The first Clown in a Cornfield novel by Adam Cesare captured my attention in ways that surprised me, making it one of my favorite books of all-time, if not my favorite altogether. Even with Clown in a Cornfield 4: Lights! Camera! Frendo!, the fourth installment, Cesare still has the ability to craft a unique and utterly surprising story that had me on edge from start to finish.
Sabrina Alvarez is pretty much a nobody—until she lands the starring role in the big budget film based on the Kettle Springs Massacre. Sabrina knows she should be on top of the world. She’s going to be THE Quinn Maybrook, Final Girl of Final Girls, national hero and certified badass. But as soon as Sabrina gets to Kettle Springs, she just can’t quite shake the feeling that something’s off. A spate of deaths, an out-of-control director, a town decimated by loss and divided by anger, and a movie designed to glorify it all. Something bad is brewing, and this time, it’s all on film.
While we haven’t been on the journey our friends from Kettle Springs have been on, we have been on a journey as the reader. From a quiet any town USA locale, unsettling events of in Pennsylvania, and a road trip of revenge, it was nice to be back in old Kettle Springs for this go-around. Not to mention the return of some fan favorite characters and the introduction of a few new faces.
I felt I would’ve dug the direction Cesare takes the Clown in a Cornfield series with a story where a film based on the tragic events is the main plot, even if there wasn’t recently a film adaptation of the original novel. It makes so much sense that this would be something that actually happens in the fictional world Cesare created. But as we all know with horror stories, things will never go as planned and it’s how Adam crafts Clown in a Cornfield 4: Lights! Camera! Frendo! that made it stand out.
Filming in Kettle Springs brings authenticity to the feature film, but its a town that is still reeling with the events of a few years ago that can make it difficult for some of those who are still around. Clown in a Cornfield 4: Lights! Camera! Frendo! has classic gory horror, but its also a book filled to the brim with post-traumatic stress disorder and grief which brings real life horrors to the page. It’s not just the people who are still around that feel broken and rundown, but it’s Kettle Springs itself that has a real dilapidated feel to it. Not to mention a film crew coming in and taking over to recreate the traumatic events.
Revisiting with Cole and Rust, as well as Jerri and Glenn Maybrook, was a delight. Even though we will never get the same characters we got in the first part of the first novel, as they have been through the wringer and have both grown and filled with grief. The one drawback that I could find was my inability to connect with our new faces, Sabrina was the most connectible, but even she was a distant second to the old school characters and how we all connected throughout the series.
Cesare continues to terrifying me with stories of clowns, even if this is a young adult horror novel, it still frightens this 40-year-old reader in ways that surprised me. Adam knows just how to push the boundaries of what is acceptable in a YA novel and squeezes every ounce out of the terror within.
Clown in a Cornfield 4: Lights! Camera! Frendo! proves that Adam Cesare still has plenty up his sleeve in Kettle Springs. A slasher horror with the addition of grief and trauma delivering another fantastic addition to the Clown in a Cornfield saga. Cesare continues to push the boundaries of YA horror with another terrifying, blood-soaked nightmare that will scare those of all ages.
Clown in a Cornfield 4: Lights! Camera! Frendo! hits bookstores everywhere on August 18, 2026 from HarperCollins. The audiobook, narrated by Jesse Vilinsky, is available via Libro.fm!
