The strangest thing about 2016 is now officially not the presidential election. Clown hysteria simply will not go away. What began as a few strange news stories has turned into nationwide sightings and incidents — and some schools are now shutting down due to clown-related threats.

The first spooky sightings started in South Carolina last month. This past Monday, there were sightings across New England. In addition, two schools in Alabama were on lockdown after clown threats were made on social media. A juvenile in Ohio was arrested for making clown threats against his school. A woman was also attacked in Ohio by a clown who reportedly made threats against the local junior and senior high schools.

“Clowns are truly intended to bring joy, laughter, and happiness.”

This week, a Connecticut school district announced it is banning clown costumes and “symbols of terror” this Halloween season. This is in light of recent clown sightings and specific threats against New Haven public schools. Photos of clowns were posted on Instagram and directed at the schools, with comments like, “Watch out,” and “Wait and see.”

However, there is one interesting upside: Halloween sales, which add up to an estimated $7 billion in the U.S. each year, are now seeing a big part of that number coming from clown costumes.

“Clown mask sales are up more than [300 percent] from a year ago the same period online,” Brad Butler of the national Halloween costume chain, Halloween Express, told Eye Opener TV on Tuesday. “In the top 10, eight of them are ‘evil’ clown masks this season, whereas last year, five of the top 10 were ‘evil,'” Butler added.

There have now been sightings of clowns in nearly a dozen states — ranging from New Hampshire to California. Most of the clowns just stand still, simply stare at people — or stalk them — but others have reportedly held weapons and chased children. They’ve tried to lure kids who were alone into secluded areas.

Video has begun surfacing of some of these clown sightings, specifically one that looks more like it’s from a horror movie than real life out of Lynnwood, Washington.

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Some people have speculated the clown sightings could be marketing gimmicks by movie producers trying to promote the horror film “31,” which includes a killer clown, or “IT,” based on the novel that introduced the world to Stephen King’s spooky creation, Pennywise the Clown. “IT” will not hit theaters for another year, and the producers behind “31” have denied having anything to do with clown sightings.

With clown hysteria hitting a seeming fever pitch, it appears that clowns — which are typically meant to amuse children and lighten a person’s day — are now in a precarious position in American culture. How are non-threatening clowns, who don’t stalk people or get schools shut down, being affected by this media circus?

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Related: Clown Attack Forces School Shutdown

A Clown Lives Matter protest is scheduled for Oct. 15 in Tucson, Arizona. Real clowns are marching in protest of their terrorizing counterparts.

Debi Saylor Pierce, known as Twinkles the Clown, works in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She told LifeZette, “Business has slowed down in the last two weeks — I don’t know if it has to do with the creepy clown issue or not. It is rather unusual for me because, since I do this full-time, I keep pretty busy on a weekly/monthly basis.”

She continued, “I truly believe it’s a sad state of affairs because clowns are intended to bring joy, laughter, and happiness.”

“These criminals are not clowns,” said Chris Fratello, aka Shorty the Clown.

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The clown stories have not just become more widespread, but more and more bizarre. Baltimore City school officials have increased security after clown threats via the internet against local schools and the community. A Facebook account, Killerclown Amber, posted threats about bringing a gun to Frederick Douglas High School and the Mondawmin Mall.

A 13-year-old from Philadelphia is in trouble for contributing to the hordes of clown-inspired social media threats. Her posts even pushed the Department of Homeland Security to release a statement calling the threats, “Disturbing social media posts.”

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But leave it to college students to fight back. A reported 500 students from Penn State took to the streets in the wee hours of Tuesday morning to hunt down a clown who had been spotted in the area earlier. The students chanted, “Penn State!” and one student tweeted, “Some people run away from clowns, Penn State runs towards them.”

The group found no clowns, and no damages or injuries were caused. Penn State Police Sergeant Mike Nelson told the Centre Daily Times the actions were inspired more by social media hysteria than credible threats. “The cause of this specifically was social media,” he said, “If there were any clowns with this many students out there and our police responding to calls, we would have ran into it.”

Says real clown Pierce of the growing tensions, “I truly hope that this creepy clown issue is occurring only because Halloween is coming.”

She’s worried, she said. “I was wondering if it might incite violence against me if people see me as a clown — and have some warped idea that I’m part of the creepy clown brigade.”

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She said the fear that is becoming more and more prevalent among the public is driving attention away from a job that is typically very much about spreading happiness.

Pierce, who has been professionally clowning for decades, told LifeZette, “The appeal is the pure joy it brings and the ability to help people have fun, and for adults to find the inner child in them that still wants to laugh and play.”

Unfortunately, not many clowns today are making people laugh or play.