Thumbnail of cover of John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin (pen name: David Wong) from Open Library

John Dies at the End

Jason Pargin (pen name: David Wong)

Latest Ranking
#64

Blurb from a JoCoNaut:

John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin (pen name: David Wong) is easily one of my all-time favorite books. I first read it in 2011 and have read it several times since then - I just read it again before passing it on to my husband for him to read. It's...just an insane premise. And it's the first in a series! Book 5 is coming out soon, and they all have amazing titles: This Book is Full of Spiders, What the Hell Did I Just Read, If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe, and There Are No Giant Crabs in This Novel: A Novel of Giant Crabs.

David (character in the book) and John are two slacker dudes living in an "Undisclosed" town in Illinois. They meet a fake Jamaican guy who gives them a drug called "soy sauce" and it allows them to see things that have entered our world from alternate dimensions. They basically become exorcists, but they also lie a lot, and crack jokes to alleviate stress. So it's horror/comedy/sci fi/paranormal/etc. They also made a movie based on the first book! And considering the source material, budget, and tech limitations...it isn't terrible. ๐Ÿ˜‚

Content Warnings (suggested by The Story Graph)
Graphic
Gore, Body horror, Racial slurs
Moderate
Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death
Minor
Homophobia, Car accident, Drug use