The Literary Afterlives of Labyrinth

“You have no power over me!”

When Jim Henson’s musical fantasy film Labyrinth released in 1986, no one could have predicted its lasting cultural impact that keeps people watching nearly forty years later. When it first came to theaters, it was to lukewarm fanfare; critics were negative, it grossed hardly half its budget, and many viewers went into the film expecting one thing and getting something quite different. In fact, Labyrinth was yanked from some theaters less than a month after its release.

However, Labyrinth has since become a beloved cult favorite, continuing to enchant and delight viewers. On the heels of the 2024 news that Robbert Eggers would be directing and co-writing a sequel to Labyrinth, popularity further surged, including on TikTok, where edits of Jareth, in particular, continue to garner millions of views.

At its heart, Labyrinth is the story of a teenage girl traversing an eerie, dream-like fantasy world on her quest to save her brother from the enigmatic Goblin King, Jareth, while embarking on her own coming-of-age journey. At the beginning of the film, Sarah Williams, the protagonist, is more interested in daydreaming and a life of freedom than she is babysitting her baby brother Toby. One fateful night, while lamenting her responsibilities, Sarah begs the Goblin King to take her brother away. What she doesn’t expect is for Jareth to actually appear, but appear he does, whisking her brother away in a dramatic swirl of magic and giving Sarah just hours to reach the center of his labyrinth before he turns Toby into a monstrous goblin.

Though humorous at times, Labyrinth’s plot often twists into darker territory, even dipping into horror-like elements, and it is replete with danger, monsters, dark magic, seduction, lies, traps, and several moral conundrums. But Sarah overcomes it all. And when she confronts Jareth for the final time, she breaks free from his pull and his power, shattering the veil that has blinded her from the truth. Ultimately, it’s a triumphant ending.

Labyrinth’s themes, characters, and evocative visual artistry remain a steadfast inspiration for artists of all mediums. And so, perhaps it is only natural that the film thrives as a muse for authors, too.

When I was drafting my debut fantasy novel, Dream by the Shadows, I was, quite frankly, unaware of the influence Labyrinth had on me. I did not set out to write a Labyrinth reimagining. However, as the book took shape, a few similarities became apparent. A protagonist who must save her brother from an enigmatic villain character? Check. An eerie dreamworld filled with a manner of bizarre creatures? Check. A mysterious prince of darkness who rules from his demon-infested dream castle and wants the protagonist to choose him? Check. A surreal masquerade scene complete with elaborate costumes? Check. I, like many authors who grew up under (or later discovered) the hypnotic spell of Labyrinth, had been officially influenced.

Other Labyrinth-inspired stories feature similar nods to the film: heroines desperate to escape their mundane lives, a family or friend who is in peril (often getting whisked away to a new world themselves), a love interest figure who reigns from an alternate (and sometimes dream-like and frightening) fantasy world, and themes of temptation, the allure of escaping reality, and overcoming personal demons and insecurities.

Young adult fantasy books inspired by Labyrinth include three favorites of mine: S. Jae-Jones’ Wintersong, which follows a girl who must save her sister from the Goblin King whose mythos inspired her musical compositions, Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King, which features a teenager who learns she’s the daughter of a faerie king and must venture into a strange world to find and rescue her brother, and A.M. Strickland’s Beyond the Black Door, a story about a girl who can journey into other people’s souls while they sleep (and the mysterious character who awaits her on the other side of a forbidden door).

Adult fantasy books inspired by Labyrinth often feature strong romantic plots and love interests who are often deviations or reimaginings of Jareth the Goblin King. Jordan Lynde’s Until the World Falls Down, for example, follows a woman who becomes trapped in a seductive immortal’s sentient castle, and Emma Hamm’s Of Goblins and Gold follows a woman who must journey to the realm of the fae to save her sister from the Goblin King who stole her.

Lynde’s book, Until the World Falls Down, is an eye-opening testament to the voracious readers who are hungry for Labyrinth-inspired books. Originally self-published, Until the World Falls Down constellated enthusiasm on TikTok in the weeks following its publication, ultimately leading to a three-book deal with a publisher. One of Lynde’s TikTok posts, which has garnered one million views, features the following hook on the first slide: “When you loved Labyrinth growing up, but always wanted Sarah to stay with Jareth… so you wrote it yourself.”

When I spoke to Lynde about her thoughts on Labyrinth and what compels readers to consume Labyrinth-inspired books, especially ones with romantic plotlines, she said: “Jareth is a compelling villain, and I think that’s why so many people are drawn to him and so eager to read books inspired by both the film and the character himself. Jareth offers an intoxicating combination of fantasy, yearning, danger…and the idea of someone being absolutely obsessed with you.” Lynde’s comments reflect a considerable portion of reader comments that can be found on her videos and others across TikTok and beyond. “Characters like Jareth leave you wondering if they will love or destroy you. And so, Labyrinth-inspired stories allow us to revisit that delicious tension between light and dark, reality, and fantasy, and control and surrender,” Lynde said.

Nearly four decades after its release, Labyrinth continues to captivate not just because of its dazzling visuals or iconic performances, but because of the emotional truths buried beneath its whimsy and shadows. It’s a story about identity, choice, and the often painful process of growing up, and those themes resonate just as powerful on the page as they do on screen. Whether authors are consciously channeling Jareth’s twisted charm or Sarah’s determined spirit, the influence of Labyrinth can be found in books that blend fantasy with yearning, danger, and wonder. As long as readers continue to crave that liminal space between dreams and reality, Labyrinth and its imaginative literary descendants will endure.

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Dream by the Shadows by Logan Karlie is available via Christy Ottaviano Books.