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Is this it? The longer fall I was looking for? To know that I was summoned up from the dark ether to do a monster's deeds for Hallandrette's truest son? And when our work is done, I will carry him to the bottom of the sea where we both belong. Deep beneath the silt our bones will turn to salt.
Johann, about his relationship with Florian.

The Monster of Elendhaven is a 2019 horror fantasy novel by Jennifer Giesbrecht. The book is the author's debut novel.

The story follows Johann, a strange Humanoid Abomination; with the form of a pale, lanky man, a capacity to not be perceived and be forgotten as long as he leaves the person's sight, the gift of resurrecting immediately after dying, and an instinctual drive to kill people; and the sorcerer he falls for, Florian; the cold and vengeful last surviving member of an old noble house with a vendetta against the city they're both living in.

The city of Elendhaven is a dying coastal city, its waters are black from pollution and corrupted with black magic, the city is still not recovered from a deadly plague that ravaged it, and everyone's business seems to be doing poorly, however, that is not enough for Florian, who has big plans to end the city once and for all, and Johann is in love with his carnage, ready to assist him with whatever he wants.


The book contains examples of:

  • Accomplice by Inaction: One of the targets of Florian's revenge. He sees the people of Mittengelt as at fault for what happened to his town and his family. They could have helped at any time but decided to only act when the town's supply of whale oil and other products was compromised and there was a risk that the plague would invade other cities. By then, the situation was awful and Florian's family had died.
  • Ambiguously Human: Johann looks human, but he is a monster of undefined nature. He can't be killed and he has basically only base instincts for killing and an infatuation and subservience to Florian. It's implied he might be a boy Florian and his sister killed by accident when they were kids and threw his body on the magic and pollution contaminated water of the town, which would make him more of a human mutant.
  • Badass Boast: One of Florian's toast when he poisons the party guests with a sleeping drug so he can inject them with various strains of the plague.
    Florian: We stand alone at the edge of the world, as I stood alone atop the corpses of my family. When you go forth from this city, you will bring the same ruin to your people that you allowed to befall mine. I am Hallandrette's favourite son and I will devour your bones as surely as she does when her unloved children are cast into the ocean.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: Despite being killed, Florian's revenge is set in stone already. His plague has started going around and, thanks to Johann's blood, it might be incurable. The city of Elendhaven is sure to be ravaged, and maybe even all cities nearby.
  • Ban on Magic: A hundred years prior, a mage caused a big catastrophe on the North Pole, causing the world over to turn against magic, Mage Hunters were created to find them and off them to make sure nothing of the sort could happen. Florian tells Johann that even in his family, his grandmother admitted to killing her own son when he showed signs of being a mage.
  • Compelling Voice: One of Florian's skills is to nudge people towards a certain idea. He uses this to keep being hired by industrialists trying to start some project or another in the town, where he can destroy them from inside, and also so he never has to pay for food.
  • Love at First Sight: Johann falls for Florian the moment he lays eyes on him, stalking him and being totally loyal to him from that moment onward.
  • Gaslamp Fantasy: The setting seems to be inspired by Victorian Era Britain, with a dash of the dark, gritty post-industrialization visuals, where the town has been basically destroyed by the industries that use it. The setting also has plenty of supernatural elements.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Johann is a monster that looks like a tall, lanky human. He only has the drive to kill and his submission and love for Florian as motivators. He can't be killed, as he will just resurrect soon after, people, with few exceptions, will forget about him as soon as he leaves their sight, and he may be a kind of magical zombie.
  • Impoverished Patrician: The Leickenbloom family was already poor way back in the past. Florian's grandmother had already sold most of the precious stuff they had to keep them afloat, and Florian subsists out of using his Compelling Voice powers to never have to pay for anything and to get jobs as an accountant, which he mostly uses to further his plans of destroying the capitalists in the city. When Johann enters his mansion, it is mostly barren and poorly kept. Florian explains this situation is common with all noble families.
  • In Love with Your Carnage: Johann is attracted to Florian as a whole, but his desire for revenge is one aspect he also finds attractive. In one case, he even enjoys the pain of Florian using his telekinesis to almost break his arms.
  • Lean and Mean: Johann is a merciless serial killer and is "tall as a signpost, thin, and conspicuously unnatural". Unluckily for his victims, he's also supernaturally difficult to notice.
  • Magical Sensory Effect: Sorcerers gain Volcanic Veins when they're tapping their powers, which can literally scald and scar them from within if they overuse their magic.
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: A sort of version. Johann might either be a human mutated by the city's pollution of magic, which would make him strange, but mundane, or he may be genuinely a god-sent gift to aid Florian in whatever he needs. Hell, he might even be both.
  • Mind over Matter: Florian has multiple telekinesis powers and he is quite powerful with them. When Johann gets too handsy, he has even killed him by forcing him to snap his own neck and blasted him away with it.
  • Perception Filter: Johann has this as an innate skill. People will forget about him soon after meeting him when he leaves their sight, leaving him free to steal and kill without ever being caught. Florian is the only one that avoids it.
  • The Plague: 15 years prior, a plague ravaged Elendhaven, killing Florien's family, and was only dealt with much later, by doctors sent from outside. Florian's current plan includes taking revenge for their inaction and for the death of his family by the townspeople by starting a more powerful version of the plague targetting certain people and developed using Johann's blood.
  • Queer Romance: The story is partly about Florian's revenge against those he considers to have wronged him and the town and partly about Johann and his blossoming relationship.
  • Red Right Hand: Magic causes Florian's veins to burn, so his arms are scarred across his veins and some in his neck.
  • Relationship Upgrade: Johann, teasingly, accuses Florian of being in love with his dead sister, and that being the reason why he doesn't look for another relationship. Florian is so angry that he uses his telekinesis to force Johann to snap his own neck and briefly die. Ironically, this is also the moment their relationship becomes more openly romantic, with Florian kissing Johann when he resurrects and they're fully making out in the next chapter.
  • Resurrective Immortality: No matter what happens to Johann, his body heals up and he gets back up as if nothing happened. The first time this happened, he actually took a while to get back, but by the current time, he can slit his own throat and it would heal before he died from it.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: For what happened to him and his family, Florian sets off to take revenge on those he believes to be at fault, both the town itself and those that delayed their help until they were possibly at risk.
  • Serial Killer: Johann is a creature that kills for no other reason than he feels like it. He kills indiscriminately anyone that comes across his path and he sees as being worth killing.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Johann. He immediately falls for Florian when he sees him, and his first action is to spend weeks stalking him, figuring out that he is a sorcerer, and using that as a way to get closer to him, acting as his manservant.
  • Then Let Me Be Evil: During the plague 15 years prior, the Leickenbloom family was sieged inside their house by the people who believed they were harboring a wizard that started the plague. Florian, the only survivor, decided to become exactly that. He's a sorcerer that developed an even more powerful version of the plague to take revenge. As Johann mentions, this means the people that attacked the family were technically right.
  • Unholy Matrimony: Johann and Florian are a couple of psychopathic serial killers that plan to ravage the town with a plague and seem to be genuinely in love with each other.
  • Volcanic Veins: Magic literally flows through a sorcerer's veins when they're using magic, giving them an eerie glow.
  • Wretched Hive: The city of Elendhaven. It's a grim place that had been recently ravaged by a plague, destroyed by industries, and heavily polluted by dark magic.
  • You're Cute When You're Angry: Johann thinks Florian is cute and pretty when he is angry, which prompts many times where he teases Florian until he snaps.

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