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Samuel Johnson #1-3
Samuel Johnson vs The Darkness Trilogy
Bursting with imagination and impossible to put down, these novels - 'darkly comic' (Telegraph) and 'delightfully horrific and hilarious' (Eoin Colfer) - from The Sunday Times bestselling author John Connolly, are about the pull between good and evil, physics and fantasy - and a quirky boy, who is impossible not to love, and the unlikely cast of characters who give him the strength to stand up to a demonic power.
The Gates: Samuel Johnson's neighbour Mrs Abernathy is trying to open the gates of hell. It's up to Samuel to stop her, except nobody will believe him, and time is running out.
The Infernals (prev. Hell's Bells): Samuel and Boswell are pulled through a portal into Hell. But Mrs Abernathy has reckoned without their bravery and cleverness, or the loyalty of Samuel's friend, the demon Nurd, and Mr Merryweather's Elves.
The Creeps: Samuel and Boswell are to be guests of honour at the opening of the greatest toyshop. A splendid time will be had by all, as long as they can ignore the sinister statue that keeps moving around the town, the Shadows that are slowly blocking out the stars, murderous elves, and the fact that, somewhere, a rotten black heart is beating a rhythm of reveng
The Gates: Samuel Johnson's neighbour Mrs Abernathy is trying to open the gates of hell. It's up to Samuel to stop her, except nobody will believe him, and time is running out.
The Infernals (prev. Hell's Bells): Samuel and Boswell are pulled through a portal into Hell. But Mrs Abernathy has reckoned without their bravery and cleverness, or the loyalty of Samuel's friend, the demon Nurd, and Mr Merryweather's Elves.
The Creeps: Samuel and Boswell are to be guests of honour at the opening of the greatest toyshop. A splendid time will be had by all, as long as they can ignore the sinister statue that keeps moving around the town, the Shadows that are slowly blocking out the stars, murderous elves, and the fact that, somewhere, a rotten black heart is beating a rhythm of reveng
- GenresUrban Fantasy
976 pages, Paperback
Published October 29, 2020
About the author
John Connolly
221 books8,061 followersJohn Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute.
He is based in Dublin but divides his time between his native city and the United States.
This page is administered by John's assistant, Clair, on John's behalf. If you'd like to communicate with John directly, you can do so by writing to contact-at-johnconnollybooks.com, or by following him on Twitter at @JConnollyBooks.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.
He is based in Dublin but divides his time between his native city and the United States.
This page is administered by John's assistant, Clair, on John's behalf. If you'd like to communicate with John directly, you can do so by writing to contact-at-johnconnollybooks.com, or by following him on Twitter at @JConnollyBooks.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 19, 2026
Well what a surprising and divergent read from my normal series epic fantasy or tales of horror and fright.
I’ve got a huge list of proper adultish books to read so after finishing my most recent adultish book I needed something easy..quick but still magnificent.
I obviously heard of this author being a book seller for half of my life or thereabouts. I knew he was a good writer and was known for his book of lost things which is a book I’ve always meant to get around to reading. Coincidently this is on my list of adultish books to read. I was also aware that he had written a series of detective novels with a supernatural element which intrigues me as well.
Anyway I accidentally saw this in my bookstore and I thought that looks interesting and something I could read between my more serious books so on a whim I bought it and even better is that it combines all the three books in the series as a trilogy ( funny that being three books and all).
I was gonna wait to write a review until I finished all three, but I thought no I’ll do my review in three parts starting with part one the Gates.
I must admit I’ve always been a huge fan of writers such as Douglas Adams and I must say I was pleasantly amused that I hadn’t read a book so close to Adams witty and irreverent sense of humour as reading this book.
I loved this book and it’s a very easy book to read and I breezed through part one in a matter of time but I’ve never laughed so loud in the book as I have reading this one. Yes it is a young adult book written for young people so the writing was easy and flowed very quickly. What made it fun for me was the dark funny sense of humour and what made it even more fun was that it had a decent storyline and combined science fantasy and horror.
I’ve often flown between horror and fantasy and I even like my fantasy to have touches of horror as part of their storyline but this one definitely encapsulates all those themes into one book.
I want to spoil it too much, but basically it’s about a young boy and his dog and his friends helping stem the gates of hell from being opened and battling Demons of horrific description and the author doesn’t hold back on some of the horrific monsters within this book. I was reminded of movies like the Thing especially with some of the transformations of some of the monsters within this book. The thing is one of my favourite horror movies of all time so I was very happy to be reading this that reminded me of that.
So basically if you want an easy read with some absolutely geeky sense of humour definitely in the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy mode or league of gentlemen vein then give this a chance. The footnotes alone are worth the price of admission.
I’ve got a huge list of proper adultish books to read so after finishing my most recent adultish book I needed something easy..quick but still magnificent.
I obviously heard of this author being a book seller for half of my life or thereabouts. I knew he was a good writer and was known for his book of lost things which is a book I’ve always meant to get around to reading. Coincidently this is on my list of adultish books to read. I was also aware that he had written a series of detective novels with a supernatural element which intrigues me as well.
Anyway I accidentally saw this in my bookstore and I thought that looks interesting and something I could read between my more serious books so on a whim I bought it and even better is that it combines all the three books in the series as a trilogy ( funny that being three books and all).
I was gonna wait to write a review until I finished all three, but I thought no I’ll do my review in three parts starting with part one the Gates.
I must admit I’ve always been a huge fan of writers such as Douglas Adams and I must say I was pleasantly amused that I hadn’t read a book so close to Adams witty and irreverent sense of humour as reading this book.
I loved this book and it’s a very easy book to read and I breezed through part one in a matter of time but I’ve never laughed so loud in the book as I have reading this one. Yes it is a young adult book written for young people so the writing was easy and flowed very quickly. What made it fun for me was the dark funny sense of humour and what made it even more fun was that it had a decent storyline and combined science fantasy and horror.
I’ve often flown between horror and fantasy and I even like my fantasy to have touches of horror as part of their storyline but this one definitely encapsulates all those themes into one book.
I want to spoil it too much, but basically it’s about a young boy and his dog and his friends helping stem the gates of hell from being opened and battling Demons of horrific description and the author doesn’t hold back on some of the horrific monsters within this book. I was reminded of movies like the Thing especially with some of the transformations of some of the monsters within this book. The thing is one of my favourite horror movies of all time so I was very happy to be reading this that reminded me of that.
So basically if you want an easy read with some absolutely geeky sense of humour definitely in the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy mode or league of gentlemen vein then give this a chance. The footnotes alone are worth the price of admission.
Read
April 29, 202525/04/25 - 29/04/25
DNF
I wanted to love this, it feels almost like a triple feature length Roald Dahl novel, but I think I'm just too far outside the target age to properly engage with it's humour for over nine hundred pages. Not bad by any means, just not for me.
DNF
I wanted to love this, it feels almost like a triple feature length Roald Dahl novel, but I think I'm just too far outside the target age to properly engage with it's humour for over nine hundred pages. Not bad by any means, just not for me.
Did Not Finish
March 31, 2026couldn't get into this after about 180 pages so decided to call it quits. if I was younger I might have enjoyed it more.
it seems quite Douglas Adams-y without having the special bit that makes Douglas Adams books so entertaining
it seems quite Douglas Adams-y without having the special bit that makes Douglas Adams books so entertaining
September 5, 2021
One of the best books i,ve read great storys and so funny and like all john connly books very well written
April 26, 2022
A young reader book that I just cannot get into even though this I my favorite author. So sorry
June 10, 2024
I read this trilogy a few years back, so this review may not be the most lucid, but here we go.
This is my favourite trilogy, and I just couldn’t pick a favourite single book so I just bunched them all together because I am lazy.
The writing style is very fun and immersive and fits perfectly with the plot, which is the perfect blend of comical and interesting and moving and serious.
These books are really suitable for any ages. I read them when I was thirteen and enjoyed the comedy and whimsical adventure, but after looking back over it, with my new critical eye from all the classics I’ve read, I can see the raw talent in the writing, the sheer emotion and powerful meanings.
These books are both fun and thought provoking, but mostly fun, so go read them.
And if you don’t like fun, then you can rate this trilogy 1 star and everybody will know your an equal mix of puritan and troglodyte.
This is my favourite trilogy, and I just couldn’t pick a favourite single book so I just bunched them all together because I am lazy.
The writing style is very fun and immersive and fits perfectly with the plot, which is the perfect blend of comical and interesting and moving and serious.
These books are really suitable for any ages. I read them when I was thirteen and enjoyed the comedy and whimsical adventure, but after looking back over it, with my new critical eye from all the classics I’ve read, I can see the raw talent in the writing, the sheer emotion and powerful meanings.
These books are both fun and thought provoking, but mostly fun, so go read them.
And if you don’t like fun, then you can rate this trilogy 1 star and everybody will know your an equal mix of puritan and troglodyte.
May 1, 2021
Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! Why haven't I read these sooner?! A young adult collection that is clever and funny. A great read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews