The fear of clowns is a real thing and according to a survey carried out in 2016 by Chapman University, 7.8% of Americans that took part were afraid of clowns. The study looked at the top American fears and clowns came within the top four most common answers within personal fears.

Ancient Rome’s clown was a stock fool called the stupidus; the court jesters of medieval Europe were a sanctioned way for people under the feudal thumb to laugh at the guys in charge; and well...

In this 1988 horror-comedy classic, the evil extraterrestrials employ inventive ways of killing their victims, such as encasing them in cocoons fashioned from cotton candy. This Encyclopedia Britannica Pop Culture list explores the lives of 10 famous clowns.

It was at the turn of the 19th Century when the British pantomime star Grimaldi honed his alter-ego Joey, a character that was the forerunner to the clown we know today – currently terrorising...