This felt like watching a slightly cheesy but very fresh-faced Halloween slasher flick and I totally enjoyed it! It walked a great line between familiar tropes and new horror, creating a solid balance all throughout, and I think anyone who loves the genre will love this, too! The pacing was a little weird at times, slow and then very rushed, but the story is intriguing enough that it’s not too much of a problem. Perfect October YA read. ( )

Angry boomer meets Texas chainsaw in the lower B rated tone. The beginning was a bit vapid, and all of the twists were super obvious. The ONLY thing that I got a happy surprise from was the romantic reveal at the end. Will not be reading the sequel ( )

A group of teens find themselves under siege by killer clowns in a tiny Midwestern town. What starts as a very retro 80s slasher throwback (Ceasare clearly wants to remind you about the satantic panic of the 80s) becomes sometime even more sinister, more nowish. This is a story of the real life fears teens have to contend with - from gun violence to the insidious “Make __ Great Again” groupthink. It's true adults just don't understand teens but in this case, they want to wipe the teens out, so the teens can't change the town and the country.

YA horror is having a moment and Ceasare certainly pushes the boundaries of YA with the brutal novel that is not for the faint of heart. This is a brutal horror novel that just happens to feature a group of teens as the protagonists. Clown in a Cornfield perfectly encapsulates the generational and ideological divide currently shaping today’s politics. It's horrifying. ( )

Such a good, quick horror/slasher. Classic set-up with the family moving from the city for a “fresh start” to soon discover the rural Midwest town they’ve ended up in has some… baggage to say the least. This was absolutely gripping once everything kicked off. While some points were a bit predictable as it followed the almost standard slasher formula, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable and there were still some good surprises. I’m looking forward to reading book two ( )

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare has been a book I've been yearning for since I heard it came out. The title alone is intriguing - clowns are creepy and now they are in a cornfield? That's an absolute nightmare! Throw in this is a YA novel with LGBTQ representation all mixed in with an epic thrill ride of a plot that throws horrific clowns at us? I AM IN.

This book was a fast paced book that brought some giggles and lots of 'Oh' faces as the horror went down. Quinn Maybrook and her Father, Dr. Maybrook move to the itsy, bitsy town of Kettle Springs for a fresh start. The town has been rotting away since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down with the teens running wild and enjoying their youth and the adults blaming the teens for the horrible town. After a tragic death of a local teen, things just seem to get worse... until Frendo, the Baypen creepy clown mascot shows up and starts a killing spree.

Ohhhhh boy. If you want an R rated gore fest with creepy clowns, this book is for you. There's a serial killer going around in a small town knocking people off and there's clearly some dark stuff going down too. Oh, and teenagers. You know horror teenagers is always a bad mix.

I thoroughly enjoy how fast paced this book was and how it really packs a punch. The ending was hinted at along the way, but you'll only get it if you really pay attention. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't guess the complete ending, but I did get about 75% of it right as I was theorizing what was going on. Definitely a must read for horror fans! What an easy but brutal read.

Five out of five stars. ( )