The Clown in a Cornfield ongoing book series is written by Adam Cesare and published by HarperCollins publishing company. The first book won the Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in the Young Adult category in 2020 and spawned a killer sequel, a soon to be a 3rd book in the series releasing soon, and a feature film currently in production by Temple Hill Entertainment, so with that all being said and out of the way let’s get down to brass taxes and talk about it! I thoroughly enjoyed myself with these reads, they were so well done and had me turning and turning the page to hear more!
The first novel sets up our core characters well (some of them won’t live to see the 2nd book but that’s beside the point). We’re introduced to our main character Quinn Maybrook as her and her father Glenn move out of the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia for a more quiet, downtempo life in the small and struggling Midwestern town of Kettle Springs, Missouri. They both needed a fresh start after the sudden death of Quinn’s mom/Glenn’s wife and Glenn was offered a position in the town as the doctor, so it all worked out for the best. The book did a good job at putting into words the mental adjustment that Quinn faced as she dealt with moving to a new town and away from all of her friends while simultaneously dealing with the grief of her mother’s death as well. This first novel leaned heavy into the differences of mentality, politics, and overall thought between the younger generation and the older generation and the disgust that they each felt for each other at different times as they both blamed the opposite generation of people for the town’s downfall. The Baypen factory plays a key piece in the story as well as it once provided consistent revenue and hustle and bustle for the town through the production of corn syrup, but its doors closed, and its creepy ass mascot ‘Frendo the Clown’ shipped out of town permanently after the factory burnt down. Something that a lot of the older generation of folk in town blame on the younger kids as they suspect arson from a prank gone wrong. The climax of this book takes place in the Tillerson’s cornfield located on the Baypen grounds, where crazed mobs of clowns enact their violence and revenge on unsuspecting partygoers. A great, crazy, violent climax that reveals the masterminds behind the murders and sets us up perfectly for a slasher sequel…which we received just under a couple years later!
‘Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives’ just had that feel like your typical slasher sequel we continuously see made in all of our favorite slasher franchises from Halloween to Friday the 13th, Hellraiser, Child’s Play, and so on and so forth. The surviving characters of the first book have attempted to move on and get back to their lives to the best of their ability but the town of Kettle Springs still feels the effects of the past tragedy a year ago and tourists and conspiracy theorists alike flood their town on the regular to sight-see or much worse, start a protest or rally right on main street in a poor attempt to “unveil the truth”. Make matters worse, a thrifty entrepreneur from Branson and his often-misunderstood son move into town and capitalize off the blood-soaked legacy of the town by opening a haunted attraction right around Halloween in the exact factory and cornfield where tragedy struck a year earlier. When clown attacks happen to Quinn and her friends at a college party in Philly, while a clown attack happens to Glenn in Kettle Springs at the exact same time the surviving group realizes they aren’t free from the clutches of Frendo the Clown just yet and are drug back into another twisted game of murder and one last showdown in Kettle Springs. This time the kids are forced to showdown with Frendo’s and internet conspiracy theorists alike as they’re chased by mobs through town, but they’re much more adept and capable after the tragedy last year and will not go down without a fight. This book did a great job at making me really care about our core characters here and their safety, I truly cared for the well-being of our main characters and wanted to see them all live and I cannot always say the same about slasher movies where I sometimes find myself rooting for the big bad just because I’m such a fan of Jason or Leatherface or what have you. That wasn’t the case here, I wanted to see these kids kick some Frendo ass and that’s kudos to Adam and his writing for that.
These books were a whole lot of fun and real page turners. If you’re into adolescent horror or slasher like novels then this will be right up your alley so I would definitely recommend. There’s a lot to be excited about and look forward to in this series as well as a third book, ‘Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo’ is about to come out and as I mentioned before, a movie is in production as well over the first novel! So, get yourself all caught up on the series and keep your eyes peeled for the news over the release of the movie because I know I will be!
