David Moody's Blog, page 45

The Devil’s Guests – pre-orders open

Last week I introduced you to Matt Shaw‘s contribution to the Infected Books YEAR OF THE ZOMBIE project. Now here’s my contribution to Matt’s next ambitious piece of work. THE DEVIL’S GUESTS promises to be unpleasant in the extreme. Here’s the 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 cannot 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 chapters written by: 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.

The book is released on 3 February 2017 but is available to pre-order now from Amazon. For more about the book and Matt’s other works, visit www.mattshawpublications.co.uk, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

The Devil’s Guests – pre-orders open is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Horror in the East – this Saturday

As I was saying the other day, time flies. It feels like only five minutes, but it’s five years this month since THEM OR US, the final Danny McCoyne HATER book, was released (note the careful wording there… the final Danny McCoyne book – the HATER story takes a new direction in next year’s ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING).

You might remember, THEM OR US is set in Lowestoft, the most easterly town in the UK. I launched the book there back in 2011 with a special event at the library (which features in the novel). We had a great time and, as a result, the annual HORROR IN THE EAST convention was born. After a sabbatical last year, I’m thrilled that the event is back. It’s free, and it’s this Saturday. Hope to see you there.

Horror in the East – this Saturday is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Year of the Zombie #11 – ONE OF THEM by MATT SHAW

I can’t believe we’re already announcing the last but one YEAR OF THE ZOMBIE novella. This year has flown past. Our latest author is a real sick b*stard. It’s an honour to introduce MATT SHAW with his story, ONE OF THEM.

Bob meet Andria. Andria meet Bob.

The zombie apocalypse has brought the world to its knees. All the survival plans have been tried, but nothing’s worked. Our world has been taken over by Them – sick, diseased creatures which exist with the sole aim of spreading their infection until none of us are left alive.

But even in this dystopian hell, fate deals some surprising hands.

Loner Bob was ready for the end days. His house is strong and he has supplies enough to last him a while. When he finds Andria, though, the woman who cared for his father in the rest home during the final days and weeks of his life, he sees an opportunity to repay the kindness she showed his dying dad. It’s the very least he can do.

It’s a no brainer. There’s safety in numbers. After all, it’s the end of the world, and survivors should stick together when times are tough like this… shouldn’t they?

ONE OF THEM is available now from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de.

Year of the Zombie #11 – ONE OF THEM by MATT SHAW is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Halloween in Dublin

Don’t forget, this weekend I’ll be a guest at HORROR EXPO IRELAND in Dublin. Tickets are going fast, so if you want to be there, you’d best get in quick. It’ll be well worth the price of admission, with twelve hours of horror lined up including panels, readings, screenings, and paranormal investigations. Find out more on Facebook and Twitter, and check out this article from PureM Zine. Hope to see some of you there.

Halloween in Dublin is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

The Omega Man

I’ve been looking back at Richard Matheson’s seminal I AM LEGEND and the various movie adaptations the book has spawned. This week, Charlton Heston in 1971’s THE OMEGA MAN.

My horror movie education began with double bills of Hammer classics and Universal monster movies which used to be shown late Saturday nights on the BBC. When my parents bought our first VCR, a whole world of possibilities was opened. For the first time I was able to record and watch films I’d otherwise miss because they were on too late on a school night or because my parents didn’t think they were appropriate (please remember – I was very young, and this was the height of the Video Nasties craziness which outlawed 99.9% of the films I wanted to watch).

I remember recording mainstream horror movies such as ALIEN and THE OMEN and watching them endlessly for as long as I was able (usually until Dad needed the tape to record something else – tapes were damn expensive back in the day, and we had the sum total of four of them).

THE OMEGA MAN was another film I watched again and again until I could pretty much recite the script, and until re-watching it for this feature, I hadn’t seen it in a long time. I expected it to have dated badly, but Charlton Heston’s post-apocalyptic antics really took me by surprise. I knew I’d watched the movie through the rose-tinted spectacles of innocence and youth, but there’s no escaping the fact that this is a clunky and horrendously dated film.

Chuck plays Robert Neville who, in this version of the story, lives an isolated life of relative comfort in a funky pad which, for some inexplicable reason, reminded me of Batman’s cave (and I’m talking Adam West Batman here, not Christian Bale or that Affleck person). More than any other I AM LEGEND adaptation, this film is a product of its time. Watch the trailer and you’ll see what I mean, then click the link for my thoughts.

Unlike the Robert Neville of Matheson’s original novel, or Vincent Price’s portrayal of Robert Morgan in THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, Charlton Heston’s character is an idiot. He makes bad decisions, wears awful clothes, does stupid things… if he really is the last man on Earth, then the human race is fucked.

Of course, he’s not the last man on Earth. In keeping (just about) with the spirit of the novel, Neville is taunted by vampires and puts his life on the line for other survivors.

Chuck’s got his post-apocalyptic life all sorted out, thanks very much. He lives (inexplicably) in a prime location in the middle of a city, and has managed to install a generator, floodlights, a stupendous CCTV system and other groovy cutting edge 1970’s gimmicks. He drinks heavily, has an extensive wardrobe of crushed velvet outfits and jumpsuits, and plays chess with a marble bust of Julius Caesar (no, really – I’m not making this up).

Let’s talk about the bad guys, shall we? Rather than the faceless, zombie-like creatures we know and love, THE OMEGA MAN features ‘The Family’: a cult led by Mathias, an ex-TV newsreader who spent his time telling people how bad things were before the plague. All members of the family have white hair, the same off-white skin tone, weird-looking contact lenses, and wear hugely impractical monk-like robes. Oh, and they all have impossibly bright red blood, too.

The survivors we come across are paper-thin characters we couldn’t give a damn about, and any credibility ass-kicking Lisa (Rosalind Cash) has is immediately lost when she falls for Chuck’s manly charms and instantly becomes a subservient seventies-era housewife.

You may have noticed by now that I’m not taking THE OMEGA MAN particularly seriously. That’s because the film doesn’t deserve it. As a 1970’s action flick it’s just about worth watching, but as an adaptation of one of the most influential horror novels ever written, it fails on just about every level imaginable. I say just about, because some of the opening scenes are well-mounted as Neville searches the empty, litter-strewn streets for members of The Family to exterminate. I first watched the film on grainy Betamax tape, but now own it on Blu-ray. The scale of decimated LA is impressive, though I did find myself cursing the sharpness of my HD copy because I stopped watching the action and started looking for vehicles and people moving just out of shot. And there are lots. I counted six cars in the first ten minutes.

THE OMEGA MAN quickly loses direction and abandons all but the initial premise of I AM LEGEND. That’s a shame, because it clearly had the budget and the cast to do the story justice.

Next time (takes deep breath) Will Smith in 2007’s I AM LEGEND. This’ll be interesting. I wasn’t a fan first time around, but will time have been kind to the most recent adaptation of the book?

The Omega Man is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Year of the Zombie: NOCK

It’s the first of the month, and time for the launch of the tenth novella in the Infected Books YEAR OF THE ZOMBIE series. This month, I’m really pleased to introduce Scott McGlasson, the winner of our Pitch and Page competition, and his story, NOCK.

Ten years After civilization collapsed, a walled city is the only world Stace Tomlinson has ever known. Undead ferals and living marauders still prowl the wilderness outside, but the people of Shawnee Lodge have adapted as best they can. Ammunition, electronics, and gasoline are now distant memories from Before, and they have once again taken up the bow. When almost all the horses and cattle were slaughtered, they learned how to turn ferals into dociles, pulling their ploughs and wagons, turning the wheels of their mills.

It’s a simple life of crops and crafts, but Stace doesn’t want to end up stuck on a farm. She wants to follow in her father’s footsteps, outside the walls. Rob Tomlinson is a Ranger – one of the best, a master of fieldcraft and feral hunting – and living in the shadow of such a fearsome, well-respected figure comes with its own problems. The pressure Stace feels to match up to her father’s expectations can be unbearable. Sometimes, though, life has a habit of showing you one path, then leading you down another.

Stace has struggled to prove to her father that she’s up to the job. Today, though, she’s going to have to step up. Both of their lives depend on it.

NOCK is available now from AMAZON.COM, AMAZON.CO.UK and AMAZON.DE

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

STRAIGHT TO YOU – 20 years old today and available free to read at Wattpad

On the very day that I celebrate twenty years since STRAIGHT TO YOU was first published, I’m pleased to announce that the entire novel (the far superior 2014 version) is available to read at WATTPAD. Please read, review and share to your heart’s content.

Want a signed print version of the book at a reasonable price? Visit www.infectedbooks.co.uk where you can pick up heavily discounted copies of the 1996 original hardcover and the 2014 paperback.

And to mark the book’s 20th anniversary, enter code sty20 at checkout and help yourself to another 20% off STRAIGHT TO YOU.

STRAIGHT TO YOU – 20 years old today and available free to read at Wattpad is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Straight to You – the journey is almost over

Right, we’re very nearly there. Just a few chapters left to go in the serialisation of STRAIGHT TO YOU on WATTPAD to mark the twentieth anniversary of the book’s original release.

In today’s chapter, Steven’s almost reached the end of his journey, but he has one last unexpected hurdle to clear.

For those of you who are late to the party, STRAIGHT TO YOU turns twenty on Monday 26 September. I’ll be posting the next chapter this coming Thursday, then the final four chapters on Monday, meaning the entire novel will be available free to read online.

Stay tuned. The ending of the story is definitely worth waiting around for.

Straight to You – the journey is almost over is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Year of the Zombie – Pitch and Page winner announcement

It’s with great pleasure that I’m able to announce the winner of the Infected Books Year of the Zombie Pitch and Page competition. It’s taken a while for the judging process to be completed, and I’m sorry to have kept folks waiting for the result. We had a good number of entries, but there was a clear favourite which judges Michael Preissl, Gina Panettieri and I unanimously picked.

Congratulations to SCOTT MCGLASSON. Scott’s novella NOCK will be October’s Year of the Zombie release.

Huge thanks to EVERYONE who entered the competition. I’d like to particularly mention a number of other great writers who were highly commended by the judges: Dan Howarth, Matthew Gilman, Angela Bodine and Mouse-Diver Dudfield.

Year of the Zombie – Pitch and Page winner announcement is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER

Straight to You – final two weeks

The free serialisation of STRAIGHT TO YOU at WATTPAD will soon be complete. The book will be 20 years old on 26 September, and the entire novel will be available to read online from that date. Now is a great time to start reading (if you haven’t already). Chapter 23 has just gone live.

Straight to You – final two weeks is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER