Get Wicked with Entangled Bloghop--The Root of my Coulrophobia


I have a fear of clowns. I've never read Stephen King's It. This is not where the fear comes from. I've never been accosted by clowns. I've not really had a lot of interactions with them. The closest I've ever been was at my cousin's third birthday party, at which I hid on the other side of a large family room. I made sure that there was always a gaggle of small children, a coffee table, a couch, a sturdy lamp, and an emergency exit route between the jolly party clown and myself that day. I was twenty.

For years I've wondered about this fear, and then recently, my mother was cleaning out the attic and sent me a treasure trove of old pictures from Halloweens past.

I believe I've unlocked the secret to my clown-phobia (actual science-y term is coulrophobia). I'm hoping that by studying this progression of photos, I'll be able to find some relief (and not want to pee myself the next time I'm near a clown).

Let's go back in time.

Here I am, being too old to be dress up, and yet not giving a damn because HALLOWEEN!
The pumpkin is obviously a close friend of mine. (Why am I cradling a pumpkin? Why?!) 
Blissfully clown free!
This one isn't actually from Halloween. I apparently just felt the need to dress up as a snowman. Still no clowns in sightā€”wellā€¦except for the girl in the random snowman outfit.

This next picture is from the year Em and I raided the attic and wore my dad's old Marine uniforms. I was pretending to be Oliver North. It was topical at the timeā€”on SNL and everything.


Em was going to be the document shredder, but making of the shredder costume was too time consuming. In the end, we were less interested in the joke and more interested in the candy. 
No clowns. All is well.

This was my favorite costume ever. My mom made most of our costumes (and clothing) growing up. 

Poodleā€”yes. Clownā€”no.
My cutie pie little sister is looking a tad clown-esque in her bumblebee make-up, but those antennae are just too adorable to have any part in my psyche's scarring.
Plus, doll costumes!

Nothing scary in this next one. Just an angel and a princess gazing adoringly at each other.
Slightly nauseating, yes, but not clown-scary!

I'm not going to lie. This rabbit suit is scary. 
This may be where my childhood recurring dream about a giant rabbit manifested. In the dream, the rabbit would kidnap me in the middle of the night and force me to drive my mom's station wagon. Due to being seven and unable to see over the steering wheel, I always ended up driving into a lake. The rabbit would laugh and laugh as the station wagon sank under the water and I slowly suffocated. 

No lie. I had that dream at least twice a week for a year. And yet, even that dream is not as horrifying as CLOWNS!

Here we have it! This is the root of my coulrophobia. This is the moment of my undoing. I just know it!
Apparently, I was my worst nightmare for an entire night. Everywhere I went, there was a damn clown. Me! There was no way to get away from it! 

I only look like I'm smiling in this picture. Don't be fooled. It's the hideous clown make-up. I think it's made from Unicorn tears!

How about you guys? Anyone have a strange fear to share? Go ahead. Don't be afraid. I won't judge. Have you seen that last photo?!?!

Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway to win a great book for All Hallow's Read! There isn't a clown anywhere in Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys, so you know it's good! Contest ends October 30th, at 11:59 pm.

Blurb (from Amazon): 
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.



Once you've entered, visit the other blogs below for more great prizes and fun!



Get Wicked with Entangled Blog Hop
1. Entangled in Romance (US)  28. Arlene @ Waves of Fiction (INT)  55. Nina Croft  
2. Rosalie Lario  29. Night Owl Reviews  56. Heather Thurmeier  
3. Avery Flynn  30. Kelly  57. Beth @ Curling Up With A Good Book (US)  
4. Readers Live A Thousand Lives (INT)  31. Ellie @ Spiced Latte Reads  58. Danielle R. Graham  
5. Kerri Carpenter  32. Books That Hook  59. Michele de Winton  
6. Snarky Mom Reads.... (INT)  33. Krista Ames  60. The Rest Is Still Unwritten (INT)  
7. Reese Monroe  34. Under the Covers Book Blog (INT)  61. Dawn Roberto (INT)  
8. Jen Bradlee  35. JK Coi  62. Angel's Guilty Pleasures (INT)  
9. Read-Love-Blog  36. Becky on Books  63. Jus Accardo  
10. RhiReading  37. Rabid Reads (US)  64. Tina Gabrielle @ The Violet Femmes  
11. Margo Bond Collins  38. Prisoners of Print (INTL)  65. Ophelia London (int)  
12. Books that Aim for the Heart  39. The Revolving Bookcase (US)  66. Reading Between the Wines Book Club  
13. Heather Ayala (Not Everyone's Mama)  40. The Reading Slump (INT)  67. Book Nook Nuts  
14. Lisa Kessler's Blog  41. Urban Girl Reader (Int)  68. Books Unhinged  
15. Zoe Forward  42. History Undressed  69. Tonya Kuper (INT)  
16. Tonya Burrows  43. Boone Brux  70. Veronica Forand  
17. Michelle McLean  44. Amanda Usen (INT)  71. Linda Bond  
18. Robin Bielman  45. Kim @ kimberlyfaye reads (INT)  72. Shannon Lee Alexander  
19. herding cats & burning soup  46. Jocelyn Adams (INT)  73. Sonya Weiss  
20. Tricia Skinner  47. Mad Hatter Reads  74. Dori Lavelle (INT)  
21. Sapphyria's Book Reviews (INT)  48. Bookswagger  75. Tamara Hughes (US)  
22. The Reading Date (INT)  49. Pretty Sassy Cool  76. Claudia Shelton  
23. Harlie's Books  50. Robin Covington  77. Chris Cannon  
24. Book Liaison  51. Jodi Linton  78. Fiction Fangirls  
25. Brynna Curry  52. Miranda Liasson  79. God Mission Possible  
26. Straight Shootin' Book Reviews  53. Heather McCollum (US)  80. Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf (US/CAN)  
27. Shelf Addiction  54. Talia Hunter  81. GothicMoms  

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Comments

Popular Posts