Clowns aren’t just scaring people on the silver screen anymore.

An increasing number of makeup-wearing and red-nose outfitted creeps are spooking children — and adults — by silently showing up in at least 11 states, from Ohio to Tennessee.

“Dressing as a clown and approaching people can result in someone getting seriously hurt.”

This new fad of terror-inducing costumed clowns apparently originated with a viral story out of an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, last month. Multiple reports of clowns around the neighborhood led to extra police presence and a warning from the building’s management that residents not leave children unattended. A 10 p.m. curfew was instituted.

In various complaints, the South Carolina clowns were said to be attempting to lure children into the woods with promises of money and candy. One woman reported that when she arrived home from work at 2 a.m., a clown watched her while standing under a street light next to a dumpster. She waved and the clown returned the gesture, still not moving — but keeping his eyes on her.

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More reports have surfaced nationwide as the clown sightings spread.

Last week, in Portsmouth, Ohio, police took a hard stance after receiving a report about someone dressed as a clown, holding an ax, and staring at bystanders in the city.

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“If you’re going to engage in this activity, you better be very cautious because if you break the law we will take enforcement action against you,” said Portsmouth Police Captain Lynn Brewer, according to WSAZ. Brewer warned that dressing as a clown and holding a weapon while in public could lead to an arrest under the charges of inducing panic or disorderly conduct.

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The clown trend does not stop there.

On Monday, at least two schools in Alabama were on lockdown after a series of Facebook posts from users posing as clowns threatened local children with violence.

And two Kentucky cities, Glasgow and Bowling Green, have also endured unwanted clown activity. “If you place anyone in fear of immediate harm, that is menacing, a Class A misdemeanor,” Glasgow Police Lt. Jimmy Phelps told the Bowling Green Daily News.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol has also put out a notice for citizens to be on the lookout for clowns attempting to lure children into the woods. Residents are to report any suspicious clown activity.

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After sightings of people in clown masks this past weekend in Augusta County, Virginia, Sheriff Donald Smith put out a warning to potential jokesters who want to don clown masks to frighten people.

“This is a growing problem across the Commonwealth. Please do NOT engage in this illegal behavior. Dressing as a clown and approaching people can result in someone getting seriously hurt. I strongly recommend not to engage in this behavior and want everyone to be aware of the VA law which prohibits this behavior,” he said to WHSV, after explaining a Virginia law prohibiting people over the age of 16 from wearing masks to conceal their identity in public.

The movie studios said they’re not connected with the clown appearances.

Several children in Macon, Georgia, were also chased on their way to school by people screaming at them in clown masks.

“We’d like to find out who they are because we don’t want them giving small children the impression that clowns are scary,” said Lt. Randy Gonzalez out of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, according to Newsy.

It might be too late for that, sadly.

Clowns have long been a cultural nightmare for many. Films and television shows have often exploited the widespread fear of people who don wigs and intense amounts of makeup to become clowns. “IT,” the miniseries based on Stephen King’s 1986 bestselling novel, perhaps most famously depicted the duplicitous nature of clowns when it introduced Pennywise, a frightening clown that terrorized and murdered children.

The trend has never stopped. The fourth season of “American Horror Story” involved a murderous clown. And Rob Zombie’s latest movie, “31” — which opened Sept. 16 — has a cold-blooded killer disguise himself as a clown throughout the film. There’s even a remake of “IT” on the way, with a brand new Pennywise to scare a whole new generation.

This is why some thought the clown sightings were part of a stunt to promote “31” or “IT.” But the movie studios behind both films told BuzzFeed they were not connected in any way with the clown appearances.

However, there have been some hoaxes once the clown craze began. Four young children told police they made up stories about spotting clowns in unusual places in and around Annapolis, Maryland, the Associated Press reported. And police in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, charged a 24-year-old man with falsely reporting that a clown knocked on his window.

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The longstanding and widespread fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia. “Coulro” comes from the Greek word for “one who goes on stilts.” Symptoms can include sweating, nausea, feelings of dread, fast heartbeat, crying or screaming, and anger at being placed in situations involving clowns.

While the phobia is not commonly medically treated — as people can typically avoid clowns in their everyday life — the fear is still very real.

Psychologist Rami Nader told NBC News about the reason for people’s typical wariness of clowns: “You can’t really tell who they are. You can’t really see their face. You don’t really know what that all means behind the mask.”