With the staggering number of clown sightings, coulrophobics—people with a phobia of clowns—are not the only people fearing clowns. It would be no surprise if the entire country’s population was feeling some sort of anxiety over these creepy, fictional characters. Joining this new clown fearing population is horror novelist and writer of the most terrifying novel about clowns, Stephen King.

King, author of “It,” took to twitter on Oct. 3 to share his opinion of this spine-chilling phenomenon.

“Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria—most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make them laugh,” King tweeted.

If King has spoken about these creepy episodes, then it is reasonable to assume that these clown occurrences are no form of entertainment: they are concerning. King is not the only one to share a concern about the clowns. Nearly every new source has published articles regarding these incidents.

Amongst these sources was CNN. CNN published an article containing six possible motives behind the attacks—pranks about pre-existing stories, a marketing scheme, a form of releasing anxiety, a trend, an “alternative reality game” (similar to the 2014 Slender man inspired stabbing), or a serious, real thread of similar occurrences.

Whether the motive is for attention or not, clown sightings, attacks, and threats are alarmingly frequent, and is so prominent that the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest answered a question from the audience about the clown reports in the Daily White House Briefing on Oct. 4.

The question asked was about whether or not the president had been made aware of the issue and whether or not federal officials have given any advice as to how to appropriately deal with the concern.

“I don’t know that the President has been briefed on this particular situation. This is something that I’ve read about in some of the news coverage. Obviously, this is a situation that local law enforcement authorities take quite seriously, and they should carefully and thoroughly review perceived threats to the safety of the community, and they should do so prudently,” Earnest said. “But I can’t speak to any advice they may have received from law enforcement experts at the federal level, but you can check with my colleagues at the FBI and DHS and see what they have to say about that.”

As noted by Earnest, the situation is serious. What is scary is that these sightings are not just events happening in other parts of the country that we hear about on the news, but there are sightings in Colorado as well.

Hannah Clauss, an Aspen High School graduate of the class of 2016, has first hand experience of feeling the anxiety of the clown threats.

Clauss began her freshman year of college at the University of Tennessee this fall. In September, she said that the university was one in three other universities in the South that she knew of that had clown sightings on campus.

“I had heard on the news that Auburn and Alabama had clown sightings on campus, and I had never imagined that there would be them on my campus too,” Clauss said. “I stayed in my room the night that there was a reported sighting because I was too scared. I didn’t know if it was a joke, and I still don’t know if it was a joke, but it is very scary and better to be cautious.”

Along with Clauss’ experience, many other Colorado residents have been affected by the strange phenomenon.

Colorado school districts—Adams County, Jefferson County, Larimer County, Mesa County, and Weld County—have all had alleged clown threats and sightings.

“Specifically, we’ve had numerous reports at several schools about ‘clowns coming to shoot up the school’,” the Jefferson County Superintendent said.

In Greeley, a student made threats on Facebook, and it was learned that she was just trying to get attention.

While many students are being affected, so are adults.

On Oct. 5, Howard Stephens was attacked and injured by clowns in an attack in Colorado Springs.

“They jumped out holding quart-sized bottles and I told my wife to run. I knew something bad was going to happen,” said Stephens.

Unfortunately, Stephens’s prediction was correct; Stephens was severely injured—an ear that needed to be reattached and cuts on the neck—and sent to the hospital. After investigation, the clowns were found and turned out to be homeless people. It was a very serious, scary, and appalling event.

These clown appearances are scary because no one really knows the meaning behind the events: they could be jokes and they could be serious threats. It is safe to say, that if you are coulrophobic, you are not alone.