[MichaelMyers]

Starting a new thread on this alarming and creepy new trend. Will update as news breaks.

Last week reports emerged that a coven of clowns are trying to lure children into woods and scaring people in Greenville, South Carolina.

Mystery clowns bring fear to South Carolina town

Residents of a small town in South Carolina have been told to call the police if they see a clown, following reports that people donning luminous noses and oversized shoes may be trying to lure children into a nearby woods

Parents are on alert after a number of mysterious sightings of clowns standing near basketball courts, in woodlands and under streetlights in and around Greenville.

Ryan Flood, a master deputy with the Greenville County sheriff's office told the Telegraph that they were taking the reports very seriously.

"These kids have notified their parents they saw these clowns near the woods. The clowns had lasers and a lot of cash," he said. "Our view is to take it seriously in case there is someone dressed as a clown trying to lure them away."

Mr Flood said that their investigations and patrols had found no evidence to support the claims yet: "We haven't found any clown costume stuff or irregular footprints or other indicators," he said.

But police have begun daily patrols near Fleetwood Manor Apartments, where a number of parents said their children had come home with stories of speaking to clowns.

There have been "a lot of complaints to the office regarding a clown or a person dressed in clown clothing taking children or trying to lure children in the woods," the administrators of Fleetwood Manor Apartments wrote to residents in a note slipped under their doors.

Donna Arnold, one of the residents, said she called the Greenville County Sheriff's Office because her son told her he had seen a clown behind the basketball court.

“I thought my child was seeing things," Mrs Arnold told a local news channel. "And then the next day I had about 30 kids come up to me and say, ‘Did you see the clown in the woods?”

The sightings began earlier this month when a resident, who is not named, told the police that her son had seen clowns “whispering and making strange noises” in the nearby woods, according to an incident report.

The resident said she later saw “several clowns in the woods flashing green laser lights.” The figures then ran away into the woods. And then, the following night, at about 10.30pm the woman said that her elder son heard "chains and banging" at their front door.

A day later, on 20 August, at around 2.30am another resident said she came across a “a large-figured clown with a blinking nose", standing under a post light near the garbage dumpster area.” She said the clown waved at her so she waved back and kept walking.

Police however also interviewed children who told them clowns tried "to persuade them into the woods further by displaying large amounts of money."

The children said they believed that the clowns lived in a house near a pond at the end of a trail in the woods.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...carolina-town/

To reiterate, apparently it is not just one lone wolf having fun but a coordinated and planned group effort:

> One resident said she was in front of her apartment one evening when one of her sons "approached her and stated that he [had] seen clowns in the woods whispering and making strange noises."

The resident added that she "went over to the area that her son mentioned and observed several clowns in the woods flashing green laser lights" before seeing them run off.

Another resident said she was walking to her residence one morning when she "saw a large-figured clown with a blinking nose, standing under a post light near the garbage dumpster area."

She said that the clown "waved at her and she waved back while she made her way to her residence safely," according to the incident report. "The suspect did not approach her or harm her."