John Dies at the End Prologue and Cover Analysis

We’ll start with the cover. The artwork is simple and weird. It’s meant to be and doesn’t pretend to be anything different. I love how the author’s name is the teeth of the skull. Very interesting.

I like it. That is all.

Onto the prologue!

I was mildly surprised by the ghost talk and hauntings. The blunt and sudden humor had me snort a few times. And John explaining and suddenly, “Owl!” Has me thinking he prolly has ADHD lol

The narrator, Dave, also hints at John and him seeing and experiencing things differently. For example, John says the hamburger he’s eating is mooing while Dave says it was actually screaming and John kept eating it while it screamed. So, is John only hearing some parts? Or was the burger actually human meat??

I was surprised by the ghost and haunting angle when it started with a zombie, ya know? Normally, those don’t cross? But I’m enjoying it so far. Also Dante’s Syndrome sounds crazy! My eyebrows shot up for that one, too.

The line about the drain cleaner plant wafting the scent of sulfur near the two hills out of town that make it look like a farty giant’s booty cheeks had me snort too.

So, John brings a new case to Dave. It’s unclear at first what this new business is, but it becomes obvious soon enough.

Shelly is the new client, and she has a problem with her boyfriend. The problem is her boyfriend is dead!

There were some legitimate tense moments with the dread about the freezer, the realizing the girl was the monster, confronting her, her bursting into snakes, and hoping that Molly (the doggo) wouldn’t be harmed.

The parts where they were talking loudly to draw out the monster had me confused at first, but I caught on to what they were doing.

The meat monster was gross and creepy yet the meat puns were what kept me nearly choking to death on the cherries I was eating.

Dave’s brain and thoughts are distracted and self-aware like that he wasn’t focusing on the right things.

Also, the shark in a flooded basement stated in such a matter of fact way made an eyebrow raise like, wtf? And then, moved along like nothing to see here!

The meat monster has this vendetta and thought Dave and John were it’s nemesis, but when Dave called the actual nemesis, Father Marconi, which I read as macaroni at first, and Marconi essentially exorcized it over the phone was hilariously anticlimactic.

The horror was played straight, which made the absurdity hit harder. I’m looking forward to reading more of this.

So, currently, this prologue’s rating is:

•Diet Coke

•Air

•Creepy Vibes

•Okay, this needs TWO hands

•Laughing out loud

•Le Homemade Gourmet French fries

Sigh-yuh-Nora!

SnS 🌹💀📜🥤