When did the modern term "creepy" come into existence and other creepy talk ?

[Mikey]

Back in the 70's and before the term creepy usually meant something ghost related (like a haunted house).

Today it seems to mean something different that's hard to describe.

Turn of the century dolls are usually described as creepy --- but i'm sure they were considered fine back in the day.

Same with being afraid of clowns --- first off all toddlers are afraid of clown as well as Santa Claus (totally normal).

It seems being afraid of clowns after childhood is a rather new thing -- like since the 80's ?

I can't image most kids in the 1800's being afraid of Mister Punch, but today he's what nightmares are made of by the masses.

When and why did this change ?

Was it movies to blame ?

If somebody told you something was creepy but you didn't think it was, would you start believing it was creepy after time passed ?

[johnnystorm]

I'd say the clown thing started with Stephen King's IT movie. Before that clowns were funny, and used a lot in advertising (Ronald McDonald), tv (Bozo), food (remember Ka-Boom cereal?). We liked seeing clowns at the circus. My postman was a Jaffa Shrine clown!
Same with dolls etc. Horror films influence them all.

[kinostadt]

I agree that Pennywise really made the "clowns are scary" theme mainstream.
But several years before that, the scene from Poltergeist with the murderous clown doll was something that scarred a lot of Gen-X kids.
And predating both movie characters was the infamous real life horror, John Wayne Gacy's Pogo the Clown.
I'm sure there were other noteworthy scary clowns in pop culture that I'm not thinking of. Over the years, all those terrifying scenes affected a lot of people.

[cockyhoskins]

I'm probably stating the obvious here, but the fact that clowns (or any subject matter) are not scary to begin with is what makes them effective "boogie-man" material IMO. Whoever was the first person to think up "clowns equal scary" probably did so because they weren't scary, if you know what I mean. Same with dolls, etc.

[Starroid Raiders Dagon]

Well, I was scared of clowns which is weird because my cousin is a professional clown. She had some seriously creepy clown puppets and dolls that she would lock in the closet if I stayed over night. The Blue Meanies from the Yellow Submarine were pretty darned creepy.

[J.B.]

I think Gacy got the creepy party started, but "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" took it to a new level. Saw this gem on the big screen when it first came out.

[johnmiic]

I wonder if Marvel Comics Obnoxio the Clown pre-dates Stephen King's IT?

[Brazoo]

Interesting timing! I just read this article the other day:

http://qz.com/798091/its-not-just-you-psychology-reveals-why-clowns-are-so-creepy/

[Starroid Raiders Dagon]

Funny that something like this hits the news when scary clowns are part of the topic of discussion!

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/clown-sightings-reported-in-nova-scotia-as-creepy-191837339.html

[enyawd72]

Scooby Doo did it first way back in 1969 with the Ghost Clown...

[Mikey]

Growing up watching Bozo I was never afraid of clowns in the slightest.

I do admit to hating circuses but it's not because of the clowns -- just thought circuses were extremely boring.

As a matter of fact I would rather watch the world's worst comedian on stage than have to sit through the worlds best circus

[johnnystorm]

The scary clown thing is out of hand. Today we got a call from my daughter's school in conjunction with the Pa State Police telling us that there were claims of clown violence threats against the school, but they investigated and found them unsubstantiated.
Ridiculous. A teenager in my Mom's town was arrested for creating a facebook page clown threatening the junior high. What is with these people?

[daz71]

the word eldritch seems to be used more these days too but that is an old word from before creepy and spooky.

[dr_cyclops]

From IMDb:"According to Peter Lorre in an interview, he and his early friends invented and popularized the slang word "creep" meaning "a creepy, annoying person".though when they invented it, it was spelled "kreap", and did not have the same negative connotation."