DO NOT Mess With This "Clown"...

CLOWN IN THE MOONLIGHT by Tom Piccirilli (2012 Crossroads Press / 137 pp / eBook)


I'm always happy when Piccirilli takes a break from his current crime noir tales to deliver a horror story...ESPECIALLY when it's an occultic one.


Based around the events of infamous "Acid King / Satan" killer Ricky Kasso that went down in Long Island in 1984, Piccirilli's tale centers around a mysterious protagonist who hangs around Kasso's crew and a few of his girls.  In section one there's some brutal happenings in the unnamed protagonist's life that lead up to Kasso's suicide, then he's haunted by Kasso's ghost in the second part, and in the strange final act, we learn he has become a cop.  While I found the short finale a bit strange here, everything leading up to it will thrill fans of the author.  The writing is crisp and tight with plenty of tension and the sense ANYONE can fly off the handle at any moment.


I think this could have easily been stretched into a novel, but I'm happy with the little chunks Tom tosses his horror fans now and then.  Good stuff.