Here Be Clowns

In olden times cartographers would mark the unexplored areas HERE BE MONSTERS or HERE BE DRAGONS. Either way it meant unknown territory. When the chance came to edit an anthology of clown stories, it had to be HERE BE CLOWNS for they too are unknown territory. Who can really say what goes on behind the painted face? Is it true that clowns have two sides, the nonsensical one and the sad one? What are their secret desires? Are they as benevolent as they would have us think they are? So many people have coulrophobia that it has become an accepted condition now, despite it being relatively new in the psychiatric world. Part of this is due to Stephen King's terrifying book IT: the rest, I believe, is down to our aversion to 'something different'. Masks have always been scary; a clown's face is surely the ultimate mask. An anthology of scary clown stories was overdue, so here it is... Enjoy...