Your creepy clown nightmare is for real

Has your October been peaceful? Entrenched in pumpkin spice things and football and new fall television and candy corn? Well those warm and fuzzy feelings are over, especially if you live in Wasco or Bakersfield, CA. A bunch of creepy clowns have been roaming the streets of these neighboring towns and giving its residents the haunted house experience they never asked for.

Cue: every nightmare any of us have ever had.

Basically, there have been multiple sightings of a person (or multiple people) in a full, terrifying clown costume, sometimes holding weapons (machete, baseball bat). Police recently arrested an unarmed 14-year-old who admitted to the creepy act, saying he was inspired by seeing the hoax online. There have been 20 clown sightings, so it’s likely he’s not the only perp.

“There’s a natural phobia of clowns,” Sgt. Joe Grubbs of the Bakersfield Police Department told ABC News today. “And, clearly, if someone is dressed up as a clown and holding a weapon in a threatening manner, that’s going to frighten people.”

The deeply-disturbing, not-OK prank (let’s hope that’s all it is) has been linked to an Instagram account, however authorities haven’t confirmed any connection between the account and the actual incidents.

Regardless, the account, @wascoclown, featuring terrifying clowns hanging around local spots, has blown up on the Internet. Here are some of the images that have been posted:

“Come play with me,” reads one eerie captions on a photo. Hashtag nope.

Whether this is a deeply-unsettling joke, or something more sinister, we feel really sad for the people who live in the communities being hounded by these creepy, bullying clowns. Halloween season is no excuse to walk around with dangerous weapons terrorizing innocent people. We’re also feeling for anyone with a clown phobia. This whole thing probably isn’t helping.

(Images via)