Creepy clowns continue to haunt South Carolina woods and our nightmares.

This haunt began in Greenville, South Carolina, towards the end of July 2016 and has been a constant threat in several states. On August 21, a Carolina resident reported multiple sightings near her apartment complex, which led to a further investigation of reports made days earlier. Witnesses described them as suspicious characters, dressed in circus attire and white face paint, luring children to follow them into the woods. At that point, the only sightings were in the South Carolina area, until Jamie Hill, a bystander from Kentucky, posted a photo of a clown-like figure standing on the 192 highway in the city of London, Kentucky. Other incidents have reported the clown waving and bribing children with large amounts of money to follow them.

However, the sightings ceased through the month of September, until just recently, multiple clowns have been spotted roaming around Auburn University’s campus in Alabama.

Former Kadet and current freshman at Auburn University, Lily Lemond stated, “They were driving around playing music from the Purge,” when consulted on the matter.

Another student reported seeing three people wearing clown masks while walking across campus. Officers responded, but did not discover the suspects and the cameras placed around campus were unable to uncover any footage. It is unknown if the group dressed up as clowns intended to cause trouble or not, but Auburn Police Assistant Chief Will Matthews requested that “the students be aware of their surroundings and avoid doing anything that would cause alarm.” The University of Auburn has issued an alert that the rumored threats by the clowns were not credible.

In Gainesville, Florida, a resident of Georgetown Apartments spotted a man dressed as a clown standing outside the complex’s gate on Tuesday, September 26th. The resident, Danielle Curley, was taking her trash out when she heard noises coming from outside the gate; she immediately went inside and reported it to the Gainesville Police Department.

She told wuft.org, a local Floridian online newspaper, “He had on all black – he had a black and white mask on with clown hair, and he was just staring at us, making noises, trying to get our attention.”

The GPD received the call around 11pm, and by the time they arrived, the creepy clown had disappeared.

“It’s not funny. I have a family – my kids don’t like being scared, I don’t like being scared,” Curley said. “If it’s just a joke, just stop the jokes, save it for Halloween” (wuft.org).

This flood of clown sightings has caused worried citizens to continuously place the blame on Stephen King’s “It.” The novel came out in 1986 but has a re-adapted movie that is planned to release September 8th, 2017, referencing the influence on these beings and how they have terrorized the United States. It follows Pennywise, a clown that terrorizes seven children by exploiting his victim’s biggest fears and phobias. Although this killer clown character is fictional, it has steadily picked up fame in the movie and TV show industry. “American Horror Story” featured a misunderstood killer clown in season 4 themed “Freak Show” and Rob Zombie’s movie “31” depicts kidnapped carnies forced to play a game all while being tortured by sadistic clowns.

And the fright does not stop there.

The clown trend has been beginning to show its face in Colorado, and even more freaky, Academy District 20 schools. Several middle schools and high schools have received threats of attacks by the clowns. Some resulted in increased security and some schools have even closed for the day. However, no real dangerous actions have been completed.

Meanwhile, working clowns are being negatively affected by these menaces. All the encounters are tarnishing their reputation and their businesses.

Tricia Manuel, who runs a clown training camp in Minnesota, told npr.org, “When people report these things it should be ‘someone dressed like a clown,’ because a real clown would never dress or do anything to scare anyone,” she said. “In South Carolina, two of the clowns were afraid to go out and perform.”