Pennywise, Twisty, Wrinkles, Bozo, Krusty and Ronald McDonald. What do these names have in common? They're all clowns, and, to some people, they're terrifying. A new study has examined the widespread ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. (Washington Post illustration; iStock) For 15 years, psychology professor Philip John Tyson has been teaching classes on phobias.

Scientists have quantified why people are afraid of clowns, and the reasons behind this common phobia might surprise you. Writing for The Conversation, Welsh psychological researchers Sophie Scorehy, ...

Clowns are supposed to make people laugh, entertaining audiences with slapstick comedy, juggling or making balloon animals. But somewhere along the way, clowns went from cheery characters — often the ...

The circus is coming! So this would be a good time for clown haters to re-examine their attitudes toward clowns. Or if you're afraid of clowns, there's good news. "Coulrophobia" is very treatable. And ...

The significant aberrations in a clown’s face may alter a person’s appearance so much that it enters the so-called ‘uncanny valley’ in which a figure is lifelike enough to be disturbing, but not ...

Are you scared of clowns? You are not alone. Coulrophobia, or the fear of clowns, is a widely acknowledged phenomenon. Studies indicate this fear is present among both adults and children in many ...

There’s a word— albeit one not recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary or any psychology manual— for the excessive fear of clowns: Coulrophobia. Not a lot of people actually suffer from a ...

Featuring Art the Clown as the main villain, Damien Leone’s new film “Terrifier 2” is so gruesome that there are reports of viewers vomiting and passing out in the theater. And every Halloween, you’ll ...

No one I've checked with knows the origin of the word coulrophobia, the term for maladaptive fear of clowns. I've searched many sources, checked with various professionals, and asked a Twitter army of ...

For 15 years, psychology professor Philip John Tyson has been teaching classes on phobias. At the start of every semester, he asks his students the same question: What are you afraid of? Students ...