As if the crazy election season weren’t bad enough, we also have to deal with The Creepy Clown Epidemic of 2016. Scary clown sightings have been reported from Oregon all the way down to North Carolina.

A few examples:

• Wisconsin: A clown named Gags roams Greenbay streets at night holding a bouquet of black balloons.
• New Jersey: A bunch of teenagers in a pickup truck wearing clown masks follow a female driver for 20 miles from Butler to Paramus; a person wearing a clown mask stands atop a highway billboard in Clifton.
• California: Fontana teenager creates an Instagram profile, “Fontana’s Killer Clowns,” to scare people and gain followers.
• North Carolina: Reports of clowns trying to lure kids into the woods in Winston Salem.

A Twitter handle, @ClownSightings, started in July, has more than 93,000 followers and tracks reported sightings across the world (including across the pond where the ‘killer clown’ craze has invaded, from London to South Wales).  And McDonald’s announced recently that they will limit appearances by Ronald McDonald in light of the clown panic sweeping the nation.

Let’s face it, clowns have always gotten a bad rap, especially with children.  And now they’re in desperate need of some positive PR. So, Stephen King, whose 1986 clown novel It terrified us all,  tweeted this past week “Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria–most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh.” And the clown community has taken to Facebook with a #realclownsareaboutlove hashtag in an attempt to bring attention to all the happiness and positivity they bring to the world.

Now on to the next presidential debate!