We’re now officially open for submissions for Clowns: The Unlikely Coulrophobia Remix.
This anthology will be appearing in e-book and trade paperback format in October 2015. We’re looking for original clown-related fiction of up to 1038 words.
Submissions will remain open until May 31st, the 178th anniversary of the death of Joey the Clown (aka Joseph Grimaldi), impoverished, alcoholic, and depressed, at the age of 58.
Do you find clowns to be a) creepy b) downright terrifying c) mildly amusing d) laugh out loud funny e) some combination of the above or f) none of the above (please supply your own alternate adjective/description)?
It depends completely on the clown. I find the more-human-looking clowns of, say, Big Apple Circus much less creepy than Ronald McDonald. Bozo? Forget about it: terrifying.
On a related note, what is you earliest clown-related memory, and how did it scar you and or shape your view of clowns?
I had a clown puppet given to me when I was in the hospital as a very small child -- an almost Pierrot-looking clown with a sad expression. She was my faithful companion for many years. It definitely gave me a soft spot for the sad doll characters of folktales, like the Nutcracker, Petrushka (my love of ballet might be showing here) and the Steadfast Tin Soldier.
A funnier clown memory was my “brilliant” idea for my sister and I to take the clown dolls our grandmother made us and chase my little brother around the house with them … right after having watched “Killer Klowns from Outer Space.” Elder siblings: terrorizing the young and innocent since time out of mind.
What lead you to take the particular approach to clowns you used in your story, A Million Tiny Ropes?
The Roberts started with that whisper, “we’ll always catch you.” I definitely creeped myself out right from the beginning, writing that one. From there it was just a pile-on of things I personally find uncomfortable: things looking the same that shouldn’t, people staring out you in places they shouldn’t, and that pervasive feeling of not being able to get away. *shudder*
Unrelated to clowns (or not, as the case may be), what else are you working on/have you published recently/have upcoming that you’d like people to know about?
I recently went through that uncomfortable phase of realizing I had leveled up, so it was best to just trunk a bunch of stories and hope they never see the light of day. It’s a clean slate for me! I’d better get busy.
We’re in the last week of our Kickstarter campaign. What Kickstarter campaign, you ask? Why, the Clowns anthology! Who else but Unlikely Story would dedicate a whole anthology to clown flash fiction?
I could enumerate the reasons why you NEED a copy of this book, but I won’t. Instead, I’d like you to take a moment to think about all the reasons why your friends and relatives need this book, nicely gift-wrapped and sitting, waiting, watching, from under the darkly festive Halloween tree.
Who else might need a copy? Your partner’s annoyingly cheerful-yet-creepy ex who keeps hanging around? Your boss or other co-workers? Your local or national elected officials? Your probation officer? You know who in your life needs this book, and you know the reasons why. Look around, they’re all around you.
Clowns make a perfect gift for all occasions. You have three days left.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/788055090/clowns-the-unlikely-coulrophobia-remix
Do you find clowns to be a) creepy b) downright terrifying c) mildly amusing d) laugh out loud funny e) some combination of the above or f) none of the above (please supply your own alternate adjective/description)?
A? Really it’s F. Unsettling more than creepy. All that make up.
On a related note, what is you earliest clown-related memory, and how did it scar you and or shape your view of clowns?
An older cousin used to draw the most terrifying clown, call it the joker, and tell me it was going to get me. I think I was about five or six.
What lead you to take the particular approach to clowns you used in your story, Perfect Mime?
I think mimes are far more unnerving than clowns. I wanted to play with their unwillingness to communicate verbally versus an inability to communicate verbally and really push the concept of slapstick-cum-violence as spectacle. I wanted the reader to be scared for the mime.
Unrelated to clowns (or not, as the case may be), what else are you working on/have you published recently/have upcoming that you’d like people to know about?
I’m working on a few longer projects at the moment, none of which are close enough to completion to really brag about.
Do you find clowns to be a) creepy b) downright terrifying c) mildly amusing d) laugh out loud funny e) some combination of the above or f) none of the above (please supply your own alternate adjective/description)?
I think of clowns in three dimensions: funny, scary, and sad. A clown can be all three of those things but almost certainly has to be at least two of them. If a clown can somehow be funny without being either scary or sad, I’ve never seen a clown like that.
On a related note, what is you earliest clown-related memory, and how did it scar you and or shape your view of clowns?
I’m not sure, but I think the first clown I encountered was probably the mascot for a well-known fast food eatery. That character didn’t do much to influence my views on clowns in general. I always saw him as a special case, affable and relatable in a way that real circus clowns weren’t. As an adult, I see him as the smiling face of an insidious marketing machine, almost like a mild take on the horror trope that clowns have become in recent years.
What lead you to take the particular approach to clowns you used in your story, Five Things Every Successful Clown Must Do?
My clown story came together in exactly the way stories I’m writing usually don’t. I read the call for the Journal, immediately knew I wanted to write something for it, and got down to it. I knew I couldn’t write anything about a serial killer clown, and I enjoy making monsters protagonists without sacrificing what makes them monsters. The “romance” was the last element to come to me, but it felt completely right, and the story almost wrote itself. I think I wrote a story about a clown who is funny, scary, and a little sad, and I hope I wrote a story that people will enjoy reading.
Clowns: The Unlikely Coulrophobia Remix is hot off the presses! So get your hot, pressed clowns today! Or if you prefer your clowns cold-pressed, never fear. A clown is nothing if not adaptable.
22 tales to horrify and delight, by authors Derek Manuel, T. Jane Berry, J.H. Pell, Jeff Wolf, Kristen Roupenian, Carolyn M. Yoachim, Mari Ness, Evan Dicken, Carlie St. George, Line Henriksen, Virginia M. Mohlere, Dayle A. Dermatis, Jason Arias, Joe Nazarre, Karlo Yeager-Rodruigez, Sara K. McNeilly, Chris Kuriata, Cassandra Khaw, Cate Gardner, Charles Payseur, Chillbear Latrigue, and Holly Schofield, with an introduction by Robin Blyn and illustrations by Bryan Prindiville.
Unlikely Story