David Moody's Blog, page 37
January 23, 2019
The HATER story continues in ALL ROADS END HERE
Just a quick reminder that the next HATER novel – ALL ROADS END HERE, the sequel to 2017’s ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING – is out on 12 February from Thomas Dunne Books. It’ll be out in paperback, ebook and audiobook and, as with previous releases, I’ll be offering signed copies via the Infected Books website. Orders will open in the next week.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one. It dives right back into the heart of the first HATER trilogy, whilst telling a completely new story. There’s lots of cross-over with the original books, and it sets up the HUGE confrontation which you’ll read about in CHOKEHOLD, the absolute final HATER novel, which I hope will be out later in 2019.
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January 17, 2019
Little Monster
My friend JAMES PLUMB and the MAD SCIENCE FILMS team made another movie. I told you about it back in November – it’s an adaptation of the novella James wrote for the Infected Books YEAR OF THE ZOMBIE project a few years back. LITTLE MONSTER is a cracking novella which has become a great little film.
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January 14, 2019
The Last (couple of hundred) Big Thing(s) – now shipping
Many copies of THE LAST BIG THING are now winging their way around the world. Thanks to everyone for your patience.
Signed copies are available from Infected Books, with free shipping for UK orders.
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January 9, 2019
And the winners are…
Congratulations to REBECCA ALLEN, STEPHANIE FITZGIBBONS and ANDY RALSTON who will be receiving an advance review copy of ALL ROADS END HERE along with their signed copies of THE LAST BIG THING. Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered.
And apologies to everyone who pre-ordered, too. Your books haven’t yet been dispatched. There’s been a slight delay in receiving the copies from the printers for signing. I hope to get them out to you in the next few days and I’m really sorry for keeping you waiting. I hope this is okay, but don’t hesitate to let me know if not.
If anyone would like to order a signed copy, just pop over to the Infected Books website.
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January 8, 2019
The Last Big Thing – out now
THE LAST BIG THING hits shelves today, and I hope you enjoy it.
Eleven stories about life, death and everything in-between (and after).
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January 6, 2019
Bird Box
Here’s one which doesn’t need any recommendation from me, but I wanted to comment on it anyway. I first read Josh Malerman’s BIRD BOX several years ago. My friends at THIS IS HORROR sent me a copy of the chapbook they’d published by Malerman, THE HOUSE AT THE BOTTOM OF A LAKE, and I was really taken by it. Having been aware of the buzz surrounding BIRD BOX, and the fact it was being adapted for film, I picked a copy up and was seriously impressed. Fast-forward a few years, and the Netflix movie adaptation of BIRD BOX is proving to be incredibly successful.
Unless you’ve been living in a house with the windows covered and have been blindfolded every time you’ve dared step outside your front door, you probably know what it’s about by now. If not, here’s a synopsis and the movie trailer:
Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a mother and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.
BIRD BOX continues the great horror tradition of apocalyptic stories where the characters are deprived of one or more of their senses. Last year’s A QUIET PLACE deprived its characters of their voices, as was the case in my pal Tim Lebbon’s story THE SILENCE (a film adaptation of which is due to hit cinema screens later in 2019). You can understand why sensory depravation is such a fertile ground for horror – it leaves the characters immediately vulnerable and inevitably everyone watching can empathise: what would I do, how would I cope, how would I survive? John Wyndham’s classic DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS portrayed a world where almost the entire population is blind, but Malerman’s story ramps up the paranoia exponentially because his characters can see, they just can’t risk looking. And when you’re driving a car, looting a store, hurtling down rapids in a raft with your children blindfold, then the temptation to peer out would surely be unbearable.
There’s a top-notch cast and superb production values, with Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich delivering the goods. I was particularly impressed by the opening scenes and a wonderful sequence where the world deteriorates from relative normality to apocalyptic chaos in the space of a short car ride. Unfortunately, as is the way with many post-apocalyptic stories, the tension and horror of the initial event is difficult to sustain. Also, the split narrative, which works so well in the book, isn’t quite so effective on screen. That said, it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable watch which I’d recommend without hesitation.
I’m pleased the movie adaptation of BIRD BOX turned out so well. I won’t lie, I far preferred the novel, but I think the success of the film bodes well for the horror genre in general. As you may have heard, a staggering 45 million Netflix accounts watched the movie in its first week of release. That’s incredible. It gives me a lot of hope for the forthcoming HATER adaptation. On the subject of which… I know I’ve been promising updates for a long time, but as I’ve learnt over the last decade, the film industry is a wild and curious beast and its behaviour is impossible to predict. The movie is still happening, and a lot of progress has been made over the last 12 months. Please be patient a while longer. It will be worth it. We’re further along the road than you might realise. I’ve recently read and commented on the script, and it has the makings of something very special. More soon.
Oh, and if you’re in the UK and you’ve already watched BIRD BOX but are looking for something else to watch on this first Sunday afternoon of the new year, can I please recommend BROS: AFTER THE SCREAMING STOPS which is available now on BBC iPlayer. It’s an extraordinary documentary which could be described as a SPINAL TAP for 2019 (if it didn’t happen to be a true story). One of the executive producers is a certain Ed Barratt, producer of HATER…
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January 3, 2019
The old things that make up the big thing
Thanks to those of you who’ve already pre-ordered THE LAST BIG THING. I’m humbled by the number of folks who’ve picked up a copy, and I’m anxiously/nervously looking forward to hearing what you think. Don’t forget – if you’ve pre-ordered a signed copy from Infected Books, you can download a complementary ebook version straightaway and get reading immediately.
I’ve mentioned the art that Craig Paton put together for the book. As you’d expect with a collection like this, the cover is a grouping together of a number of disparate ideas. One of the new stories is about a band, and that’s where the initial idea for the artwork came from: a faded and torn tour poster that’s been pasted to a wall. Craig had a lot of fun adding loads of Easter eggs and in-jokes to the rest of the wall which I’m sure you’ll appreciate once you’ve read the collection. If you’re reading this piece on my website, you should be able to see a small sample immediately to your right.
I’ve been wanting to release this book for quite some time as I’ve built up a stockpile of short stories and it’s often the case that years after publication they can sometimes prove difficult for people to find. As you’d expect, there’s a certain amount of my trademark Moody bleakness in there with apocalyptic stories like THE LUCKY ONES, but it’s not all about the end of the world (for once). Once I looked back at the finished collection, I realised just to what extent some of my biggest influences have shaped much of what I’ve written over the years. My love of 1950s B movies and obscure 1970s horror films comes to the fore in stories like BIG MAN and ALMOST FOREVER, whereas OSTRICH, THE DEAL and NOLAN HIGGS IS OUT OF HIS DEPTH wouldn’t be out of place as episodes of TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED or THE TWILIGHT ZONE (aka the greatest TV show in history).
THE LAST BIG THING also marks the first time that my one and (currently) only HATER short story – EVERYTHING AND NOTHING – has appeared in print. It’s an interesting little off-cut which takes place in the days running up to the events of DOG BLOOD and which features a certain Danny McCoyne taking a break from the fighting and realising how close he is to home…
It’s not too late to pre-order a signed copy of the book (and to be in with a chance of winning one of three advance review copies of the next HATER novel, ALL ROADS END HERE). Just pop over to the Infected Books website to find out more.
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December 27, 2018
Pre-order The Last Big Thing
Hope you’re enjoying the holidays. Who said all the fun was over by the end of the 25th? Pre-orders for THE LAST BIG THING are now open. Head over to www.infectedbooks.co.uk.
The book will ship by 8 January (if not sooner), and all pre-orders will be personally signed. I’d definitely recommend the print version – you’ll be able to fully appreciate the brilliant, easter-egg filled cover art by Craig Paton. As with all Infected Books titles purchased directly through the Infected Books website, you’re able to download and read the ebook version immediately once your order has been placed.
And just to tempt you a little bit more… three lucky pre-orders placed before 8 January will also receive an advance copy of ALL ROADS END HERE. Here I go again spreading more Christmas and New Year cheer (actually, it’s more like New Year gloom – ALL ROADS is a heck of a brutal book).
THE LAST BIG THING is officially released on 8 January, and will be available from all the usual places. Ebook versions will also be available from most retailers – at the time of writing this post, only Amazon is live.
We sit in our own little bubbles, watching the rest of the world go by. We think ‘it’ll never happen to me’ but guess what? At some point it probably will. We might think we’re in control but believe me, there’s a lot we don’t know.
In the spirit of The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected , cult author David Moody presents eleven stories about life, death and everything in between (and after).
From the never-ending nightmare of domestic bliss to the search for the ultimate body modification, from warring families to warring nations, from the last minutes before doomsday to the polluted shores of the post-post-apocalypse, THE LAST BIG THING highlights how thin the line between the ordinary and extraordinary can be.
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December 18, 2018
The Last Big Thing
Rule of thumb: whenever I quote a deadline, add on at least a month. Slightly later than planned, but here’s the cover for THE LAST BIG THING – a collection featuring my favourite shorts of the last ten years or so (plus a few brand new ones). The book will be available as a hardback and ebook from 8 January.
Pre-orders will open on Wednesday 26 December.
Featuring the following stories:
BIG MAN
THE DEAL
THE LUCKY ONES
OSTRICH
GRANDMA KELLY
WE WERE SO YOUNG ONCE (new)
NOLAN HIGGS IS OUT OF HIS DEPTH
AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES (new)
EVERYTHING AND NOTHING: a HATER story (first time in print)
ALMOST FOREVER
THE LAST BIG THING
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December 11, 2018
One of Us Will be Dead by Morning
Time flies. It’s a year now since ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING – HATER book #4 (or The Final War book #1, depending on your perspective) – was released. I always harboured a sneaking suspicion that the book wouldn’t go down well with everyone and, well, I was right. Sales haven’t been as good as I’d hoped, and it’s my worst reviewed book on Goodreads. But lots of folks really like it. And I really like it. And it serves an important purpose.
When I decided to write a second HATER trilogy, I always knew I’d have to go right back to the beginning and introduce new characters. I also knew the book would need to be very different to HATER to emphasise the shift in perspective between the two trilogies. More than being a (very) self-contained survival horror story, though, ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING laid the groundwork for the next two books in the series – ALL ROADS END HERE and CHOKEHOLD (both of which will be published in 2019). And you know what? I think you’re going to have a blast with the direction the rest of the story is going to take.
ALL ROADS END HERE is a sequel to both ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING and HATER, and promotion will be kicking off in the new year. I’ll tell you lots more about the new book after Christmas, but if you’re nice and relaxed over the holiday period and you feel like a little hate-fuelled angst to go with your turkey and trimmings, why not re-read DOG BLOOD. Not wanting to give too much away, but you’re going to be meeting several familiar faces from the first HATER trilogy when ALL ROADS END HERE hits the shelves in February!
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