The Dark Thing

By: John Ashley

Narrated by: Christian Leatherman

The son of a schizophrenic, Jared Gordon has lived his entire life with a genetic time bomb coded into his DNA. So when the night terrors and hallucinations arrive in force, it seems undeniable that the same disease responsible for his father’s suicide is to blame.

But a bizarre reunion with his estranged brother and a journal from their father resurface chilling childhood memories that cast his current experiences in a sinister new light. To have any hope of salvation, Jared must find proof whether the nightmare he’s living is a descent into madness or an assault from a supernatural force more ancient and evil than Hell itself. Yet at every turn, the answer only grows more impossible to believe, upending his view of himself, his past, and the very nature of reality.

Worst of all is the growing suspicion that his youngest daughter Elena – an eccentric little girl prone to strange and sometimes unsettling behaviors – may be responsible for setting into motion a cataclysm that began decades before she was born.

©2024 John Ashley (P)2024 John Ashley

Everything you ever wanted in a book

The story and character development was amazing. And the narration? Let’s just say, you’re going to want to leave the lights on. When listening to the narrator, you forget you’re being read a story because he does such an impeccable job with his narration, you feel like you’re not only watching a movie, but are part of each scene. Male roles, female leaders, kids, other worldly demons, this narrator has zero issue with bringing lit all to life! Excellent story, made even better with the narration!!!

Mind Bending

The Dark Thing was just the book I needed to pull me out of my reading slump. This book had me second guessing my own perception of reality. It was gritty, creepy, heart wrenching and twisted in all the most perfect ways. Hands down my favorite new author book of the past 2 years. I so can't wait to see where John takes us next.

Dark, deep, and Poignant

Looks like my last book of 2024 is going to be The Dark Thing by John Ashley, and I’m happy to go out swinging. This book is a feverish nightmare that really provoked a lot of thought in me. Without delving into spoiler specifics, it deals with mental illness in a pretty profound way. I’m not sure if it was author intended, but one thing in particular really jumped out at me:

One of my least favorite tropes in horror is the affected victim being ignored by skeptical family members. Kid keeps screaming that the doll is haunted and that’s why the neighbors keep dying, but the parents just tut tut and write the kid off, etc. there are a million things like that that usually only serve as convenient devices so the plot doesn’t get cut off early. What John does here is bring about that skepticism in a way in which the skeptical parties would be a fool not to be. There’s really no choice but for them to fail to take him seriously. After all, it runs in the family.

But what struck a personal chord in me is the ways in which we tend to infantilize and patronize people the moment they start exhibiting mental health struggles. Probably the biggest thing I’ve taken away from this, is the importance and responsibility we have to treat the affected as still real and whole people. We don’t need to always believe them, but we should always listen.

Anyways, this book is surreal, dark, and poignant. If you haven’t checked it out, I suggest you put it near the top of your 2025 reading list.

And may we all win the wars we fight against our own “Dark Things.”

5/5 🌟

Such a heartbreaking story

This is horror…..why am I crying??? The dark thing is so beautifully written and so heartbreakingly good.

Ending Fell Flat

Good story overall, the narration really made this one shine. But the ending felt shockingly unsatisfying. I didn’t feel like this needed some divine link at the end. It made the ending kinda… blah. I’d rather have left not knowing the truth of paranormal vs psychological. I’d rather have finished this read feeling conflicted instead of resigned to believe he was duped and saved by some greater holy light while still institutionalized.

Twisted Horror Psychological Thriller

Twisted Horror Psychological Thriller I would definitely compare this to Stephen King and Great horror classic that I’ve read in the past. I would also say that this is more of a psychological thriller horror with paranormal and possession. I think the performance in the narrator were fantastic. I do feel like the story was just buried drawn out and everything big and exciting happened at the end. That is the only reason I’m not giving us a five star read.

Better Than My Own

Hearing this book come to life was even better than my own internal narration when reading this book! I read The Dark Thing when it first released earlier this year. It was an immediate 5 star read! I was so excited to find out that it was getting an audio version! The audio was beyond my expectations. The narrator knocked it out of the park. I hope to hear more from both John Ashley and Christian Leatherman!

Creepy!

I really enjoyed this! It creeped me out in parts but ultimately I loved it!

The story pulls together by the end and the entire time it makes you want to keep reading to find out what’s going to happen!