Where To See Garth Marenghi Live in the UK in 2025: New Book, Tour Dates, and What To Expect

If you're into creepy comedy, horror that’s more hilarious than horrifying, or you just miss the ‘80s in a weirdly specific way, then Garth Marenghi is probably already on your radar. And if not—let’s catch you up. He’s the fictional (but also kind of real?) horror author created by comedian Matthew Holness, and he’s back with a new book and another UK tour. This time, it’s called Garth Marenghi’s This Bursted Earth, and it's both a novel and a full-blown stage tour stretching from October 2025 to May 2026.

Let’s unpack what that actually means, why fans are buzzing, and where you can catch him live.

What’s the deal with Garth Marenghi anyway?

Imagine if Stephen King met Alan Partridge and they wrote a horror novel together using a haunted typewriter powered by pure ego. That’s basically Garth Marenghi. He’s over-the-top, completely convinced of his own genius, and gloriously stuck in the VHS era. And the wild thing is—behind all the parody—these books are actually clever, funny, and brilliantly written.

The new book, This Bursted Earth, is the third in his Terrortome trilogy, following TerrorTome (2022) and Incarcerat (2023). Both became Sunday Times bestsellers, because apparently there’s a huge market for semi-satirical horror where the main character wrestles with his own imagination... and the occasional moustachioed skeleton.

What’s This Bursted Earth actually about?

Okay, so in this final chapter of the trilogy, Marenghi’s main character—Nick Steen, a horror writer himself—is starting to lose it. He’s having bonkers visions: a creepy black steeple, weird fireworks that definitely aren’t fireworks, and, yes, a giant skeleton with a moustache. Classic.

These aren’t just random dream sequences either. The town of Stalkford is under threat from these bursts of imagination, and it might be too late to stop it. Everything’s, well, bursted. And Garth, never one to downplay a plot, wants you to know that this isn’t just some bursted earth—it’s This Bursted Earth.

Here’s how he puts it:

“If you possess a brain, you will want to fill that brain with my visions. Specifically, my visions of a Bursted Earth… Not Garth Marenghi’s Bursted Earth or Garth Marenghi’s Earth That Was Bursted. It’s Garth Marenghi’s This Bursted Earth.”

So yeah, expect brain-melting metaphors, mega-monsters, and a whole lot of deadpan bravado.

When and where is the tour happening?

This isn’t a short run either—it’s a massive tour that hits over 30 cities. It kicks off in October 2025 and runs through to May 2026, landing in venues from Norwich to Glasgow.

Here’s a quick peek at just some of the stops:

October 2025

• Mon 20 – Norwich Playhouse
• Tue 28 – Leeds, City Varieties Music Hall
• Fri 31 – Newcastle, Tyne Theatre & Opera House (yes, Halloween night!)

November 2025

• Sat 1 – Edinburgh, Queen's Hall
• Fri 14 – Crewe, Lyceum Theatre
• Sun 16 – Reading, Concert Hall

February–May 2026 highlights:

• Thu 5 Feb – Bath, Komedia
• Sat 14 Mar – Lichfield Garrick
• Sat 28 Mar – York, Grand Opera House
• Fri 24 Apr – Cardiff New Theatre
• Sat 25 Apr – London Palladium
• Sun 3 May – Glasgow, Pavilion Theatre

So if you’re anywhere near these places—or fancy a road trip—it’s worth grabbing tickets early. The last tours sold over 50,000 tickets.

How do I get the book?

The new book drops on 30th October 2025—perfect timing for Halloween weekend. It’ll be out in hardback, ebook, and audiobook, published by Coronet, with editor Tom Atkins leading the charge. (And no, they’re not publishing it after Halloween again—someone at the publisher “lost their head” over that, apparently. Garth’s words. Probably.)

So whether you’re reading it under the covers or listening while doing the washing up, there’s no excuse not to dive into the madness.