Dark Humor | Guy Portman's Blog

5 Good Books Containing Dark Humour.

Jan 22 2021

Not a lot’s been going on this week, so it’s back to the trusted topic that is books. The following five books all contain dark humour. Click on the links to read my reviews.

Suttree

This brutal, bleak and at times humorous episodic tome (600+ pages) is a must for all dark fiction aficionados.

My Review: Cornelius Suttree resides in a dilapidated houseboat on the Tennessee River, on the edge of Knoxville. He ekes out a living fishing in its murky waters; his primary …(more)

Disaster Inc.

Disaster Inc is the first instalment in a series by former Irish stand-up comedian and successful television writer Caimh McDonnell.

My Review: Bunny McGarry is an Irishman in America on a mission to find someone. Hungover one morning, he is having breakfast at a diner, when …(more)

Survivor

Survivor is an innovative and erudite social commentary, brimming with satirical observations and irreverent humour.

My Review: Tender Branson, the last survivor of the Creedish Church cult, has hijacked an aeroplane, which is now flying on autopilot. His objective: to dictate his life story onto …(more)

A Decent Ride

This is one of Welsh’s lighter books. Its seediness, humour and bawdy Leith vernacular dialogue will appeal to many.

My Review: Terry ‘Juice’ Lawson is an Edinburgh taxi driver who moonlights as a porn actor and drug fixer. Since losing his virginity at the age of eleven, he has …(more)

My Sister, The Serial Killer

The intriguing premise, darkly humorous elements and dialogue-heavy content make for an enduring combination.

My Review: Twins Koredie and Ayoola are very different. Conscientious Korede is a senior nurse in a hospital while the beautiful Ayoola is …(more)

5 Darkly Humorous Reading Recommendations

Dec 20 2019

This week’s post is devoted to five dark humour books. Click on the links to discover more.

Checking Out by Nick Spalding

Checking Out is a black comedy sprinkled with hope. Many will be drawn to its protagonist due to his wry wit and likeable personality.

My Review: Nathan is a young, well-off musician with a gorgeous girlfriend, a sportscar and some exceedingly expensive bi-fold doors. He is also successful, thanks to his …(more)

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock

Knockemstiff is a transgressive compilation of short stories. Topics include drugs, drinking, disease and sexual degeneracy.

My Review: These interlinked short stories are set in ‘The Holler’; an impoverished part of Knockemstiff, a real-life Ohioan backwater. ‘The Holler’s’ air is permanently imbued with the stench of …(more)

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut

Mother Night is a concise, ambiguous morality tale brimming with satirical observations and darkly humorous details.

My Review: During WWII, Howard W. Campbell was a prominent Nazi propagandist. Now he is languishing in an Israeli prison awaiting trial for war crimes …(more)

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk

Damned is a a light-hearted satire of hell, punctuated with comical details, pop-culture references and Theological irony.

My Review: The protagonist is thirteen-year-old Madison, the daughter of wealthy alternative parents. The privileged Madison studies at an exclusive Swiss boarding school and spends her holidays alternating …(more)

Spencer’s Risk by Andy Greenhalgh

Spencer’s Risk is a third person, thespian-themed work that offers an authentic insight into the mind of a compulsive gambler.

My Review: Spencer Leyton’s life is spiralling downhill. He has split from his wife, is virtually estranged from his kids, his career is in tatters, and he has a serious …(more)

Necropolis Launch

Apr 24 2014

I am pleased to announce that Necropolis is now available from all regional Amazons in paperback and Kindle. Necropolis is a humorous work of dark fiction about a sociopath, who works for the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.

Crime Fiction Lover (Britain’s largest and most prestigious crime Fiction review site) has awarded Necropolis 5 out of 5 stars. Click here to read the review (warning: contains some spoilers).

If you haven’t seen it already this is the blurb for Necropolis:

Dyson Devereux works in the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council. Dyson is intelligent, incisive and informed. He is also a sociopath. Dyson’s contempt for the bureaucracy and banality of his workplace provides ample refuge for his mordant wit. But the prevalence of Essex Cherubs adorning the headstones of Newton New Cemetery is starting to get on his nerves.

When an opportunity presents itself will Dyson seize his chance and find freedom, or is his destiny to be a life of toil in Burials and Cemeteries?

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of the politically correct, health and safety obsessed world in which we live.

‘Not only a funny, twisted, erudite satire on the psychopath genre, this novel also boasts a compelling plot and finely sculpted characters’

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

‘I was at once fascinated and disturbed by the devious Dyson Devereux with his malicious pedantry, wicked schemes and grotesque good taste. A barbed joy’

Amazon.co.uk – Paperback: £6.99 Kindle: £2.22

Amazon.com – Paperback: $10.52 Kindle: $3.73

I would like to take this opportunity to thank author, writing professional and friend Diane Mannion (@Dydywriter) for her expertise, encouragement and support. And thank you Adam (@Alayerdim) for all the erudite book reviews you have contributed to this blog, and for your assistance with my two books.

Necropolis Countdown

Apr 18 2014

There is only one ~~week~~ Day to go until the release of Necropolis ~~(Release Day: Thursday, April 24th)~~. Necropolis is a humorous work of dark Fiction about a sociopath, who works for the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.

The following is an extract from Necropolis:

Monday 10:15 a.m. – Newton Community and Business Facility

So here I am at the quarterly cemeteries and funeral business professionals meeting. It is attended by the majority of those employed in the death business in Newton and the adjoining boroughs, both public and private sector – the good, the bad and the ugly. Other than our chosen profession there is something else that everyone in here has in common at this given time. That something is boredom, rapidly descending into apathy. To my left a Lithuanian gravedigger idly picks his nose. To my right a mortician plays Sonic on his iPhone. Next to him a bereavement councillor’s afro-styled head lulls to one side. In the row in front a morgue rat, his head resting against his shoulder, snores loudly, a stream of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth. A fellow morgue rat in the adjoining seat glances at the watch on his wrist and then utters an obscenity in some Eastern European language, an action he repeats every minute or so. That heavy set figure a few rows ahead, with spiky hair bent forward reading a book; that is Rebecca, the overseer of Boden.

At the front of the hall a thin, female, local Conservative councillor wearing glasses is giving a presentation about ‘team’, ‘teamwork’ and the Government’s plans to transfer power from Whitehall to local communities…

This is the blurb for Necropolis ~~(Release Date: April 24th)~~:

When an opportunity presents itself will Dyson seize his chance and find freedom, or is his destiny to be a life of toil in Burials and Cemeteries?

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of the politically correct, health and safety obsessed world in which we live.

‘Not only a funny, twisted, erudite satire on the psychopath genre, this novel also boasts a compelling plot and finely sculpted characters’

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

‘I was at once fascinated and disturbed by the devious Dyson Devereux with his malicious pedantry, wicked schemes and grotesque good taste. A barbed joy’