As soon as you see the title you pretty much know you're not about to read an average horror tale. John Dies At The End is as funny as it is scary, and vice versa, skipping effortlessly from talking hot dogs and magic healing kittens to disturbing passages about what the narrator thinks Hell might be like, and the idea of never having existed. Straight back to John's special demon-killing weapon- a baseball bat with a Bible taped to it. The story itself seems to unfold as a series of episodes (it was, after all, originally written in instalments) bound together by the author's "present day" interview with a skeptical journalist. Every character is well-written, believable and likeable, but the strength of the story really is the way it's written- the humour and horror often overlap but never feel jarring or uncomfortable together. In that sense, it reminds me less of classic horror authors like King and Koontz, and classic comedy authors like Douglas Adams, than it reminds me of Brit zombie movie Shaun Of The Dead. Both that film and this book manage this balance of gags and real, honest horror, and if you liked Shaun you'll love John and Dave.