IT was no laughing matter as clowns donned their red noses and oversized shoes to protest outside Alton Towers over the portrayal of them as evil.
Since Stephen King first changed the image of clowns in IT, the idea of clowns being scary rather than funny has been used in many horror movies and fairground attractions.
Alton Towers is the latest to do this in its Carnival of Screams as part of Scarefest 2010 for Hallowe’en which sees the horror figures take over the funhouse but this was a final straw for fed-up clowns.
Ten clowns from Zippos Circus took to their unicycles and tied themselves to railings to show they were not amused by their scary alto-egos.
One security guard was even left covered in custard tart as one last reminder as the circus entertainers’ were moved on from their protest.
One of the protesters, Janerik Brenner, who has been a clown for 30 years, said: “The protest went very well but we got moved on by security and basically got told to sling our hook.
“We were not aggressive or violent but 10 clowns outside the attraction certainly attracted attention.
“It was not long after we got there that they got security down who kept ushering us off the road as we kept running out to people.
“We were slowing traffic down a little so I see their point of moving us.” The 40-year-old, whose father, grandfather, brother and sister are all clowns, told the Advertiser that they do not agree with Alton Towers using the clowns and asked why not use more typical Hallowe’en stereotypes such as pumpkins, witches and ghosts.
He said: “Some people do have a genuine phobia of clowns and we do respect that but there are drama queens who think it is popular to say they are scared of clowns.
“It started with Stephen King’s IT which made people decide that they were now scared of clowns. The same as Jaws did for sharks.
“Clowns do tend to get a bum rap even Krusty in The Simpsons is portrayed as smoking and hitting kids which is just not the right image.
“We need to stand up and let our voice be heard.
“My message is: if you see a clown smile, don’t scream.” The group plans to set up a Facebook group to continue their campaign.
Morwenna Angove, Alton Towers’ sales and marketing director, said: “We understand that a number of clowns have staged a protest at the Alton Towers Resort against our latest attraction for Scarefest, Carnival of Screams.
“The clowns have taken exception at the use of ‘evil clowns’ which feature in the walk-through horror maze.
“We would like to reiterate that Carnival of Screams is a thrill attraction aimed at providing a unique and fun form of entertainment as part of our Hallowe’en celebration Scarefest.
“This is in no way intended as a move to defame clowning as a profession. We are simply tapping into the very common and widespread fear of clowns that already exists to create a fantastically frightening Hallowe’en offering which we hope all our visitors will enjoy.
“Scarefest and the Carnival of Screams will be going ahead regardless of the protest.”
