Clown sightings map: Here are all the places "killer clowns" have been reported

The recent epidemic of "killer clown" sightings across the U.S. may be the worst thing about 2016 — and that's saying a lot. In fact, there have been so many clown sightings that it's getting hard to keep track of them all. But don't worry, because Atlas Obscura has compiled a comprehensive, interactive map of every clown "sighting, threat and scare" that's been reported.

See the whole map here — but be warned, some of the more-than-100 incidents recorded on this interactive map of the U.S., the earliest of which were in August, may be the result of pranksters capitalizing on a trend and not "actual" sinister killer clowns trying to hunt us down. 

In fact, so many of the clown sightings are turning out to be nonthreatening jokes that law enforcement officers in several states have released statements asking residents not to dress up as clowns. 

And this clown trend is taking its toll on the real, jolly clowns of the world too. Earlier this October, Rob Bowker, spokesperson for the U.K. organization Clowns International, said, "This is nothing to do with clowning, it's to do with people hijacking a costume and for some sinister reason trying to scare people."