To the Editor: Poltergeist, Stephen King's It, and the hackneyed Saw franchise. Social media saturation has allowed the scary clown meme to surface everywhere, and spread fear (and irrational behaviors) at alarming rates.

Our nation's burgeoning scary clown pandemic is symptomatic of a set of larger social concerns.

Two weeks ago, creepy clown hysteria sent masses of University of Connecticut students, armed with clubs, into the streets to find (and I assume bring vigilant justice to) a clown purportedly spotted nearby. Nationwide, multiple states are reporting clown-borne terror, police involvement, school lockdowns, and even violence.

Obviously, clowns are not illegal; however, criminologist Jack Levin of Northeastern University believes we are witnessing copycat performances and suggests further that clowns are particularly scary due to the original "clown killer," serial murderer John Wayne Gacy.

In the decades since Gacy's ghastly crimes, clown images have been used to incite fear. Consider the 1982 classic,

The resurgence of clown fears right now seems somehow telling. I can't help but view this contemporary manifestation of our collective coulrophobia as metaphor for other, more troubling societal ills such as the global environmental crisis, racial disharmony, religious intolerance, rampant gun violence, police murders of innocent African Americans, terrorism, and much more; problems, seemingly, without end, and beyond resolution.

Perhaps an explanation for the scary clown phenomenon - the new "witch hunt" targets - is that it is something we can all agree on, and present as a tangible bogeyman. Regardless of an unprecedented partisan and ideological divide in our nation, the scourge of scary clowns is more manageable as something we can exert control over in this out-of-control election season and period in our nation's history.

Bad clowns - both nefarious and silly - might even be the perfect metaphor for the national election itself, as we witness inexhaustible fear mongering, a historic mistrust of our candidates, and previously unimaginable buffoonery.

The national election will take place on the heels of All Hallows' Eve. Scary clowns are on the loose, while a clown of another sort continues his unsavory bid for the White House. Only one of these possibilities is something we should fear.

What scares you?

Scott Wolfman

30 Obtuse Road, Newtown         October 11, 2016