Hello again, Story Club members. I'm Ivy, your ghostly host with the most, and keeper of the strangest,

spurious tales on earth. Today is another Ivy's chilling tale. This tale story club members goes out to my beloved listener, Alex, who has asked me for

a story about clowns.

Alex, you know I'll do anything for story club members because honestly and truly, clowns

are probably one of the scariest types of stories for me. I'll take a ghost tale any day of the week over a creepy clown.

All right, be brave and bold with me, beloved listeners.

Today's tale is one that I call the clown curse of Gainesville.

When I say Gainesville, probably most people think of Gainesville, Florida, which is the biggest

city in north-central Florida.

But the Gainesville where this story is set is in Texas.

And the population is pretty small, just under 18,000 people.

It's usually just a cozy, nice southern town.

The people who live here are known for their warm smiles and friendly chatter.

Or at least they were.

Now they speak in hushed tones, their eyes darting nervously to the shadowed corners of the streets.

And what started their fears? Well, it was a fire. their eyes darting nervously to the shadowed corners of the streets.

And what started their fears?

Well, it was a fire, a whisper, a rumor of something sinister that had begun to haunt their town.

Twelve-year-old Emily, a brave and curious girl who had lived in Gainesville, Texas, all her life, had a knack for solving mysteries,

and she couldn't ignore the strange occurrences.

Her friends spoke of eerie laughter echoing through the streets at night,

and of colorful, sinister figures seen lurking in the outskirts of the town.

...