David Moody's Blog, page 68

The Seventh Leeds Zombie Film Festival

On Sunday 11 May, the seventh LEEDS ZOMBIE FILM FESTIVAL takes place at the Cottage Road Cinema, Headingley. Organised as always by Dominic Brunt (director/star of the magnificent BEFORE DAWN) and his Emmerdale co-star Mark Charnock, this year they’ve put together a phenomenal selection of movies including THE BATTERY, LIFEFORCE, STALLED and WORLD WAR Z. To remind yourself what I thought of each of those movies, click the posters below.

Day tickets are £15, and are available from the Cottage Road Cinema (click here). More information can be found via Facebook and Twitter. This is a chance to see a truly fine selection of films in the company of two great hosts. I can’t make it, unfortunately, but I’m jealous as heck of everyone who’s going!

And if you’re looking for suggestions as to what to watch (or what not to watch), you could do worse than check out my fancy new recommendations page – click here.

 

The Seventh Leeds Zombie Film Festival is a post from: David Moody - author of the HATER and AUTUMN books

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Idiocracy

Something completely different for this week’s post-apocalyptic movie club selection, and I have a feeling this film will have passed most folks by…

IDIOCRACY is directed by Mike Judge, who first came to prominence in the mid-nineties as the creator of Beavis and Butt-Head. This, his second live action feature which was released (barely… I’ll explain in a second) in 2006, is a science-fiction satire which, I don’t mind admitting, left me feeling genuinely uneasy. As usual, here’s the plot, followed by the trailer, followed by my thoughts:

“Private Joe Bauers, the definition of “average American”, is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes 500 years in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he’s easily the most intelligent person alive.”

Idiocracy suffered at the hands of the studio and distributor. Its release was delayed, then put on hold indefinitely, then drip-fed to a fraction of the usual number of screens when it was finally screened. According to Wikipedia, no trailers, no ads, and only two stills were distributed. We can only speculate about the reasons for such shoddy treatment, but I think it’s a crying shame, because this is a film which deserves to be seen by a wider audience. Not only is it genuinely funny, it’s also a cautionary tale.

The Internet is, without doubt, an incredible thing. It’s had a huge effect on most of our lives. If I hadn’t gone online back in 199-whenever, I doubt I’d have been able to write for a living today. I’d still be stuck working in a bank (shudder), and my books would most likely be stuck in my computer or in a slush pile on some editor’s desk somewhere. There’s no denying the positive effects of the net, particularly in terms of communication, making it possible to talk to just about anyone, just about anywhere, at just about any time.

But there’s a definite dark side…

By making things so very easy and convenient for us, our reliance on the Internet has, I think, also dumbed us down to an extent. We’re so used to clicking a button and getting the information we need, that we sometimes find it difficult to do things for ourselves. Here’s an example: I know someone (mentioning no names) who was several hours late for a meeting. I asked if they’d had trouble, and they explained that their satnav had lost its GPS connection. ‘Did you get hold of a map?’ I asked innocently, ‘Or follow the road signs?’ This person replied: ‘No, I just kept driving around until the satnav came back on’. See what I’m getting at? It’s like the person who flies into a blind panic because the battery’s dead and their fob won’t unlock their car, never stopping to think that it’s actually a key they’re holding which they could use in the door…

Idiocracy takes this kind of dumbing down of society, and amplifies it to a ridiculous extreme. It imagines a future America, five hundred years from now, where stupid people have procreated at a far faster rate than those with intelligence. As a result, lawyers now qualify at Costco, the most popular programme on TV is called “Ow! My balls!”, and the President of the USA is an ex-wrestler and porn star.

It’s the background details in Idiocracy which make it such a success for me, rather than the broad strokes of the relatively straightforward story. The future USA is brilliantly realised, and even if some of the effects don’t quite hit the mark, the visual gags come with such quick-fire speed that it doesn’t matter. Enormous garbage avalanches bury parts of Washington DC, people who use long words and speak well are dismissed as being ‘faggy’, Starbucks and Carl’s Jr. have become sex shops, water is consigned to be used in toilets only while everyone drinks Brawndo – the Thirst Mutilator – a bright green energy drink… I could go on and on.

But I’ll say again, I found Idiocracy genuinely frightening. Sure, it’s a parody and its characters are obvious caricatures, but a lot of what’s posited on screen doesn’t seem too far removed from reality. I highly recommend you track down a copy and watch it for yourselves. I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t leave you feeling more than a little bit uncomfortable…

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Scottish Serial Killers that Shocked the World

I hope you all know MOODY’S SURVIVORS by now? They’re a great group of like-minded (I think!) Facebook folk who met online (and increasingly offline) through talking about my books. I love these guys. Seriously. They’re endlessly supportive, and there’s a huge amount of talent within their ranks. You can become a Survivor yourself – just click here.  Over the coming weeks and months, I’m going to be hosting a series of guest posts written by members of the Survivors about all manner of subjects. First up today we have John Milton (follow him on Twitter @JohnMiltonAE) and, as you can see, his chosen subject is Scottish serial killers. Over to John…

Scotland. A country believed to be first populated by man approximately 13,000 years ago, with prehistoric settlements dating back around 10,000 years still in existence. A country that has fought the Romans, causing them to build Hadrian’s Wall. A country that warred with the invading Vikings. A country whose clans clashed with each other for centuries. A country that has produced the inventor of the television and telephone. The Tourist Board in Scotland would be happy to perpetuate the stereotype of Scotland full of wild mountains, bagpipes playing, ruined castles and hospitable ginger natives wearing kilts who are fiercely proud of their heritage. Although much of that description is factual, there is a far darker side to the country that you won’t see advertised…

Various shocking monikers have been given to the country and its cities, such as “The most violent nation in the developed world” and Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, has been called “The Murder Capital of Western Europe”.  These are not simply headlines for the tabloids; the titles are based on figures provided by the European Commission and United Nations; and I would suggest that this is not a new phenomenon.

Within the horror genre, fictional mass murderers are popular: Norman Bates, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Hannibal Lecter, Michael Myers, and TV’s very own Dexter. However, many of these characters have at least some of their backstory rooted in fact: Ed Gein, H.H.Holmes, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy are all truly terrifying examples of real-life horror. However, all of the names I have mentioned originate from the United States, a country with a population currently more than 311 million. Scotland, with a population of approximately 5 million, which is roughly 2.5 million less than the city of London, seems to produce a disproportionate amount of notorious serial killers…

Christie Cleek

Christie Cleek was a Scottish cannibal. During a famine in Scotland in the mid-14th century, a butcher from Perth called Andrew Christie allied himself with a desperate group who scavenged in the foothills of the Grampian mountains. Legend has it that when one of the party died from starvation, Christie put his skills as a butcher to use and thereafter, the party developed a taste for human flesh and they began to ambush those who would travel through the passes between the mountains; and then fed on the flesh of the unfortunate travellers and their horses. It is thought that thirty or so riders met their end at the hands of Christie and his associates. There is a suggestion that Christie Cleek is the foundation for the tale of Sawney Bean. Legend has it that Christie escaped capture by the authorities but at that time and according to court records,  a husband and wife were executed for cannibalism in Perth. Perhaps this was Christie and his partner; or perhaps cannibalism was more widespread at the time than the records show…

Christie Cleek is very much in the distant past of the country and it could well be argued that what happened more than 600 years ago is not relevant today. Let’s step a little closer to the present day then…

Burke and Hare

The story of Burke and Hare has been adapted for film and TV numerous times- but do not lose sight of the fact that these two men were serial killers. Between November 1827 and October 1828 in Edinburgh, Burke and Hare killed 17 people for the purpose of selling their corpses to Dr Robert Knox for dissection. They would smother their victims in order to leave the body in the best condition possible. The pair were caught and tried, whereupon Hare was offered immunity from prosecution if he testified against Burke; an offer which he accepted. Burke was hanged and ironically, his body was dissected at the Edinburgh Medical College. To this day, Burke’s skeleton, death mask, and items made from his tanned skin are displayed at the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Museum.

Dr Thomas Neill Cream

Born in Glasgow in 1850, Cream became known as the Lambeth Poisoner and has five known victims (who were, unsurprisingly, all poisoned). Cream’s victims, due to his travels, were in the US and England. However, it is suspected that he committed more murders in Scotland and Canada. Cream’s story is lengthy and varied, including a reported marriage at gunpoint, bribery, blackmail, adultery and of course poisoning. For many, Cream will be remembered for what is in effect an unsubstantiated rumour that on the gallows in 1892, his last words were “I am Jack…” and at the time, it was suggested that he was alluding to being none other than Jack the Ripper. Unfortunately for those who ascribe to that particular school of thought, Cream was in prison at the time of the Whitechapel murders in 1888.

If that all still seems a little historical, let’s look at post World War II…

Peter Manuel

Born in 1927 in New York to Scottish parents, Manuel returned to Scotland at the age of five. As a young man, he was noted by the local police for being a loner and a petty thief. Manuel served nine years in prison for sexual offences and others for rape before embarking on a killing spree in 1956 which held the city of Glasgow in fear. Manuel bludgeoned, shot and strangled his eight victims and despite not being tried for them, he confessed to the murders of eighteen victims. Manuel was hanged for his crimes and has been described by noted advocate Donald Findlay QC as “one of the most evil men in Scottish criminal history”. Brian Cox (The Ring, Braveheart) loosely based his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter on Peter Manuel.

Archibald Hall

Hall went by the more exotic sounding name of Roy Fontaine. Born in Glasgow in 1924, by the age of fifteen, he was a thief and burglar. In prison, he studied etiquette and the aristocracy and on his release, found work as a butler; and ended up returning to prison numerous times for further thefts. Hall/Fontaine progressed from stealing jewellery to murder; and shot, suffocated, strangled, drowned and poisoned his five victims. The tabloid press dubbed him “The Monster Butler” and he too was serving a whole life tariff until his death in 2002. On a personal note, Hall was born and raised one street away from where I grew up. In fact, I have played in the house he was born in, entirely unaware of the history of its previous occupant. Malcolm McDowell (Clockwork Orange, Doomsday, Rob Zombie’s Halloween) was attached to star as Hall/Fontaine in Monster Butler, a Canadian produced film about Hall’s life which was slated for a 2013 release but appears to have slipped off the radar somewhat…

Dennis Nilsen

Where the Americans had Jeffrey Dahmer, at roughly the same time, Dennis Nilsen was commiting murders of a similar ilk in London. Nilsen was born in Fraserburgh, Scotland and between 1978 and 1983, he killed at least fifteen men and boys by strangling and drowning; and then butchering their bodies in order to assist with their disposal. However, this dismemberment was not always immediate, with Nilsen keeping the bodies in order to engage in necrophilic acts. Nilsen was caught after his disposal methods blocked the drains and sewers round his home with human remains. Sentenced to a minimum of 25 years imprisonment in 1983, in 2006 the Home Secretary imposed a whole life tariff with no further chance of parole.

Peter Tobin

As of today, Peter Tobin has been tried and convicted of three murders; those of Angelika Kluk, Dinah McNicol and Vicky Hamilton. In 1993, Tobin was convicted of attacking and raping two 14 year old girls at knifepoint in England. On his release in 2004, he returned to Scotland. He took up work as a handyman at St Patrick’s Church in Glasgow and in September 2006 within the church, he beat, raped and stabbed to death Angelika Kluk and hid her body in a chamber beneath the confessional of the chapel. Subsequent investigations into Tobin’s affairs revealed the bodies of Dinah McNicol and Vicky Hamilton buried in the garden of his Margate home. Both girls had last been seen alive in 1991. On convicting Tobin of Vicky Hamilton’s murder, Lord Emslie stated: “You stand convicted of the truly evil abduction and murder of a vulnerable young girl in 1991 and thereafter of attempting to defeat the ends of justice in various ways over an extended period… Yet again you have shown yourself to be unfit to live in a decent society. It is hard for me to convey the loathing and revulsion that ordinary people will feel for what you have done… I fix the minimum period which you must spend in custody at 30 years. Had it been open to me I would have made that period run consecutive to the 21 year custodial period that you are already serving.”

In an interview with a psychiatrist, Tobin has admitted killing 48 other women but when questioned about this, simply stated “Prove it”.

There are many who believe that Peter Tobin is in fact Bible John; who in the late 1960s in Glasgow strangled to death three young women and who was never apprehended. Police investigations continue into Tobin’s past movements in an attempt to determine if there is any truth behind his claim of more victims.

An artist’s impression of Bible John and Peter Tobin in the late 1960s.

The individuals mentioned here are not to be celebrated. They raise serious questions about the human condition and what people are truly capable of; and possibly of paramount importance to me, why has this tiny country produced so many depraved killers who shatter lives, kill without conscience and are the embodiment of true horror.

About John Milton:

A self-confessed voracious consumer of horror, my introduction to the genre began at an early age… I can remember quite vividly being shown, at the age of four, the transformation scene from ‘American Werewolf in London’ by my Dad and Uncle. They thought this was hilarious. I, on the other hand, was terrified! This terror developed into love as I eventually got a TV in my bedroom and found Hammer horror movies, in particular their monster offerings, to entertain me late at night.  My love of monster movies still continues and in addition to this, I have a particular penchant for zombie flicks and post-apocalyptic world-gone-to-hell-in-a-handbasket type fayre.  For me, horror novels tend to be far superior to their celluloid offspring.

Scottish Serial Killers that Shocked the World is a post from: David Moody - author of the HATER and AUTUMN books

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The infection spreads to Italy!

I’m very pleased to announce that the first book in the AUTUMN series has just been released in Italy. AUTUMN – L’ATTACCO DEI MORTI VIVENTI (which translates to Autumn – Attack of the Living Dead) is available now from Delos Books as part of their Odissea Zombie series.

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How I Live Now

Start them young, that’s what I always say. I think my taste in films and books (and, perhaps, my chosen career) was decided at an early age. I have vivid memories of watching Dr Who, Blake’s 7, and Space: 1999 and so on as a kid, then graduating to horror and developing an unhealthy addiction to post-apocalyptic books and films during my teenage years (thanks, in no small part, to growing up during the tail end of the Cold War). So I felt it was my duty as a father to sit down with my wife and two youngest daughters to watch a family friendly dystopian movie recently. And I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

I approached HOW I LIVE NOW (2013, based on the 2004 novel by Meg Rossoff) with some trepidation, fearing I was in for 101 minutes of Twilight-like pretty kids moping around, but I needn’t have worried. As usual, here’s a brief synopsis and a trailer. Click the link below for my thoughts on the movie.

Set in the near-future UK, Daisy, an American teenager, is sent to stay with relatives in the English countryside. Initially withdrawn and alienated, she begins to warm up to her charming surroundings and strikes up a romance with the handsome Edmund. But on the fringes of their idyllic summer days are tense news reports of an escalating conflict in Europe. As the UK falls into a violent, chaotic military state, Daisy finds herself hiding and fighting to survive.

I very much enjoyed HILN, considerably more than I thought I would. It’s no THREADS, but then again, what is? (Click here to remind yourself about that masterpiece, then go watch it if you haven’t already – it was recently re-released on DVD). One thing the movie does share with the BBC’s Cold War classic is the use of standard drama tropes to develop its cast and establish its world, then having all hell break loose and watching the survivors deal with the aftermath. Threads, unforgettably, was like a soap opera to begin with (albeit a soap opera which was regularly interrupted by government ‘Protect and Survive’ information films). HILN begins like a typical teenage romance movie… streetwise US teenager Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) is sent to spend the summer with her UK cousins on their farm. But, like Threads, the movie drip feeds clues as to a deteriorating political situation by means of TV bulletins and overheard conversations.

And like Threads, once war breaks out, HILN changes gear.

The outbreak of hostilities is very well conveyed, and is done with disarming subtlety: one minute the kids are enjoying a picnic, the next we see birds changing direction en masse. The sun disappears, followed by an unnaturally strong wind, and soon ash begins falling. Director Kevin MacDonald uses very little to show so much.

From there on in, HILN becomes increasingly grim as the children are separated and have to fight to get back to the farm and to each other. And as usual, that’s where I’ll leave this review/recommendation, because I don’t want to ruin the rest of the movie for you.

Suffice to say, HOW I LIVE NOW is well worth your time. The cast are great and the production values high. It’s a film aimed at the younger market, but I found it very satisfying – surprisingly gritty and bleak. Whilst many other teenage market genre films feel, to me, overly sanitized and safe, this movie didn’t. It doesn’t hold back in its depiction of the brutal horrors of life in a militarised UK, but it doesn’t shove your face in it either. Give it a watch, and let me know what you thought. It’s available on DVD and Bluray (US/UK), and the original novel can be picked up here.

How I Live Now is a post from: David Moody - author of the HATER and AUTUMN books

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Hitting your head against a brick wall

In today’s What Works For Me post I wanted to clarify a point I made in the very first of these articles back in January. I was talking about planning, if you remember, and the process I follow to turn an initial spark of an idea into a finished piece of writing. I was talking specifically about the ground rules I set myself to get my first novel finished back in 1994, and the fourth of those rules was don’t force it: if you’re not in the right mood to write, walk away and come back later.

A few folks took exception to this, and I can see why. I don’t think I explained myself properly, and some clarification is in order.

Writing is hard. Bloody hard. There are days when the words flow, and there are days when they definitely don’t, when you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. You know what it’s like when you’re reading and you realise you’ve been looking at the same paragraph for the last fifteen minutes, maybe even the same sentence… I get that when I’m writing too. I occasionally reach a point in the day when I just can’t write another word, when I’ve stopped being productive. It can be a physical thing, not a mental thing.

THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS HITTING A PROBLEM WITH A STORY.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll regularly hit snags along the way when you’re writing. Whether you’re a free writer or a compulsive planner, whether it’s a brand new project or something you’ve been getting ready to write for years, there’s always going to be something that puts a spanner in the works. I often find that I fly through the first hundred or so pages of a book, then suddenly grind to an unexpected halt which threatens to derail the whole project. Quite frequently I’m tripped up in the middle of a book: I have a solid start and a killer ending, I just can’t work out how to properly connect the two…

I think this can actually be a good thing. It’s definitely an important thing. It means the story you’re writing isn’t predictable, if nothing else. Guiding your characters and your plot over and around these obstacles will, in my experience, help you write a better story in the long run.

So how do you get over these frustrating bumps in the road? Well, here are a few suggestions which usually work for me (in my order of preference).

1. Step away from the keyboard…

The longer I stare at a blank screen/page, the bigger a hole I usually end up digging for myself. I’ve found that if I do something completely different, I’ll inevitably still be thinking about the book, and I’ll usually come up with a solution. Case in point: I had a situation yesterday I couldn’t resolve – two scenes in the first ‘The Spaces Between’ novel which needed to be bridged. I spent most of the evening thinking about it. I fell asleep trying to work it out, and woke up this morning still thinking about it but no clearer. Then I went for a run as I often do. Three miles in and I’d worked out how my well-meaning doctor carrying out unauthorised operations on the quiet was connected to a criminal gang and their insalubrious fixer, and how these revelations fit into the book. You don’t have to run, of course. I find dog walking, driving, taking a bath or shower, cutting the lawn… they all work just as well.

2. Reverse the flow

Having trouble getting from A to Z? Why not reverse direction and try and get from Z back to A? Often working my way backwards from the end of the story to the beginning really helps.

3. Leave it for this draft

This is particularly useful in early drafts: if you’re really struggling with a particular scene, why not leave it and come back to it later? Just put a few bulletpoints or bookmarks in your text, or the briefest of guide notes: e.g. This is where character X finds out his best friend Q did something unspeakable with his associate E’s mother. The more of your story you write, the better you get to know the characters and situations, and the kind of temporary plot derailments I’m talking about have a habit of working themselves out.

4. Stimulate your brain/distract yourself

Similar to the first suggestion: if your brain’s not playing ball, why not try looking into someone else’s? Try reading/watching/listening to something completely unconnected to whatever it is you’re working on. Alternatively, read/watch/listen to something that is connected. Seeing how someone else deals with a particular situation might inspire you to come up with a way to resolve your plot issue.

5. Force your way through

I’m not a fan of this approach, but it can work. Just keep staring at the screen/page until you’ve worked out where you’re going.

6. If all else fails, perhaps work on something else for a while

Many writers, myself included, like to be working on several projects at the same time. If you’re struggling with one story, why not flip to another? As with suggestions 1 and 4 above, a change of scene can help.

So there you go. If I gave the wrong impression in my post about planning, then I apologise. I’d never advocate giving up on a project. All stories take a huge amount of effort to finish and to hone into shape, as this old post from Cracked.com shows.

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Signed books in need of new homes

It’s time for another Infected Books sale. Lots of stuff on offer this time around. Click here or on the image below for full details.

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HELL

HELL (2011) came to me courtesy of a long-time supporter of my work from Germany (thanks again, Jochen!). It’s a low budget German movie which gained a lot of attention because the executive producer was Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 etc.). But if Emmerich’s overblown, Whitehouse destroying blockbusters aren’t your scene, then you’ve come to the right place, because HELL is about as far removed from those kinds of movies as you can get.

I was immediately drawn to the film because of the basic premise. At first glance it sounds like a similar kind of set-up to STRAIGHT TO YOU:

“It was once the source of life, light and warmth. But now the sun has turned the entire world into baked and barren wasteland. Forests are scorched. Animal carcasses line the roads. Even the nights are dazzling bright. Marie, her little sister Leonie and Phillip are heading for the mountains in a car with covered windows. Rumor has it there is still water there. Along the way they run into Tom, a first-rate mechanic. But can they trust him? Tension grows in the small group. As if things weren´t bad enough, they are lured into an ambush. Their real battle for survival begins…”

Watch the trailer (ignoring the awful English dubbing), then click the link below for my thoughts.

I thought HELL (which is also the German word for bright, incidentally) was a good film, but not a great film. Certainly the visual style really hooked me in from the outset: I watched it almost immediately after writing, releasing and promoting the new edition of STRAIGHT TO YOU. Director Tim Fehlbaum and his crew evoke the setting of a permanently sun-scorched Earth beautifully. Particularly effective, I thought, were the scenes with our three mains in their car – cardboard taped over the windows, narrow slits for them to see outside, stifling heat and lung-invading dust. I really enjoyed the opening third of the film, in fact, as the survivors head for the mountains and the promise of water. But the movie takes a tonal shift later on, and I think it suffers as a result.

After the ambush mentioned in the synopsis above, the survivors find themselves at the mercy of a large family who have somehow managed to stay alive against the odds. And from here on in, the pace of the film changes. It reminded me of a watered-down version of the incredibly brutal French movie FRONTIÉRE(S) (which I’ll cover in a future post here). That’s no bad thing, and it’s reasonably effective and enjoyable to watch, but I found it a disappointment after the promise of the opening section. After setting up something quite unique from the outset, the story veers into all too familiar horror movie territory.

Despite this, I’d definitely recommend tracking down a copy of HELL and giving it a spin. Strong performances, great production values and a really interesting premise make it well worth your time. It’s widely available on DVD and Bluray. And, of course, if sun-scorched apocalypses are your kind of thing, you could always pick up a copy of STRAIGHT TO YOU too…!

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Recommendations

The eagle-eyed amongst you might have already noticed this, but I’ve added a new page to this site which lists all the films and books I’ve recommended over the years. Head on over to the snappily titled ‘Recommendations’ page now!

And while we’re on the subject, I’ve got another interesting film piece coming up for you tomorrow (hopefully), and I’ve also got another 40 or so movies queued up to watch and review. But I want more! If you’ve got a particular favourite post-apocalyptic movie that you’d like featured on the site, either contact me or leave the name in the comments here or on Facebook or Twitter.

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STRANGERS – sneak peek

Not a lot of news for you this week, so I thought I’d give you a taste of something new. Here’s the opening chapter of my as yet unpublished novel STRANGERS. There are no definite release dates available yet, but tentative plans are starting to be made and I’m looking forward to sharing those plans when I can. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy it!

“A spate of brutal murders occur in and around a small town. The bodies of the dead – savagely mutilated, defiled – are piling up with terrifying rapidity. There’s no apparent motive, and no obvious connection between the killings, but they all started when Scott Griffiths and his family arrived in Thussock…”

 

 

 

STRANGERS

FORTY-EIGHT MILES NORTH OF THUSSOCK

 

‘You all right?’

He just looked at her, struggled to focus, took his time to reply. ‘Sorry. Tired.’

‘It’s getting awful late. What are you doing out here at this hour?’

‘Not sure. Lost, I think.’

‘I’ll say. Where you heading?’

‘Can’t remember,’ he said, embarrassed, and he laughed like a child.

They blocked each other’s way along the narrow pavement. The silence was awkward. Joan’s dog Angus tugged at his lead, keen to get home and out of the rain. She tugged back. He’d have to wait.

‘I’m cold,’ the man said, wrapping his arms around himself.

‘I’m hardly surprised. Just look at you. You’re not really dressed for it, are you?’ Joan continued to stare at him. What was he . . . mid-thirties, perhaps? He looked about half her age. His nipples showed through his wet T-shirt and she couldn’t help but stare. He was shivering, but that was only to be expected. She was cold herself, and she’d a vest, a blouse and a cardigan under her anorak. In the dull glow from the streetlamp between them, she thought he looked beautiful. ‘You’re not from round here, are you?’

‘You can tell?’

‘It’s the accent. I think you’ve a lovely accent.’ What the hell are you doing, Joanie? She felt foolish . . . silly, even, like she was back in school. There was just something about him . . . she knew she should go, but she didn’t want to move. Angus whined and pulled at his lead again and she cursed him. ‘I should really be getting back,’ she said.

The man nodded, chewed his lip. ‘Okay.’

‘What about you?’

‘Don’t know,’ he answered. ‘Not sure.’

For a second she thought she detected an unexpected vulnerability in his face and she liked it. It made her pulse quicken, reminding her of times long-gone, times all but forgotten. Memories of youth clubs and dance halls . . . tongue-tied boys, all cocksure and confident with their mates, suddenly stammering with nerves when it came to asking her out. She remembered the makeup, the skirts, the dancing and the alcohol . . . knowing they were watching her, wanting her, knowing she had the power to make or break them with a single word, with just a look.

You’re sixty-eight. You’re a grandmother. Get a hold of yourself.

Normally she’d be wary of men like this, intimidated even. But not him. Not tonight. He was no threat, he was just . . . lovely.

‘You’re very pale. Are you sure you’re okay? They said it’s going to rain tonight. You don’t want to be caught out here in just your shirt.’ He didn’t react, just stared. Angus pulled again and this time she yanked his lead hard, making him yelp. ‘Is there anyone I can call for you? Maybe get someone to come and pick you up?’

‘No one.’

Joan half-turned away, then stopped. You really shouldn’t be doing this, Joanie. She looked at him again. ‘You’re very handsome.’

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t react at all, just waited under the streetlamp, watching her watching him. She moved closer, then stopped again. She looped the dog’s lead around the bottom of the lamppost then smoothed the creases from her skirt and moved closer still, tucking rogue strands of grey hair behind her ear. What the hell was she thinking? She didn’t know anything about this stranger, hadn’t ever seen him before. Her head was telling her to do the right thing, to just keep walking and get home. Douglas had said he didn’t like her taking the dog out late at night like this, but he’d left her with no choice because the lazy old sod hadn’t been prepared to get off his own backside and do it himself, had he? He didn’t care anymore, not like he used to. To be honest, neither did she. They were bored of each other and had been for a long time. She pictured him now, back at home in front of the TV. He probably hadn’t even noticed she’d gone out.

She decided she’d rather stay here than go home. There was something about this man . . . the way he looked at her, the way his tall, muscular body made her feel inside, and those eyes . . . full of life, full of promise. She felt a warm glow inside become a burning need; a re-awakening of feelings she hadn’t experienced in a long, long time.

Stop this, Joanie. Get a grip. You’re missing Downton.

‘I should really be going,’ she said.

‘Don’t. Please.’

His unexpected protest surprised her. Delighted her. He took a single step nearer and they came together under the streetlamp glow, almost touching. He unzipped her fawn-coloured anorak then slipped his trembling hands inside her coat and ran them all over her flabby body. And she reciprocated; holding him, stroking him . . . kissing him with lips that hadn’t kissed like this in an eternity. He fumbled with his jeans while she struggled with her knickers. He gently lowered her down onto the wet pavement then ripped the gusset of her tights open as Angus barked in protest and strained at his leash.

And who he was didn’t matter. And who she was didn’t matter. And the temperature and the time and the weather and the openness of where they were and what they were doing . . . none of it mattered. Because at that exact moment, there was only them.

#

In the morning they found the dog, still tied up, barking then whimpering. And close to Angus, under the streetlamp, head in the hedgerow, legs sprawled across the narrow, blood-soaked pavement, mutilated, violated . . . they found his body.

 

STRANGERS – sneak peek is a post from: David Moody - author of the HATER and AUTUMN books

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