Bram Stoker Award Winner for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult NovelIn Adam Cesare’s terrifying young adult debut, Quinn Maybrook finds herself caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress—that just may cost her life.Quinn Maybrook and her father have moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs, to find a fresh start. But what they don’t know is that ever since the Baypen Corn … don’t know is that ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half.
On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out of Kettle Springs as quick as they can.
Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It’s a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown in a pork-pie hat, goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now.
YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominee
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A heart-pounding thrill ride full of grousome scenes and teenage angst. This tension fueled tale of survival horror is a must read.
“There, painted on the side of the factory, was a clown. An old-timey clown with a porkpie hat and red, bulbous nose. The clown had faded greasepaint stubble on his chin, and his once ruby-red nose was pocked with blisters from where the paint had bubbled. His painted white face had long gone gray. But his eyes had been more or less untouched by the flames, and something in the way they’d been painted made it seem like the clown was staring straight into her window, straight at Quinn.”
Wow! Not at all what I was expecting. What I was expecting was simply an evil, creepy clown reeking havoc upon a town. There is way more that happens and holy it was disturbing!
The writing and use of language was so clearly thought out, I could actually smell the rotting corn, and easily visualize the detailed scenes. There were many bloody disgusting, disturbing descriptions! There were also a few plot twists that for me added a shock value I really wasn’t expecting.
A true to form, solid slasher!! That was a heck of alot of fun!!
Adam Cesare’s CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD starts as a fun and scary retro-slasher but then cleverly twists and bloodies its way into being a very new kind of beast. Rejoice horror fans new and old, and be terrified of Adam’s everyday clowns.
I am definitely new to the world of Young Adult novels. In my mind, I thought that meant “Goosebumps” type books. After reading the latest novel from horror author, Adam Cesare (The Summer Job, Video Night), consider me enlightened.
Let’s face it, teenagers swear, see (or perpetrate) violence, and do plenty of adult things, so of course they should be properly represented in the books targeted at them. And Cesare does not flinch. The dialog is authentic, and well-done. This comes as no surprise to me as I’ve been a fan of his books for a number of years now, and the action and suspense are delivered at top-notch levels, as well.
CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD centers on a small rural town where the kids of today and their love of all things social media and technology are really irritating the aging community. Quinn Maybrook and her father, Glenn (great name, btw), move to the town after Quinn’s mother od’s back home in Philly. Quinn is the new girl and quickly gets mixed up with the loudest kids in town. Cole, the son of the town’s recluse former syrup factory owner, is the rich kid/troublemaker/rebel, and he takes Quinn under his wing.
After a few chapters of setting up the book’s main characters, Cesare introduces us to Frendo the clown, the mascot of the out of business syrup factory. Just reading the name Frendo had me on edge as it triggered memories of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem’s character in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN). Knowing Cesare’s love for film, I’d be willing to guess that was intentional.
The story builds to the night of the “big party” and that’s when all the stuff really hits the fan.
Cesare expertly puts Quinn, Cole, and their friends through a night of pure hell. The ending was absolutely satisfying, but you’ll have to read the book to know how it all goes down.
Stepping back, I see a lot of appeal in this book for adults and teens alike. When the Frendo attacks begin, the term “active shooter” is used by one of the characters in the book while a group of party-goers has locked themselves inside a silo for protection. I have kids in junior high and elementary school, and I know in today’s world, this is a serious threat and concern for kids. My kids practice these “lock-down” drills every few months. I know these aspects of the story will certainly speak to both the teens reading the book and their parents (hello!) reading, as well.
CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD also touches on how older people (say, 40 yo and +) are being effected by today’s “me-me-me” youth culture (with all the emphases kids put on social media and YouTube these days), and just how unsettling it is for some. To realize we (the 40+ers) are increasingly growing out of touch with technology and lingo and the way kids interact with each other now compared to say, 20 or 30 years ago, is forcing us to change, as well, and not everybody likes change. We don’t understand it, and when we don’t understand something, we fear it. And in the harshest instances, we try to get rid of it or kill it. Cesare does a fantastic job handling these perspectives within this tale.
This is a Young Adult novel, but it can most certainly be read and eaten up by Cesare’s flock of loyal horror enthusiasts, too. Trust me, folks, you will not be let down.
Seriously, when CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD drops in August, you better go out and grab a copy.
5 stars! All day.
This party starts early, and it does not stop until all the bodies have hit the floor.
Tense, modern and gory, Cesare’s Clown in a Cornfield is simultaneously classic and fresh. This is thrilling, old school horror for a new generation.
Perhaps I should admit right at the outset that, largely due to my own ignorance, I have not necessarily a bias against young adult fiction, but perhaps a presumption of what YA lit is. When it was announced that Adam Cesare was making his YA debut this summer with Clown in a Cornfield, I was both very excited for him, having read and enjoyed the hell out of several of his indie/small press titles, but also a bit skeptical. Yeah, I kind of raised my eyebrows at the news, a fact that now shames me. I was going to read it for sure because, hey, it’s Adam Cesare! But I was also kind of preparing myself for some watered down, kid-friendly scares-in-quotation-marks stuff where the violence was implied but rarely shown, and none of the kids had ever heard, let alone spoken, a foul word, and everyone makes it through safely and virtually unharmed.
So, let me admit, too, that I’m clearly a fucking idiot. Because this book, Clown in a Cornfield? It ain’t that. Like, at all. Yes, the main cast of characters are high schoolers in the latter stages of their adolescence, but (if you’re anything like me) don’t let the YA label or the HarperTeen imprint fool you. Cesare pulls absolutely zero punches here and Clown in a Cornfield fits in properly among the pantheon of horror slashers like Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Scream.
As AC/DC once sang, if you want blood, you got it! If you want savage kill scenes, plenty of f-bombs, and virtually non-stop carnage, you got it in spades right here. This may be a YA book given its focus on teens in trouble (deep, deep trouble), but make no mistake, this is most definitely some R-rated horror. And it all starts soon after Quinn Maybrook and her father, recent transplants from Philly, move into their new home in Kettle Springs, MO. Their house abuts a cornfield, and Quinn’s attic bedroom looks out over it and the abandoned, burned out Baypen factory situated within, the company’s mascot and Kettle Springs founder, Frendo the Clown, painted on one wall and leering through Quinn’s window. The Maybrooks have arrived just in time for Founder’s Day and the celebration of all-things Frendo. They’ve also arrived just in time for everything to go terribly, terribly wrong…
Clown in a Cornfield is a kinetic, super-amped up work of slasher terror, and once Cesare kicks things into high gear there is absolutely no slowing it down. This book moves like an out of control, high-speed train plowing over everything, and everyone, in its path, right up until its final moments. The pages here damn near turn themselves. It’s a compulsively readable book and one you’ll be hanging on to for dear life from start to finish.
It’s also got some nifty (and for me, highly welcome) social and political commentary throughout, which makes this a particularly timely release. A part of me can’t help but wonder if HarperTeen somehow engineered the “OK, Boomer” meme in order to generate some viral advance publicity for this one… And if they didn’t, they definitely need to capitalize on it pronto! The characters here feel real, and Cesare certainly knows how to write authentic teens that feel very much of their time and in this world. Quinn is a fantastic protagonist, too, one who rises to the challenge and, when push finally comes to shove, is able to adapt and fight back, making her one hell of an impressive new Scream Queen for horror lit fans.
TL;DR — I freaking loved this book. I was legitimately enamored with it the whole through and I couldn’t believe some of the stuff Cesare pulled off here. Clown in a Cornfield is a shot of pure adrenaline in horror book form. It’s a wild, entertaining, and frenetic blast from start to finish, and every single bit as good and blood-soaked as its phenomenally awesome, old-school cover art suggests. If you’re at all a fan of slasher horror, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Highly, highly, highly recommended.
The small town of Kettle Springs becomes an unexpected disturbing new start for a father and daughter trying to escape from a mournful past. Combining 80’s cinematic horror with a modest sprinkle of Wickerman, Adam Cesare serves up a chilled original tale of clown carnage. Readers should prepare to embrace a ghastly rollercoaster ride full of unanticipated twists and turns. 5 Stars
Fast-paced, smart, creepy. A winner!
If Clown In A Cornfield by Adam Cesare were a movie, you would be curled up in your seat watching through your fingers, nervous about what would happen next!
This is a must read for fans of intense slashers! This novel is sure to keep you totally hooked from page one right up through the very end!
Really great and scary YA horror and I was creeped out a lot of the time as you should be in a book like this.
Great characters, great plot and I can definitely recommend it.
It reminded me of the good old 80’s and 90’s slasher films that gave such jump scares that made you look into a pillow instead of watching the movie;)!
In this splendidly written story, new girl in town Quinn finds herself in a small town and plopped in the middle of long simmering issues that soon come to a boil. Great characters, tight plot, heavy on the horror and gore. I didn’t think it was possible, but Adam Cesare has found a way to make clowns even creepier. Flawless pacing makes this book near impossible to put down and the magnifying glass the story puts on generational rifts will keep you thinking long after you finally do.
Definite SCREAM vibes. Essentially a YA book, which isn’t my bag, baby (though there are also some adult point-of-view chapters, which broadened the perspective a bit). I was cheering for the clown the whole time…
For those of you that haven’t read Clown in a Cornfield, I highly recommend it. I’m a fan of Adam Cesare’s other books, and this one does not disappoint.
SHORT REVIEW for CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD by Adam Cesare.
Seeking a fresh start, Quinn & her dad move to Kettle Springs—a small town said to have been founded generations earlier by its mascot, a clown called Frendo. But Quinn’s new town has twisted secrets—secrets that will literally put everyone’s life in Kettle Springs on the line.
With great chemistry among colorful characters, this thrilling slasher is easy to get pulled into. A cinematic tale that feels perfect for a movie adaptation. In all, it’s a brutal blast of bloody mayhem.
Well that was unexpected…and fun! I went into this one completely blind. I only got this one because of the cover and how it looked creepy. Plus clowns “shudder”
I read this is one sitting and really enjoyed it. Nothing says Spooktober like a backwoods small town that has murder, scary clowns, cornfields and kids partying. B-Rated movie feels ALL the way.
This is Cesare’s first young-adult novel but to be honest, I’m not exactly sure why it is considered a young-adult novel. My wife and I discussed the topic for a while. She says that CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD qualifies since the story focuses on teenagers as the protagonist; the quantity of death, mayhem, and violence don’t have an impact. My thought was that to qualify, a book should reduce the amount of violence compared to a “regular” adult book in addition to the story centering on a teenager. We both agreed that the lack of sex scenes helps make it YA. I suppose it doesn’t really matter so long as the story is good; young-adult becomes one more label to apply. The good thing here is that Cesare has succeeded again in writing an exciting and entertaining story.
Quinn Maybrook has moved with her dad to the small town of Kettle Springs. They are hoping to leave behind the trauma of their old lives and restart. Quinn quickly gets pulled into the drama of the small town; the conflict between the adults who want the small town life and the kids who want to welcome the world. Mix in a killer clown and the story is now complete.
Without giving anything away, the identity of the killer clown isn’t really kept a secret for long, but then, this book isn’t a murder mystery. It’s a horror book. And like any good horror book, the theme reaches beyond the deaths that occur. In this case, the theme is the clash between young and old. The stress that each gives to the other. About living in the past and wanting things to stay that way forever or moving forward in the world and accepting the changes that occur. Quinn has to deal with this via the move from her old life and the death of her mother into a new life in a small town. It’s her father’s way of forcing both of them to move forward. People in Kettle Springs though yearn for the good, old days when the town flourished and thrived. It’s easier for those adults to blame cell phones and streaming than to accept the changes. And who embraces cell phones and new technology? Teenagers. Thus, the target of blame. Going back to my original question, I suppose this is what helps make it a YA novel. Not only does it focus on teenagers but it is about them getting picked on by the adults, about facing down the adults, about defeating old age.
If you love horror, how can you not be at least a little curious about a book titled CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD? Really though. You know all you need to to get started. Alright, I’ll tell you a little more, but I don’t want to ruin anything so you won’t see any spoilers here.
Quinn and her father move to a small town called Kettle Springs (not sure they ever tell us what state the town is in) where he’s accepted a position as the town’s new doctor. The town seems to be stuck in a Norman Rockwell painting, or at least the adults seem to think it should be. The kids Quinn makes friends with seem to be pretty normal teenagers- too cool for the town and just want to have fun. Come to think of it, Kettle Springs kind of reminds me of the town in Footloose. So what do kids do to blow off steam? They have parties in vacant barns. Those barns are in cornfields. See where this is going?
This book was a ride! Like a roller coaster, it takes some time to get to that peak…but once the clinking of the chain stops, the screaming starts and doesn’t let up from there. There are some twists and turns…at least one I absolutely didn’t see coming. The first part of the book never feels unnecessary, but the pace is definitely slower than the second half. I didn’t have any issues getting through the slower parts though as I really wanted to know what was going to happen next.
I’m not totally sure why this is YA? Yeah, the characters are teenagers and I can see where teens might relate Quinn or her friends more than adults do, but there’s nothing YA about the horror or gore. There are some brutal kills in this book that would feel right at home in any other horror novel your parents didn’t want you to read when you were younger.
So why not five stars? There are parts of this book that I think are timely and relevant, and I would I wish the author leaned harder into those moments. I think there was an opportunity to really “go there”, but that may be an unpopular opinion. What’s there gets the job done. When you read it, you’ll know what I’m referring to, but I wanted more. Also I’m not entirely sure the antagonist’s motive worked for me, but it may work for you. Neither of those things would stop me from recommending this book.
This is my first slasher and my first Adam Cesare novel (looking forward to checking out his other work), so I can’t compare it to another any other slashers. But as someone that reads horror novels in general, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope it’s not the last time we’re in Kettle Springs.