It does my heart good to see the horror fiction community come out in support of Adam Cesare's new novel, Clown in a Cornfield. Readers, reviewers, fellow writers, everyone seems greatly enthused about it.
Adam's been around a long time. A decade at least, and he has been toiling in the small press, writing books, making convention appearances, publishing other authors with his Black T-Shirt imprint. And he's a real fan, not someone who's jumped on the horror bandwagon. The guy knows his stuff.
I haven't loved everything he has written, but I haven't hated any of it either. What I always saw was a talent in development. I knew he had the goods, and was laying the groundwork for a real career in publishing.
The time seems to be now. Clown in a Cornfield is getting a lot of attention. It's a major coup for any small press writer to step up to a publisher like Harper. And Adam even scored a Clive Barker blurb!
So what about the book?
Right off, I liked Clown in a Cornfield a lot. Adam's writing is clear and precise, and he has created a cast of colorful characters, a familiar yet innovative setting, and in doing so has done a reinvention of the slasher story.
The heart of the story is as old as time itself: The old versus the young. We see it all the time. Boomers hate Millennials and post-Millennials, and the young think older people tend to be a bunch of shitheads. It was the same in my day. The old timers thought we kids were spoiled and lazy, and we thought they were assholes.
Adam blends genre tradition with new ideas and techniques. You have the urban transplants in a rural area, a cast of rebellious teens, the virtuous girl, and a past tragedy. There's also a scrupulous portrait of today's social media-obsessed youth and a strongly progressive modern sensibility.
I had a great time reading Clown in a Cornfield. It's not only a good book, it's a fun one. And if Adam's message gets a wee bit heavy-handed by the end, at least it seems sincere. It's not like he was going for subtlety anyway.
I had high hopes for Clown in a Cornfield, and Adam Cesare fulfilled them. He has successfully made the leap from the little leagues to one of the best writers of his generation.
Written by Mark Sieber
Adam's been around a long time. A decade at least, and he has been toiling in the small press, writing books, making convention appearances, publishing other authors with his Black T-Shirt imprint. And he's a real fan, not someone who's jumped on the horror bandwagon. The guy knows his stuff.
I haven't loved everything he has written, but I haven't hated any of it either. What I always saw was a talent in development. I knew he had the goods, and was laying the groundwork for a real career in publishing.
The time seems to be now. Clown in a Cornfield is getting a lot of attention. It's a major coup for any small press writer to step up to a publisher like Harper. And Adam even scored a Clive Barker blurb!
So what about the book?
Right off, I liked Clown in a Cornfield a lot. Adam's writing is clear and precise, and he has created a cast of colorful characters, a familiar yet innovative setting, and in doing so has done a reinvention of the slasher story.
The heart of the story is as old as time itself: The old versus the young. We see it all the time. Boomers hate Millennials and post-Millennials, and the young think older people tend to be a bunch of shitheads. It was the same in my day. The old timers thought we kids were spoiled and lazy, and we thought they were assholes.
Adam blends genre tradition with new ideas and techniques. You have the urban transplants in a rural area, a cast of rebellious teens, the virtuous girl, and a past tragedy. There's also a scrupulous portrait of today's social media-obsessed youth and a strongly progressive modern sensibility.
I had a great time reading Clown in a Cornfield. It's not only a good book, it's a fun one. And if Adam's message gets a wee bit heavy-handed by the end, at least it seems sincere. It's not like he was going for subtlety anyway.
I had high hopes for Clown in a Cornfield, and Adam Cesare fulfilled them. He has successfully made the leap from the little leagues to one of the best writers of his generation.
Written by Mark Sieber
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