The trend of people dressing up as scary clowns to frighten others has led to campus lockdowns and arrests. And it almost prompted a local haunted house to change how they've done things for two decades.
At Barrett's Haunted Mansion in Abington, Massachusetts, scary clowns are part of the show. But with what's gone on this year, there was talk of dropping the clowns.
"I said, 'Oh my gosh, we're going to have to take clowns out of our haunt,'" said owner and designer Mary Barrett-Costello.
It's been here 25 years, and it's had clowns for 20.
"There was a discussion about it," said Wreckles the clown. "We came to the conclusion that we're not here to hurt anybody. We've been doing this for 25 years. We haven't had a problem with it. We're here, this is what we do, why not have it."
Barrett-Costello says there's a difference between what random people dressing as scary clowns in public are doing and what they're doing here.
"I think here you expect to see them, and you're scared because that's our job, to scare people," she said. "But we certainly don't terrorize them."
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"We don't condone any of that stuff," Wreckles said. "We do this to entertain. We do it to put on a show for people. Anyone that's doing that I think should be arrested for it. I think it's kind of putting a bad name on us."
Barrett's Haunted Mansion is open for the season, clowns and all.
