Where Did They Go Wrong?

When someone says the word clown, what comes to mind? For me it is either the typical funny clown at a birthday party in the traditional white painted face with a huge painted on grin. He would be dressed in a baggy clown suit with big bright yellow shoes, a red honking noise, a funny looking wig and the always fake flower that squirts water at the unsuspecting on looker.
The other clown that comes to mind is the circus clown riding around on a mini bicycle or driving a mini car around the arena all for our entertainment and to make us laugh.
Now, put that same clown that just made us laugh and put him in a dark corner where just a hint of light illuminates his costume and makes his painted face have a eerie glow and at the same time play spooky music in the back ground. All the sudden that lovable, animal balloon making, birthday clown is creepy and nobody wants anything to do with it.
What would be the scientific name for a fear of clowns, Coulrophobia or something like that. My question is, where did the clown go wrong?
Last night we went over to some of the family's house and hung around while they handed out candy to trick or treaters. You have to keep in mind, their house is not the normal house where the front porch light is on and a cheap fake spider is hanging in the window with all the kids running up the sidewalk yelling trick or treat. The best way to describe it is, like the normal person that goes way overboard at Christmas.
They go the whole nine yards so to speak. Smoke machines, strobes, animated monsters and oh yea, clowns. Clowns everywhere and he even gets into a clown suit and sits, just waiting for the right moment to jump up and make some poor innocent kid, or parent take off running.
I saw people so scared of clowns they refused to walk into their yard. So I got to thinking, is this what Ronald McDonald had in mind?

It wasn't a bad night of free entertainment but by the end of it, I think I was starting to develop Ephebiphobia.