Clowns have always been represented as tricksters and jokers, from the days of jesters all the way through Ronald McDonald, but the high jinks were always paired with pathos and humanity. However, at some point in the last century, clowns became a source of a major cultural phobia, and the “scary clown” has become a staple of the American pop-culture landscape. Author and clown expert Benjamin Radford breaks down exactly what happened t0 make clowns so creepy.