David Moody's Blog, page 39

The Shape of Water

A fairly predictable film recommendation from me today. I make no secret of the fact that I owe GUILLERMO DEL TORO big time. I’ve never met the man, never even spoken to him directly, but it’s no exaggeration to say that he changed my life. His endorsement of HATER and the movie he almost produced helped propel my gruesome little book from its modest indie roots to a worldwide release which exceeded my wildest expectations. I was trawling through some old clippings the other day and I came across an old interview with him where he talked about it: “…what I love about the premise is that there is a righteousness. It’s not a viral situation, not a contagion, it’s a situation of a social disease. That we can road rage into murdering someone at any second. That it’s a social epidemic is what attracted me. It’s not a zombie movie. The people that kill the people can rationalise why they did it. That’s what is scary about it.”

You can understand why this was such a big deal, but what made it an even bigger deal was the fact I was a huge Guillermo del Toro fan even before this happened. I happened upon a copy of his first movie, CRONOS, shortly after it was released in 1993, and I’d followed his career with interest since then. Or was that his careers? He seems to occupy a unique position whereby he alternates big budget crowd pleasing movies like HELLBOY and PACIFIC RIM with more personal films such as THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE and PAN’S LABYRINTH. His most recent movie, for which he picked up the best director and best picture Oscars at this year’s Academy awards, seems to have brought both of these strands of film-making together.

The premise is simple, the film is outstanding: At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.

Sally Hawkins (recently seen in the brilliant PADDINGTON 2) is on superb form here as Elisa, a mute cleaner at a top secret US government facility. And that’s the first thing that really appealed to me about THE SHAPE OF WATER – its key characters are the kind of people I’ve long waited to hear tell their stories. I’m a sucker for 1950’s B movies featuring giant monsters and shrinking men and the like, and I’ve always looked at the settings for these films and thought who built that massive hidden underground silo, and who keeps it clean? Who designed the hardware that’s keeping that monster locked away? Who maintains the weapons which are defending this city from alien attack? Okay, so my questions are deliberately tongue-in-cheek, but you catch my drift – watch any James Bond movie with a power-crazed villain housed in a superbase fortress. How did it get there? Who designed and built it? Who sweeps the floors? Who prepares the food? You’ll have heard me going on about how my books are about ordinary people trapped in extraordinary situations… THE SHAPE OF WATER is about (relatively) ordinary people who just happen to work in an extraordinary place.

The other cast members are equally strong, particularly Octavia Spencer as Elisa’s close confidant Zelda, and the ever-brilliant Michael Shannon as the movie’s big bad. Del Toro stalwart Doug Jones is again at the same time both completely unrecognisable and unfailingly familiar as the amphibian creature with whom Elisa forms an improbable yet completely believable bond.

As with every del Toro movie, production design here is top-notch. The top secret Cold War base is beautifully realised. The creature design also hits the mark, with the amphibian taking cues from THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON without appearing overly derivative.

But as with all great movies, it’s characters and story which are front and centre here. The premise of THE SHAPE OF WATER becomes more implausible the longer you think about it, so don’t. Just sit back and enjoy an exceptional film and revel in the fact that a homage to black and white rubber suit monster movies won big at the Oscars this year. Thoroughly recommended.

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I should be working (but instead I’m reading)

I really should be working, but it’s been a while since I got hold of a copy of SCREAM and, as usual, it’s packed with good stuff.

Having recently sat through the film again, I particularly enjoyed the comprehensive feature about FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE. Also noteworthy were the articles about PIRANHA, the career of JOE DANTE, and oft-overlooked sequel EXORCIST III. And that’s why I love SCREAM, and why I post about it whenever a new issue lands on the doormat – it’s a magazine for true horror fans who’ve lived and breathed the genre for years. It focuses on the classics as well as the contemporary. Long may it continue!

You can get hold of SCREAM from www.screamhorrormag.com/store. It’s also available from BARNES & NOBLE and BOOKS A MILLION stores in the USA, CHAPTERS/INDIGO stores in Canada, EASON stores across Ireland, and in the UK you can pick up copies from WH Smith, HMV, FOPP and FORBIDDEN PLANET.

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MOON

How long’s it been since I recommended a film here? A quick glance back shows that it’s 4 months since I talked about the plusses of PADDINGTON 2 versus the negatives of ALIEN: COVENANT, so a new recommendation is well overdue. I watched Duncan Jones’ MUTE last night, and though I tried hard to love it, I could only like (bits of) it. MUTE hit Netflix earlier this month, and it piqued my interest because it takes place in the same movie universe as Jones’ first movie, MOON. To my mind, MOON is one of the best films of the last decade, and I realised I’d never recommended it on this site. So here goes.

Astronaut Sam Bell’s (Sam Rockwell) three-year shift at a lunar mine is finally coming to an end, and he’s looking forward to his reunion with his wife (Dominique McElligott) and young daughter. Suddenly, Sam’s health takes a drastic turn for the worse. He suffers painful headaches and hallucinations, and almost has a fatal accident. He meets what appears to be a younger version of himself. With time running out, Sam must solve the mystery before the company crew arrives.

Where do I start? There’s so much to love about this film. Let’s begin with the production design. The visuals are exquisite, and the use of miniatures rather than CGI give the film a unique appeal – there’s enough to be reminiscent of Gerry Anderson’s live action TV series of old such as SPACE 1999 and UFO, but at the same time the technical skill here is bang up to date. Inside the base, the sets have an inherently plausible grubbiness and functionality about them which recalls the original ALIEN. This is a future rooted firmly in the present. It’s a gritty, greasy, nuts and bolts kind of industry which is all the more plausible for a layer of dirt. The computer, Gertie, despite being voiced by the now-disgraced Kevin Spacey, retains its impact by communicating largely through emojis. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it does.

And then there’s the music. A wonderful score courtesy of with a driving, piano- and drum-led theme which has been a staple of my writing playlist since the film first came out. The score is at once cavernous and intimate, and that perfectly reflects the premise of the film: an astronaut operating huge machinery, completely alone in the vastness of the moon.

???

But all this apart, there are two reasons you need to watch MOON if you haven’t already. First is the story. It’s simple, but it’s superb. The film is wonderfully self-contained and satisfying, and I’m going to say absolutely no more about it now because the last thing I want to do is spoil it for those who haven’t yet watched. The second reason is . His performance(s) as Sam Bell are what elevate this film from being a cool-looking movie with a neat twist to being a compelling, heart-breaking tour-de-force. I guarantee you will forget you’re watching one actor playing dual roles.

You might have guessed by now that I love this film. It’s in my all-time top-ten, and I’m surprised I haven’t recommended it before. If you haven’t watched it, I really think you should. Go into it knowing as little as possible, and I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

And as for MUTE… I thought it was a good-looking film full of massive ambition. MOON succeeded because of its intimacy, and ultimately I think MUTE suffers as a result of its scale. Again, there’s a solid story and strong performances, but the end result is nowhere near as satisfying as Jones’ debut feature. Watch both and enjoy both. And if you get lost in the fast-moving complexity of MUTE, you can still have plenty of fun looking for all the MOON references!

MOON is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Year of the Zombie paperback

The YEAR OF THE ZOMBIE paperback is a doorstop-sized thing of beauty. Now shipping from Infected Books. Enjoy!

Year of the Zombie paperback is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Write Through the Roof

I had a great time recently being interviewed by MADELEINE D’ESTE for her podcast WRITE THROUGH THE ROOF. It’s an excellent show designed for writers who want to improve their craft. Each episode, a different writer shares their tip for what took their writing to the next level. Previous guests have included Gareth L. Powell, Dave Hutchinson and Garth Nix. Please listen in!

Use the player below to listen, or download or subscribe.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/writethroughtheroof/18_-_Write_Through_The_Roof_-_David_Moody.mp3

Write Through the Roof is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Forthcoming events

A quick post to tell you about a couple of events which are coming up. On 24 and 25 February I’ll be heading back to Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham, for the BIRMINGHAM HORROR CON. It’s always a pleasure to take part in a hometown event, and this time I have the honour of signing alongside such horror luminaries as Simon Clarke and Tim Lebbon. I’m very much looking forward to it, and I hope some of you are able to make it to pick up a copy of ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING, YEAR OF THE ZOMBIE and more. Tickets are available here and you can find out more about the event on Facebook.

And on 30 June I’ll be heading to London for my first convention in the capital since, I think, 2009. The LONDON HORROR CON is another show from Vic Wright and the Horrorcon team, so you know it’ll be a blast. The event takes place on 30 June and 1 July at Printworks London, Surrey Quays Road. Tickets are here, and more details are here and here.

Forthcoming events is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Year of the Zombie – out now

In 2016, Wayne Simmons and I curated YEAR OF THE ZOMBIE, which saw a host of zombie authors each contribute an original novella to a year long project. I’m pleased to announce that we’ve now collected the 12 stories together and made them available in a single volume. YEAR OF THE ZOMBIE is out NOW from Infected Books. The ebook – coming in at a massive 180,000 words – costs only $3.99. The paperback is a hefty 492 pages!

We recruited a star-studded line up of authors for the project.

Adam Baker (Outpost, Winter Raven) – Killchain

Rich Hawkins (The Last Plague, The Last Outpost) – The Plague Winter

Iain Rob Wright (The Final Winter, The Gates) – The Yacht

Mark Tufo (Zombie Fallout, Indian Hill) – Z-Hunt

Sean T Page (Zombie Survival Manual) – 1975

Matt Shaw (Sick B*Stards, Rotting Dead F*cks) – One of Them

Andre Duza (Jesus Freaks, Voodoo Child) – Ride the Serpentine

Gary Slaymaker – Geraint Wyn: Zombie Killer

James Plumb – Little Monster

Scott McGlasson – Nock

Some guy called David Moody – Scratch

And to round out the collection, Wayne and I collaborated on a seasonal gem – Last Christmas

I’m very proud of what the team and I put together, and I urge you to pick up a copy and check it out. Grab the ebook and paperback from Amazon today.

Year of the Zombie – out now is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Saying Goodbye to the End of the World

It’s been an odd few weeks (though, to be honest, I’ve forgotten what a normal few weeks is supposed to feel like). I’ve spent a lot of time travelling, culminating in my first trip to Iceland which was the single most surprising and invigorating place I’ve been in a long time. Seriously, if we get word that the end of the world is imminent, I’m booking myself another ticket over there. It’s a remarkably quiet, remote, welcoming, and self-contained country. More about that another time. I’m sure I’ll set a book there one day.

Right now, though, my mind is focused on the setting for one of my earlier versions of the apocalypse – the town of Lowestoft, as featured in THEM OR US, the final book in the first HATER trilogy. At the moment I’m outlining CHOKEHOLD – the final book in the second HATER trilogy (hope you’re keeping up with all these book numbers!) which bridges the gap between the end of DOG BLOOD/ALL ROADS END HERE and THEM OR US.

I wanted to brush up on my HATER history, so I’ve worked my way through the original books while I’ve been developing the new series. It’s a weird feeling when you go back and read your own work. I don’t know what it’s like for other writers, but it always catches me by surprise. I remember most of the plot twists and can finish many lines in my head long before my eyes have reached the full-stop at the end of the sentence, and yet there always seems to be plenty I’ve forgotten too. I’ve enjoyed reading HATER and DOG BLOOD for the first time in years, but THEM OR US has been a different experience altogether because reading it followed the recent passing of my mother-in-law.

Betty was the indirect inspiration for THEM OR US. I’ve written here before about how my in-laws’ decision to relocate to Lowestoft in 2004 resulted in me getting to know this most unusual of towns. I’ve a real personal affection for the place, but because of its geographic location (it’s the most easterly point in the UK), it’s often overlooked. Generally, you don’t go to Lowestoft unless you’re going to Lowestoft. It’s not on the way to anywhere, and in many ways it feels like the end of the line. It has a suitably apocalyptic edge which made it the perfect setting for Danny McCoyne’s last stand.

Do a search for Lowestoft on this site and you’ll find loads of entries: the launch event I held at the town’s library when THEM OR US was first released, the four subsequent HORROR IN THE EAST conventions we held there which were always sparsely attended but huge fun to be a part of, David Shires’ excellent apocalyptic artwork… Lowestoft is a place I’ve enjoyed going back to time and time again.

But no more.

We’ve put my mother-in-law’s house on the market (which also doubled-up as Danny McCoyne’s house), and I doubt I’ll be going back there again for some time if at all. My wife and I made a flying visit last week to tidy up some loose ends, and that coincided with me finishing reading THEM OR US. It was a surreal experience paying my final visit to the house at the same time as I finished my re-read of Danny’s story.

Right now I feel a genuine sense of disconnection, but I’m by no means done with Lowestoft just yet. I still need to tell you how what’s left of the human race ended up there, and all will be revealed in CHOKEHOLD. As you’ll find out later this year, ALL ROADS END HERE is a brutal continuation of the HATER story, and CHOKEHOLD is the final piece in the post-apocalyptic HATER jigsaw. The experiences and emotions of the last few weeks and months have left me more than ready to bring the HATER hexology to a fitting conclusion. Here’s an updated route map so you can see how all the books fit together.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I can’t wait for you to read the remaining books in the series. Whilst ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING was a necessary new beginning which was distinct from the other books, the rest of the two trilogies are closely interlinked and combine to tell a single overarching story that seems to resonate more and more every time I turn on the TV and watch the news. By the time CHOKEHOLD hits the shelves, you’ll be in absolutely no doubt as to why we’ve called the second trilogy THE FINAL WAR.

Saying Goodbye to the End of the World is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

All Roads End Here – cover reveal and synopsis

The next book in the HATER series – ALL ROADS END HERE – is out 25 September from St Martin’s Press. Synopsis below (care – contains mild spoilers for ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING).

It’s taken Matthew Dunne almost three months to get home. Never more than a few metres from the Haters at any time, every single step has been fraught with danger. But he’s made it.

In his absence, his home city has become a sprawling, walled-off refugee camp. But the camp – and the entire world beyond its borders – is balanced on a knife-edge. During his time in the wilderness, Matt developed a skill which is in high demand: the ability to anticipate and predict Hater behaviour. It’s these skills that will thrust him into a web of subterfuge and danger. As the pressure mounts inside the camp, he finds himself under scrutiny from all sides.

He’s always done his best to avoid trouble, but sometimes it can’t be helped. The shit’s about to hit the fan, and this time Matt’s right at the epicentre.

Need to catch up on ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING first? More info is available here.

All Roads End Here – cover reveal and synopsis is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

The Black Room Manuscripts Volume Three

I’m very pleased to have a story in THE BLACK ROOM MANUSCRIPTS VOLUME THREE from my friends at THE SINISTER HORROR COMPANY. The profits from this anthology are donated to charity, and this volume features a host of great names. Release date is February 24. The ebook is available to pre-order now, with print links to follow shortly.

My story is an odd little tale about a small-time crook from the Welsh valleys. It’s called NOLAN HIGGS IS OUT OF HIS DEPTH, and it was inspired in no small part by the most recent album from one of my favourite bands. The band is PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING, and the album is EVERY VALLEY. Give it a listen while you’re reading the book. I’ll post again soon and explain why I chose that particular place and point in time to tell grubby Nolan’s story.

The Black Room Manuscripts Volume Three is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER