Damn Clowns: Prototype - Only $1 on Ko-Fi!
Before "Damn Clowns" there was..."Damn Clowns"
This Halloween, I wanted to share a little story that gives some insight into what led me to develop my latest serial Damn Clowns as well as the original “prototype” short story that became the basis for the entire serial.
It was Halloween weekend during my second year in grad school. I was with some friends getting dinner and hanging out downtown; we ate at a small pizzeria on Main St. then decided to go play pool at a bar down the road. St. Francis Xavier University has a bit of a reputation as a party school, so I assumed the streets would be crowded, the bars full, and the chilly October night loud with music and voices of inebriated students. I was surprised, however, to find the streets entirely empty of anyone—cars or people—save myself and my friends. It struck me as a bit odd in the moment, but it wasn’t too late in the evening, so I didn’t think much of it.
When we got out from playing pool, however, the streets were still empty and dead quiet. It was well into the hour when, on any other weekend, the students would roll into town and begin their tears; on Halloween weekend of all times, I figured they’d be out and around. No, instead, only dead brown leaves wandered the streets and sidewalks, illuminated in the sickly yellow of the streetlamps.
My mind being what it is—and slightly influenced by a bit of cider—I started getting to wonder if maybe there was something going on I couldn’t see, something that kept the students in their dorms while my friends and I unknowingly decided to go into town without realizing there was anything wrong. Now, we didn’t get any reports of homicidal clowns, but having gone to undergrad at the peak of the killer clown craze of 2016, I couldn’t help but wonder if they were back; or maybe it was because I’d watched House of a Thousand Corpses for the first time over the summer; but whatever the case was, my brain just came up with the idea—
“It would be really crazy if a clown with a shotgun walked through the door while we were playing pool.”
And that’s about it…
Festivities went as normal that Saturday and on Sunday I got to working on this here prototype, which you can now pick up for yourself below! The idea kept haunting my brain until I finally pulled the trigger on Senchas Claideb and figured this would be as good a place as ever to realize this bizarre, intrusive thought I had.
You can get a copy of “Damn Clowns: Prototype” off my Ko-Fi page for just the price of a candy bar (only $1)! It’s about 20 pages long chockful of all the original violence, booze, rough charm, and potentially some typos (seriously, if you’re reading this and find some spelling mistakes or anything, let me know so I can fix it and I’ll get an updated copy to you ASAP).
After you pick it up, see how many things are different or carry over to the series as it is now. Somethings in here, however, have yet to be revealed…
Thank you all for following along with Senchas Claideb, whether you’ve been here since the beginning or are just coming around in time for the horror show! Have a wonderful and warm Halloween wherever in the world you may be celebrating it. And as John Fogerty says, “Hope you’ve got your things together…” just in case there are any killer clowns wandering your neighborhoods.
Refer your friends to Senchas Claideb to receive access to special rewards, including a personalized Gaelic phrase and a free, original short story exclusive to top referees!
Thanks for a fun, horror filled lead-up to Halloween/Samhain. Looked forward each week to the new installment and enjoyed them very much. Clowns were a good choice for monsters. Other than Emmitt Kelly, I always disliked clowns.