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 sight—well…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 time—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. 

Poodle—yes. Clown—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.

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