Germany Halloween Clowns

In a Berlin, at a fancy dress shop in the run-up to Halloween, shoppers are browsing costumes and they have a plethora of outfits to choose from. This year some may think twice about opting for a popular scary clown costume, after a spate of incidents pointed to the spread of the “creepy clown” phenomenon across the Atlantic. Reports of menacing individuals dressed as clowns or wearing clown masks began surfacing in late august in South Carolina. Since then, there have been several violent incidents in Germany. In Berlin, a 16-year-old in a clown costume received stab wounds on Monday, October 24 when attempting to frighten a group of young people with a hammer. A fourteen-year-old turned on the clown with a knife, before realizing it was in fact an acquaintance playing a prank. Children with some face paint on and ringing the doorbell and saying “trick or treat” has become a Halloween tradition. But running around with these horror masks and frightening people is a crime.