THE DISTURBING TRUTH ABOUT KILLER CLOWNS: Real Sightings, True Crimes, and Why We Fear Their Faces

From the 1981 Boston sightings, to Steven King’s monster, to John Wayne Gacy's horrific murders, we have plenty of reasons to loath these nightmare entertainers.

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IN THIS EPISODE: Why do clowns creep us out? We’ll look at some of the reasons. We’ll review real creepy clown sightings – it happens a lot more than you might think! Plus, we’ll also look at some true cases of clowns committing crimes… and sometimes killing.
ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy.
DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.

SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…
“The Tamarac Square Clown” posted at DarkStories.org: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yck74etk
“Why So Serious About Clowns?” by Frank T. McAndrew for The Conversation: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9cd2hp; and Beth Forrester for Spirit Halloween:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8s8m3h
“Creepy Clown Sightings” by Matthew Dessem for Slate.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5fdppc8j; Nina Young for Kidspot.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p852r3b
“Clowns of Crime” by Lauren Tousignant for The New York Times: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8thetd; Maggie Panos at PopSugar.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p87t7hh; and from iHorror: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/7byrxnmv
“John Wayne Gacy: Killer Clown” by Katie Serena for All That’s Interesting: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yc7465z8
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(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)
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"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46
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WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.
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Originally aired: April 04, 2023
NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.
EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/clowns