We hate clowns. A lot. We especially hate clowns that try to lure children into the woods. There comes a time when it doesn’t matter whether they are of the phantom variety or earthly and based in dysfunction–it has to go. Authorities in Greenville, South Carolina, are doing their utmost to put an end to this disturbing situation; problem is the clowns that children report seeing in the woods can never be found. Loren Coleman points out that the last time there was an outbreak of phantom clown reports was in 2008, an election year. And what is 2016? Yep. Makes you wonder… Sociologist Robert Bartholomew takes a different tack in a Psychology Today post entitled Phantom Clowns in South Carolina Are Nothing New. He views these reports as localized rumor-panics, the products of overwrought imaginations, a kind of living folklore best dealt with by folklorists, sociologists, and social psychologists, not law enforcement. But wait, there’s more, reports of Phantom Clowns: Ohio. The knife-wielding clown reported in Columbus might be a hoax, due to the copycat effect, but the police aren’t taking any chances. We think an overabundance of caution is good police policy. (CM, PH)

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