Scary clown taunts New Yorkers

Another demon clown has been photographed stalking the streets, this time on New York City's Staten Island.

Several locals posted photos of the face-painted clown after spotting it skulking around the borough, reports the Staten Island Advance.

The bald clown — which resembles the creature Pennywise from Stephen King's It — wears a yellow suit with a puffy collar and red shoes, and clutches yellow and green balloons.

"People are f---ing crazy yo!" Robert Privitera commented on a photo of the clown he posted to Instagram.

Time speculated the clown sightings could be "a desperate viral stunt by bored locals". One man who uploaded a video of the clown to Facebook, Vic Dibitetto, is a Staten Island comedian.

In 2013, the English town of Northampton made global headlines when residents encountered a creepy clown who clutched balloons and offered to paint people's houses – despite not carrying any painting equipment.

The culprit behind the stunt was later unmasked as 22-year-old student Alex Powell, who said he donned the spooky garb "to amuse people" by freaking them out.

The Northampton clown kicked off a wave of copycats, with police in Norfolk warning the public to stay away from similarly dressed pranksters.