Along with pumpkins, apple-bobbing and trick-or-treating, there are fears a more recent US import could blight this year’s Halloween festivities.
As fancy-dress stores are emptied of witch and werewolf costumes, there are concerns that the troubling clown craze will continue, with people dressing up in costumes to threaten or harm passersby.
The NSPCC said in the run-up to Halloween that Childline counsellors have been deluged with calls from children expressing their fears about clowns. In the last three weeks it has been contacted 462 times about scary clowns, providing 84 clown-related counselling sessions in one day alone.
Almost a third of counselling sessions on the subject of clowns were with children under 11 – and three-quarters of all those who got in touch over clown fears were girls.
An NSPCC spokesman said: “Wearing spooky fancy dress for Halloween is a time-honoured tradition, but we fear the recent creepy-clowns craze could see Halloween used as an opportunity to molest, intimidate or harm children.
“Creepy clowns are all trick and no treat; those dressing up with the intention of threatening children need to be aware that they could be breaking the law – particularly if they are carrying weapons.”
Children trick-or-treating could be the most vulnerable. The charity advises children who feel threatened in the street or near their school to tell their parents, or another responsible adult, and report it to the police if necessary.
Some of the children who had contacted the charity had been alarmed after seeing incidents on social media where clowns had hurt people. Reports of clowns terrifying members of the public, and armed with weapons, started in the US.
Some places have banned clown costumes. Plymouth’s Pubwatch said it had advised clubs and pubs across the city to be cautious about admitting anyone in a clown costume.
In the past month police forces across the UK have recorded a wave of clown-related incidents, with forces warning that jokers or criminals using the costumes to deliberately scare people face arrest. A 10-year-old boy in Plymouth was threatened by a clown who jumped out of a bush carrying a hammer, while in Workington, Cumbria, a clown brandishing an axe chased an 11-year-old girl.
The NSPCC urged worried children to talk to parents or teachers, to call police if they felt threatened in the street, or to contact Childline on 0800 1111 or at childline.org.uk.
