I feel like I’m watching the news report on a wildfire that’s out of control and it’s spreading across the country, only the fire in this case are morons dressing like clowns.

By now you’ve read about the numerous cases of clown sightings from California all the way to North/South Carolina. It’s a meme gone wild, or gone real if you will. In a living bit straight out of The Strangers, boys/girls/teens/men/women/who knows are dressing as clowns and stalking random people in various towns. There appears to be no motive other than to join the terrifying flash mob that’s only fun for whomever is under the mask.

It’s become so prevalent that there’s even a mythology growing in my own hometown, the ‘burbs of Chicago. Here, kids believe that the clowns aren’t just sightings, but an actual cult murdering people and that “many people have died.” This is just touching on why this is turning dangerous – and it will be funny to a lot of people, at least until someone gets hurt.

Today I learned that the clowns have come out to play here in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, this time allegedly harboring weapons outside of a school.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

The creepy clown phenomenon that has recently swept the nation hit Lake County Tuesday as police departments in Round Lake, North Chicago and Waukegan reported clown threats made on social media, and in person at one Waukegan school during lunch recess prompting that school to briefly be put on lockdown.

Waukegan police reported that children at Greenwood Elementary School at 1919 North Avenue came in from recess just before 2 p.m. and reported seeing three clowns at the edge of the property taunting them, Comdr. Joe Florip said.

Students reported that one had a knife, one held a briefcase and the third appeared to have a nn in his pocket, but it was not clear whether the weapons were real.

“The school was briefly locked down,” he said.

“The children also reported that the clowns threatened to return Friday to kill them,” before they left in a black sports utility vehicle, Florip added.

“This incident is being taken seriously,” he said. The gender and race of the suspects is unknown.

Waukegan police plan to provide extra watches during patrol shifts at all area schools for the time being.

Nick Alajakas, spokesman for Waukegan Community Unit School District 60, posted on the school’s and district’s website that students reported seeing “three people dressed as clowns, carrying weapons at a home near the school during recess. Waukegan police were called to the school to investigate the incident, and provide increased patrols during dismissal.

“We will continue to work with police as they investigate this reported sighting,” he wrote, noting that Waukegan schools have recently been mentioned in clown-related social media messages.

“Please know we, along with Waukegan police, have been made aware of these messages,” the post said.

“It’s all part of this national thing going on with creepy killer clowns,” Alajakas said, referring to recent news reports from around the country. There is a website called Clown Sightings USA where people post their clown sightings and creepy pictures.

“But we always take threats, whether clown-related or not, very seriously,” he said.

In Round Lake, the Police Department posted on its Facebook page a notice that it was aware of the school reporting clown-related threats on social media and it also referenced a story listing clown sightings by state.

“As we enter October, please be aware that communities all over our area are seeing a resurgence in the number of messages received regarding concerns about ‘clowns,’ specifically individuals dressing up like clowns and walking around in an attempt to draw attention or scare individuals,” the post said.

“This has been a frequent national news item over the years with reports of clowns showing up and behaving in a manner that can be described as ‘creepy.’ We believe these behaviors are intended as a joke to scare individuals,” it read.

“The Round Lake Police Department and School District 116 have learned of social media postings … that indicate the clown may visit the Round Lake High School campus. While we believe this posting is part of a prank, we do thoroughly investigate all potential safety concerns,” the statement said.

In North Chicago, Police Chief Richard Wilson said the school district also notified his department of social media postings mentioning clowns and threats to the school.

“We will have extra patrols out at the schools. Better safe than sorry,” he said.

While this is the first time this tornado has touched down near my home, there have been several arrests over the past few weeks, while Stephen King, who penned the terrifying coming-of-age clown story, “It”, felt obligated to respond to the growing trend.

Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria–most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 3, 2016

It’s a stronger stance for King, as Time explains, who first spoke out about the clown hype early last month, telling his hometown newspaper, The Bangor Daily News, that “the clown furor will pass, as these things do.”

“But it will come back, because under the right circumstances, clowns really can be terrifying,” King said at the time.

I think what’s truly frightening is that there’s no apparent motive, yet, and that there are people out there without enough free time and negative energy in their lives to make the effort to bring this into fruition. Shit, it’s October, which means it’s beyond simple to go and fetch a clown costume and his the streets within minutes…