horror novels

Buy Clown in a Cornfield on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, or Books-A-Million or keep reading on to be convinced.

First things first, I mean, have you seen this cover? WOW!

Yes. I lost my mind when my editor at HarperTeen shared the cover for Clown in a Cornfield for the first time. That illustration is by Matt Ryan Tobin. If that name sounds familiar, Tobin’s a slasher phenom who’s done work for Mondo and Death Waltz. Cover design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell, who’s done a ton of iconic covers.

Then there’s the matter of that Clive Barker cover blurb… which, if the cover itself didn’t plunge me deep into madness, those words certainly did. Beyond honored to have someone who’s so heavily shaped who I am as a horror fan (and a person) say such kind things after reading my book.

A few more incredible authors (and filmmakers!) have read early copies of Clown and have been nice enough to share words and I want to share them with you now, but… we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

The book’s not out until August 2020.

But it has recently been made available for pre-order.

And if you just balked at the idea of buying a book months out from release… believe me, I understand, but pre-orders are a huge help to authors. No matter where you choose to shop, pre-orders help build analytic leverage at online retailers, can increase the size of initial orders at big stores, and can help your local brick-and-mortar indie bookstore know what’s something they should be keeping in stock.

So, as August approaches and I get to talk even more about Clown in a Cornfield (don’t forget, it’s already being developed as a feature film by Temple Hill Entertainment), the most valuable thing you can do to help me spread the word is to pre-order your copy and encourage your friends to do the same.

I’m intensely proud of this… slice… of slasher madness. Pre-order is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, through your local indie bookstore using Indiebound, and on Bookshop, where indie bookstore get a percentage of your order. HarperCollins also has a directory of additional retailers and links on their website.

Thank you. And wherever you pre-order, keep your receipt and keep your eyes here on this blog or my Twitter, because I’m working out a special way to reward the folks who’ve pre-ordered.

Okay. Thanks for listening to that sales pitch! Now: more news!

Yes, you may have heard me talk about it (like on this great episode of the Cinepunx podcast), but I’m getting the opportunity to work on one of my favorite properties of all time: Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal!

BOOM! Studios has officially announced that, with issue #5 of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, artist French Carlomagno and I start a 4-issue arc focusing on fan-favorite character: Hup. This arc is from a story by Netflix showrunners Jeffery Addis and Will Matthews, so it’s super legit. We’re not going to have podlings wielding chainsaws or anything!

Issue #5 drops in January, #6 in February (etc.) and they’re already listed in Previews and can be requested at your local comic shop or ordered from your favorite online retailers, or direct from the publisher. Like novels, pre-ordering comics is a super nice thing to do for creators.

If you’re a fan of my horror novels and don’t think this is for you: believe me, you will still find something to enjoy in this arc! French’s art is incredible and we’re getting to tell a story that feels intimate and funny but still *very* Dark Crystal.

*Update*: Dark Crystal: The Ballad of Hup & Barfinnious is now available to pre-order in hardcover on amazon or Bookshop. This will be out in October and collects all four issues.

That’s it. That’s all the news I’ve got. How are you?

Hey all! Happy (almost) Halloween!

Leaves may be falling, but don’t you wish it was a little warmer? Aren’t you already longing for summer?

Well, one of my most acclaimed novels, The Summer Job: A Satanic Thriller, is now beautifully produced audiobook narrated by Stacey Glemboski!

I’ve been overjoyed by the response to Matt Godfrey’s readings of Video Night (over 130 ratings and reviews on Audible! Have you left one?) and Exponential. But while those novels were a perfect fit for Godfrey’s sultry baritone, The Summer Job demands a more feminine touch. Godfrey referred me to Stacey Glemboski (much like Con Season, Tribesmen, and Zero Lives Remaining narrator Joe Hempel referred me to Godfrey), who, I have to admit, absolutely leveled me with her performance.

Glemboski’s reading and vocal cast of characters is eerie, thoughtful, soulful and sometimes downright scary. I can’t think of a better narrator for this book. A book that Bloody Disgusting called “The textbook definition of a nail-biter... Cesare’s best novel yet.” and LitReactor hailed as having “one the best and scariest openings to a horror novel I’ve ever read…The rest of the novel is equally great.”

While Summer Job has done well, it hasn’t achieved the sales success that Video Night has, and for a long time that’s kind of bugged me. While I’d never say one of my books is better than the other, I will say that The Summer Job feels more personal, a full articulation of the folk horror/satanic panic vibe I was going for.

I hope that this audiobook brings the novel to a whole new audience and gives it a second chance at the limelight. And whether it’s your first exposure to the book or you’re revisiting it in audio: I need your help. Buy the book, spread the link far and wide and be sure to leave a quick rating and review once you’ve listened. It’s hard to overstate how much reviews help books like this get discovered.

And, because it’s really flattering, I’ll end this blog with one more blurb, this one from Complex: “Cesare’s latest is a knockout…There’s a potent retro vibe running through Cesare’s work, in general–he’s the closest thing literary horror has to its own Jim Mickle or Ti West.”

Oh, and one more thing: if you were planning on listening to this book shirtless, maybe don’t. Cover yourself with the official Summer Job T-shirt, designed by creepyguy wunderkind Trevor Henderson. You can grab that here.