Evil Clown of Middletown
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The Evil Clown of Middletown is a large outdoor sign on northbound Route 35 in Middletown Township, New Jersey advertising a Spirits Liquor Store. It was originally constructed in 1956 to advertise a Food Circus grocery store. In its early years it continuously rotated via electric motor(s), a then-common form of advertising that for the most part went out of style (or economic practicality) by the 1970's. The clown has long since been fixed in place.
The clown's first starring role was in 1996, during the hilarious opening sequence of the Philip Botti movie, Middletown. The movie won the New York Underground Film Festival Choice award.
The clown is well-known because it is unusually scary-looking. It has been featured in the local New Jersey magazine Weird NJ as well as on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in a Kevin Smith short. The Evil clown appears in the first few minutes of Smith's 2006 film Clerks II.
The evil clown has also been shown on another (generally) New Jersey-based website Lostdestinations.com
It is also known by some as "The Scary Liquor Clown"
