David Howard Thornton on the Art of Being Art the Clown

Terrifier icon Art the Clown has made an impact as the new king of painted-face slasher villains and the character enters a new era as a feature at Halloween Horror Nights. The spooky season haunt at Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood features not only haunted houses inspired by Damien Leone’s bloody franchise but also a huge Art the Clown presence for walk-around characters.

At the red carpet for Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, Terrifier’s very own Art the Clown, David Howard Thornton, talked to Dead Meat about his advice for the scareactors at Universal embodying the gleefully silent gorehound.

“First of all, I just told them to have fun because that’s how Art is. He finds so much joy in the horrible things he does. And I said, ‘Just find that sadistic joy in just messing with people.’ Just go wild with it and have fun with it. And it’s just, be a little jerk,” he shared.

Having experienced hilariously horror-tinged mime interactions with Art in the park ourselves, we can confirm it’s just a sheer demented delight.

Thornton continued to explain his inspiration to better define the character, who first appeared in Leone’s early 2008 short film The 9th Circle and whom the actor took on in 2016’s Terrifier feature.

“I based him on a vulture. The idea came in because of his beak nose. And so I’ve added more of a hunch to him. Especially when he’s in predator mode, as I like to call it, when he’s actually on the hunt. Birds of prey lead with their eyes first; as they look at something, the head moves. And then the body follows. And that’s what I based Art’s movements off of when he’s in hunt mode.”

Imparting the art of being Art to Universal theme park scareactors really solidifies the clown as a titan of terror at the annual Halloween festivities. Thornton is proud of this horror honor. “It makes me so happy because I think it’s a great thing just to build up the love of our character. Because I love every year watching the videos that they have of Universal with the Grinch, all the things he does … [and] I love seeing now Art’s doing that same thing. And it’s catching that kind of popularity.”

I personally haven’t seen any of the Terrifier films but the memorable interactions within the haunted house and outside in the scare zones made me an instant Art fan. Art very much fits in the chaotic meet-and-greet fun you’d expect and joins fellow theme park standouts such as the Grinch and Beetlejuice in making a home at Universal as characters people want to meet.

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