#garth marenghi's incarcerat

[armandyke]

Hold my hand, we've made it to the end of my 2024 book reviews.

61) Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (4.5⭐)

Grady Hendrix is very quickly carving out a place in my heart. This one wasn’t quite as good as How To Sell A Haunted House for me, but still really great. 

This story is a really fun approach to the final girl concept, basically saying “what if all those 80’s slasher horrors were based on true events, and the final girls were real people?” and then looks at where these women are at years or decades on from their own personal nightmares. It’s funny because at face value it’s such a goofy concept, but the author keeps everything so grounded in reality that it never feels that way. The story was fun and fast paced and I really enjoyed it, and though I will say the ending felt slightly anticlimactic, that didn’t really spoil my enjoyment of it as a whole. 

Also, not to praise men for the bare minimum but I do think Grady Hendrix does a great job of writing women. When I read his other book I didn’t even realise the author was a man until I looked him up, and the same applies here. It gives whatever the opposite of “men writing women” energy usually is. 

62) Garth Marenghi’s Incarcerat by Matthew Holness (4⭐)

Garth Marenghi is a bit of a hard one to sell to people, because I feel like we’re about four levels deep into the lore at this point so I’ll just keep it short for this review and if you want to know more about the gmcu (Garth Marenghi cinematic universe) then send me a message and I’ll be happy to explain. 

For now I’ll just say that I enjoyed this book a lot, but it wasn’t as good as the first one. 

63) Feast While You Can by Onjuly Datta and Mikaella Clements (5⭐)

Ohohoho. 

Another sapphic horror, thank you Jesus. This one follows a woman named Angelina, who grew up in and loves her tiny, closed off home town, but one day finds herself possessed by the monster that’s been living at the bottom of a cave. The monster wants to feed on her memories, and the only thing that seems capable of staving it off is her brother’s ex, who also happens to be the most beautiful butch to ever grace this earth. 

This was gorgeously written, a great story, great twists that I didn’t predict, and the climax was just perfect. I’m trying so hard to be restrained here because I could yap on about this for ages but then I’d start spoiling things and I think this book should be experienced as blind as possible. 

Side note there’s also a lot of explicit sex in this so if that’s something you avoid then this might not be for you. 

64) The Whistling by Rebecca Netley (4.5⭐)

Classic “woman moves to an isolated Scottish island to take on a nanny position and finds that everything here is fucking weird” story. 

Did this book do anything particularly unique? No not really, but I did give it an extra half a star because I didn’t correctly guess who the true bad guy was until the very last second, which always adds to the fun. If you want some classic ghosty, creepy house horror to read then this is definitely a good one to check out.

65) Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (4⭐)

One thing about me is that I love the trope of someone coming back wrong. Whether it’s back from the dead, back from space, or, in this case, back from an extended, unplanned trip to the very bottom of the ocean. 

Not A lot I can really say about this one without really getting into spoilers, but I really liked it. I really enjoyed the writing style and just… the way things and feelings were described. It was really well done, really creepy. A lot of things were sort of left unexplained but I think that was intentional rather than an oversight.

66) Scuttle by Barnaby Walter (DNF)

If I had a nickel for every bad spider themed horror book I read this year, I would have three nickels, which isn’t a lot but again it’s weird that it happened three times.

You remember The Dinner Guest by B P Walter? Turns out this was written by the same guy. And you remember how I said that book was great except for the parts where we focused in on the teenage boy? Well…

This book is dual pov, written partly from the perspective of the dad and partly from the perspective of his teenage son, and, yeah, I had the same issues multiplied tenfold. I think I got about a quarter of the way through before tapping out, because it was just cringe. Teenagers do not act or speak in the ways they were in this book and it just made reading it impossible for me. On top of that, the story was nonsensical. I won’t spoil it for you but just know I skipped to the end to satisfy my curiosity and ended up laughing out loud.

67) Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova (5⭐)

This was another book that rewired my brain chemistry, and I really don’t know if it hit me the way it was intended to, but my god did it hit me. 

The story is predominantly about grief. A mother cuts a chunk of lung from the body of her dead son, and ends up raising it until it eventually grows into a person… sort of. The creature (Monstrilio) is blood thirsty, wild, and always hungry, but with the help of her family and close friend, she is able to mold him into roughly the shape of her deceased son. 

The book is split into four parts, each from a different perspective as we follow Monstrilio’s development. The first part is from the mother’s perspective as she removes her son’s lung and is able to give it a new kind of sentience. Then we follow her friend Lena’s perspective as the lung becomes sort of a wild animal that they have to domesticate. We follow some of Monstrilio’s adolescence through the perspective of his father, and then the final part is told from Monstrilio’s perspective. 

As I said, the book is about grief, about the ways it impacts this family over the course of Monstrilio’s upbringing, and it would have easily been a 4 star read from me anyway. But my god. Monstrilio’s perspective at the end hit me where I fucking live. I won’t give anything away here, but if you’re someone who feels like they constantly have to put on a mask to hide some “monstrous” part of themselves, this book will punch you right in the gut. In a positive way. Sort of. 

68) Revival by Stephen King (4⭐)

You know I couldn’t abandon my boy for too long. This book was such classic Steven King, focused almost entirely on the long, drawn out building of suspense before punching you in the face multiple times in quick succession in the final chapters. 

If you haven’t heard of this one before, the book is essentially a man retelling the story of his life, revolving predominantly around a priest he met as a child and then continued running into throughout his adult life. This priest has a passion for electricity, specifically its healing powers, and I promise you it does not go the way you’re expecting it to. Okay, it sort of does, but then it really doesn’t. This book almost got 3 stars until I read that final climax, shook my head solemnly, and said “Steven, you crazy son of a bitch, you got me again”. 

69) Blight by Tom Carlisle (3.5⭐)

More surprise queer horror! The queerness is not at all the focal point in this book, but it was a nice touch. 

This book is about fae, and not the kind from ACOTAR. I will say one slight issue I had with this book was that the antagonistic fae king is known amongst the village folk as “the Tall Man” and described as wearing a top hat, which kept making me think of the benadryl meme. That aside, this was an enjoyable story. The classic “fairy comes to collect the firstborn children of the household” story. It was nothing special and didn’t do anything particularly unique for me, but it was a fun read. 

My main hangup with this book was that we went back and forward in time a lot, but there was no real indicator for this. I wish there could have been a “past” and “present” indicator along with the chapter numbers or something just to make it a bit easier to follow.

70) The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (5⭐)

Loved, loved, loved. This was SUCH an improvement on the previous novella I read (Nothing But Blackened Teeth). This had everything I want from horror novellas. I absolutely love the way this author writes prose, and this novella is predominantly prose because the main character is a mermaid who can’t speak for about half of the book. This story is essentially about a mermaid and her unlikely companion (a nonbinary plague doctor no less) who find themselves stumbling upon a woodland society of people who worship three “saints”. It’s hard to give much more than that without giving up the whole plot as it is a very short book, but so much action is packed in, and it doesn’t feel like anything is rushed or left hanging. It’s an absolute little gem.

[fght-ff-yr-dmns]

Did anyone else ever watch Garth Marenghi's Dark Place on Channel 4, back in 2004?

I absolutely loved it and I've just found out that creator Matthew Holness has brought back his fictional author for a series of books.

I managed to pick up Incarcerat from the local library, if it's half as daft as the original show then i'm in for a treat.

[arbeaone]

A transcription of this video is available at the bottom of this post when you click "Keep reading".

Video source link - https://twitter.com/MrHolness/status/1646577601111097369

The above image has an ALT image description.

Coming 31st October 2023

Garth Marenghi (Frighternerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage) is back with Volume 2 of his TerrorTome...

In Garth Marenghi’s Incarcerat, horror novelist Nick Steen is abducted and imprisoned at Nulltec, a shadowy technological research facility with excellent conference parking, concealed deep on the Stalkford Downs.

There he is observed, tested and ‘interfered with’ (physically) by a team of scientific experts led by Dr Barbara Nullman, determined to probe and ‘nullify’ his escaping imagination…

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Signed editions of the novel are available for pre-order from ForbiddenPlanet and Waterstones.

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ForbiddenPlanet - https://forbiddenplanet.com/385464-garth-marenghis-incarcerat-signed-edition-hardcover/

Waterstones - https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781399727075

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[Video transcription]

(Announcer - voiced by Matthew Holness) : Please welcome best-selling horror author Garth Marenghi.

(Garth Marenghi) : Couple of announcements. There will be a follow-up to TerrorTome. My new book "Incarcerat" will be out in October.

There will also be another book tour. To promote Incarcerat. And there will be another Palladium gig.

Also you can now order Garth Marenghi merchandise. You can order t-shirts, uh, jumbo mugs, possibly fridge magnets. Also we're working on those pens, you know the ones, you've gotta, a woman in a bikini. You turn it upside down and she's flayed.

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

My July to December reads

Don't touch James Herbert! The Rats is one of the worst things I've ever read. Read Garth Marenghi instead >:))

Also halp I'm about to become a Spotify audiobook gurl (not for books like How to Kill Your Family tho :/ what a waste of my hours)

[socksenjoyer]

it's taken an embarrassingly long time to realise how deep i am into my hyperfixation on a certain obscure early 2000s spoof show. please send help

[joncronshawauthor]

📚 Fantasycon Highlights & Creative Endeavours | Author Diary – October 18, 2024🎩🎃

🏰 Fantasycon Adventures: This past weekend at Fantasycon was a whirlwind of inspiration and connection. Participating in panels, enjoying the banquet, and meeting both fellow authors and avid readers was fantastic. It’s always exhilarating to be part of such a dynamic gathering of creative minds. 🎩 Crafting a New Lord Sidebottom Tale: In the spirit of Halloween, I’ve started working on a new…

[badwolfwho1]

Was just about to start reading Garth Marenghi's Incarcerat but alas it's actually a sequel so I should really pick up Terrortome first.

[grimsauce]

I don’t normally buy or read ebooks (unless they’re Star Trek fiction because they Kindles are just Padds), but I was waiting for the reprint of Legends & Lattes later this month when I spotted it was on offer for 99p for Kindle.

I’ll instead use my book tokens to pick up Garth Marenghi’s Incarcerat when it comes out.

[armandyke]

Would love to hear about the books u read in 2024, surprise bests, biggest disappointments?

I think I will do a multi part post over the coming weeks with reviews of all the books I read since I have about half of them written up already. For now I'll just say my two absolute favourite reads of the year were Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock and Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova. Two very different books but both of them permanently altered my brain chemistry.

Below are my ratings for all the books I read and as I say, I'll try to post more in depth reviews over the next few weeks. My aim this year is to try and do proper reviews of the books I read as I'm reading them instead of having to go back several months later lmao.

Oh, and because it's something I'm always looking for specific recs for, I've highlighted the books with queer rep (that I remember) in pink, and the extreme horrors/books I advise checking trigger warnings for are marked with a lil skull.

1) Gone to see the River Man by Kristopher Triana (4⭐) 💀

2) Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (4⭐)

3) The Butcher by Laura Kat Young (5⭐)

4) The Hollow Places by T.Kingfisher (5⭐)

5) Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (4.5⭐)

6) The Shuddering by Ania Ahiborn (3.5⭐)

7) Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (5⭐)

8) Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandraw Khaw (3.5⭐)

9) Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite (4⭐) 💀

10) Good Girls Don’t Die by Christina Henry (1⭐)

11) The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino (3.5⭐)

12) Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley (4⭐)

13) The Dead of Winter curated by Cecily Grayford (3⭐)

14) Off Season by Jack Ketchum (3⭐) 💀

15) Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt (3.5⭐) 💀

16) Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison (4⭐) 💀

17) The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum (5⭐) 💀

18) Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (4⭐)

19) Caraval by Stephanie Garber (2⭐)

20) The Grip of It by Jac Jemc (4⭐)

21) Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims (5⭐)

22) Nod by Adrian Barnes (4⭐)

23) How to sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (5⭐)

24) Among the Living by Tim Lebbon (2⭐)

25) 19 Claws and a Black Bird by Augustina Bazterrica (3⭐)

26) House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (4.5⭐)

27) Song of Kali by Dan Simmons (DNF)

28) The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Perry (DNF)

29) A House with Good Bones by T.Kingfisher (5⭐)

30) A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock (5⭐)

31) Cujo by Stephen King (5⭐)

32) The Dark Net by Benjamin Percy (3.5⭐)

33) The Dinner Guest by B P Walter (4.5⭐)

34) The Cloisters by Katy Hays (1⭐)

35) Diavola by Jennifer Thorne (5⭐)

36) Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (4.5⭐)

37) Nettle and Bone by T.Kingfisher (3.5⭐)

38) The Hatching (3.5⭐) Skitter (1⭐) and Zero Day (1⭐) by Ezekiel Boone

39) Come Closer by Sara Gran (4⭐)

40) Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison (5⭐)

41) The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (DNF)

42) Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (3.5⭐)

43) Piñata by Leopoldo Gout (4⭐)

44) Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca (1⭐) 💀

45) Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle (5⭐)

46) The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice (I didn't rate this because this was less like reading a book and more like studying for an exam)

47) The Ghost Woods by C.J Cooke (4.5⭐)

48) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (3.5⭐)

49) Too Late by Colleen Hoover (DNF)

50) Alice by Christina Henry (1⭐)

51) The House of a Hundred Whispers by Graham Masterton (3.5⭐)

52) All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes (4.5⭐)

53) Violent Faculties by Charlene Elsby (4⭐) 💀

54) Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin (3.5⭐) 💀

55) Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison (4.5⭐)

56) My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino (3.5⭐)

57) Bloom by Delilah S Dawson (4⭐)

58) Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella (DNF)

59) Out There Screaming curated by Jordan Peele (3.5⭐)

60) The Watchers by A.M Shine (4⭐)

61) Whalefall by Daniel Kraus (4.5⭐)

62) My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham (3.5⭐)

63) Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (4.5⭐)

64) Incarcerat by Garth Marenghi (4⭐)

65) Feast While You Can by Onjuly Datta and Mikaella Clements (5⭐)

66) The Whistling by Rebecca Netley (4⭐)

67) Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (4⭐)

68) Scuttle by Barnaby Walter (DNF)

69) Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova (5⭐)

70) Revival by Stephen King (4⭐)

71) Blight by Tom Carlisle (3.5⭐)

72) The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (5⭐)