David Moody's Blog, page 96

A new edition of AUTUMN and a brand new free story

As I was working on the final edits for the US edition of AUTUMN: AFTERMATH recently, it occurred to me that it's an incredible ten years in November since the free download of AUTUMN was released. It's also a year since the book's first 'official' release. The success of the series has been really humbling, and completely unexpected. Thanks to all of you who've enjoyed and supported the books.

Completely coincidentally, a new mass-market paperback version of AUTUMN has been released in the UK this week by Gollancz (with the rest of the books to follow in this format a year after the hardback releases – next February for THE CITY, April for PURIFICATION etc.).

To celebrate the new edition and the ten year anniversary of the book, I thought it would be a good to share a brand new, previously unpublished AUTUMN short story with you. Have you ever wondered what happened to Michael and Emma in the week or so between the end of the first book and their eventual re-appearance in THE CITY? Head over to www.lastoftheliving.net and read Breaking Point to find out. I hope you enjoy it.

A new edition of AUTUMN and a brand new free story is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Them or Us – read the opening chapters

It's less than a month now until THEM OR US is released. I'm planning a very special one-off event in the UK in late November to mark the launch, and I hope to be able to tell you more about that in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, courtesy of Thomas Dunne Books, I thought you might like to read the opening pages of the new book. It goes without saying that there are spoilers here, so if you haven't yet read HATER and DOG BLOOD (and if not, why not?!!), you really shouldn't read any further…

Them or Us – read the opening chapters is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

The Dead

If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that I was at last weekend's Grimm Up North festival to talk zombies after the Sunday afternoon screening of The Dead, the Ford Brothers' Africa-set zombie movie. I thought it was a fascinating, yet strangely unsatisfactory film which is certainly worth your time. Here's the trailer. Click the link below the video for my full thoughts.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

An evacuation flight crashes off the coast of Africa leaving sole survivor Air Force Engineer Lieutenant Brian Murphy (played by Rob Freeman) stranded in an inhospitable landscape filled with the walking dead. The Dead follows Murphy as he fights to reach civilization and escape from his hellish surroundings. Along the way he meets a local sergeant, Daniel Dembele. Dembele's village has been devastated by the dead, and he's in no better position than Murphy. The two men are forced to work together to survive.

Shot on 35mm and filmed at some remarkable locations in Burkina Faso, West Africa, Ghana and the Sahara Desert, The Dead is, without question, one of the most beautiful zombie movies I've ever seen. The opening shots and the first zombie reveal (glimpsed in the trailer) are magnificent, and the high visual standards are maintained throughout. The living dead themselves are well realised and are reminiscent of classic Romero zombies from Dawn of the Dead (yes, the blue-faced Savini creations from the original, not the CGI-enhanced corpses from the Zack Snyder remake). Although there are plenty of gruesome injuries on show – broken bones jutting out through wounds, plenty of head shots and the like – the effects are deceptively simple with the dead having little more than a deathly pallor and piercing blue-white, alien-like eyes. They are classic slow-moving, silent corpses which shuffle relentlessly towards the living, and their noiseless appearance is frequently genuinely unsettling. You can keep your fast-moving corpses, thank you very much – the zombies in The Dead reminded me why they're such a terrifying screen monster: determined, driven and unstoppable. They exist only to destroy.

It's a shame, therefore, that the movie as a whole doesn't quite live up to its extraordinary visual style. The two leads give perfunctory performances, but in fairness, they're given very little to work with. Murphy's quest, in particular, is unclear, and as a result it's difficult to make any real connection with the character. That's a shame, because it robs the film of any tension and reduces the effect of what should have been a story filled with strong emotion. The character of Dembele fairs a little better, and there's a decent chemistry between the two men, but it's not enough to sustain the movie and drive it forward.

In spite of my reservations, The Dead really does feel like a breath of fresh air for the genre. It's a film that's well worth watching – it's worth a thousand Resident Evils, for example. It's visually stunning, sounds superb, and is a genuine and heartfelt attempt to remind us why, beyond all the blood and gore, zombies can be so damn terrifying.

The film's official site is here, and the movie is available on DVD in the UK.

The Dead is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Brain eating, book signings and Wicker Trees

As I mentioned in my post last Friday, I had a lot planned for the weekend just gone. Some thankyous are now in order…

Thanks to Adele, Vince and the rest of the UN:BOUND team for organising a thoroughly enjoyable zombie shoot on Saturday. You'll get to see their full video next month, but for now here's a brief teaser:

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Thanks also to fellow authors Wayne Simmons and Jasper Bark for being such great sports, and to all the volunteer zombies who showed up on the day. And a special mention to Jenny Jackson for her stunning makeup work.

On Sunday, my annual pilgrimage to the Grimm Up North festival was the best yet. Apart from being able to watch THE DEAD (more about that later in the week), and talk about zombies in front of a large and appreciative audience, I was also lucky enough to meet director Robin Hardy (THE WICKER MAN) and take in a showing of his new movie THE WICKER TREE.

Thanks to Sim, Rachel, Steve, Laura and everyone else involved with Grimm for their hospitality and tireless enthusiasm. Maybe I'll be able to introduce a Moody movie myself there next year (but that's a story for another blog post…)

Brain eating, book signings and Wicker Trees is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

A weekend full of corpses…

Well it's going to be death and destruction all the way this weekend, and you could be there!

Tomorrow I'll be filming with Un:Bound in Leicester along with Wayne Simmons and Jasper Bark. We're looking for volunteer zombies, so if you're in the Midlands and you fancy playing dead, please come along to Phoenix Square at noon. There will also be book signings etc. More details can be found here and here.

On Sunday Wayne and I will also be at Grimm Up North (AMC Deansgate, Manchester) for a screening of the Ford Brothers' Africa-based zombie movie THE DEAD. After the screening, we'll be signing books, answering questions, and discussing zombies in general (as usual!).

Hope to see a few of you there!

A weekend full of corpses… is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Autumn: Disintegration – meet 'The Swimmer'

I always get nervous as the release of a new book approaches, but the anxiety levels are climbing higher than usual with AUTUMN: DISINTEGRATION. I think it's because some of you have been waiting so long to read this one. It was a massive relief, therefore, to receive these positive words from Library Journal…

"In Disintegration, the best installment, Moody ventures into Lord of the Flies territory. The juxtaposition of the two groups of survivors and the consequent tension between them produces excruciating suspense… The ending is utterly chilling and seems quite final, although Moody's website indicates Autumn: Aftermath is in the works and will conclude the series."

Over the next few weeks I'll be introducing you to some of the characters from the book with new stories at www.lastoftheliving.net. This week: ever wondered about the significance of the image on the US cover (see below)? Let me explain. Here's the prologue from the new book. Meet The Swimmer.

Autumn: Disintegration – meet 'The Swimmer' is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

The Hate reaches Italy

October already – how did that happen? I've got lots going on this month: a number of appearances and a whole host of blog posts and updates about THEM OR US and AUTUMN: DISINTEGRATION, both of which are out in November.

In the meantime, it's great to see that the foreign language editions of HATER still keep coming. This month sees my first release in Italy – IL VIRUS DELL'ODIO (The Virus of Hate). You can read more about it on the publisher's website.

The Hate reaches Italy is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Another TV showing for the AUTUMN movie

Some of you love it, some of you hate it… The AUTUMN movie gets another UK TV showing in the early hours of Friday morning. It's on the Horror Channel at 2:05am.

Another TV showing for the AUTUMN movie is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

New event: Halloween Horror Night

I'm absolutely thrilled to announce another great event for October, and this one promises to be a real cracker! On Halloween, I'll be appearing at the Warwick Arts Centre for an 'evening of terror' alongside two excellent authors, Adam Nevill and Gary McMahon. The event will be chaired by Michael Wilson, editor of Read Horror. Tickets are £8.00, and are available here.

On the subject of upcoming appearances, I'm sorry to have to announce that due to circumstances beyond my control, I now won't be appearing at the Aliens to Zombies convention in Los Angeles. I hope this doesn't disappoint any of you who were planning to attend.

New event: Halloween Horror Night is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

The Monster's Corner – out today

Just think about some of the classic horror monsters you remember: Frankenstein's creation, Seth Brundle in Cronenberg's The Fly, The Amazing Colossal Man, pretty much every zombie ever, little Eli the 11 year old vampire in Let the Right One In… what do they all have in common? I'll tell you – they didn't want to be monsters. They were accidental bad guys/girls: not killers, just misunderstood! Isn't it about time we started looking at things from the monster's perspective?

Today sees the release of THE MONSTER'S CORNER from St. Martin's Press. It's a great book, and I'm proud to be a part of it. A UK edition (pictured) is also available today from Piatkus Books.

The Monster's Corner – out today is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series