Fiction Addict

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: September 2009

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

Mix Children of the Corn with The Sixth Sense and Monsters, Inc., and you’ll encounter a brew that remotely resembles John Dies at the End by David Wong (or Jason Pargin, as he goes by in our particular dimension).

David and his phallic-obsessed buddy, John, are bumming their way through life, working meaningless jobs and screwing around. Until they encounter “The Soy Sauce.” The Sauce, a supernatural drug, opens their eyes to other worlds that are infiltrating our own. But the stranger their lives become, the greater the danger David and John face. Soon, they encounter a much larger problem than mere meat monsters and skin-burrowing flies.

Wong blends horror and suspense with comedy—a tricky combination—and pulls it off effortlessly. The book is a long one, with a challenging plot line that requires patience. But the unique characterizations and plot twists reward that patience. Wong uses a fascinating voice: part manic, part stream of consciousness, with a hint of Salinger and a touch of smart-ass. The result? The reader feels like he’s entered a world of madness along with the characters and must fight through this world with them.

While I didn’t always fully understand what was happening or why, Wong kept me engaged; I kept turning pages to find the answers. However, the book deserved a more succinct ending a few pages sooner. Vulgarity and graphic images—which I would have preferred in less abundance—pepper the book, but stylistically, they fit with the slacker characterizations Wong has created, as well as the horror genre.

John Dies at the End is an unusual read that spawned a cult following in its early, online days. More recently, fans can look forward to a film coming in 2010.