But this Marenghi instalment took advantage of it to be a doorstopper and even more wildly hilarious!

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. From the word processor (that’s correct) of the Archduke O’Darkness, Garth Marenghi – Chief Frightener, Quakerman and Lord High Petrifier – come three new dark tales. Doomed to survive crash after crash of the airliners his protagonist, which is now himself, pilots, Nick grapples with his emerging paranormal abilities. It was so excellently written in Garth's classic style and Matthew Holness' brilliance shines through - I mean, whoever he is. Another enjoyable romp through purple prose and ludicrous scenarios, but taking itself seriously enough as a meta literary enterprise that it succeeds on its own terms.

He seems to have been written out of the story and replaced by Clackett Publishing which is a terrible shame as Reed's philandering gangster ways were a hilarious backdrop to Merenghi's total lack of self awareness. As a huge fan of the original series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and it's accompanying sister series Man To Man With Dean Learner I'm a huge fan of the character and his ludicrous tropes and writing choices, which are in fact a key part of the original joke. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. He wrote, directed and starred in Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace for the Peruvian market, which subsequently aired on Channel 4 and has not been repeated due to its radical and polemic content.

I can see why Holness might find it a bit Vulgar to just "play the hits" and recite the catchphrases. The three tales are joyously distinct this time around and Garth’s stabs at gothic horror and dream-infesting boogeymen (a priapic twist on Candyman and Freddy Krueger) are particularly fun experiences. It was just as good, if not better, than the first and I thoroughly enjoyed each of the stories (my favourite I think was the gothic house). The authorial voice of this ridiculously incompetent man is still there and recognisable from the source material. Yes, it can be mind-boggling how Marenghi can embed a story written by one of his characters within the main narrative.For my personal tastes I still would have leaned a little heavier on the gags from the original show that are still so quotable today. He wrote, directed and starred in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace for the Peruvian market, which subsequently aired on Channel 4 and has not been repeated due to its radical and polemic content.

Would it have been such a terrible idea to take any one of the mentions of the word "Blood" in this story and swap them out for; "Blood?But that's actually part of the problem if you fell in love with the original character; I don't read a Garth Marenghi novel for competence and self awareness. Unlike the first, I have yet to have time to listen to the audiobook for this instalment, but I hope so when I reread it in the future. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. It perhaps gets a little overstuffed with ideas in a couple of places, but its worth it for the middle novella, which is an astonishingly good (and very funny) gothic / folk horror pisstake.