This Book Is Full of Spiders by David Wong

Author : David Wong
Title : This Book Is Full of Spiders
Published : 2012
Publisher : Titan Books
Pages : 384

Genre : Horror / Fantasy 

     In this blistering sequel to the bestselling cult sensation, "John Dies at the End", our heroes find that books and movies about zombies may have triggered a zombie apocalypse, despite a total world absence of zombies. Hilarious, terrifying, engaging and wrenching, this is a wild ride with two slackers from the Midwest who really have better things to do with their time than prevent disaster.

     This book and its predecessor John Dies At The End are kinda hard to pin down as to which genre they fall into. I think for me this holds part of the childish charm of them. Pulled apart they come from genres that I don't all to often set foot into. And if I'm being honest I can't really tell you why I picked up John Dies At The End to start with. Maybe I was just looking for something a little different. I think for some the humor found within these pages will be all too childish for you to bear. This is the territory of college-aged boys where a dick joke is probably just around the corner. And while I'm all for the much more cerebral book once in a while it's nice to go for something that just a little on the silly side. 

      In more than a few ways this reminds me of those films of the nineties. There were always a couple of slackers, usually to be fair stoners. That somehow would end up saving the day it the most absurd way known to unman beings. And whilst not the pinnacle of there chosen fields you could always guarantee that you would laugh a lot. And that's the case with this book having read the first book I wasn't really expecting a great deal of character development in our two heroes. I wasn't disappointed these two continue to scrap by, by the thinnest of margins. For me, it's in there complete ineptitude that I have come to care for these two in there own special way. It's in spite of themselves that you want them to save the day. To be the heroes that you know they can be if they just got into gear. I guess for some these two will just annoy the hell out of you. I suspect they may never actually grow up despite all they have been through. 

     When it comes to a plot the author decides to take his swing at the zombie genre. But as with the first book its always from a slightly odd angle. This was never going to be a straight-up Apocalypse novel. What you get is more a skirting around the edges of this genre. The author brings his usual shotgun approach to pop culture. Some you will get straight away others take a little digging to pluck out. But there is much fun to be had in the doing so. But this is also a horror book so with that in mind yes there is blood and guts. The author likes to dish out his laughs with a side of dismemberment. For me, it never felt like the scariest of things, but I'm sure a steady drip diet of horror films since before I should have watched them put pay to that. But it is in this blending of the genre's that for me these book work. He hasn't really tied himself to one fixes point. There's even a little romance for those looking. I think that the stories this author write he does amazingly well. He knows his audience and goes at them full steam ahead. 

     As I said at times it's hard to pin these books down. To me they kind of feel like if Steven King had a very messed up baby with Hunter S Thompson and left it to be raised with Terry Pratchett. Which I realize is some kind of unholy combination. You probably would be too far off if you also threw a bit of Bill & Ted in the mix. So all this might seem a little confusing but if you read the books I promise it will make sense. For the most part, they are to me a good horror book with a great deal of self-deprecating humor and it works. What can I say some times you just have to get a little weird.