Literature is a painting, beautifully translated into language, aesthetically strung onto a blank canvas. There is good literature and bad literature, but there is also great literature. What is great literature? What makes good literature great literature? Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer by Johnathan L. Howard is a beautifully told story rooted in the macabre and dark humor. But is it great literature? In a way, it could be. Howard's writing is witty and enlightening. His characterization is interesting and makes the reader question the morality of not only the character and realize how close to human nature Howard has managed to get. Howard's writing is both witty and fun to read. With multiple sentence structures and a large vocabulary, Howard is able to make even a dark story like this seem lighthearted in his own way without diluting the dark humor this genre requires. Howard's description of shooting Dennis, a lame excuse for a burglar, is darkly written, but with the content of Howard's sentence and choice of words, the scene isn't as grotesque as it could have been. When Dennis was shot in the back, he was described as “drooping, his minimal brain activity reduced to zero” (Howard 22). Not to mention, Howard's language is what the novel received the most praise for. This book is credited for its “witty adventure” (Robinson), but still falls into the macabre genre as the epilogue of this novel is known as “an excellent stand-alone horror story” (Watson 1). So, despite Howard's intelligent and comical writing, he is still able to allow his story to slip into the macabre genre, as it is "the perfect work of a talented writer" (Vidimos 1). For... middle of the paper... rman, Allison. "The Crypt Kicked." The Crypt kicked. Clairty Digital Group LLC, October 24, 2009.Web. December 18, 2013. Howard, Johnathan L. “The Crypt Kicked.” The Crypt kicked. Livejournal and Web. December 18, 2013.Howard, Jonathan L. Johannes Cabal, the Necromancer. New York: Doubleday, 2009. Print.Nina. "Books and Teas of Death: Book Review - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan LHoward." Books about death and tea: book review - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L Howard. Blogger, August 18, 2011. Web. December 18, 2013. Unknown. "Johannes Cabala." John Cabala. Unknown and Web. December 18, 2013.Vidimos, Robin. “Hell has a wicked sense of humor.” The Denver Post. MNG Corporate, July 19, 2009. Network. December 18, 2013. Watson, Cary. "JettisonCocoon." : Book Review: Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (2010) by Jonathan L. Howard. Blogger, March 1, 2012. Web. December 18. 2013.