corpses, and Poltergeist (both the original and the remake).
These may be familiar films for horror movie fans, but Tolle also mentions appearances of clown characters and images in television shows such as various Scooby Doo cartoons, a few Supernatural shows, and an X-Files episode where Agent Scully mentions John Wayne Gacy while investigating a case.
Of course, even staunch horror movie fans will not recognize every entry in this guidebook, as Tolle includes many short independent films, and yes, films from the adult movie industry.
In general, every entry contains the names of the cast, the director and the producer. A brief synopsis is also included with each film, so a spoiler alert should be noted as the movie endings are often part of the summaries.
Those looking for a deep analysis of the clown image in horror films may be disappointed as most of this book is dedicated to being a guide. Tolle himself notes that he undertook such a project because he believed such a study was absent in the world of horror film studies. The depth of such project is admirable. Certainly, this book is a must for anyone who wants to explore the clown in horror. Still, if you are looking to overcome your own Coulrophobia, this book may not be for you!
Clowns in Horror: A Film and Television Guide was published by McFarland Books. The website is https://mcfarlandbooks.com/.
Comments