"John Dies at the End" is a rare blend of comedy and horror from the mind of David Wong (pseudonym of Jason Pargin, editor of Cracked.com), one that throws two misfits into the midst of a sinister plot in which forces beyond human comprehension threaten the universe itself.
In his review of the 2001 film "Donnie Darko," Roger Ebert said: "The setup and development is fascinating, the payoff less so." That statement alone could act as the super-short version of my opinion on this book--and don't get me wrong; I enjoyed it overall, but there's definitely room for improvement here.
The book jacket promises "actual, soul-sucking lunacy," and if there's one thing that this tale successfully delivers on, lunacy is it. Wong doesn't waste any time grabbing the reader's attention; heroes John and Dave do battle against such horrors as meat monsters, exploding girls, and penis doorknobs within the first 20 pages. While normally I would argue that this sort of opening is too much, it's probably for the best that Wong puts this stuff up front. Establishing the wackiness from the get-go will probably weed out any readers who aren't ready for things to get...unconventional.
I feel I should make a vain attempt at plot synopsis. Here goes: David is a slacker attending a concert with his best friend John. During the concert, he encounters a Jamaican dealing drugs and performing "magic tricks" such as levitation and mind-reading. In a wonderfully creepy scene, it becomes apparent that this guy possesses some legitimate supernatural powers. Unbeknownst to Dave, John takes a drug called "soy sauce" from the Jamaican, and he immediately experiences (apparent) hallucinations and extreme panic. David tries to help John, and things go from bad to bad AND weird; David receives a few calls from John, apparently calling from the future. Things seriously hit the fan when David accidentally takes some of the sauce himself. You see, the soy sauce is sort of a double-edged sword; on the one hand, it allows David to be "tuned in," giving him heightened senses that allow him to read minds and communicate across time and space. Alas, it's not all fun and games, for the soy sauce also opens doorways to other dimensions and attracts the denizens of hell. Once someone takes the sauce, they will from that point onward be aware of the things invisible to the naked eye that share the universe with us. It's a great concept, even if it does lead to some incoherence.
While most adventure tales and buddy comedies involve the protagonists setting out to defeat some great evil, this isn't necessarily always the case here. John and Dave (and friends, most of whom don't last too long) aren't really out to stop a sinister plot; for the most part, this is an account of David trying to live his life while putting up with the nuttiness unfolding around him. It makes the story a lot more meandering than it needs to be, and DAMN if this story couldn't have been shorter and more direct. I get that some degree of incoherence is what the author was going for, and to be fair there IS a lot of creativity to be found. David encounters lamp-humping jellyfish, alien insects, shadow people, and driving dogs. But after a while, it all piles up and becomes tiring. There's only so much randomness one can endure before it becomes too much.
This book is described as a "comic horror" novel, but there's definitely more comedy here than horror. This isn't a scary book with comic relief so much as a comedy that involves a lot of violence and monsters. Oh, sure, there are some legitimately chilling things here: the setup is definitely spooky, there's an especially gruesome scene involving a McDonald's ad, and David's narration is sometimes dark enough to genuinely disturb. But too often Wong's comedic side takes over, and many details are so bizarre and so arbitrary that situations become impossible to take seriously. A lot of it comes off as awkward rather than scary OR funny. (Immediately before a particularly brutal scene of slaughter and gore, we are presented with the line, "The kittens will make your sad go away.")
Although, lines like that aren't the norm. If there's one thing that Wong gets PERFECTLY, it's character and dialogue. Unrealistic and unbelievable characters can make or break a story like this, and I'm happy to say that this aspect of the story is pitch-perfect. David is an excellent narrator, reacting to the horrors around him with the utmost believability, not to mention a good dose of refreshing sarcasm and humor. Even more impressive, the side characters are all distinct and interesting, the best of which (by far) is the titular John, a best friend who manages to be loveable and funny despite being a drunkard and a slacker (and a druggie, sort of). I imagine that John will be the favorite of most readers, delivering absolutely hilarious lines in even the most dire of situations. On the subject of characters, my only complaint is that Wong introduces and dismisses female characters too often, going through three (four, if you count the fake-out at the beginning) in the span of one book. Granted, the final, actual love interest is another great character. Truth be told, it's pretty amazing that Wong was able to develop her so well, given barely 1/3 of the story to do so. It's just unfortunate that he couldn't have done it from the start--it would have felt much less rushed that way.
The book also has pacing problems, which is a shame because, despite its faults, it IS immensely entertaining. I raced through each page thanks to Wong's unfailing ability to keep the reader in suspense, and I'm usually not a very fast reader. Momentum builds like mad at the beginning of the book's final third, when a character goes missing and David realizes that he might have killed them (but he can't quite remember clearly). Then, unfortunately, the story hits a serious rut and drags until the last few chapters. Worst of all, there's not much resolution and the story doesn't end; it just STOPS on an anticlimactic note. I'd be lying if I said the wackiness hadn't outlived its charm by the final page. Granted, there IS a satisfying climax, but Wong decides to go on for a few more chapters afterwards. Of course, this may just be due to the fact that "John Dies at the End" is the first part of a bigger story, so I won't hold the ending against it too much.
So, (very) long story short, "John Dies at the End" is worth reading...if you're into this sort of thing. It does have flaws (mainly its meandering nature and often over-the-top supernatural randomness), but if you're willing to overlook them, you'll find that Wong has a talent for engrossing the reader in even the most bizarre of setups. I enjoyed it even if I didn't fully understand it, and I look forward to the next book in the series.
Also, there's a wig monster behind you. Run bro.
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4 out of 5
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Timeless mayhem and a quick page turner!
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2020
If you were to mish-mash the American party scene with the supernatural and an anything goes story of impending doom you get John Dies at the End. It’s a satirical, quick page turning parody adventure with plenty of humor and supernatural scares and it tackles these two with a main over-arching theme of science fiction. It’s punchy, sarcastic, fun and the best part – unpredictable. Wong creates fresh ideas that include, just like the blurb says – bratwurst in a special kind of configuration that is not well. With twists galore on not so common life turned into fiction, like characters with celebrity names, but aren’t celebrities and these are executed with finesse and David Wong gets away with literary murder via pen and paper.This book doesn’t provide much in the department of extra complex thought, concepts to rack your brain intellectually or poetic writing. However, it does keep your brain busy dealing with all these out there experiences and mishap interactions.David Wong is a pen name for Jason Pargin, the former executive editor at cracked.com, but that isn’t even the most interesting thing about it. David Wong is the main character of the book and first person narrator throughout. The writing is simple, great and snarky, so even though there is strong themes and language, I think the comprehension level here is relatively low which makes it a virtually effortless read and nice change of pace with some of the other stuff I have been reading.However, don’t be mistaken because there’s a ton of detail that goes into the world of John Dies at the End and that is in every corner, however the books presents these details by sneaking them in with action and inner dialog which is a great way to explain a detailed world in literature without being verbose. I could tell that Wong was much more adept in the department of humor that he was in horror, but succeeded at both by combining the two. Nothing in the book was scary to me ( I believe my tolerance for horror is pretty high, so it may be scary for you ) besides the fact that this is somewhat of a close relation to reality, even if it’s in a metaphorical sense.The reason I picked this book up was because of this review on LJ and Rom book #1. I had never heard of this book or author before then. I can see some of the similarities in style and text, but the main difference here is that John Dies at the End is in first person and LJ and Rom was in third, along with the story lines being completely different. LJ and Rom don’t use drugs or cuss anywhere near as much. Although, the books are similar in randomosity and flavor. I enjoyed this venture into comparison in not only the film to the book, but also author to author and book to book. It’s nice to know there is a writer out there just as wacky.
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2020
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