This article revisits the 2016 "killer clown" panic and uses it as a springboard to recall horror director John Carpenter's criticism of the trend, alongside his separate condemnation of Donald Trump. Carpenter, creator of Michael Myers, dismissed people dressing as menacing clowns and frightening the public as "ridiculous" and reckless, distinguishing between fictional scares and real-world danger to bystanders.

The clown craze reportedly began with a Green Bay, Wisconsin sighting that was actually a horror film marketing stunt, prompting copycats worldwide and prompting community warnings. Speaking to The Standard, Carpenter, then noting Trump's ability to unsettle people "in a different way" from his films, said what troubled him most was "how easily people buy into it," blaming Trump for a rise in racism, violence and xenophobia in America. The piece notes that a decade on, clown sightings have faded but concerns about Trump's influence persist, with Carpenter, now 78, remaining outspoken in his criticism.