The Clown Case | Foreword

So I had this idea.

It consisted of recreating a homicide case involving the lives of people affected rather than the killer himself — and it’s been on my mind for a long time.

Obviously, the topic is a little morbid.

Killings, Rapings, Pedophilia. The whole lot.

It’s a heavy subject — and it’s not pleasant to write about.

Hell, I don’t know if it’s even pleasant to read, but here you are, and here I am, so I’m willing to find out.

I wanted to give note and meaning to what, in a publicized serial murder case, is usually ignored by the media — the victims. Ted Bundy, for example – the name’s infamous, but his victims are rarely remembered by the public. The same goes for Berkowitz, Dahmer, and the rest. The maximum most will know are the names of the victims, as a fun little bit of trivia, rather than a heartbreaking proof of murder. I wanted to give name to the scarred, not to the one with the knife, or the gun, or the crimes. After extensive deliberation and planning, the question ultimately boiled down to which serial killer I should portray. Naturally, I went to the web, and scrolled through endless names until I found one that wasn’t hugely popularized by the media, and one that — as far as common knowledge went – wasn’t too extremely “overrated”. John Wayne Gacy struck me as the perfect person for this book, what with his cover of a “respectable city man” compared with the psychopathic serial killer he really was. 33 victims, plus countless more whose lives were ruined with every murder he committed. This is piecing back the puzzle of his horrible crime spree, using the memories, hearts, and pain, of those he didn’t kill — and those he did.

I also chose JWG to propose a new theory: that in a time when he was oppressed and denying his sexuality, putting on that clown suit gave him his release, and that he was able to show his true self only through his disguise. I also want to add that he had been beaten by his father on the topic of homosexuality as a child, which led him to frown upon it even as an adult. He killed out of frustration, and after the first victim — well, he just couldn’t stop.

On the subject of the police officer from whose point of view you’re about to be reading — He interviews people who are both alive and dead (as if they’re ghosts); except at the time, he doesn’t know that they’ve passed until they tell him. This could be confusing to keep up with, but remember that if the interviewee, at the time when they’re talked to (which will be stated), doesn’t say that they’re dead, then they aren’t. Enjoy reading!