Some people probably shouldn’t read Stephen King’s novels, as they might take them too literally. It happened in Hollis, Maine at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening, when several residents spotted a Creepy Clown with a machete running down the streets. Wearing a scary red and white clown mask, the man had attached a machete to the stump of his missing left arm and swung it as he went.

Families terrified as they look out their windows and see a creepy clown

The Press Herald reports that local residents Angela Hunt, Stephanie Hamlin and Karmen LePage had spotted the scary clown passing their homes in Waterboro Road. Hunt’s children had panicked and called her to let her know a clown had passed by their home. Hamlin told them the man looked like he was in a trance while passing by with what she believed to be a meat cleaver in hand.

Police inundated with 911 calls about clown sightings

911 calls immediately started pouring into the Hollis Police Department, with reports of a masked, armed man in the neighborhood.

On arrival, officers discovered 31-year-old Corey Berry wearing the scary clown mask and with a machete duct-taped to the stump where his amputated arm used to be. The blade was hanging out of his shirt sleeve. According to police, Berry was highly intoxicated.

According to Maine State Police Trooper Adam Schmidt, when they arrived on the scene, Berry instantly ran into the nearby woods. However an hour later, police had the clown impersonator in custody and reportedly Berry cooperated with the officers. Schmidt said after they instructed Berry to put the machete down, he immediately complied.

The incident was a prank on a family friend with children

According to Berry, his whole idea was to Prank a friend of his family who lives on that road and has children.

However, when Schmidt asked the ages of those children, Berry told him they were less than seven years old. Berry was taken to York County Jail in Alfred on a charge of criminal threatening but was released later on $200 bail.

As noted by Inside Edition, there was a series of scary clown incidents during October last year, which has led to police increasing their presence in the community, after parents said their children became traumatized after seeing the horrific looking clowns.

According to the Press-Herald, Berry was previously arrested in 2012 while driving under the influence and received a $500 fine and had his license suspended.