It is not uncommon for a trend to be taken too far. An 18-year old woman from Reading was found guilty for lying about being attacked by a clown. WCPO reported that she lied to avoid being fired for being late to work.

The scary clown trend has made its way to Sycamore, too. Five students were arrested after an announcement came out during school warning students to not interact with the clowns, especially by provoking it on social media.

“Two high school and three junior high students, all older than 13, were charged with inducing panic and released to their parents, Montgomery police said. They also face disciplinary action at school,” reported WLWT.

Some students are viewing the threatening tweets as a joke, while others are genuinely nervous to be outside alone, leave their houses in the morning, or go to sporting events at school.

“Clowns have always freaked me out and now I am hearing all these stories about them attacking people and I don’t know what is real and what is exaggerated. I wonder if it is part of an early Halloween prank,” said Andrew Quantz, 12.

The craze has spread to the news, social media, and across state lines.

“I heard something about a school all the way in California that got a threat on Facebook. It has gotten so out of control so fast.

I thought it was just happening in Ohio but all of the popular accounts on twitter with tens of thousands of followers are talking about it, too,” said Olivia Hewitt, 10.

As Halloween approaches, it will become challenging to dress up as a clown without being suspected of being capable of harm.