Spiders

So I finally finished “This Book is Full of Spiders”. Took a little longer than usual because I haven’t had time to just plow right through it (or keep up on Violent Blue for that matter)

I really loved “John Dies at the End” and I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was really liking the new book  and it felt a lot like the first book. Funny how that all changes.

Perhaps it’s not so funny. If you poke around the authors website http://johndiesattheend.com/, specifically the updates section you will find a bit of background about the book:

“Some of you will remember that he had a version of that story featured right here on this site for free, entitled John and Dave and the Temple of X’al’naa”thuthuthu However, when he signed the contract for the sequel to be written, that had to come down. When asked if the second book would be that story, Dave gave this answer:

The parasitic insect-like creatures featured in that story (the ones that embedded themselves in people’s heads and took over their brains) are the “spiders” referenced in the title. This book will be an extension and expansion of that story. But for instance Detective Vance Falconer returns. But about 2/3 of the way through the story you know, this one veers off in a different direction.” (http://www.johndiesattheend.com/updates/?page_id=10) 

It shows. It really does. I suspect that it may have been around the time the movie was in preproduction as well because the tone gets dire and the humor is completely sucked out of the story, much like the John Dies movie. a shame really, because I think the humor is what really sets these books apart. it comes back a bit in the last fifty pages but it’s missing from a good half of the novel and I mean that, it’s REALLY missed.

Still, this thing is creepy as it’s predecessor and the monsters and just MESSED up. Someone  created a trailer to the book and it’s a perfect representation of the opening scene of the book. (Brilliant marketing)

This Book is Full of Spiders is definitely worth a read, but I’m not going to cherish it like I did John Dies. It’s not the kind of book you can’t put down. I’m still hoping for another sequel and a better one at that. There’s still some legs to this series and some life in there and I really want to see what comes next.

January 28, 2013 | Categories: Horror, monsters, Violent Blue, Webcomic | Tags: Horror, monsters, Violent Blue, Webcomic | Leave a comment