The Revenge of the Clowns by Caesar Ruell is a tale of twisted carnival horror filled with carnage and the most intense murders you’ll ever witness on the page. Get ready, because wherever these clowns go, terror follows as close as a shadow.
CW: Child death, murder, blood, vomit, gun violence, and suicide.
Let’s dive in!
My Thoughts on The Revenge of the Clowns by Caesar Ruell –
At the end of The Circus of Hungry Clowns, we thought the humans may have won. While escaping with their lives, one clown who managed to slink away isn’t ready to let the three survivors get away for good.
Gathering up a new band of cronies, Crooks the evil clown has been given a second chance and is headed back to town to get revenge.
But surely the town won’t let the bloodshed happen again… right?
Wrong. Of course.
When Marvin’s psychologist recommends they face their fears and attend the new circus that’s coming, Marvin and his wife are willing to try it while Joe tries to get the event canceled.
We watch the characters walk a tightrope of staying strong and totally falling apart. Once they get to the queue at the event, the anxiety ramps up and it’s very clear that the three are going to regret going anywhere near this circus.
Oh my gosh. I have no idea if the author took this one up a notch or if it’s just hitting me differently now that I have a son, but these kills each made me feel so queasy. The kills themselves from a high level are so creative and terrifying, but where the real terror comes in is in the details the author includes. Playing out like a movie in your mind, readers won’t be able to look away, glued to their seats just like the captive audience in the stands.
At every turn, I wanted things to be stopped and for the children to be saved. But was there anything these characters could do with everything stacked against them?
Prepare yourselves before diving into this one!
My Favorite Passages from The Revenge of the Clowns –
He made an attempt at a satisfied grin, but it came across goofy, like a schoolboy who’d just been told that he’d be sitting next to a girl he secretly liked for the rest of the semester.
The rest of the company remained frozen, as if they were witnessing a scene from a horror film playing out right in front of them. No one knew what to do, as none of them had ever been trained in anything that remotely resembled self-defense.
Even in her compromised state, however, she could see that the booth was very crudely constructed. It was made of long planks of wood that sat at uneven angles, all in a noticeably haphazard fashion. Heads of thick nails stuck out everywhere, as if the builder had been in a rush, or otherwise, was a complete buffoon, lacking even the most basic skills necessary to construct such a simple structure. It seemed to her that it would collapse if someone sneezed too hard near it.
Joe shut his eyes, wanting it to all be some gruesome nightmare that he’d soon wake up from, but knowing all too well that he just wasn’t that lucky of a guy.
The coppery scent of blood, along with both raw and cooked meat, filled their nostrils, making them want nothing more than to get out of there and pretend that they’d never encountered something so grisly.
The policeman thought that his companion was as crazy as a soup sandwich, and had told the man as much.
The smile had left Crooks’ face, replaced with an expression of menace and destruction. At the same time, the black diamonds around his eyes contracted in unison with the frown lines of his brow, forming windows of pure, concentrated hate.
My Final Thoughts on The Revenge of the Clowns –
I wasn’t afraid of clowns before. But now? Let’s just say I’m very glad that I don’t have plans to attend a circus any time soon.
Carnival and gore-filled horror fans, you gotta check this out!
Thanks for reading!
And a shout-out to Ceasar for sending this book my way and for being so patient in my delay in finally getting to it! I knew I was going to love it!
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