The 5 Scariest Mainstream Clowns

Screencap from Poltergeist

Coulrophobia...the fear of clowns.

With all the creepy clowns hitting the news these days people are genuinely scared of those who were meant to entertain people originally. Clowns were entertainers that were supposed to cheer up children. Parents would hire clowns to entertain their children at birthday parties. Other clowns such as Bozo would be a daily staple for children in the 1950s.

Now, all has changed. People have genuine phobias about those who don the red nose and colorful clothing. That's why the following list is not the typical happy-go-lucky list of clowns that make you happy.

You won't see DC Comics' Joker on here. While being a very mainstream character these days and having the nickname "The Clown Prince" to live up to, the Joker is thought to be the victim of unforeseen circumstances. Team that up with the "super-sanity" and his crime boss tendencies, the Joker is more mobster than clown.

These are the top 5 scariest clowns in the American mainstream.

1. Pennywise - This should be a give in. Google scary clown and images of Pennywise from Stephen King's It popup everywhere. Every thirty years this shape-shifter comes back to terrorize children. More of a supernatural character than a physical one, Pennywise lived in a realm called deadlights when not scaring and killing people.

2. Pogo - Who is Pogo you ask? Perhaps you know him by his real name...John Wayne Gacy. The serial murder's day job was entertaining children at parties and hospitals. At night he murdered an estimated thirty people at the very least. Nicknamed the Killer Clown after his reign of terror began, Gacy was eventually arrested and put to death by lethal injection in 1994.

3. Poltergeist Clown - This children's toy come to life was one of the scariest aspects of the Poltergeist movie. This toy with an evil smile should have never been allowed to be in the house by the parents. It wouldn't be long before this toy assaulted the child...no shock there. Just the scene of him crawling under the kid's bed was enough to give people nightmares.

4. Twisty - This clown was once the focus of the carnival show that became the focus of the fourth season of American Horror Story. After being accused of pedophilia, Twisty tried to end all by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. He ended up failing at this, mangling his face by shooting off his jaw. Since then, he remained outside of the circus, kidnapping children and trying to entertain them. Don't worry...he hid the fact that he was missing his jaw by wearing a mask.

5. Ronald McDonald - Perhaps the biggest killer of all the mainstream clowns, Ronald has slowly killed many off by utilizing calories, sugar, and fat in almost all of his fast food. He rebranded his death packages as Happy Meals and millions of Americans would become addicted almost overnight. For those who weren't 100 percent sold on buying one of his death traps...a toy to sway a few more to eat his food while playing with their plastic choking hazards.