In “Saw” At the intersection of scary clown dolls and ventriloquist’s dummies lives Billy, the tricycle riding harbinger of Jigsaw. He’s ultimately harmless, but when Billy shows up, unimaginable pain and misery will surely follow; the last thing you want to hear him say is: “I’d like to play a game.”

The 4th Season of American Horror Story, Freak Show, is a fan favorite, and that has a lot to do with Twisty the Clown. He’s a tormented character who’s equally pitiable and petrifying. His wooden, static grin conceals a bloody, gaping maw, the result of a failed suicide attempt. His clown-cap, adorned with red, yellow, and green hair, looks like it was peeled off of someone else’s skull.

You may not consider Batman to exactly be a part of the horror genre, but you can’t talk about clowns without talking about the Joker. From Cesar Romero, to Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and, most recently Jared Leto, that giant smile, white skin, green hair and purple jacket and known far and wide as the costume of a psychopathic killer with a penchant to violence who is quite capable of anything and everything. Few villains out there so perfectly personify unbridled chaos as The Joker.

When it comes to killer clowns, everything else is prologue compared to the main character of the Stephen King Classic, IT. It will probably be a very long time before anyone dethrones Pennywise from It, played by Tim Curry, as Supreme King of Killer Clowns—if ever. That includes the new version of Pennywise in the upcoming remake.

Clowns are always going to be, first a foremost, fun entertainment for kids everywhere, but as long as there are things that are meant to fun, and carefree, there are going to those who twist them to be terrifying images of nightmares and for every Bozo and Ronald, there is always going to be a Pennywise. Sleep tight.