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First, a Clown was in a Cornfield. Then, readers thrilled to learn that Frendo Lives, and next that he had founded the Church of Frendo. And now, Clown in a Cornfield scribe Adam Cesare has announced that modern icon of slasher lit Frendo the Clown is coming back once again for a fourth installment in the smash hit YA horror franchise, currently titled:

Clown of the Cornfield 4: Lights, Camera, Frendo!

The news comes from an April 30 interview that Cesare did with Bloody Disgusting. If you’ve been following the horror world at all, you know that Cesare’s first novel, which tells the story of a murderous clown on a slasher rampage in the fictional city of Kettle Springs, has been adapted to film by Tucker & Dale vs. Evil director Eli Craig.

Speaking about his works that inspired it, Cesare said that he had been hearing people repeatedly miscategorize his novels. “I get a little touchy when people call it a trilogy,” said Cesare. “I’m like, ‘No, I’m planning on writing four.'”

And even though he wasn’t sure he was allowed to reveal the title, Cesare did anyway, though he did it with the caveat that Lights, Camera, Frendo! wasn’t finalized.

“It’s the one where things get meta,” Cesare says of the next book, “I’m going to look really silly if they make me change that title, but that’s the title I really like [...] I can’t really say much more than that.”

As of now, we don’t have a release date for Clown of the Cornfield 4: Lights, Camera, Frendo!, and we certainly have no idea what the story will be about… or maybe we do?

Understand, reader, that this is purely speculation, but when I read the title of the new Clown in a Cornfield novel and heard Cesare talk about the “meta”-ness of it all, I couldn’t help but think of another recent quote from the author, this one from the pages of the latest issue of Fangoria.

Recounting his trip to the film set, Cesare wrote about the odd experience of visiting Kettle Falls, that he created, but that was also a cinematic creation of the film director Craig. “It's pretty cool,” Cesare says, “that there are now two Kettle Springs, where (slightly) different things happen.”

“Who knows,” the author continues, “Maybe there's another Kettle Springs where a killer in a clown mask never goes on a rampage. that wouldn't make for a very interesting book or movie, but at least some of my favorite characters would still be alive.”

Could this strange experience of seeing a weird novel brought to even weirder life inform what readers are in for once Frendo comes around again? We’ll just have to wait until Clown of the Cornfield 4: Lights, Camera, Frendo! (or whatever it ends up being called) comes out to see.

Clown in a Cornfield slashes its way into theaters May 9.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." We couldn't agree more, which is why we've cobbled together a couple pieces to send a chill up your spine. Join Popverse as we explore:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.