Marla by Jonathan Janz Earthling Publications (October 2022) SOLD OUT Limited Edition; $TBD Lettered Edition Reviewed by Dave Simms
Another year, another home run for Earthling, this time thanks to the magic of Jonathan Janz. This offering is no different than any of the other great stories Paul Miller has unleashed unto the world of horror.
MARLA is a fascinating read that can be devoured quickly, but shouldn’t, especially if intriguing writing and deep characterization is your thing. In a year full of quality horror, it takes a massive work of art to stand out from the crowd.
The Citywide Blackout podcast hosts authors, musicians, and artists of all kinds to discuss their latest projects. Recently, Jonathan Janz, author of The Dismembered (recently published by Cemetery Dance), appeared on the podcast to discuss all things horror. Check it out below!
In the spring of 1912, American writer Arthur Pearce is reeling from the wounds inflicted by a disastrous marriage and the public humiliation that ensued. But his plans to travel abroad, write a new novel, and forget his ex-wife are interrupted by a lovely young woman he encounters on a London-bound train. Her name is Sarah Coyle, and the tale she tells him chills his blood.
According to Sarah, her younger sister Violet has been entranced by a local count, a man whose attractiveness and charisma are rivaled only by his shady reputation. Whispers of bizarre religious rites and experimental medicine surround Count Richard Dunning, though no wrongdoing has ever been proven. Sarah’s family views the Count as a philanthropist and a perfect match for young Violet, but Sarah believes her sister is soon to become a subject in Count Dunning’s hideous ceremonies.
Smitten by Sarah and moved to gallantry by her plight, Arthur agrees to travel to Altarbrook, Sarah’s rural ancestral home, in order to prevent Violet from falling into ruin. He soon learns, however, that his meeting with Sarah on the train was no accident. And his arrival at Altarbrook represents a crucial but ghastly step in the Count’s monstrous plot.
“Fans of the gothic will love how Janz uses well-worn tropes in more modern ways, while at the same time readers of 21st-century horror will gain a new appreciation for the genre’s roots.” — Starred Library Journal Review
Perhaps the most interesting thing about horror is the vast variety in its sub-genres. So many tropes fit under the horror umbrella; I truly believe there’s something for everyone. I passionately believe the horror genre is plenty sufficient to cover any thirst for diversity in your reading.
My top-shelf writers of horror, the mega-talented, often write books categorized in the full spectrum of the genre. The opposite of the one-trick pony, these authors are part and parcel of horror fiction.
Jonathan Janz is one of those authors writing bestsellers that cover a lot of ground. Supernatural, paranormal, creature-features, noir, gothic, you name it and Janz has tried it; successfully.Continue Reading
“The Sorrows is a wonderful example of a place exercising its influence over its occupants. Gothic horror at its finest.”—Frank Errington for Cemetery Dance
This review is dedicated to Frank who would have loved to read and review the sequel to The Sorrows. I miss my friend.Continue Reading
2019 is the year of Jonathan Janz. There. I said it. Flame Tree Press performed the remarkable act of acquiring his previously released titles and then doling them out to us on a pretty aggressive schedule, which is an impressive gesture all on its own…but wait! There’s more. Flame Tree is also releasing new titles from Janz.Continue Reading
I was a bit late to the party when it came to discovering the work of Jonathan Janz. As a result, I totally missed The Sorrows when it was originally published by Samhain Publishing in 2012. When Samhain ceased operations in 2017, many great works went out of print, including this debut from one of the most popular horror writers working today.Continue Reading
Last year I read my first Jonathan Janz story titled Children of the Dark. I absolutely loved it. Janz expertly fused together a gruesome horror story and a nostalgic coming-of-age tale. The monsters in that book—the lithe, tall, insatiably hungry Wendigos—were a formidable enemy that I enjoyed reading about as they went on a blood-soaked rampage.Continue Reading
Jonathan Janz’s name is everywhere lately. With Flame Tree Press sneaking up out of nowhere and snatching his back catalog, and his most recent effort The Siren and Specter making the rounds of Twitter feeds and Instagram posts alike, he’s hard to ignore. It was only a matter of time before I broke down and read my first Janz. The Nightmare Girl was the book that deflowered this Janz virgin. Continue Reading
It was almost two years ago Jonathan Janz first came to my attention. I kept hearing about his novel, Children of the Dark. This is what I said in my review of that work: “This is one time where all of the hype was dead on.“Continue Reading
I lived a good chunk of my childhood on a small, rural road. All of the homes had families and were fairly well-kempt, so my siblings and my best buddy who lived next door didn’t really have a typical “haunted house” to be afraid of; but that didn’t keep us from concocting weird stories about the surrounding property. That creepy orchard up the hill? A kid my mom used to babysit for convinced us that he had seen a severed hand from World War II hanging from a tree up there (yep, from that famous WWII battle fought in Upstate New York, of course). Then there was the turnaround where I swear I saw a UFO land one night (okay, maybe that was just a dream). When you’re a kid, your imagination runs wild, and seemingly innocuous places can transform into terrifying locales. Jonathan Janz can relate—he read a story back in seventh grade that touched on just that idea, a story that stuck with him and put him on a path to creating strange stories of his own. Continue Reading
Reviews for Children of the Dark, the new novel from Jonathan Janz via Sinister Grin Press, have been flowing freely for the last couple of weeks, and if I’ve seen one reference to Stephen King’s “The Body” or Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life, I’ve seen a dozen. Each time I’d think, if I was Jonathan Janz I might ask people to ease back on that, because…talk about setting expectations on “High.”
Then I dug into the book itself and, well, I can see where those other reviewers are coming from.Continue Reading
Marla by Jonathan Janz
Children of the Dark by Jonathan Janz