Book Review: John Dies in the End by David Wong

It's a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't.

As a long time devotee of cracked.com, I’ll have to admit to being slightly surprised when I first read that David Wong had written a freakishly surreal horror novel. He’s a brilliant writer, I just pictured him as straight comedy, and damn good writing. I’m so ridiculously happy I was wrong. After about two pages of John Dies at the End though, I was completely hooked. It’s brilliant, weird, funny, and in hindsight, everything I’d expect from the guys at cracked.

I’ll level with you; it’s pretty hard to put into words why the book is so good. At times it’s genuinely frightening. Maybe it’s how relatable David is as a character. Strange stuff happening every three seconds and all I can think is, “yup, I’d probably have done that too.” Possibly it’s John, who’s just a bona fide mental case. Or maybe the buddy cop relationship between the two. I can’t tell. David Wong himself is clearly quite unhinged, and has had the common decency to put pen to paper and document his insanity for our enjoyment.
This being an offering by one of the guys at cracked, there are a lot of penis jokes. For example, On the site they mention the fact that the word bratwurst is referenced 17 times throughout the story. They’re not all phallus references, but you get the idea.

You should read this book. It’s a perfect storm of humour, gory horror, messed up psychology and brilliant storytelling, a perfect addition to my new favourite genre of new weird

5 Sheep

Guest Reviewer: Michael McCaffrey from Following the Nerd

David Wong

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I am the Senior Editor of Cracked.com. Hi.
My real name is Jason Pargin, I wrote a horror novel called John Dies at the End. Available now in hardcover!
http://www.johndiesattheend.com
Before this I spent eight years as the creator and editor and webmaster and head writer for pointlesswasteoftime.com.
Read more: David Wong | Cracked.com http://www.cracked.com/members/David+Wong/#ixzz21b4z8vPn