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When Stephen King met ‘Pennywise the Clown’
09.22.2017
09:31 am
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Big Stephen King was on his way home. Last leg of a whirlwind book tour. Seven cities in six days. All for his latest 426-page blockbuster Dead Zone. Now it was back to his wife Tabitha and the kids. Big Stephen King. Six-foot-three. Blue-eyed. Gangly-limbed with his thick square glasses and that goofy smile that can leave you uncertain whether he’s gonna laugh or bite ya! King sitting in first class on a Delta airline’s plane, just a hop and skip back to his hometown of Bangor, Maine. The tour had been a blast. Signing books (“Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did writing it!”), palm-pressing (“I’m your number one fan”), and talking about where he got his ideas (“Everywhere”).

King was tired (disconnected) like he’d been bludgeoned with pillows filled with some kind of low-grade knockout gas. Flump! Headful of cotton. King buckled up. The stewardess mimed her safety routine, smiled, counted heads, checked seatbelts and made sure tray tables were upright and folded away. The plane was on the runway. Taxiing for take-off. And that’s were it started to go wrong. The plane slowed down. Came to rest. Instead of taking off this big metal behemoth nosed around and headed back to the apron.

(“Oh, geez, we’ve got some kind of motor problem; this is just what I need.”)

But it wasn’t the engines, it was just a late boarder. Must be someone mighty important if they’re going to all this trouble. It was Ronald McDonald.

Ronald McDonald with his ghost white face, blood red lips, big red nose, goofy orange hair, giant flapping boots, and those Day-Glo clothes with buttons down the front. Ronald-Mc-fucking-Donald. King knew exactly where this sonofabitch was gonna sit. (Beep, beep!) “Because I’m a weirdness magnet.”
 
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Ronald slumped down into the aisle seat next to King. (“Knew it.”) Ronald looked shabby. Smelled like day-old sweat, cigarettes, and cheap aftershave. He called the stewardess over and ordered a gin-and-tonic. It’s ten o’clock in the morning. The drink arrives with its little paper coaster. Ronald knocked it back. Then turned to King and said:

“I hate these whistle-stop tours. I just hate this. I almost missed this plane.”

The plane takes off. King’s going “Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah, right” to whatever the hell Ronald is saying. The no-smoking light blinks off and Ronald, swilling his G & T with its ice cubes chinking, popped opened a pack of cancer sticks. He lights up and started breathing in a Kent. King was getting antsy. “What the fuck do you say to a clown?” Eventually, he asked:

“So, where did you come from?”

Ronald looked the great writer up-and-down considering if this was a question worthy of a full sentence or just a one-word answer.

“McDonaldland,” he said.

Continues after the jump…

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Posted by Paul Gallagher
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09.22.2017
09:31 am
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Disturbingly large puppets of the Tall Man from ‘Phantasm’ & the evil sewer-dwelling clown Pennywise
05.01.2017
11:18 am
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An intriguing puppet of actor Angus Scrimm as ‘The Tall Man’ from the ‘Phantasm’ film series by The Scary Closet.
 
So two things: Yes, a 50-inch puppet of Angus Scrimm, the terrifying “Tall Man” from the Phantasm film series actually exists. Likewise, so does a four-foot version of Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King’s 1986 novel It and subsequent television miniseries starring Tim Curry as the clown who lived to lure kids below the street gutters. (In other good news that involves Pennywise, director Andrés Muschietti‘s highly anticipated film adaptation of It is scheduled to hit theaters on September 8, 2017.)

Made by a company out of Los Angeles called The Scary Closet, these puppets are not for the casual collector of horror-related oddities. For instance, Pennywise was created with the help of FX rock star Bart Mixon who was responsible for creating the original image for the It miniseries. Every last detail of Pennywise’s appearance was taken from Mixon’s original tangible design which the artist has kept as a part of his own personal collection. Adding another bit of horror nerd street credibility to the puppet is the work of sculptor Charles Chiodo, who created Pennywise’s head. Chiodo and his two brothers Stephen and Edward are long-time film artists and the talented trio are probably most well-known for flexing their FX muscles in their own film, the 1988 cult horror classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space. This version of Pennywise is known as the “Battery Acid Edition.” A clever nod to the original production when the evil clown gets burned with it the stuff thanks to the quick thinking of “Eddie Kaspbrak” played by actor Dennis Christopher. Only 25 were ever made and all of them have been signed by Tim Curry himself.

The puppet of Angus Scrimm (the transfixing “Tall Man” from the 1979 film Phantasm and all of its subsequent sequels) took over a year to finish. Ten of The Tall Man puppets—which were all hand painted by Charles Chiodo—were signed by Scrimm during a reunion of the cast of Phantasm in California in 2014. If after reading this post you’ve just decided to quit your day job and fulfill your dream of becoming a traveling ventriloquist, I hope you’ve saved your lunch money, because the Pennywise puppet will run you $2,495 and Mr. Scrimm (who is currently on sale) is $1,995. You can get more information over at The Scary Closet‘s Etsy page where they have several other high-end puppets up for sale (including a very scary “Slappy” puppet from author R. L. Stine’s book and television series Goosebumps). I’ve posted a few images of the puppets below. If you need me I’ll be under the bed.
 

 

 
More after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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05.01.2017
11:18 am
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Pennywise speaks!: Scary Northampton Clown talks to his local paper
09.19.2013
09:02 am
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The mysterious Clown who has been terrifying residents on the streets of Northampton has spoken to his local newspaper the Chronicle.

In a brief interview the Clown, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had been “absolutely amazed” at the response to his spooky appearances in the town center since September 13th.

The Clown, who bears a resemblance to the monstrous Pennywise the Dancing Clown from, Stephen King’s novel It, said his actions had been intended all in good fun.

“I just wanted to amuse people. Most people enjoy being a bit freaked out and then they can laugh about it afterwards.

“It’s like watching a horror movie, when people get scared they usually start laughing.

“Naturally, some people would have been extremely frightened by what they saw, but I hope many are starting to see it as a bit of harmless fun.”

The Northampton Clown said he was a fan of Stephen King, and made reference to the film version of It during his conversation with the Chronicle. He also said he would continue to make appearances on the Northampton streets, and may even have a special “clown day” once a week.

Clowns doncha just love ‘em? Follow the Northampton Clown on Facebook.
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds

Pennywise Lives!: Stephen King’s evil Clown seen haunting Northampton’s streets

Via the ‘Northampton Chronicle

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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09.19.2013
09:02 am
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