Admittedly I was late to the party for Adam Cesare’s slasher novel Clown in a Cornfield.
Having recently read that I was well primed for the sequel, subtitled Frendo Lives, which takes a more expansive approach to the slasher narrative.
While Cesare has clearly been watching the news over the past couple of years, with undeniable social commentary he continues to build a wholly interesting world in Kettle Springs.
Picking up a year after the previous book’s clown-induced massacre, we follow couple Rust and Cole who have tried to put it all behind them plus we have Quinn one of the only survivors of that night.
They all carry the scar tissue, literally, from those events and Cesare does well painting a picture of an attempt to move on whilst being dragged back by your past.
These are characters you can care about and Frendo Lives goes beyond your mediocre slasher tropes and creates something so much bigger and dangerous.
If you came for the gore, don’t worry Cesare provides it once again in buckets.
Frendo Lives may be our last journey to Kettle Springs for a while, but this story is begging to be adapted into what could become a slasher juggernaut in the right hands.
A must-read for all horror fans.
Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare is available now in all books formats.
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