Convivial horror fan and writer Adam Cesare is the successful novelist of the popular young adult slasher book series Clown in a Cornfield. The hit horror tale unravels the story of Philadelphia native Quinn Maybrook, a sullen teenager who reluctantly moves to the desolate small town of Kettle Springs, Missouri, with her enthusiastic and neurotic but loving father, Glenn. The town has recently fallen on hard times with the loss of its biggest employer, Baypen Corn Syrup, whose mascot is Frendo the Clown—a bulbous-eyed, grinning jester with a slanted pork pie hat.
The adults in town—from the waitress at the diner to the boorish Sheriff Dunne—are antagonistic and irritated by the youth and their bright ideals. When Quinn attends a late-night party in a barn smack in the middle of the town’s imposing, remote cornfields, she and her new friends discover just how enraged the townsfolk truly are.
Boston Hassle spoke to Cesare and the impassioned director of the book’s blood-slick 2025 film adaptation, Eli Craig (Tucker & Dale vs. Evil). The horror aficionados offered their views on Clown‘s crazy kills, nostalgia, beloved drive-ins, horror art, and what it was like to bring Kettle Springs to life.
NOTE: This interview contains spoilers. It has been condensed and edited for clarity.
BOSTON HASSLE: Guys, it’s great to meet you. Thanks for taking the time to chat. Congratulations on such a cool slasher. What was it like bringing Kettle Springs and its citizens to life? I won’t lie, I nerded-out when I saw Kevin Durand as Arthur Hill. He’s exactly how I imagined him while reading Clown in a Cornfield.
ELI CRAIG: For me, it was about bringing Adam’s book to life. I wanted to bring Kettle Springs to life, and this idea of Americana, this feeling of rustbelt America and a town that took so much pride in their prosperity. It’s a one-industry town that had a corn syrup factory and they’re going through hard times, you know?
The harder times you go through, the more you hang onto the things that were your identity and the hopefulness of it. You brought up Arthur—Arthur Hill is, in some ways, this hopeful character regarding the prosperity of Kettle Springs. But he also doesn’t want to see Kettle Springs change.
Of course, the little town and the Frendo float, and the parade… all those things were such strong elements of the book that I just wanted to bring to life in a very real way and have it feel like it’s an authentic small town in Missouri.
ADAM CESARE: I was on set for one day—I have a young daughter who was even younger when Eli was filming it—so I knew I could only make that one visit. So, I was like, “Can I go to the parade?” That was what I wanted to do.
I wanted to walk around Kettle Springs, like you were saying, Alexis. And I agree with you, the film is remarkably cast. Not just in book similarity, but with its great performers—especially Aaron Abrams as Glenn Maybrook.
As you can tell throughout the book, he’s one of my favorite characters. He’s kind of like an avatar character for me, as a not-teenager, as a neurotic 30-something [laughs]. So yeah, it was just a pleasure to see these characters come to life. It was so much fun.
BH: Yeah, Aaron Abrams is great. I watched Hannibal religiously in college and it was so awesome to see him in this. It was such a natural role for him.
AC: He has good Glennergy.
BH: He does! He really does. It was exactly how I pictured him, especially in his back-and-forth with Quinn. I’d also love to talk about the kills in the film—Matt’s was just so brutal. Horrible way to go. What was your favorite kill, and how do you craft these slayings?
EC: You know, I’d love for Adam to answer that first, because the cinematic part is very different than the book. Writing it in the novel versus how I’m showing it visually was something altogether different. Adam, what are your thoughts?
AC: That’s one of the reasons I love this movie so much. Fans of the book are gonna inarguably say that it’s a faithful adaptation. The things that happen in the book happen in the film. But then, you get all this little bonus stuff.
The fact that all the kills from the book are swapped out for fresh kills is cool. So, if you’ve read the book, it’s not like you’re gonna be waiting on certain kills to be done with, like, “Oh, I don’t like this kill as much.” Every part of what Eli and his team have constructed is new. So, I got to watch the film with fresh eyes even though I’m so familiar with these characters and situations. I get to watch it and be like, “OH!”
I won’t name the character’s name, but there’s a chainsaw kill in the movie that I think is like poetry. It’s a beautiful bit of visual storytelling. It’s several cuts—and a real cut—it’s just so beautifully done. And there’s an extra little bit of meanness where Frendo goes at the character with the chainsaw again and I’m like, “Ooh, that’s so good.”
It’s such a fun, fast movie, but there’s this tiny little element of venom at the end there. For me, that kill is a microcosm for the movie. It’s this little ride where you’re not expecting it, then something fun happens and then there’s a beat, a release of tension, and then there’s more tension. Because when you think of what you’ve just laughed at, you’re like, “Ah, that was kinda messed up.” So, to me, that’s the ride.
EC: I don’t want to give away Frendo too much, but this gives us the opportunity to play with a lot of different types of kills with different implements. Frendo’s identity gives us the ability to explore different stuff rather than just one method of killing, so that was fun.
BH: I’d love to discuss nostalgia, from the aesthetics of the film to the marketing that’s been done. Drive-ins have been hosting early screenings and offering these stunning theatrical posters that are reminiscent of what original drive-in posters for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre looked like. How did this decision come about and how do you feel nostalgia plays a role in Clown in a Cornfield?
EC: We were looking at 1980s slasher movies, you know? The teen slasher movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, and Friday the 13th. We wanted to go for a modernized version of that but with that throwback feel. I really want this to be a film that a parent can bring their kid to. If they’re 15, I don’t argue with that!
AC: Bring ‘em, bring ‘em!
BH: Yes! Start them young.
EC: I want them to bring their kids because I think there’s something about this movie that makes the parent feel nostalgic and allows their kid to connect to something that feels new. So, we’re trying to do both of those at the same time and balance that. It’s a bit of a trick, but that was the fun thing about this.
AC: That poster is done by Matt Ryan Tobin, who does the illustrations for the covers of the book series. It was very important to continue that aesthetic. We want people to be fans of this. We want people like yourself who have been on this ride for a while to have a sort of “reward.” Like, “This is it! We’re doing it, baby!”
Thank you for shouting out the poster. I’m such a big fan of him.
BH: They’re badass. I saw them on the film’s official account on Instagram and was geeking out. I was thinking to myself, “If only I was closer to these drive-ins offering the early showings!“
AC: [laughs] I know, I’m sorry! In Boston, you’re not very close to these specific ones. But you’ve got other great ones, like Mendon Twin!
BH: And of course, Wellfleet!
BH: I have one last question for you both that I feel is important to Clown in a Cornfield, in both film and novel. This story grapples with several important themes—the generational divide, the old ways challenged by the new, the manipulation of thought, and older generations being enraged by and afraid of liberal thinking. We especially see this in the things that Arthur says to Cole. Given how turbulent our political climate is amidst the harmful MAGA movement, would you consider the story a political statement? What would you encourage young horror fans to take away from Clown in a Cornfield?
EC: I think you just nailed it with the generational divide and the rage that is being flung around in general. For me, I’m an artist trying to do something where I’m just putting it out there. It’s not necessarily a message, but you can certainly draw a message from it.
I’m trying to give an outlet to all this rage being put on people, and the disenfranchisement of the youth. A lot of them are just trying to make a better world. They’re out on the front lines trying to do something that the older generation doesn’t appreciate.
I’m Gen X, and throughout my whole life, it’s been Baby Boomers ruling the world. I don’t know what happened with Gen X, but we kind of just kicked back. We never really had our moment in politics at all.
Now, you have all these young people coming up and fighting for, say, a better planet, and they’re completely torn to shreds. So, there’s a little bit of that here.
It’s a cautionary tale where people are not listening to each other—and what happens when there’s resistance to compatibility and working together.
BH: Thank you both so much for your time and for chatting with the Hassle. Congrats on your killer flick!
Clown in a Cornfield
2025
dir. Eli Craig
96 minutes
Opens Friday, 5/9 @ Kendall Square Cinema, Apple Cinemas Cambridge, Alamo Drafthouse Boston Seaport, and all local AMCs.
