Clown in a Cornfield is a 2020 horror novel by American author Adam Cesare and marks his first novel in the young adult genre. Released in August, film rights were optioned ahead of its publication.

It won the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Best Young Adult Novel. A film adaptation, also titled Clown in a Cornfield, was released in 2025.

The novel centers upon Quinn Maybrook, a teenage girl who is a senior in high school, and who has recently moved to the small factory town of Kettle Springs, Missouri, from Philadelphia after the tragic death of her mother, Samantha. Her father, Glenn, has been hired as the new town physician in the hopes that this will allow the two of them to heal. But Quinn is not looking forward to moving.

Kettle Springs has suffered financially since the closing of the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory and its subsequent burning due to arson by a local boy named Cole Hill. As a result, the town is at odds with itself and strict lines are drawn between the largely conservative adults and the teens, who are more interested in having fun and getting views on their YouTube channel.

Quinn manages to befriend Cole and his group of friends, including Queen Bee Janet, the ponytail-wearing Ronnie, her boyfriend Matt, and Tucker, after an incident during her first day in class. Their science teacher, Mr. Vern, sends them all to study hall, and they get to talking about their group and the town's eerie history.

During the study hall, Quinn is invited to attend the town's annual Founder's Day celebration, despite Mr. Vern banning them from the event. She is also invited to the subsequent party planned by Janet that is taking place in the nearby cornfield.

However, things take a turn for the worse when the town's mascot, Frendo the Clown, begins to kill the town's "wayward" youth one by one.

When writing the novel Cesare wanted to "do not so much a throwback slasher as an attempt at a modern slasher with modern themes."