Creepy Clown Craze frightens El Paso entertainer

The creepy clown threats sweeping social media are not at all amusing for one El Paso entertainer who makes his living as ZZ the Clown.

Alfredo Zamora is worried about losing money, but more importantly, he’s worried about the safety of his family.

“Yes, by all means I am scared. The whole family is scared,” Zamora said.

Zamora has been working as a clown for more than 20 years in the Borderland. While some people do have a clown phobia, he’s never experienced this type of backlash.

Reports of menacing clowns are spreading across the U.S. in the last couple of months.

Authorities say they’re being forced to take them seriously as a potential threat to public safety, particularly at schools.

Late Monday night, several hundred University of Connecticut students gathered in a cemetery, ready to do battle with clowns they heard might be there. Police later determined the rumors were a hoax.

It is this type of potential violence that has Zamora worried. Both his wife and son work in his clown business.

“They will see us driving around dressed up as clowns,” Zamora said.

“My main concern is the safety of my family. You know traveling, especially on the weekend, people are drinking you know, and ‘hey there’s a clown’. Let’s follow it,” said Zamora.

“The last two days I have been getting prank calls. Can you believe that? People calling saying, ‘hey clown, you’re the creepy clown.'”

It’s a trend that has even caught the eye of best-selling author Stephen King. King created the frightening clown in the horror novel and mini-series “It”. King tweeted “Hey, guys, time to cool the clown hysteria-most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh.”

And that is exactly what Zamora hopes people remember.

“It’s catching on like wildfire. It’s unreal,” said Zamora.

“As a matter of fact last night, I was going through social media and there are just so many things happening. And it’s already here in Bordertown. So it’s just, what is going to happen?”