how can clowns be scary?!
Well, you provided the answer: "With their painted on smiles". I have always been afraid of things that are not--quite--human. They're just...eerie, to me; something isn't "right". I suppose phobia is a bit too strong of a word; I don't run screaming from them at parades. But if one gets close, I back away... If it was just people wearing funny wigs and clothes, I would find them funny, I'm sure. But it's those faces that give me the shivers, and no, I'm not going to the most recent link either. Scary images have a way of burning themselves into my brain.