Fear of Sewer Dwelling Clowns

So I have realized after 18 years since I last saw IT, that it still scares the hell out of me. I am a horror fan, and a Stephen King fan; but there is something about Tim Curry in a scary clown suit, living in a sewer and scaring small children. I am probably not the only one that was terrified by this movie, and if I bother to look on facebook, I would probably find a few support groups. To overcome my fear, I am reading the novel for the first time. It ain't working. One has to hand it for Stephen King for creating something so evil, that it has scared me for years. It makes me wonder though, if I never heard of IT, would I still be afraid of clowns in general? The answer is yes, of course I would. Clowns are supposed to be these happy things with balloons, big shoes, and Volkswagen's that fit a surprising amount of clowns in them; however someone who has a big red nose, plenty of white makeup, and a scary ass smile is not okay in my books. Should I also mention how many clowns have actually been scary pedophile murderers. Case Closed. So IT is not what scares me, it's a damn clowns. Stephen King has just magnified all of our fears. I wonder if there was a severe drop in clown hiring for birthday parties after King wrote this novel. Kudos to King for keeping me up at night.