Apparently, this is a thing. From August 1st to August 7th, clowns world wide celebrate, promote, and inform. This year’s celebration kicked off in Showmen’s Rest in Woodlawn Cemetery, located in Forest Park, Illinois. This particular Showmen’s Rest is actually a mass grave for Hagenbeck-Wallace circus employees killed in the Hammond circus train wreck in 1918. Because many of the bodies were unidentifiable, their graves are marked with their stage names, such as “Smiley” and “Baldy.” Five elephant statues marks the Showmen’s Rest. Kinda weird, eerie, and moving all at once, right?
Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Sideshow
Showmen’s Rest marker
You can find more information about International Clown Week here, and browse through their pages on coulrophobia and fear of clowns, as well as other extensive topics such as clown college.
In the spirit of coulrophobia and international clown celebrations, I leave you with this international horror movie trailer for Indonesian horror flick “Badoet.”
The entire world shares similar feelings on clowns, it seems.
