The Haunted Horror Rumor

Have you ever heard a rumor that was so frightening you just had to tell someone else? The rumor I will be analyzing is one that will make you think twice about entering a haunted house. This rumor was published in 2016 and is about a creepy clown that was arrested after massacring 18 individuals in a haunted house attraction.

This claim was completely fabricated, as everything posted on the Now8News’ website seems to be. This rumor is likely to have started due to the clown sightings that were happening in late 2016 causing social panic (snopes.com). The mug shot photo of the clown had been on the internet since early 2013 and the ambulance photo was just a taunted stock image added for a scary affect.

I evaluated this rumor based on the classifications and qualities determined by Knapp. This rumor would be classified as a bogie rumor based on Knapp’s three classifications of rumors. Bogie rumors are fear and anxiety based (Knapp 497). These types of rumors spread because of the hearer’s anxiety to it. Fright leads to repetition; the more frightened people are the more they will repeat the rumor to others (Goleman 489).

When it comes to the seven qualities of a good rumor as determined by Knapp this rumor measures up pretty good in my opinion because it only possesses five of the seven qualities. This rumor is short and simple which makes it easy to be spread. The story line though short is one that catches your attention. This rumor can easily be distorted especially once it was placed on the Now8News website because it caused a panic for lots of people who in turn added their own little twist when relaying the story to another person. A good rumor should have good details. The best detail of this rumor was that it was a man dressed as a clown attacking people because although it did not give a specific name it referred to a well-known issue. This rumor was successful because it was significant to the current public interest at the time. However, this rumor never made it to or was verified by a credible source nor did it have anything to do with culture. I actually this was a pretty good rumor based on the qualities needed per Knapp.

In conclusion, rumors spread by the thought people put into them. Although this rumor was fabricated it was one that caught the attention of many people. According to Difonzo rumors encourage shared human sense making. Which means some rumors are things that are spread amongst people who are trying to make sense of an unclear situation (Difonzo,youtube). This rumor supports Difonzo’s theory because as it was spread everyone was trying to make sense of the situation at hand.

Works Cited

·       Behrens, Laurence, and Leonard J. Rosen. Writing and Reading across the Curriculum. Pearson, 2016.

·       “FACT CHECK: Creepy Clown Arrested After Haunted House Massacre, 18 People Dead?” Snopes.com, 15 Oct. 2017, www.snopes.com/creepy-clown-haunted-house-massacre/.

·       RITUniversityNews. “A Conversation with Nicholas DiFonzo on Rumor Psychology.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 June 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4VN6NFFYV4.