Maine’s Most Popular Halloween Costume is a Nod to Stephen King

Maine's most brilliant horror writer, Stephen King, (heck, he's the most brilliant in the world) is the master of scaring the hell out of us.  His creation Pennywise from the novel "It" comes out every Halloween since he wrote the book almost four decades ago.

According to bookies.com, Maine chose the clown as the most popular Halloween costume, no doubt a nod to our favorite fear-inducing writer.

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Clowns don't have to be scary.  You can get super creative.  You can go the happy clown route, think Ronald McDonald with the bright yellow suit and big red shoes.

You can also go with a Harlequin-type clown.  That one might be popular due to the recent release of Joker "Folie a Deux," (a movie I could not recommend less, by the way) featuring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn.

Maybe you're feeling the "Court Jester" vibe.  I know that's not a clown exactly, but people around you will call you a clown nonetheless.

Pennywise is one of Stephen King's greatest characters and when I say "greatest," I mean the most terrifying, nightmare-inducing creation ever.

As someone who usually does not read horror novels, I picked up the book when it came out in 1986 before the movies came out.  (Side note:  Yes, I read books and yes, I'm that old.)  My sister Wendy recommended it, so I thought I would give it a read.

Besides being brilliantly terrifying, it was beautifully written.  I could not put the book down.

New Hampshire's most popular costume is a firefighter, by the way, and in Massachusetts, it's a skeleton, according to bookies.com. 

Pennsylvania, a sometimes setting of Stephen King novels, also chose "clown," for their number 1 choice.

Do you think that clowns are fun or fear-inducing?