Guest writer Kara Gray Ramirez reveals how a little feline persuasion sparked her adulation for Terrifier’s Art the Clown!
Art the Clown is a total slasher icon in 2026, capturing the hearts of many. He started off an incredibly obscure horror villain and has since reached world-wide fame and attention. Once the success of Damien Leone’s Terrifier (2016) reached a cult-following after the success of Art’s initial appearance in All Hallow’s Eve, it spawned The Art the Clown Appreciation Society, a private, fan-devoted Terrifier page moderated by true fans of the film. I have been part of this fun page since 2018, and the moderators are fun and friendly. Members of the group enjoyed finding and sharing obscure Art merch they found in the wild, and the writer/director and actors in the film would comment back to fans.
All Hallow’s Eve (written and directed by Damien Leone) came out in 2013. The clown character is named Art The Clown, and he started out being played by Mike Gianelli in All Hallow’s Eve. Art is later recast with theater actor, David Howard Thornton. This film seemed to be a fun Halloween anthology, so of course I was in. Art the Clown is a total stand-out villain from the beginning, and he wears a tiny black hat on his head (it’s giving Hey, Arnold), simplistic, yet ghoulish black and white clown make-up, and grotesque yellow and black teeth. Art is a silent menace, and he enjoys taunting people on Halloween at any old place, including gas stations and private residences. He will even paint your bathroom with his feces, if you are lucky.
Art starts out very playful and mild with his initial taunts, such as a bug in a bouquet of flowers prank, and squeaking a loud horn obnoxiously when he is introduced. In the gas station sequence towards the end of All Hallow’s Eve, he kicks it up to brutal torture. He greatly amused me, and I felt like he reminded me of someone I admired. I realized then, he reminded me of my late cat Dee, who I lost to heart disease in 2023. Both Art and Dee lived to troll others, and the comparison cracked me up.
Dee was my absolute best friend before I had my son, Grayson. I rescued him from an unacceptable living situation and inhabitable circumstances. When he came home with me, he weighed under one pound and he didn’t even push the keys down on my keyboard when he trapsed across it. He bonded to me as his mama immediately, and followed me room to room laying at my feet. I bottle-fed him and spent all of my free time bonding with him.
Dee’s government name was actually Dexter, after Dexter Morgan from the popular Showtime series, Dexter. He received this name when I realized his dark and naughty nature. He went from a tiny runt to a 17-pound panther that was chewing on wires and knocking over all of our stuff. I had to calculate how I would leave the house with him in it before going out, since he was built for destruction. One of his favorite activities was toe-biting, especially if he saw a toe hanging over the couch or bed. He had a million nicknames and all of the toys and extras a cat could want, but remained very naughty.
Once David Howard Thornton became the new Art the Clown in Terrifier, his mannerisms and facial expressions were so much like Dee, the resemblance became a family joke. Dee was cuddly and fun when he wanted to be, but most of the time he thoroughly enjoyed taunting and inconveniencing everyone.
This cat loved to knock every single thing in our room over in the evenings to wake us up for food. If that didn’t work, commence the toe biting. It is safe to say he spent many nights in “prison,” a.k.a. the bathroom connected to our room with the door shut. He didn’t love that too much and would throw his 17-pound body into the door to continue keeping us awake. If he had Art’s bag of weapons, he would have used them to get through that door in no time. I lost more sleep with Dee than I did with my actual newborn baby. Still, he was my partner in crime, the yin to my yang, the Rob Zombie to my Sheri Moon.
In 2020, I learned Dee was diagnosed with heart disease. He came very close to passing away at home, but luckily, we got him to the emergency vet in time. He was hospitalized for three days and made it out alive with new medicine and a new diet. We made it work, no problem. As much as Dee terrorized us all, we loved him deeply. When he came home from the hospital, I chose not to leave him or stay overnight anywhere but home. I made it a priority to not lose any extra time with him. Dee was my constant friend, he had never left my side when I needed him, and I intended to return the favor for life. I know now I made all of the right decisions.
I was lucky enough to work at a pet campus at the time and had an employee discount, which helped greatly. Dee had a fabulous doctor I became great friends with, and I owe her so much for keeping him healthy as long as she did. He was able to continue his naughty reign of terror until October of 2023. We looked into each other’s eyes as he passed away at the vet, and even though he was physically gone, I could still feel him. Today, my two-year old son points to his pictures and knows his name was Dee.
To this day, I have continued my passion for Terrifier, and I have greatly grown my collection of Art memorabilia, including autographs, stuffed toys, clothes, accessories, and household decor.
Every time I look at Art the Clown and his ridiculous face, I see my baby boy Dee and his sarcastic expression. Art has been so magically captured as a character by David Howard Thornton with his magnetic performance, and he has created an emotional mega-bond with his fans.
There is a passionate force behind the Terrifier fandom, and I credit most of that to Mr. Thornton himself, who is also an avid cat lover. I am deeply grateful for his performance in the Terrifier films, and I have been delighted to see his career grow over the years. I know he would have really liked Dee, too.
Meet Kara!
Kara Gray Ramirez is a proud wife and mama, as well as a writer and horror fanatic.
Since falling in love with All Hallows Eve in 2013, Kara has built a substantial Art the Clown collection. In 2025 and 2026 Kara wrote for Dread Central.
She previously worked in the animal industry for 7 years as well, and loves cats, as well as playing bass and singing.
You can follow her on Instagram at @Karuh13 and check out her Letterboxd profile here.