No laughing matter: How menacing clowns are terrorizing children and adults across the country... but is it all just a Halloween prank?

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Clown across the country are terrorizing communities by menacingly popping  (file image) 

A recent spike in clown sightings across the country has prompted fears that a menacing trend is on the rise. 

Terrified residents have reported being terrorized by people dressed up in the costumes in more than ten states since August. 

Among them was one woman who claimed to have been assaulted and worrying accounts of children being lured towards woods by the disguised figures. 

In South Carolina, police have issued a stark warning to whoever is frightening the community.

'It's illegal. It's dangerous. It's inappropriate, and it's creating community concern so it needs to stop,' Greenville Police Chief Ken Miller said last month. 

His message came after four separate reports of clowns near play parks and apartment complexes.  

Parents said the clowns were holding green lasers while children said they appeared to have large sums of cash, Fox Carolina reports. 

One vigilante is said to have chased the clown away with a machete. 

Officers have however encouraged people to take photographs if they encounter the clowns again, having been unable to find them since reports were made. 

'We have increased patrol in areas where sightings have occurred and will be stepping up crime prevention in these apartment complexes and neighborhoods. 

'We encourage the community to document and report suspicious activity to police.

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Dozens of clown sightings have been reported in states across the country. Above, an illustration of the most recent 

'If there are sightings: take a photo, note person and vehicle descriptions, pay attention to direction of travel, and immediately call 911,' the department said in a police statement. I suspect it’s a kind of low-level hysteria

Similar claims were made in North Carolina where police received complaints of a clown offering children treats. Another was reportedly spotted outside an elementary school in Winston-Salem, Fox News reports. 

Police in the city increased their patrols in the wake of the reports. One man was arrested earlier this month in the area for falsely reporting a sighting. 

A clown dressed in an orange jumpsuit with spiked air and a demonic mask was spotted cycling down the street in Yuma, Arizona while a man in Kentucky was arrested after being found lurking in a wooded area in full costume.

Jonathan Martin, 20, was charged with wearing a mask in a public place and disorderly conduct.

He was found in 'full clown costume', crouching among trees by an apartment complex, police say. 

In Greenville, South Carolina, parents have been put on edge by claims of clowns trying to lure their children into woods behind this play park at an apartment complex 

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, sightings of this clown prompted concerns. It later emerged to be promotion for a forthcoming horror film 

Jonathan Martin was arrested after hiding in a wooded area in full costume to scare people in Middlesboro, Kentucky

Other cases have been fatal. In Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old student was stabbed to death by an attacker wearing a clown mask. 

Detectives are still trying to track who killed 10th grader Christian Torres who was studying at Reading High School.  

Martin, 20, was charged with wearing a mask in a public place and disorderly conduct

In some instances, the sightings have been harmless. One man was forced to speak out after terrified Wisconsin residents made complaints of a clown walking around the town of Green Bay carrying a handful of black balloons. 

It was in anticipation for a forthcoming horror film, Gags The Green Bay Clown.  A video that was viewed millions of times on Facebook of an ominous clownw aving at a woman as she filmed him in the woods also prompted hysteria. 

Suzy Wills shared the footage that was taken in Pensacola, Florida, on her page. 

Days later she revealed it had merely been a prank by a friend.

In Richmond, Virginia, an autistic 12-year-old frightened his neighbours by dressing up in a clown mask and waving at them.

Holly Brown told WTVR-TV that her son, Angus, had merely been excited about the costume which he'd received ahead of Halloween.

Christian Torres, 16, was stabbed to death by an attacker in a clown's mask in Pennsylvania. Police believe it was the fatal result of a fight 

A 12-year-old autistic boy who waved from the passenger seat of his grandmother's car while in costume frightened residents in Richmond, Virginia 

'There was no malicious intent. He is in fact a very sweet child with autism and a new found love of Stephen King stories, hence the costume.' 

King, a master of horror fiction, believes the phenomenon is temporary. 

'The clown furor will pass, as these things do, but it will come back, because under the right circumstances, clowns really can be terrifying. 

'I suspect it’s a kind of low-level hysteria,' he told The Bangor Daily News. 

Professionals have been left outraged by the rise in sightings, describing those being reported to police as 'imposters'. 

A spokesman for Clowns of America told DailyMail.com on Saturday: 'Our stance on this subject is that these people are imposters the same as if they were people dressed like police or firemen. 

 'The more we talk about this subject the more cop cats will continue to get the eye of the press.' 

Others have suggested the rise is due to Halloween, with pranksters eager to have fun in the run-up to the holiday.  

'It looks like a bunch of jokesters,' Brendan Martel, who works at one such shop in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, told ABC.