Bad Clowns

Well researched and written. The scholarly approach is anything but dry in Ben's hands. He tells a good story with wit and subtle humor. I have had a lifelong distaste for clowns ever since a circus clown, looking for a magic-trick volunteer, told me to sit down because he preferred the pretty blonde girl next to me. I was 6 years old with red hair and freckles. This book confirms every bad thought I've had about bad clowns and I no longer feel guilty about disliking them. Now I can enjoy disliking them and quit being freaked out. Thanks, Ben.

Are you scared of clowns? My best friend is terrified of them. A few years ago, for Halloween we went to a haunted house attraction that featured creepy crowns and she started crying. I’m not nearly that sensitive about them, but I have to admit, the original IT adaptation terrified me as a kid, and I think the novel is King’s scariest work. So I was immediately curious about Benjamin Radford’s study, Bad Clowns. It covers everything from the diabolical Punch of puppet theatre, to clown movies like IT, to John Wayne Gacey and urban legends of phantom clowns. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s well researched and covers a broader spectrum of topics than I would have expected. While some topics could have received more discussion (and some could have received less-I admit I had to skip most of the chapter on Clown sex for the sake of my mental well-being). I thought the opening history of clowns, as well as the discussion of why people fear them to be particularly interesting. I recommend this book to people who are afraid of clowns and want to face that fear, as well as to people who think clowns are creepy cool. It’s well researched, interesting, and original, and I definitely learned a lot.

Hard to read. It just didn't hold my interest. The author has lots of information but kind of rambles and loses the reader.

A well-researched book on the history, context, and claims of clowns from ancient times to the modern world.

Great historical view of the “bad clown.” A lettle light on today’s clown sightings. Would have been better if more time was spent on today!

Bought this as a gift.

First and foremost, Bad Clowns is NOT The Encyclopedia of Bad Clowns. I'm sure we all hope Mr. Radford one day writes that book, but this isn't it. If that's what you're looking for, keep looking. Or write it yourself. This book is not that. Instead, it's an overview of, well, bad clowns. Thoroughly researched and well-cited, it straddles the line between pop culture nonsense and academia. Essentially, it's a crash course in Bad Clowns 101. And I loved it. Covering everything from the history of clowning to Punch & Judy shows; from coulrophobia, to the clowns of print, screen & song: from side-show freaks to actual clown murderers; from carnivals to protest movements & internet trolls, Radford touches upon EVERYTHING, if ever so briefly, to demonstrate that bad clowns are forever a part of our society. Oh! Can't forget the chapter on Clown Porn and BDSM clowns for hire! (You won't forget it either!) Sure, some of his conclusions are a bit hasty. Towards the end of a couple chapters it seems like he pulled a bunch of answers out of his...clown car...and slapped them together into one heck of a chimera of a balloon animal just to bring the main themes together. But I can't fault him for this. Why? First, it seems like he really wanted to go 100% academic on this and the editor (wisely) decided to make it more attainable to the masses. And, second, while his conclusions may seem a bit rushed, his overviews are phenomenal, and the sources he cites are definitive. He's also funny. That certainly doesn't hurt. In the 180 pages of actual text, I wrote down at least two dozen other books that Radford cited that I desperately need to get my gloves on. That's not counting the dozens of magazine or newspaper articles I will probably never have access to. Radford is also the guy who pinpointed the precise Genesis of the Chupacabra legends. He's ridiculously good at researching the ridiculous And, even though this book is "dated" because it came out a few months before the insane phantom Clown Posse sightings of 2016, he delves into why this sort of thing happens every few years. So people looking for insight into the most recent Phantom Clown sightings need to look no further for a book that explains it all. Radford nailed it, and I hope to read anything and everything his name is attached to in the future. Whether or nor he believes the things he's writing, he vets his sources and tries to give it to us straight. Not many authors of books on bad clowns, lake monsters or media myths takes this kind of care with their subjects. My only regret is that I've already loaned this to a friend but have three more friends waiting for me to get my copy back. I hope they buy their own, because I'm fairly sure I'll never see my copy again.

I'm sure the book is a great one - unfortunately my order was cancelled by the seller more_for_u