Garth Marenghi

Garth Marenghi is a fictional horror author created by English comedian Matthew Holness. He is depicted as a conceited hack writer, who remains blissfully (or even wilfully) unaware of his lack of talent.

The character has appeared in two stage shows, the Perrier Award-nominated Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight and Perrier Award-winning Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, and the Channel 4 TV series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and Man to Man with Dean Learner.

After winning the Perrier Award, the creators confounded media sources by refusing to speak out of character, or give real names or backgrounds.

Character
Garth Marenghi is a spoof pulp horror author; his act and his works are considered a parody of the horror genre. The name "Garth Marenghi" is an anagram of the phrase "argh nightmare."

The character is highly conceited and narcissistic, often describing himself through epithets such as "the dream weaver", "shaman", "titan of terror", "The One Man Fear Factory" and "master of the macabre." In interviews, he compares himself positively with James Joyce, Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, and Jesus.

Despite this, Marenghi displays a general ignorance of many subjects of which he claims knowledge. He claims to be self-taught, having left school young ("I knew by the age of eight that my education had finished"), and despite his claims to being a literary genius he rarely reads books. When he needs to learn about a subject, he will "hire someone to go and find out about it." In both stage shows, in the official website, and in numerous interviews he claims to have written more books than he has read.

Marenghi displays other traits including sexism, xenophobia, and extreme paranoia. He is depicted as married with four daughters, though disappointed at not having a son. The Darkplace episode "Skipper the Eye Child" explains this, and references this in its plot with Marenghi's character Rick Dagless shown as having a deceased son who was half boy, half grasshopper. During the DVD feature 'Darkplace Illuminatum' Marenghi draws further comparisons with himself and Dagless. He comments "In many ways he is an extension of my own natural abilities. He's got a little more than me. He is a little more tragic than I am, as a character. He's seen the dark side. A little too much."

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
The 2004 show Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is based on the premise that Garth Marenghi wrote and starred in a 1980s low-budget hospital-based horror show. Within this fictional context, 50 shows were created, but were never shown as they were suppressed by "MI-8" for being "too subversive, too dangerous, too damn scary."

Many jokes are based on the premise that Garth Marenghi not only created and wrote the series, but also plays the central character. As such, characters reflect Marenghi's world-view, and his own character—Doctor Rick Dagless, M.D.—exhibits many characteristics of a Mary Sue.

Other television appearances
Marenghi also guests in the first episode of Dean Learner's talk series, Man to Man with Dean Learner, where he reveals that he lost an ear in an ambulance crash, has written a total of 436 books, and has filmed a new movie, War of the Wasps, featuring most of the cast of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Marenghi has appeared in an episode of the Russell Howard Hour as part of a Christmas special to read a portion of one of his novels, Flay Bells Sting, Are You Glistening?

Novels

 * Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome (2022)
 * Matthew Holness published Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome, written under the Garth Marenghi pseudonym in November 2022; it is available as a hardback, paperback, ebook and audiobook. Release of the book was followed by a book tour, where Holness would read extracts of the book in-character as Marenghi and then conduct a Q&A with the audience.


 * Garth Marenghi's Incarcerat (2023)
 * A follow up to TerrorTome was released on Halloween 2023, aligning with an associated book tour.

Novels

 * Afterbirth (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Eye Sore (novel mentioned on official website)
 * Hellbent (novel mentioned in Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * Hellbenders (novel mentioned in Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * Hellbenders II: The Boys are Back (novel mentioned in Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * Return of the Coil (novel mentioned in Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * Return of the Coil: Reentry (novel mentioned in Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * The Ooze (novel mentioned on official website)
 * The Ooze 2: Return of the Ouzze (novel mentioned during radio interview)
 * Black Fang (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Tomb Boy (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Quivers (novel mentioned in Darkplace DVD supplementary material)
 * CRAB!! (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Dawn Waters (novel mentioned on official website)
 * Juggers (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Bitch Killer (novel mentioned in Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * Beyond the Valley of the Screams (mentioned on official website)
 * Stump (novel mentioned in Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * The Told (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Flay Bells Sting, Are You Glistening? (i.e. Having Just Been Flayed) (novel mentioned in The Russell Howard Hour)
 * Brain Jerk (novel mentioned in Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * The Dank (novel mentioned during Netherhead press)
 * Retch (novel mentioned on official website)
 * Overdrawn and Quartered (aka Pay or Flay) (novel mentioned in The Reel Feedback Podcast #89)
 * The Deadly Dust (novel mentioned on official website)
 * Rupture (novel mentioned during Netherhead press)
 * The Womb of Mad (novel mentioned in pre-Darkplace press)
 * Greyballs: The Legend of Greyballs (novel mentioned during The Mighty Boosh Festival)
 * The Yapping (novel mentioned during The Mighty Boosh Festival)
 * The Stealth-Hive Parallax (novel mentioned in The Irish Independent article)
 * London Fiends (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Digit (set of five novels mentioned in a letter)
 * The Premonitioner (novel mentioned in Total Film article)
 * Tomb Without a View (limited print run novel mentioned on Resonance FM's OST)
 * Prickfinder General (novel on parchment, mentioned on Resonance FM's OST)
 * Night of the Haddock (novel mention on Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster #212)
 * Haddock 2: More Killer Haddock (novel mentioned on Off Menu)
 * Haddock 5: The Haddocking (unpublished novel mentioned on Off Menu)
 * Afternoon of the Haddock (novel mentioned on Off Menu)
 * The Man-Gorgon (novel mentioned in Incarcerat)
 * Guygon (novel mentioned in Incarcerat)
 * Galgon (novel mentioned in Incarcerat)
 * Bride of Guygon (novel mentioned in Incarcerat)
 * Guygon vs Galgon (novel mentioned in Incarcerat)
 * Galgon Rising (novel mentioned in Incarcerat)
 * Guygon 2012 (Stone Free) (novel mentioned in Incarcerat)
 * The Krilling (novel mentioned on Twitter)
 * The Kriller Killer (novel mentioned on Twitter)
 * Killer Kriller (novel mentioned on Twitter)
 * The Krills Have Eyes (novel mentioned on Twitter)

Series

 * Slicer
 * Slicer (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Slasher (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * R.I.P.P.E.R. (novel mentioned in Darkplace)
 * Slicer IV: The Blade is Back (novel mentioned in Darkplace)


 * Stingpregnators
 * Marenghi's cosmic parasitic space wasp quintology (mentioned in The Irish Independent article)
 * Locust Rex
 * Volumes 1-10 (mentioned in The Irish Independent article)

Early Novels
The following titles are mentioned in TerrorTome as books written by the protagonist, Nick Steen. In The Reel Feedback Podcast #89, Marenghi stated that readers may recognise the titles being the same as his own fledgling efforts in the early eighties.


 * Hives
 * The Itching
 * Sunburner
 * Woebetigo
 * The Shingler
 * Night of the Eczeman
 * Eczeman 2: Derma-die-sis
 * Rosacea's Baby
 * The Swelling
 * The Burning
 * The Flaking
 * The Crusting
 * A Scab in the Dark (Scabman)
 * Scabman 2: Return of the Scabman
 * Scabman 3: No Pickin'
 * Psychoriasis (The Bleeder)
 * Psychoriasis 2 (The Bleeder 2)
 * Psychoriasis 3: Revenge of the Flesh Heads (aka Bleeder vs Scabman)

Collections

 * A Little Bite of What You Fancy (mentioned on official website)
 * Dead Centre (mentioned on official website)

Short Stories

 * Garth See Dog, Car Hit Dog, Garth Poke Dog (Marenghi's first story, mentioned in The Reel Feedback Podcast #89)
 * Stake Out (mentioned on official website)
 * Gobble Gobble (mentioned on official website)
 * The Streaming Face (mentioned on official website)
 * The Ague (mentioned on official website)
 * Face Bottom (mentioned on official website)
 * Mindgrid (mentioned on official website)