On the shortlist for this year’s Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year was coulrophobia, which is the extreme and irrational fear of clowns.

This Halloween, a group called the Clowns made posts on social media and tried to scare people by standing beside the road with weapons, clown costumes and make up that covered their faces. Some people posted on social media saying they saw the clowns and they looked horrible during the night.

Students didn’t know what the Clowns’ main purpose was. Some of them don’t even know each other but decided to gather around in the streets and communities. There were no reports of clown sightings during Halloween Night, but The Clowns were a popular topic at McKinley High School, with a recurring chant of, “Beat those clowns!”

People had different opinions when they saw the Clown posts on Facebook or Twitter. Some people got scared but others thought it was just a Halloween joke.

“They are annoying, and they really bothered other people, but I don’t think that they are harmful. They are just clowns doing silly things,” said freshman Edward Lansangan, “

Another freshman, Jacelyn Kaleiwahea, had a different opinion. She said that the clowns affected people’s daily life. She said that her cousin posted on Snapchat and said she saw a clown hidden behind the tree and he kept playing peekaboo with her.

Kaleiwahea said that her cousin didn’t get scared, but the clown really bothered her. “Those clowns were just trying to scare people,” said Kaleiwahea.

At the same time, people made posts on social media showing how they saw a clown and they beat them or  got hurt by the clowns, but not all of them are real. Some people believed the posts and some did not.

“Some people they posted about the clowns just because they want to get popular on the social media, so I don’t think those posts are real. Most of them are fake,” said Lansangan.

However, both agreed that if the purge of clowns was just a Halloween joke or if it really occurred somewhere, the people who spearheaded the fake information and the clowns should be held accountable and face legal ramifications.