• PC
  • PS4
  • Xbox One
  • Switch
  • More
    • Wii U
    • PS3
    • Vita
    • Xbox 360
    • 3DS
    • Gametech
    • Deals
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Videos
    • All Videos
    • Trailers
    • -----
    • GameSpot Live
      GameSpot Live
    • History Of
      History Of
    • New Releases
      New Releases
    • Potato Mode
      Potato Mode
    • Quickdraw
      Quickdraw
    • Steam Punks
      Steam Punks
    • Versus
      Versus
  • Forums
    • Games Discussion
    • PC/Mac/Linux Society
    • PlayStation Nation
    • Xbox Association
    • Nintendo Fan Club
    • System Wars
    • Off-Topic Discussion
    • GameSpot Giveaways
    • Bug Reporting & Feedback
    • See all Forums
  • Sign In/Sign Up
  • Sign in / Join

Scary Clowns, Ranked

By Joal Ryan on September 11, 2017

20. Joker, Suicide Squad

20. Joker, Suicide Squad

We have high expectations whenever this Batman villain makes an appearance, so Jared Leto's over-hyped performance in Suicide Squad left us somewhat dissatisfied. He was all but irrelevant to the story, and his on-screen persona seemed decidedly less sociopathic than the horrors he put the cast through during filming.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Share this Gallery

Latest Image Galleries

  1. Anthem Guide: Tips You Should Know Before Starting

    Anthem Guide: Tips You Should Know Before Starting

  2. 10 Times The Oscars Got It Wrong In The Last 30 Years

    10 Times The Oscars Got It Wrong In The Last 30 Years

  3. BioWare's Anthem: Best Legendary And Masterwork Guns We've Found (So Far)

    BioWare's Anthem: Best Legendary And Masterwork Guns We've Found (So Far)

19. Harley Quinn, Suicide Squad

19. Harley Quinn, Suicide Squad

The DC villain (played by Margot Robbie in the 2016 Suicide Squad film) has a history that's almost as tortuous as the mayhem the character causes.

Harley is an incredibly fun character, but she rarely delivers a solid scare.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

18. Bart Simpson's Clown Bed, The Simpsons

18. Bart Simpson's Clown Bed, The Simpsons

Can't sleep. Clown will eat me. Can't sleep. Clown will eat me.

(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

17. Clown aliens, Killer Klowns from Outer Space

17. Clown aliens, Killer Klowns from Outer Space

It's hard to stay scared at the smiling extra terrestrials that hail from this 1988 sci-fi cult comedy — even if they do eat people.

They're still better than Jared Leto's Joker, though.

(Image credit: Media Home Entertainment)

16. Clown dentists, BoJack Horseman

16. Clown dentists, BoJack Horseman

Clowns training dentists. Dentists training clowns. What could possibly go wrong?

(Image credit: Netflix)

15. Shawn "Clown" Crahan, Slipknot

15. Shawn "Clown" Crahan, Slipknot

Don't let the creepy clown mask creep you out (much). Underneath, the percussionist from the Grammy-winning heavy-metal band is just a "grumpy old man."

(Image credit: Getty Images)


14. Clown Zombie, Zombieland

14. Clown Zombie, Zombieland

Nothing terrorizes our hero (Jesse Eisenberg) in this 2009 comedy-horror hybrid more than "f---ing" clowns.

In the end, he fells one (Derek Graf) easily enough. All it took was courage. (And a blow to the skull.)

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

Featured in this image

Twisted Metal

Twisted Metal

%gameName%
%gameName%

Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.

You're Good to Go!

We'll begin emailing you updates about %gameName%.

Follow
13. Ghost clown, Scooby Doo, Where Are You!

13. Ghost clown, Scooby Doo, Where Are You!

Look at this clown. Lurking. Watching. Waiting.

Classic Scooby Doo villains typically don't unnerve us, but we are so not here for a creepy clown that uses mind control on meddling kids (and their little dog, too). You can catch clips of this freaky episode (Bedlam in the Big Top) on YouTube.

(Image credit: Worldvision Enterprises)

Featured in this image

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI

%gameName%
%gameName%

Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.

You're Good to Go!

We'll begin emailing you updates about %gameName%.

Follow
12. Sweet Tooth, Twisted Metal

12. Sweet Tooth, Twisted Metal

This Bozo-faced psychopath is "the most aggressive competitor" in the car-combat franchise. For extra-creepy measure, he occasionally tools around in an ice-cream truck.

(Image credit: Sony Computer Entertainment)

Featured in this image

Dead Rising

Dead Rising

%gameName%
%gameName%

Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.

You're Good to Go!

We'll begin emailing you updates about %gameName%.

Follow
11. Kefka Palazzo, Final Fantasy VI

11. Kefka Palazzo, Final Fantasy VI

This gaming favorite, first seen in Final Fantasy VI, is a stylishly and devilishly mad war criminal.

Few clowns on the list have a body count anywhere near as high as Kefka's. (RIP Doma Castle.)

(Image: Square Enix)

10. Adam the Clown, Dead Rising

10. Adam the Clown, Dead Rising

This mild-mannered mall clown loses his mind (but gains a couple of chainsaws) during this game's zombie apocalypse.

(Image credit: Capcom Entertainment)


9. Demon clown, Clown

9. Demon clown, Clown

In this 2016 horror flick produced by Eli Roth (who also appears as Frowny the Clown), a dad (Andy Powers) lives everyone's worst nightmare: He dons a clown suit, and then can't get it off (because it's possessed).

(Image credit: Dimension Films)

8. Violator, Spawn

8. Violator, Spawn

A corpulent clown is the most notorious guise for this demon (played by John Leguizamo in the 1997 Spawn film) who, in addition to being a maniac, is a "real bastard" too.

(Image credit: New Line Home Video)

7. Joker, The Dark Knight

7. Joker, The Dark Knight

Though this Gotham City clown can be fun, he's usually downright disturbing. Few people captured his dark, twisted insanity quite like Heath Ledger ... though Jack Nicholson's take in the original Batman (1989) is a close second.

(Image credit: Warner Home Video)

6. Zeebo, Are You Afraid of the Dark?

6. Zeebo, Are You Afraid of the Dark?

The ghost of this cigar-smoking clown, killed in a spookhouse fire long ago, won't come after you ... unless you take something that belongs to him.

When some trouble-making punk stole his nose, it set up the most terrifying episode of Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark?, ever.

(Image credit: Nickelodeon)

5. Captain Spaulding, House of 1000 Corpses

5. Captain Spaulding, House of 1000 Corpses

Tell this guy you hate clowns, and he'll threaten to murder your entire family. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed finding a fictional clown who is more into murder.

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

4. Toy clown, Poltergeist

4. Toy clown, Poltergeist

Kid! Behind you....! Behind you!

Oh, good grief, we can't look. The toy-clown scene in 1982's Poltergeist isn't merely scarier than the same bit in the 2015 remake, it's the "scariest thing ever." (Especially if you watched as a child.)

(Image credit: Warner Home Video)

3. John Wayne Gacy

3. John Wayne Gacy

This Illinois man who performed shows at children's parties (as depicted by Mark Holton in the 2003 movie, Gacy) was a real-life "killer clown."

Gacy was executed in 1994 for the murders of 33 people.

(Image credit: Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment)

2. Pennywise, It

2. Pennywise, It

Stephen King's kid-killing terror is played by Bill Skarsgård (shown) in the new big-screen adaptation. Tim Curry's portrayal in the original 1990 TV movie, meanwhile, still causes us to lose sleep.

Bottom line: Never trust a clown in a sewer.

(Image credit: New Line Cinema)

1. Twisty, American Horror Story: Freak Show

1. Twisty, American Horror Story: Freak Show

When Ryan Murphy approached actor John Carroll Lynch about playing Twisty, the TV bigwig said "he wanted to create the most terrifying clown in the history of television."

Murphy definitely succeeded.

(Image credit: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.Privacy PolicyAd ChoiceTerms of UseHelpAdvertisePartnershipsCareers
  • More Sites
  • shop.gamespot.com
  • gamespot.com.br
  • giantbomb.com
  • gamefaqs.com
  • metacritic.com
  • gamerankings.com
  • Reviews
  • Latest Reviews
  • PC
  • PS4
  • Xbox One
  • Switch
  • News
  • Latest News
  • PC
  • PS4
  • Xbox One
  • Switch
  • Shows
  • GameSpot Live
  • History Of
  • New Releases
  • Potato Mode
  • Quickdraw
  • Talk to Us
  • Forums
  • GameSpot
  • GameSpot Universe

Close