This episode contains graphic content that may not be suitable for all ages.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available.

Call or text 988 or chat with someone at 988 lifeline.org. Those outside of the U.S. reach out to someone at your local

crisis center or hotline. Please do not suffer in silence. At first I thought he was telling up that. And I told him, I said, go in the house, and

you know, we'll talk about this one again. And then the next day there was like 30 kids

come up to me and said, Ms. Donna, there's clowns in the woods, there's clowns in the woods.

My child was with me, so I knew that they had to see something.

Do you remember when there were a bunch of clown sightings a few years back?

It seemed like every week brought new reports of creepy clowns lurking at the edge of woods,

roaming neighborhoods, and clearing from parking lots.

They waved at startled onlookers, chased kids with knives, or whispered from the tree line.

At least, that's what people said.

People flooded 911 lines with calls about these boogeymen in big shoes, yet concrete

evidence was hard to find.

It was a bizarre social media fueled hysteria that spread across dozens of states and even

overseas, equal parts absurd and unsettling.

This is the story of that phantom clown phenomenon.

For as long as there has been laughter, there have been clowns.

Clown-like characters date back thousands of years, from ancient

jesters who satirized kings to the circus clowns of the 19th century, with painted faces

and oversized clothes. Traditionally, clowns were figures of fun and folly, given license

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