From “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” to “Clown in a Cornfield,” clowns have been a longstanding fixture in horror cinema. Iconic figures like Pennywise from “It” and the sinister clown doll in “Poltergeist” have instilled coulrophobia, or fear of clowns, in many individuals. A new addition to this eerie lineup emerged with the 2016 release of “Terrifier,” an indie horror film helmed by creator Damien Leone featuring a menacing clown.

The movie series chronicles the chilling escapades of Art, a clown who relishes in hunting down victims and seizes every opportunity to kill for fun. His attacks are deadly and infrequent survivors find they cannot escape him, as he always returns. In an unsettling twist akin to what happens with Amanda from “Saw,” one of Art’s targets even becomes his accomplice.

Though Art the Clown might initially come across as a mere human beneath his makeup, his abilities suggest otherwise, with hints at supernatural powers like shape-shifting and teleportation. In “Terrifier,” he appears mortal until the end, when he shockingly resurrects after a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The sequel further reveals his otherworldly nature when he’s beheaded and yet revives. Clearly, Art possesses demonic elements, and “Terrifier 3” delves deeper into this aspect, linking him more closely with a mysterious entity known as the Little Pale Girl.

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“Terrifier” wasn’t the first thing Art the Clown appeared in. His on-screen debut was actually in the 2008 short film “The 9th Circle.” In the short, Art has three women chained in a room who all suffer various fates, one of which involves escaping before being taken by witches. This short later became the first segment of “All Hallows’ Eve,” a 2013 horror anthology by Damien Leon.

The framing for the anthology is that a mysterious VHS tape appears in a child’s trick-or-treat bag. Their babysitter decides it’s a good idea to watch the tape with the children in the room, despite not knowing what’s on it. After “The 9th Circle” portion, she sends the children to bed and continues to watch alone. The second segment, “Something in the Dark,” is rooted in aliens following a woman who moves into a new home out in the country, but Art still appears in a painting. The final part is “Terrifier,” which features Art the Clown trying to kill a woman who stumbles across him at a gas station.

While these segments involve Art, they don’t give any clues to his backstory, keeping his past a mystery. There is nothing in “All Hallows’ Eve” that hints at his origin (which Leon promises will be revealed in the first 15 minutes of “Terrifier” 4), just that his nature, as presented in the “Terrifier” films, has always been sinister.