David Moody's Blog, page 43

Read an ebook week – free and discounted ebooks available

It’s the 9th annual READ AN EBOOK WEEK. It’s an event I’ve posted about numerous times before and I’m pleased to continue to support the initiative. I’ve been an advocate of ebooks right from the beginning – those pre-Kindle days where I’d email Word, pdf, Mobipocket or lit (remember Microsoft Reader?) copies of AUTUMN to anyone who showed interest. It worked a treat, with more than half a million free copies of AUTUMN being downloaded between 2001 and 2008 when the series was acquired by Thomas Dunne Books.

Ebooks haven’t proved to be the print killer that everyone initially feared. To me, they’re something that compliments but doesn’t replace the physical version. I travel a lot at the moment, and my trusty Kindle has been a godsend on many recent plane and train trips.

So please join me in celebrating the humble ebook by sharing this post and other READ AN EBOOK WEEK articles. To mark the occasion, I’ve got a number of titles on special offer:

My latest release THE FRONT: RED DEVILS is available for 99p/99c between 8pm March 6 and 8pm March 8 (UK and US only)
STRANGERS is available for $1.50 – 50% off – for the whole week from Smashwords
AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION is available for $1.50 – 50% off – for the whole week from Smashwords
STRAIGHT TO YOU is FREE from Smashwords for the whole week!
TRUST is FREE from Smashwords for the whole week!

Read an ebook week – free and discounted ebooks available is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Train to Busan

Last night I finally caught up with the rest of the zombie-loving world and watched TRAIN TO BUSAN. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last twelve months, it’s a critically lauded South Korean zombie movie which has proved yet again that there’s still plenty of life in the zombie sub-genre. So did it meet my high expectations? Not exactly, but I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable and very well made movie.

TRAIN TO BUSAN is a harrowing zombie horror-thriller that follows a group of terrified passengers fighting their way through a countrywide viral outbreak while trapped on a suspicion-filled, blood-drenched bullet train ride to Busan, a southern resort city that has managed to hold off the zombie hordes – or so everyone hopes.

TRAIN TO BUSAN works for a number of reasons. The premise is simple. The location is suitably claustrophobic. The characters are thinly drawn but likeable (and dis-likeable) enough. Given the subject matter, it would have been easy for director and writer Yeon Sang-Ho’s film to have been a cliché-ridden mess, but it isn’t. The film knows its limitations, and its makers know what its audience wants. And they deliver. And unlike big-budget balls ups like the awful WORLD WAR Z movie of a few years back, TRAIN TO BUSAN doesn’t try to be anything more than it is, and that’s a breathless and exciting, action-filled suspense tale.

The infected in the movie are given surprisingly little focus. Clouded eyes, black spider veins, blood and drool – it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. The way they move is interesting, though, and their bizarre physicality give us a few genuinely unsettling scenes. But they’re never the focus, and are always secondary to the story. A couple of things illustrate the point I’m making here. First, have a look at the trailer again, eight seconds in. One of the main characters witnesses an attack, and it’s as indistinct and blurred for us as it is for her. Second, remember the Jerusalem Wall scene in the aforementioned WORLD WAR Z debacle (remind yourself of that here). In WORLD WAR Z this was a definite money shot – something the marketing team could latch onto and use ad infinitum in trailers and on posters, mugs and keyrings etc. etc. etc. There’s a very similar scene towards the end of TRAIN TO BUSAN, albeit much smaller in scale, which works because it’s intrinsic to the plot and doesn’t appear as contrived as any of Brad Pitt’s zombie shenanigans. In fact, there are a number of other potential ‘money shots’ in TRAIN TO BUSAN, many of which can be glimpsed in the trailer, and all of which compliment, rather than distract from the plot.

I think the set-up of this movie works really well. The movement of trains can be conducive to action movies like this: rhythmic, powerful and linear. You go where the tracks take you, and that’s not necessarily where you want, or need, to be. This adds to the tension, because until we get there, we’ve no idea what’s waiting for our cast of characters in Busan itself. There’s a sense of inevitability here, of helplessness and being out of control, which adds to the mounting unease. The characters themselves are pretty stereotypical and bland – the distant dad and his daughter who’s desperate for him to pay her more attention, the high-school baseball team, the selfish corporate bad guy, the funny chap with his pregnant wife… but this is all okay because, again, the characters’ individuality (or lack thereof) doesn’t distract from the tension and the direction of the film.

All in all, I thought TRAIN TO BUSAN was a top quality action flick which just happened to feature zombies. Is it a ground-breaking zombie film? No. Does it bring new and original ideas to our precious zombie sub-genre? Not really. Is it a good way to spend two hours of your time? Absolutely. This is a really well-made and breathlessly exciting film which I recommend without hesitation.

TRAIN TO BUSAN is available on bluray now.

Train to Busan is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Hater books 4, 5 and 6

Over the weekend I shared this image to help promote the new issue of SCREAM MAGAZINE. It’s generated a fair few comments on Facebook and Twitter about the new HATER books, so I wanted to give you a very quick update/ explanation.

There are three new books coming in the HATER series: ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING (out later this year), THE OTHER HALF (which I’m currently writing), and THE LAST SUMMER.

This is NOT a continuation of Danny McCoyne’s story from the first three books, nor is it a reboot of the series (how I hate that expression). It’s actually a combination of both. The first book details the outbreak of the HATER epidemic (for want of a better word) from a different point of view to the original novel. The second book takes place alongside the events of DOG BLOOD, so you’ll encounter a few familiar faces and places but, again, they’ll be shown in a different light. Chronologically, book three takes place between DOG BLOOD and THEM OR US and fills in a few blanks I deliberately left vague first time around. Our guide through the apocalypse this time around is a gentleman by the name of Matthew Dunne who is a… no, I’m not going to tell you any more just yet.

Though ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING currently has a release date of 15 August pencilled in, this may change. I’ll let you know more when I do. In the meantime, here’s the back cover blurb…

Fifteen people are trapped on Skek, a barren island in the middle of the North Sea somewhere between the coasts of the UK and Denmark. Over the years this place has served many purposes – a fishing settlement, a military outpost, a scientific base – but one by one its inhabitants have abandoned its inhospitable shores. Today it’s home to Hazleton Adventure Experiences, an extreme sports company specialising in corporate team building events.

Life there is fragile and tough. One slip is all it takes. A momentary lapse leads to a tragic accident, but when the body count quickly starts to rise, questions are inevitably asked. Are the deaths coincidental, or something else entirely? Those people you thought you knew well, can you really trust them? Are you standing next to a killer, and will you be their next victim?

A horrific discovery changes everything for everyone. There’s no way home now, and a trickle of rumours becomes a tsunami of fear. Is this really the beginning of the end of everything, or a situation constructed by the mass hysteria of a handful of desperate and terrified people?

The lower the population, the higher the stakes.

Kill the rest of them, before one of them kills you.

Hater books 4, 5 and 6 is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

THE KEEP

I’m not a historian or a military buff, so I had very few obvious reference points when I started writing THE FRONT: RED DEVILS (which was released this week, in case I hadn’t mentioned). Much of the second half of the book is set in the fictional surrounds of a concentration camp at Polonezköy, Poland. I had a very clear image in my head of how parts of the camp would look, and that got me thinking about a long-forgotten horror movie I’d always planned to watch but hadn’t been able to locate. That movie was MICHAEL MANN’S THE KEEP. Whilst not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, I certainly enjoyed it enough to recommend it to you here.

It is World War II in German-occupied Romania. Nazi soldiers have been sent to garrison a mysterious fortress, but a nightmarish discovery is soon made. The Keep was not built to keep anything out. The massive structure was, in fact, built to keep something in…

Long before MIAMI VICE, HEAT, MANHUNTER and LAST OF THE MOHICANS, Michael Mann wrote and directed THE KEEP from a novel by F. PAUL WILSON. Legend has it he turned in a three hour cut of the movie to Paramount, which was subsequently hacked down to a running time of half that length. And it shows. THE KEEP is a bizarre, incomprehensible mess of a movie, but it looks great and it’s certainly entertaining to watch.

With a strong cast (including SCOTT GLENN, JÜRGEN PROCHNOW, GABRIEL BYRNE and IAN MCKELLEN), it’s a visually compelling movie which bears many of Mann’s trademarks – moody 1980s synth soundtrack (by TANGERINE DREAM, no less), loads of dry ice, etc. It also has some eighties horror movie staples, including rubber monsters with glowing red eyes. All good stuff, but it makes a film about Nazis and demons set in the 1940s feel remarkably confused.

Given the issues the director experienced with the studio, it’s clear THE KEEP could, and should, have been a very different movie. The version we have is, unfortunately, a real disappointment and a missed opportunity. It disappeared for decades (presumably because it wasn’t good enough, or wasn’t ‘so bad it’s good’ enough to warrant much of a distribution), but it’s freely available now and can be streamed on Amazon and YouTube etc. It’s definitely worth an hour and a half of your time.

And if I may be so bold… if you do have a little time to kill, why not check out THE FRONT: RED DEVILS too?

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

THE FRONT: RED DEVILS – OUT TODAY

Today’s the day THE FRONT: RED DEVILS officially hits the shelves. Paperback and ebook editions are available now. Signed copies are in (as you can see from the image below) and they’ll be winging their way around the world imminently. You can pick up a signed copy from www.infectedbooks.co.uk.

THE FRONT: RED DEVILS – OUT TODAY is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

The Front: Red Devils – signed paperbacks

My World War II zombie novel, THE FRONT: RED DEVILS, is officially out next week in both paperback and ebook editions. As requested, signed copies are available to order from www.infectedbooks.co.uk today.

The signed paperbacks cost £9.00 and will be shipping late next week. If you read my last post you’ll know about my ebook philosophy. In keeping with that post, you’ll be pleased to hear that if you order the book you can immediately download your complimentary ebook version and start reading straightaway.

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s free shipping for UK readers (I’m sorry… economics prevents me from extending that offer worldwide).

So, if you fancy a spot of military heroics and adventure which just happens to have a supporting cast of thousands of undead Nazis, THE FRONT: RED DEVILS should be right up your street! I hope you have as much fun reading as I did writing it.

The Front: Red Devils – signed paperbacks is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Free ebooks

I was sorry to hear that SHELFIE closed down last week. You might remember me posting about the service a couple of years ago, back when the company was known as BitLit. The premise, I thought, was brilliant: you took a photo of your bookshelf with your phone and the Shelfie app scanned the spines and gave you links to download free or discounted ebook copies of the titles you already owned. I immediately made all Infected Books titles available via the service, because it seemed to fit perfectly with my ethos that a reader should only ever have to buy the same book once, and if you buy a paperback, the ebook version should come bundled (because you can rip a CD and get mp3s for your phone, but you can’t buy a paperback and rip the text for your Kindle, can you?).

I thought now would be an ideal time to restate the Infected Books ebook philosophy:

if you buy a ebook version of an Infected Books title, I’ll give you a discount equivalent to the price you paid on a signed physical copy purchased from www.infectedbooks.co.uk
if you buy a print version of an Infected Books title, you can get a free download of the ebook version:

If you purchase from Amazon, all IB titles are available under the terms of their Matchbook programme
If you purchase from IB, you’ll automatically receive a download link to get your ebook
If you purchase from elsewhere, you just need to complete a simple form on www.infectedbooks.co.uk to receive a download code to get a complementary ebook version

Thanks for your ongoing support of Infected Books and independent publishing as a whole. It’s the future! (and on the subject of the future, it’s worth pointing out that my next release, THE FRONT: RED DEVILS will also be a part of the IB print/ebook deal).

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

New releases

A couple of new releases to tell you about…

MATT SHAW’s THE DEVIL’S GUESTS is out now. Matt’s put together a really ambitious book, and it’s a project I was pleased to be a part of. I had far too much fun creating a particularly obnoxious character for Matt to ‘dispose of’ later in the book. Here’s the cover blurb:

From outside the hotel looks like any other in the city. Inside though, a maze of ever-changing corridors, rooms filled with death, traps and – behind the reception desk with a welcoming smile, a sadistic owner who can not wait to help his guests check-out permanently.

From the twisted imagination of Matt Shaw, and partly based on the serial killer H. H. Holmes, comes a new extreme horror and a new way of telling the story. While Shaw writes the part of Henry, the sadistic serial killer, he has invited some leading horror authors to write their own characters – introducing them to the hotel before Shaw finishes the story off. This is not an anthology. This is one story with guest authors Jeff Strand, Wrath James White, Kealan Patrick Burke, Shane Mckenzie, Sam West, Wade H. Garrett, Ryan Harding, Armand Rosamilia, David Moody, Gary McMahon, Jasper Bark and Mark Tufo.

Click here for more information and to pick up a copy of the book.

Also out now is the paperback edition of GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND, an excellent anthology edited by Steve J Shaw which includes my story OSTRICH.

Green and Pleasant Land is the first in an annual series showcasing the best in modern British horror. Every year, Great British Horror will feature ten British authors, plus one international guest contributor, telling tales of this sceptered isle. The 2016 edition features eleven original stories of small town, rural and folk horror from V H Leslie, Rich Hawkins, Laura Mauro, Ray Cluley, David Moody, Barbie Wilde, James Everington, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Adam Millard, A K Benedict and Jasper Bark.

Click here to order.

And don’t forget, my World War II zombie novel – THE FRONT: RED DEVILS – is out in a couple of weeks time!

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

Birmingham Horror Con – this Saturday

Hope to see you at the BIRMINGHAM HORROR CONVENTION at Edgbaston Stadium this Saturday. I’ll be there along with a host of horror luminaries, including stars of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13th and HALLOWEEN movies, and some excellent author chums like ADAM NEVILL, MATT SHAW, PETER MCKEIRNON, ADAM MILLARD and many others. It promises to be an absolute cracker of an event. Tickets are still available – click here for more information.

 

Birmingham Horror Con – this Saturday is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

The Front: Red Devils – out 15 February

My new book, THE FRONT: RED DEVILS will be released on 15 February. Ebook links are now live (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de and others) and links to purchase both signed and standard paperbacks will be ready shortly.

The book’s a sequel to TIMOTHY W. LONG‘s book, SCREAMING EAGLES, and though it’s not necessary to have read Tim’s first book, I recommend you do (because it’s brilliant). Here’s the synopsis for RED DEVILS:

THE UNDEAD NAZI ARMY CONTINUES ITS MARCH ACROSS EUROPE IN THE THRILLING SEQUEL TO SCREAMING EAGLES!

The German stranglehold on the town of Bastogne has been released, only for the living dead to rise up and take their place. A ragtag group of men fight their way out of the chaos and make a frantic escape from the rubble and ruin. One of them, British soldier Lieutenant Robert Wilkins, uncovers crucial information about the source of the zombie scourge. Along with a crack team, Wilkins is dispatched to where the outbreak began – the ominously silent concentration camp at Polonezköy, Poland – to try and find a way to halt the undead advance.

The fate of the entire world rests on the shoulders of just a handful of men.

Pre-order now for $2.99 from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca and Amazon.de.

The Front: Red Devils – out 15 February is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER