Suddenly someone finds themselves in a strange situation where they feel uneasiness, goose bumps and the feeling that something is very wrong. No doubt: This person has come across something chilling, which causes chills.

However, there are circumstances in which there is apparently no explanation for this, but nonetheless strange feelings appear and involve individuals. This is the case for many people who are afraid or dislike of clown and doll figures.

We have already explained here why some are afraid of red-nosed circus icons when we publish "Why are people afraid of clowns?". Now, an analysis by Knowledge Nuts reveals details of the psychology behind images and habits that can be chilling for a sizable portion of the population.

Among these terrifying items are certainly clowns and dolls. The former are constant figures in horror movies, and the purpose of this presence is precisely to reach the large group of people who are afraid of them.

Recipe for Scary Figure Success: Huge-eyed, clown-like puppet who likes to play some "little games" with people

Girls' favorite toy can be considered scary just as clowns can be. At the Pollock Toy Museum in London, England, there is a doll-only room, which is the last stage for the on-site tour. The reason for this is that most people choose not to enter this room and end up returning to the museum, so putting this as the last attraction prevents people from losing the rest of the ride.

In the face of these findings, we may ask: what makes some chills just seeing such a character?

What makes clowns and dolls scary

Some psychologists claim that there are a few different factors involved. In the case of the (theoretically) humorous characters of the clowns, the mouth and the smile are the elements pointed as responsible for this situation. When the relationship with happiness is minimal, a person with incessant smiles can be extremely annoying or disturbing.

A possible explanation for this fact is historical and goes back to the times of the Middle Ages, of the great kings and their court jesters. The job of the fools was to entertain and make His Majesty laugh, but for those who were unsuccessful, the punishment could include slashing their faces so that they themselves had "permanent smiles." Thus, this historical image is associated with clowns, so the idea that these are individuals who smile but are not happy are implicit.

In the movie "Batman: The Dark Knight", one of the explanations that the Joker villain gives to the scars on his mouth is that he suffered this to have a permanent smile, just as it did during the time of the jesters.

Now, on the dolls' side, one explanation refers to what Freud called "mystery, " which is nothing more than a strange feeling, about a place where something seems familiar and easy to recognize, but not so clearly. In this case, they usually represent the human figure, but they are not human, and that is what causes the salad in our brain.

The fear of images that represent living things is called automatonophobia, but it is not correct to associate it with this strange relationship that some have with toys of this type. That's because, as pollock museum curators have stated, people have different emotions about dolls. They do not usually feel fear, but rather goose bumps, disturbed.

Here's the difference…

Fear arises when a person comes across someone or something whose goal they are aware of. For example, a thief who has been carrying a gun or knife and announces a robbery. When the individual realizes, he may be scared at first, but later the sensations occur only because of fear, because he knows that the other's intention is to assault and just terrorize.

Already the strange sensation described by Freud embodies an ambiguity. People tend to feel nervous, creepy, and with that “stomach wrap” at times that awaken their survival instincts but lack a definition of the other party's real intentions.

This reaction is programmed in humans, as they, as a species, have learned to sin by being overly cautious, defensive. Thus, safety is still a priority today in relation to social skills.

What the studies say

According to the Knowledge Nuts website, there are intriguing points discovered by studies of chilling moments. In this sense, some professions (among them the clown one) are more likely to be classified as highly frightening.

Another revelation is that men tend to be creepier than women, or at least they are viewed that way. To do so, there are some habits that can be considered scary, especially those that involve observation. If it is mostly silent and continuous, something will suggest the ambiguity of motivation.

Here you can understand one more point of relationship with the dolls. The disturbing eyes that most of them have are capable of arousing people's senses to chilling situations, as apparently the toys are just watching, silently, and without giving any clue what they are up to…

* Posted on 21/10/2015

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