Horror Aficionados discussion

Our Clown read for July is Clowns Vs. Spiders by Jeff Strand.
Please use spoiler tags and page numbers/percentages when discussing, and have fun reading!

Excellent I have my copy ready

Yay! I’ve had this on my tbr pile for a while!

When the group read blister by Jeff stand a couple times ago I loved it and this one is available on kindle unlimited so that’s great 👍 😊

I don’t know if I can read this one since both clowns and spiders really really creep me out. I think I already have the other one (Harvest Home) on Kindle so I’ll start with that one.

Got the book and have started it already. This is going to be my first novel by Jeff Strand. I have read his short story Specimen 313.

I love Jeff Strand, he is scary/funny mixed into one!

I'm in though I cannot point out enough how terrifying that sounds

Omg clowns 🤡 eeeek ok I’m in 😱

This one was just okay for me. I think it would have been better with (view spoiler)[ evil, scary clowns instead of wholesome, circus clowns. (hide spoiler)]

I'm about 1/2 way through and I agree. The members of the clown commune, as I like to think of them, and frankly all the characters in the book so far are almost too nice, too wholesome. The characters act the way the people of the Andy Griffith show would act if they were attacked by foot long, brown, hairy spiders, or may be the reaction of heroes from classic batman series. Blat! Pow! Squish!

Now I can't help thinking how awesome it would be to read a book or see a movie about Mayberry, NC being overrun by giant spiders!

I kinda like that the clowns are corny and super nice and wholesome. It would be a different spin and also cool if they were like murderous clowns that have to balance killing off the spiders before the spiders kill off the human that the clowns want for themselves or something. But that just isn’t this book! I like it. The first 1/3 was kinda fast paced. Giving lots of info through dialogue that seemed a bit unrealistic and forced otherwise no complaints from me so far. I’m like 2/3s of the way in now and I def wanna know how it ends!

Alison wrote: "I kinda like that the clowns are corny and super nice and wholesome. It would be a different spin and also cool if they were like murderous clowns that have to balance killing off the spiders befor..."

Yes! Totally agree. I kinda expected this to be a two scary evils against another thing, but the fact that these clowns are basically like wide-eyed sweet puppies makes it rather interesting to see how it all will turn out. I´m only about 1/4 in but muchly enjoying it so far.

I finished it! Gave it 3 stars. It was definitely more of a 3.5. I liked it. It was a fast paced light read that still successfully portrayed some gruesome scenes. I justtt couldn’t give it 4 haha glad I read it and would still recommend it to others looking for an outlandish comedic horror !! ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Just finished, yes the clowns were a bit too goody good at time, but still such a fun read!

I finally finished my review of this book. I ended up giving it 4 stars. But let me explain... If I had read this book in the fall or the winter, I might have given this book two stars because the fall is when I try and read the "heavy" books. Books over 400 pages, books with dark, hard, or intense subject matters. But this is July, the time of poolside reads, of waiting for the charcoal reads; Light, fantastic, pulpy reads. So this book instantly became a 4 star read for me.

I finished this book and I gave it 4 stars. I never read much comedic horror until I found Jeff Strand. I enjoy the back and forth banter between the characters and the silly scenarios. This book was an enjoyable quick read.

I finished reading this on the 5th. I just have to leave my rating and review. I plan on giving it 4 stars. It was just quirky enough to keep it interesting for me. I will say that I didn't find it scary at all. That didn't bother me though. I rarely find books scary. It was fun. That is just as important to me as scary.

What I loved about this was the characters. The clowns being nice guys was a different take on all the scary clown stuff out there. I thought it was extremely funny having them go to work at a horror attraction. I would have thought they would have had an easy time with it because it is just a different type of acting. It was interesting reading their perspectives. I also need to check out the clowning rules mentioned. I am curious if they are a thing.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I wouldn't put it in my top 10 list, but I would think about reading it again down the road.

Wait. There's... a book called CLOWNS Vs SPIDERS ????

Awesome.

Finished and left my review I actually found the clowns being overly good to be endearing like characters from a children’s show got plopped in the middle of a spider apocalypse. It wasn’t my favorite Jeff Strand book but still an enjoyable read!

I’ve finished it. I enjoyed it but found the writing elementary. I enjoyed the humorous side then the sprinkles of true scary scenes that I can’t say I would have enjoyed being a part of if it was actually happening.

Overall, I would recommend to someone who was looking for a quick, entertaining book.

Megan wrote: "I’ve finished it. I enjoyed it but found the writing elementary. I enjoyed the humorous side then the sprinkles of true scary scenes that I can’t say I would have enjoyed being a part of if it was ..."

This was definitely what I like to think of as a "vacation read." It is quick and entertaining.

Loved it! Funny & creepy :)

I'm halfway through and it's been enjoyable so far, though not nearly as much as I enjoyed Blister. I guess because it doesn't feel like the protagonists are really making any choices...they're just reacting to things they can't avoid. I like following characters who are proactive rather than reactive.

Kek-w wrote: "Wait. There's... a book called CLOWNS Vs SPIDERS ????

Awesome."

Yes, yes there is. Pick up a copy and join us!!!

just finished is and posted this review:

This was Rubbish !!! 4 Star absolutely entertaining rubbish.

The writing was really smooth once you get a head of steam up you really will motor through this.

this would really make an excellent Netflix Film.

I finished this yesterday and was left fairly unimpressed. It was fine, goofy schlock but take away the fact that the protagonists were clowns and it becomes pretty mundane...and the fact that they were clowns barely mattered. It was just...okay.

Maybe I just had too high expectations after recently being introduced to the author through the Blister group read, which I loved, but nothing really elevated this book above passable for me. It mostly felt like a really neat gimmick wasted.

I'm 33% in. I like it . . . but Blister has set a very high bar. I have a feeling this will be a 3 star - fun, fast, lots of action, but not a favorite.

Frankly, given the title, I did not expect anything else than pure fun chills, and it delivers. I'm almost at the end of it and I love it.

I don't know what I was expecting when I read this one but I loved it! It was fun and funny and gross and perfect.

I bought this in October, of 2019, and still haven't read it. I just started and read the prologue, already very intrigued! Spiders, eeeek!

I'm at about 75%. It's a lot of fun and has some chuckles and some surprises. I am curious now to see how it ends.

Let’s just say that I’ve come to the wise decision of abandoning my lifelong dream of getting a pet tarantula after reading this.

I'm 48% of the way through and I am loving this book! Sometimes laughing, sometimes terrified (why does my arachnophobic ass read these things? lol).

Finished tonight. This was a lot of fun.

I just finished and it was a lot of fun! Laughing and going wide-eyed in terror and I enjoyed the clowns. I like clowns but i'm terrified of spiders. Really glad I finally read this. :)

Also agree that it's a fun read! And a quick one too, I finished it in a few hours. Before this book, I wasn't scared of clowns or spiders, (view spoiler)[but now I am a little more scared of spiders and a little more understanding of clowns, haha! (hide spoiler)]

Just finished and found the book an effective dark comedy with some real tension and properly restrained chuckles. I appreciated that the author used professional-performer circus-type clowns that were friendly and altruistic instead of the psycho-violent type. They were likably odd and relatable - tho the constant over-analyzing wore on me after awhile.

The tone stayed well-balanced between realistic and silly, but things did go off the ridiculous rails in the last couple of chapters.

Finished this one the other night. I actually really enjoyed it. It was fun and inventive, but Strand still kept lots of good horror sequences in there too. Not as good as Blister, but still a quick and fun read.