David Moody's Blog, page 43

Kirkus Reviews – One Of Us Will Be Dead By Morning

First reviews are coming in for the new HATER book, and I’m pleased folks seem to be enjoying it. Here’s the KIRKUS review of the book… They’re saying it’s “another wetwork nightmare that should delight fans of Haters and intrigue writers who wallow in the genre” which sounds good to me!

ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING is released on 5 December by Thomas Dunne Books. Signed copies will be available to pre-order from www.infectedbooks.co.uk in the next few weeks.

Kirkus Reviews – One Of Us Will Be Dead By Morning is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Liverpool Horror Con

I’ll be a guest at the LIVERPOOL HORROR CON on 7th and 8th October at the Exhibition Centre, Kings Dock, Liverpool. There’s a cracking guest list, tons of exhibitors, and loads more besides. Tickets are available here and I hope to see some of you there.

Liverpool Horror Con is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Two Halves Make a Whole

I’ve told you a lot about it, but I don’t think I’ve properly explained why I’ve been writing a second HATER trilogy. Is it a cynical cash in? A cheap way to drum up interest in my books again after a quiet couple of years? The answer to both those questions is a very definite ‘no’.

The new trilogy has its roots in some of the many movie-related discussions I’ve had about the books over the years. On numerous occasions, producer Ed Barratt and I have talked about TV adaptations (and we came tantalisingly close to getting that off the ground at the turn of this year but, as is so often the way, our plans unravelled at the last moment). Ed and I discussed the issues we’d face trying to translate HATER, DOG BLOOD and THEM OR US to the small screen. Part of the attraction of the books is the fact they focus exclusively on one man’s story, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that this relatively narrow approach might present problems from a theatrical point of view.

One of the recurring themes of the series is ‘who is the bad guy?’. When the outbreak (or whatever it is) begins in HATER, the natural assumption is that the Haters are the villains. But, for various reasons, we later start to question that assumption, particularly when the extent of the actions taken by the Unchanged to keep themselves safe is revealed. It’s clear that both sides are capable of doing whatever they have to do to survive, and this comes to a head at the end of DOG BLOOD. I’ll be vague in case you’ve not yet read the books (come on, keep up!), but a pretty unspeakable act is carried out by someone. It’s particularly shocking, because that act has huge ramifications for both sides and every surviving individual, Hater and Unchanged alike.

So that got me thinking, are the Unchanged as innocent as I initially thought? Are the Haters as evil and ferocious as they appear? Do the lines ever blur? Are there weaker Haters and stronger Unchanged? How clear is the distinction between the two?

I re-read the original trilogy, and started to think more about the situations Danny McCoyne is faced with. How did the refugee camp in DOG BLOOD come into existence? How did a group of Unchanged manage to survive deep in Hater territory? What happened to the Haters who didn’t want to fight? What happened to the Unchanged who didn’t want to run?I started filling in the gaps – working out what had happened off the page – and the more I thought about these questions, the more the structure of the second trilogy started to take shape.

One of the early reviews I’ve read for ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING calls the book a side-equal, and I think that’s a perfect description. As I showed in the graphic I shared recently, the new novel takes place at the same time as HATER, and it introduces new characters who we’ll follow (if they survive!) through books four, five and six. What these new books do, hopefully, is show the other side of the story. Hence the title of this post – two halves make a whole.

Right now I’m tidying up book two (five) THE OTHER HALF and getting ready to send it over to my editor. Writing it has been an eye-opening experience, particularly in view of everything that’s happening in our increasingly divided world today. From the moment HATER was first released independently back in 2006, people have talked about how socially relevant the book sometimes feels. It’s frightening that that relevance seems to increase year on year. Bizarrely, HATER has been taught on university courses and has been the subject of academic papers too, so there must be something in that. I’m just hoping I can get the second trilogy written and published before the human race really does tear itself apart!

ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING is out on 5 December from Thomas Dunne Books, and it’s available for pre-order now. Please check back here regularly for a couple of impending giveaways and competitions. Also, in answer to a question I’ve been asked a number of times, signed copies will be available to order from this site and www.infectedbooks.co.uk in the near future.

Two Halves Make a Whole is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

HATER timeline

With the release of ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING – the first book in the second HATER trilogy – fast approaching, I thought it would be interesting to start showing you how the two series are connected. They both tell different stories, but there are shared events and locations and… and I’m not going to tell you much more just yet.

With apologies for my limited graphics skills, here’s a handy timeline:

In case you’re new around here or need to catch up in readiness for the new books, HATER, DOG BLOOD and THEM OR US are available now. EVERYTHING AND NOTHING is a free ebook download which you can get here, and ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING hits the shelves on 5 December 2017.

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

It’s always a buzz when the advance copies arrive

ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING – HATER #4. Released 5 December 2017 from Thomas Dunne Books.

It’s always a buzz when the advance copies arrive is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

20th Century Geek

I had the pleasure of chatting with Scott Weatherly on the 20TH CENTURY GEEK podcast recently about all things horror and my addiction to stories about the apocalypse. Click here to listen or check out the podcast on iTunes here.

20th Century Geek is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

RIP George Romero

I’ve just heard the terrible news that the Godfather of zombies, George A Romero, has passed away at the age of 77 after a short battle with lung cancer. This is awful, awful news. I’m hard pushed to think of a filmmaker who had such an influence on the horror genre. For me, I can trace my fascination with zombies to a particular dark and storm-filled afternoon when, with my brother and a bunch of friends, we sat down to watch the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD on laserdisc (yes, it was that long ago). That movie was revelatory, as was DAWN OF THE DEAD, and then DAY OF THE DEAD. Landmark. Without Mr Romero’s movies, myself and scores of other writers and filmmakers would have had to find something else to do for a living. His films – particularly the original DEAD trilogy and other classics like THE CRAZIES and MARTIN – struck a chord in a way very few movies did. The series which kickstarted my career – AUTUMN – would never have been written had it not been for Romero’s films.

George Romero is survived by his wife and three children. My sincere condolences go out to them at this very sad time.

RIP George Romero is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

It Comes at Night

It’s about time I started posting a few more film and book recommendations here, and what better place to start than with a well-made, lo-fi, slow-burn apocalyptic movie. IT COMES AT NIGHT is a really good movie, which appeared to have been sold really badly (perhaps intentionally) by the marketing team behind it. I thought it was a great film, but it wasn’t the film I thought I was going to see. Here’s a synopsis and a trailer. Click the link below for my brief thoughts.

Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorises the world, the tenuous order a man (Joel Edgerton) has established with his wife and son is put to the ultimate test with the arrival of a desperate family seeking refuge. Despite the best intentions of both families, paranoia and mistrust boil over as the horrors outside creep ever-closer, awakening something hidden and monstrous within the man as he learns that the protection of his family comes at the cost of his soul.

After you’ve watched the trailer for this film, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just another ‘end-of-the-world-deadly-pandemic’ movie. It’s not. If you want scenes of bloodthirsty vampires or zombies surrounding the last few survivors, look elsewhere. If you want sex and violence and survivalism, this one’s probably not for you. If you want a tense, claustrophobic portrayal of ordinary people forced together in the midst of a far-from ordinary crisis, then you’ve just found the movie you were looking for.

As with many of the best post-apocalyptic movies, what’s happened to the rest of the world isn’t what matters here. We get hints, sure, but the cause of the apocalypse isn’t front and centre, instead the focus is on the impact of events. Joel Edgerton plays Paul, a regular guy who, with his wife and teenage son, are holed-up in a house in the woods, doing their level best to go unnoticed by the rest of (what’s left of) the world. It doesn’t take long, of course, before the rest of the world comes knocking.

So far, so formulaic. But it’s what happens next, and how the family deals with events, that separates IT COMES AT NIGHT from many other similarly set stories. Tautly written and directed by Trey Edward Shults, and with strong performances all round, the film is refreshingly bleak and cliche free.

I don’t want to say too much more, because to do so would inevitably spoil an excellent film for you. All I will say (and my family gave me a real hard time for comparing it to one of my stories as we walked back from the cinema last night) is that I got very definite echoes of THE COST OF LIVING watching IT COMES AT NIGHT.

IT COMES AT NIGHT is on an very limited release in the UK (most cinema screens are filled with sequels and glorified toy adverts right now), but I recommend you catch it before it disappears. And it would be great if you’d pick up a copy of THE COST OF LIVING too. Apologies for the obligatory plug, but it’s available as an ebook for 99c/ 99p, or in print as part of LAST OF THE LIVING.

It Comes at Night is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

The Spaces Between

It’s been so long since I posted about this I bet you’d forgotten about it. Or I bet you thought I’d forgotten about it. I first announced THE SPACES BETWEEN back in 2014 – it’s a long, multi-volume horror/ science-fiction series which is, for wont of a better description, like CHILDREN OF MEN meets BREAKING BAD (with a healthy dash of BLADE RUNNER to boot). It’s going to be good. Damn good. I’ve been keeping you waiting for years and… and I’m unfortunately going to be keeping you waiting a while longer yet. The first books are still more than a year away.

Those of you who’ve been following my work for a while will know that the last few years have not gone to plan. Various personal and family issues have repeatedly derailed my writing, and my family and I are right in the middle of another wave right now which is substantially affecting my ability to write. By the end of this year, however, we should be back to business as usual.

But it’s not all doom and gloom around here… a substantial amount of work is still getting done (just not as much as I’d like). THE OTHER HALF (HATER #5) is coming along nicely and will be delivered to my editor shortly. After that I’ll be writing AXXXXX: XXXXXX – a top secret novel I haven’t told anyone about – which should take me through to the end of 2017. In the new year I’ll be diving straight into THE LAST SUMMER (HATER #6), and then I’ll be cracking on with THE SPACES BETWEEN.

At this point I should add that all those folks who won the competition I ran back in 2014 to appear as named characters in the books will all still appear as planned. Apologies, folks, for the unavoidable delay.

Even though I’ve hardly written a word of the series, I’ve been doing plenty of planning. Part of the issue I’ve had is that it’s a HUGE story, and the overall length has fluctuated wildly during the planning process. There’s a lot of world-building to be done, but I’ve taken the decision to separate a lot of that out from the main narrative. So what began as a five book series has now ballooned to nine books which will, in effect, be two separate series which will conclude with a single final novel. The extra books will be THE SHADOWS BETWEEN – the future histories of key events which will define the world of THE SPACES BETWEEN. My plan is that the books will be released in pairs – one from each thread of the story at a time.

You’ve got to trust me on this – it’s all going to be worth the wait. I’m just sorry it’s taking such a long time!

The Spaces Between is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Straight to You: Postapokalyptischer Thriller

The German language edition of STRAIGHT TO YOU (my debut novel – written in 1994, published in 1996, re-written and re-published in 2014) is now available from my fine friends at Voodoo Press. You can find more information here. Special thanks to Craig Paton for revising his original cover design for the new release.

I’ve talked a lot about this novel in the past. For those who are late to the party or who missed it first (or second) time around, find out why the book was re-written, why the story takes place in very specific locations, and read about how Hollywood wanted to film the novel but didn’t buy the rights and kind of did it anyway!

Straight to You: Postapokalyptischer Thriller is available now in paperback and ebook.

Straight to You: Postapokalyptischer Thriller is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER