

PIROUETTE is a comic I’ve been developing for a quite a while with interior art from the fantastic Carlos Granda and a first issue cover by Ale Garza. The story is described as Raised from infancy by duplicitous clowns who entertain by day and menace by night, Pirouette dreams of washing the paint from her face and escaping to a better life far away from her cruel circus family… because when the spotlights dim and the crowds disperse, the clown princess’ big-top dreams give way to a nightmarish world of monsters with painted smiles. The book hits all of the coolest of cool comic shops in September, but you’ve got to tell your store owner to order it now in order to get it!
I can’t wait for folks to see the book which I promise is filled with big top terror and death-defying danger. In the coming weeks, I’ll share some behind the scenes stuff about PIROUETTE at the top of each of these “Send in the Clowns” columns along with a look at some cinematic examples of Coulrophobia (the fear of clowns) and try to get to the bottom of why clowns are so damn scary!
DOLL-BOY Short Film
Directed by Bloody BillWritten by Billy Pon & Lee Ankrum
Starring Ryan Clapp, Jed Duesler, Dominic Lopez, Heather Francell, Venus Monique, Raul Gonzalez, Adrienne Martinez, Shawn Black, Sergio Gracida, Samantha Ankrum, Angelina Zorilla, & Drake Ankrum
Find out more on the DOLLBOY Facebook page!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
DOLL-BOY doesn’t blaze new trails in the horror genre. In fact, it’s a straight up stalk and slash (or in this case, pound) serial killer short film that literally cuts right to the chase. But just because it’s not breaking new ground doesn’t mean it’s not awesome. Directed and written by Bloody Bill and Lee Ankrum, DOLL-BOY may be a by-the-numbers slasher fest, but it’s a damn fine one.

ALL HALLOWS’ EVE (2013)
Directed by Damien LeoneWritten by Damien Leone
Starring Katie Maguire, Catherine A. Callahan, Marie Maser, Kayla Lian, Cole Mathewson, Sydney Freihofer, and Mike Giannelli as Art the Clown
Find out more about this film on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Iconic characters have saved many a film, and it does so again here in ALL HALLOWS’ EVE, another Halloween horror tale that tries to become the next big horror franchise. But while it did its homework on ways to make a movie monster scary, it kind of forgot to squeeze some kind of story into the mix too.

While the story is highly derivative of everything from THE RING to WHEN A STRANGER CALLS to STEPHEN KING’S IT, ALL HALLOWS’ EVE stands out mainly because the killer clown, who goes by the name of Art the Clown (Mike Giannelli), is pretty terrifying. The black lipstick around corroded yellow teeth and bulging eyes makes for the stuff of nightmares, and seeing him pop up in the background and waddle his way towards the camera is bound to be enough to make any viewer shiver. Giannelli offers up a somewhat iconic role here as the creepy clown, making the most simple gestures and actions look as if they are coming from the most pants-filling nightmare you can think of.

As it is, ALL HALLOWS’ EVE has one damn scary clown that’s sure to cause you to sleep with the lights on. I can only imagine the fear would have been multiplied exponentially had the filmmakers spent as much time on the story as they did with coming up with the creepy as all get-out monster.
And finally…here’s the creepy clown of the day!

THE FUNHOUSE
SPLASH AREA: NIGHT OF THE FREAKS/CLOWN HUNT
STITCHES
VULGAR
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Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole/wordslinger/writer of wrongs/reviewer/interviewer/editor of AICN COMICS for over 12 years & AICN HORROR for 3. Follow Ambush Bug on the Twitters @Mark_L_Miller. Don’t forget to order his new comic PIROUETTE from July’s Diamond Previews (item code JUL14 0937) today!