CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD Praise, DARK CRYSTAL Announcements

Clown in a Cornfield is OUT NOW in Hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. Buy it now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, or Books-A-Million. Or keep reading to be convinced.

Whoa! Heck of a line-up. The above advanced praise for Clown in a Cornfield debuted as part of an article on Bloody Disgusting detailing the book and upcoming film adaptation. Each of these authors (and Mr. Clive Barker on the front cover), has had an enormous influence on me and I am overwhelmed and grateful for their kindness.

Bloody Disgusting isn’t the only media outlet that’s been good to the book (though they were doubly good, Meagan Navarro put Clown on this summer reading list). The book has received a *starred* review from Library Journal. Thanks so much to critic Becky Spratford, unerring champion of horror in libraries, for that review, and for inviting me to write a short piece for LJ’s July issue.

Not only that but the book received a *second* starred review from Booklist that said: “This pitch-perfect horror experience can be enjoyed as pure entertainment for its fun retro slasher style, but teen readers will also fully appreciate the sly underlying social commentary.”

And Kirkus says: “Cesare’s twisty prose and believable, easy-to-root-for characters makes this blood-drenched tale of extreme societal unrest disturbingly plausible. Dark humor peppers this clever homage to retro-horror classics, and Cesare barely lets up on the gas once the bloodletting begins.”

Wow! I thought slasher fans would enjoy but I’m blown away that *critics* like the book! As I’ve said in previous posts, but really can’t be overstated: sales help me out so much. The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, through your local indie bookstore using Indiebound, and on Bookshop, where indie bookstores get a percentage of your order.

But not all the big news I’ve had recently involves midwestern murder clowns. I’ve got two great announcements that involve another world and another time:

YES! Recently detailed in this article on io9, I’ve written the words to The Dark Crystal Bestiary: The Definitive Guide to the Creatures of Thra, an upcoming (October) hardcover art book.

Illustrator Iris Compiet sketched and painted over a thousand individual pieces during production of this book and there are *hundreds* of them in these pages. Her work is truly mesmerizing, as you can see in these preview pages.

There are even a few creatures that have never before been glimpsed in either the classic film or TV show, and Iris consulted with the legendary Brian and Wendy Froud (who wrote the foreword) to make sure the look was as “legit” as possible.

I’m so proud to be part of this and thank The Jim Henson Company and publisher Insight Editions for trusting me to be a member of this creative team. Pre-orders are on Amazon, Bookshop, and wherever else you buy books.

But the Bestiary isn’t my first visit to Thra.

No, the 4-issue arc of the BOOM! Studios/Archaia comic I scripted (from a story by Netflix showrunners Jeffrey Addis and Will Matthews), with art by the amazing French Carlomagno, is being collected up into one beautiful hardcover edition.

The Ballad of Hup & Barfinnious tells the complete origin story of the fan-favorite podling paladin Hup. This action-packed story is one part road movie, one part con artist yarn, one part comedy, one part earnest examination of heroism, and ALL PARTS Dark Crystal. You can pre-order it on Amazon, Bookshop, directly from the publisher, or call your local comic shop and ask them to hold you a copy.

Outside of some mildly frightening imagery, the Bestiary and the Ballad of Hup & Barfinnious are 110% totally cool for younger readers.

Clown in a Cornfield is a Young Adult novel but, uh, maybe don’t give it to your 10-year-old. Best to aim teenagers and higher with that one, I don’t need the angry letters.