What’s the Book? John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin
What kind of dark is it? Deep cosmic horror mixed with potty humor and sadness
How good is it? 9/10 shadow people
There are so many Fridays. So goddamn many Fridays. It’s literally one day before Halloween and I should be happy because Decemberween is my favorite time of year. But I’ve got to be honest, behind the scenes life has gotten incredibly hard and I’m having trouble getting excited about anything. So I’m doing a reread, looking to an old favorite for a little boost in Halloween cheer this year.
I’ve read John Dies at the End at least three times, along with all Jason Pargin’s other books. This one started as a series of shorts online and I didn’t discover it that early. I’m not that cool. But I discovered it in the early paperback days, way before the author dropped his goofy pseudonym (David Wong) in favor of his actual name. The book is chaotic and funny and full of creative horror, which really reignited my interest in the whole genre. I haven’t reread it in quite a while so it was fun to pick it back up and refresh my memory.
For me, it still holds up pretty well. To be totally honest, the sequel is better; it’s got a way more cohesive story while still bringing the humor and creative horror. John Dies at the End is a good first effort, though, and an important introduction to Dave, John, and the world they live in.
In spite of the title focused on John, Dave is the story’s narrator and main character. Dave’s pretty depressed and his life isn’t going anywhere in particular. Dave’s basically a responsible dude trying to survive young adulthood in a crumbling midwestern town without a lot of prospects or hope to offer. John is Dave’s best friend. John is the guy who’s always up to something, full of fun stories and crazy ideas; John makes life exciting but he’s also the source of a lot of Dave’s stress. John, of course, is the one who drags Dave into the world of cosmic horror that makes up this book. John takes this crazy drug nicknamed ‘soy sauce’ that opens his eyes to the largely invisible agents around us bent on . . . on something. Maybe destroying everyone? Possibly taking over our reality. Probably both. Dave, of course, gets dragged kicking and screaming into the whole ‘soy sauce’ thing and becomes John’s partner in combatting these monstrosities. You know what? Let’s just leave the plot there. If you want to know about the crazy twists and turns Dave and John face, you’ll have to read the book. Let’s just skip to the pros and cons of it all.
For me, there are two big draws to this book. First, I was and still am impressed by this creative take on cosmic horror. The book’s villains are huge and looming–terrifying shadow people and organic supercomputers and insects that change you from the inside out–but they’re also petty and disgusting and annoying. These great cosmic forces have big creepy plans, but they also want to insult you and gross you out, making you see Ronald McDonald eating his own intestines or whispering a running commentary of insults as you go about your day. It’s funny and dumb but it’s also its own sad grimy kind of horror. In addition to reading horror novels, I also watch a lot of true crime and with that, the pettiness and weirdness of criminals often strikes me. Pargin is one of the only novelists I’ve found who successfully combines the sad shittiness of true crime with grand supernatural horror.
The second draw is how relatable Dave and John are. I feel for Dave, I relate to his depression, frustration, low self-esteem. I know people like John, full of fun and excitement but also a total mess who makes your life infinitely harder. I relate to being stuck in middle America, feeling out of step with everyone around you, wanting to do and be more but having no idea how you’re ever gonna make that happen. Ironically, the older I get the more I relate to them trying to save the world or have an adventure while keeping track of the time because they’ve got work in six hours. To be fair, the author and I are almost the same age so this may be me relating to the Generation X experience as much as anything else. Still, even though we’re entirely different in almost every way, I feel like Dave is a kindred spirit.
Speaking of Gen X, this book is heavily based in that generation’s humor. I don’t mean the jokes people make now about Gen X; it’s not full of tough talk about being latchkey kids and eating Millenials for breakfast. I mean it’s full of dick jokes and potty humor and a sarcastic and rough sardonic way of relating to the world that was pretty normal when I was growing up. Characters use slurs that aren’t so acceptable these days, the characters grew up being bullied (or doing the bullying) in ways that are much less tolerated now, They’re all jaded and cynical in ways familiar to me. A lot of this is considered pretty cringe by the new generations, from what I gather, and some bits might read as offensive, even, for people who didn’t grow up steeped in it. If you find ‘80’s movies repulsive or hate it when people call things ‘retarded’ this book might not be for you. For me, it felt like an accurate representation of how some of us grew up and as the series progresses, it becomes somewhat of a commentary on how people try to grow up and reckon with all of it.
All in all, reading this cheered me up a bit. Made me a little more excited about life. Made me want to reread the sequel, This Book is Full of Spiders or better yet, the first in Pargin’s other series, Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits. Man, that one’s my favorite.
Embrace the darkness, read more books. Have a great Halloween.
