Coulrophobia is, by definition, the fear of clowns. According to the Cleveland Clinic website, those who fear clowns may experience extreme, irrational reactions when they see them in person or in various forms of media. So when creepy clown sightings started popping up in 2016, it created a full-blown panic across the country. Reports and videos of these "Killer clowns" spread like wildfire with claims that some of them were attempting to lure children into the woods. What most people don't realize is that these sightings originated in the upstate of South Carolina. What was the inspiration for these clown sightings? Some think it was promotional material for upcoming films, but maybe the motivations were more sinister than we thought.