Maine’s Stephen King Shares Hilarious, Real-Life Creepy Clown Story With Boston’s Conan O’Brien

He’s the man who made the world fear clowns. So, what happened when Stephen King found himself sitting next to arguably the most famous clown of all time?

The Maine native and legendary author shared the story with Boston native Conan O’Brien on his Late Night show. Referring to himself as a “magnet” for weirdness, King tells a story about flying home from a book signing and encountering an ironic seatmate: Ronald McDonald.

And as King tells it, Ronald may not have been quite as evil or demonic as Pennywise but, he wasn’t quite as cheerful as we’re used to seeing him.

The clown that King encountered sounded more like Krusty from The Simpsons – who, ironically, O’Brien wrote for before embarking on a long career in late night before announcing his upcoming return (once the Writers Guild of America strike is settled).

The New England ties don’t end there, as McDonald’s was founded by two brothers from New Hampshire, and even the McRib was created by scientists (yep, scientists) in Massachusetts.

Later in the interview, King and O’Brien discussed their shared love for the Red Sox, who had recently won their first World Series in 86 years. King refused to concede that the team’s series against the Yankees was over when the Sox were down 3-0, and eerily predicted how they’d come back and win the series as only Stephen King can.

More recently, the author appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, sharing his five favorite stories and novels that he’s written.