Thursday 15 May 2014

Book Impressions - Clown Friday by Edward Parker

This is the most fun I've had reading for a while! Clowns are a familiar topic in horror and they're used to good effect here. It blends the creepiness of clowns with a strange small town setting. The town of Marlowe has an annual carnival known as 'Clown Friday' and a reporter is sent to cover the event and discovers that the carnival is a tradition stretching back centuries and even more sinister than hundreds of people dressing up clowns would seem to be.

The book has a fine balance of visceral and atmospherics horror and is written in an easy going style which actually belies some of the lovely turn of phrase it contains. The pacing is good, it takes a short while to get going but is then a satisfying dash to the end. My only complaint with the story is the set up for the finale, the switch seems a bit abrupt and a bit convenient. Don't get me wrong, it works and provides a decent conclusion, it just felt a little off.

Don't let that minor complaint put you off though, this is a fine read. As can be expected there's some suitably sinister characters, so much so that I would happily have read more of their antics. This is superb horror and highly recommended.


Marlowe. A small, picturesque town in the Worcestershire Countryside. Village green, white church spire, maypole,

A quaint town.

A beautiful town.

An evil town....

Journalist Clive White is sent to cover Marlowe’s annual carnival Clown Friday: an easy and straight forward assignment. But, as he interviews the locals, and as he uncovers the true history and nature of the town and its carnival, it becomes clear that there is something very wrong in Marlowe.

There is an article to be written and a story to be told, but White realises that the story is a dark one. It is the story of something ancient, vile, and evil, something that lusts after spilled blood and human flesh. And it is a story that only he, Clive White, will be able to tell.


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