Local Clown Says Recent Hysteria Is ‘A Little Frustrating’

For one local professional clown, the recent hysteria surrounding the clown culture is becoming “a little frustrating”.

Ryan Ross, better known as ‘Karnage’ of the entertainment group Circus Rejects, recently spoke with LevittownNow.com about the creepy reports circulating nationwide of clowns terrorizing residents, schools, and communities.

While the first extremely notable case was at an apartment complex in South Carolina in August, the reports hit locally earlier this week when a man alleged he was walking his dog in Levittown’s Crabtree section when a clown appeared out of the woods. While police say they received no call and could not substantiate the report, the video has since gone viral. 

According to Ross, the recent hype has begun to impact his way of life.

Ross, who works at Bloodshed Farms, a haunted attraction in New Jersey, and also with his own entertainment group year-round said he’s had to make some adjustments.

“As haunt actors we have to be concerned about potential attacks just going back and forth to work,” Ross said.

He noted that the recent hysteria has caused him and the other actors he works with to remove costumes and makeup before they leave. “For the Circus Rejects, it poses more of an issue. We do gigs all year long all over the tri-state area. The reports and hysteria – while they aren’t causing Ross and his clown collaborators to adjust costumes – has caused them to not travel dressed up or drive their ‘themed’ vehicle.

“We are concerned about losing potential gigs over all this hype, like other clown entertainers that we know,” he said. “I see posts about people who are saying that they are just going to shoot or run over any clown they see.”

For Ross, things have gotten a little out of hand, being that most of the reports can’t be proven.

“These reports are mostly unsubstantiated from what I’ve read, but it’s not stopping people from trying to get attention from this and making threats and going out dressed up and messing with people,” he said. “In our opinion, going around messing with kids and making threats is not right no matter what. A professional won’t mess with kids or threaten schools. That’s just not smart. To the people doing these things, if you want to scare people so much go work for a haunted house!”