Adam L.G. Nevill's Blog, page 35

ABOUT THAT TAGLINE …

About that tagline … it’s just unfortunate that eOne has funded a massive promotional campaign for The Ritual at the same time that (and I’m guessing) a mentally unstable man with access to 1000s of rounds of ammunition and the kind of weapons that should only be used by trained military personnel in warfare, shot hundreds of tiny figures in the distance (without seeing their faces) in Las Vegas (the Constitution was written when they had muskets – just sayin’, and I wouldn’t trust half the population of the planet, anywhere in the world, with scissors, let alone guns). But folks questioning the film’s tagline puts me in a tryst. I came home from 5 days away and turned on the news … it never even occurred to me until someone, and then someone else, and so on, drew a connection. And now I’m doing it and may regret doing so.

In some kind of dreadful irony, the original paperback was published at the same time that Anders Breivik, a far right terrorist, went on his own rampage in Norway in 2011. The book features characters who also emulated similar ideas to his, but was not a high profile enough book to draw a single comparison. But another macabre synchronicity with the same book.

And I’m just as down on the world as anyone over any mass shooting, but the promo campaign is restricted to the UK. If you’re American and see it online in my channels, clearly no harm was/is meant. It’s just all a coincidence and a line of advertising copy that may seem feckless to you now. But the tagline is branded on everything, everywhere, that is connected to the film, which has nothing to do with Las Vegas.

When so many irrational people with stupid ideas have access to firearms in this world, it’s a reasonable assumption to make that this will keep on happening, and I’m still supporting the film and book over the next few weeks, but will try and use an image without the tagline, but apologies in advance to anyone I offend.

SOME WILL NOT SLEEP WINS BRITISH FANTASY AWARD: BEST COLLECTION

I suffer the same imposter syndrome that was discussed by the horror panelists on Saturday morning at Fantasycon. It’s not false modesty. There are so many good short story writers in the horror and weird field today, and so many superb single-author collections, that I suffered a brief crisis of confidence when I decided to publish ‘Some Will Not Sleep’ myself. To go to such lengths to produce that hardback, was I dressing mutton as lamb? Or in my case, was I disguising a spindly, dung-plastered sheep in robes spun from a goat’s cashmere?

‘Some Will Not Sleep’ picked up Best Collection yesterday at the British Fantasy Awards 2017, and my messy bonfire of an acceptance speech was proof of my feelings of unworthiness. But the only reason the book was ever visible in a crowded field was down to so many of you who supported the book, appreciated it, and gave it so much “word”. I was given the award but many of you, ultimately, put the trophy between my hooves.

The award was also a very sweet cherry that tops a two year exploration into self-publishing, in which I have produced three free books and two collections from a dead-stop. To figure out how to create the editions, and to become competent in many other aspects of publishing has been exhausting, testing, expensive, and not without face-in-hands moments. But, the process was also liberating and exciting and worth it. This award will be treasured (as was the hug from Pat Cadigan!).

Those who never slept, I salute thee!

HASTY FOR THE DARK – LIMITED EDITION HARDBACK ARTWORK

My newsletter subscribers have seen this artwork, but here are the three original pieces that Simon Nevill created for the HASTY FOR THE DARK: SELECTED HORRORS limited edition hardback.

I looked at over 1000 portfolios and pieces of artwork for ‘Some Will Not Sleep’, before I found Mr Trece. And anyone involved in book production will know how long it can take to find the right artwork, followed by the back and forth on design. But, to my eyes, Simon nailed the artwork from my cover brief with his first set of roughs.

Our keyword was “M. R. James” – whose aesthetic we’ve both been familiar with from an early age (our Dad read his stories to us when we were boys, which also signalled my “awakening” as a writer). As you can see, this “appalling” fellow has the requisite “scant wisps of hair” and is also “painfully thin” …

[image error]Front cover of dust jacket and front board.

 

[image error]Endpapers

[image error]Rear cover of dust jacket and rear boards

NETFLIX BUYS THE RITUAL

Well, to all my mates, brothers and sisters in horror in the US … you’re getting The Ritual on Netflix. It’ll be after the UK theatrical release and I’ll post the release date when I get it. It won’t be having a US cinema release, but this way a hell of a lot more of you will see it, and soon, and TVs are about the same size as cinema screens nowadays – plus you don’t have chowderheads lighting up phone screens or crunching dumpsters of popcorn behind your seat at home.

UK folks – we get it on the big screen, but Netflix much later. So if you want to see it first, then October 13th is your chance. Get some.

Read about the deal here and here.

BOOKBUB – THE 31 BEST HORROR NOVELS

I’m delighted to see The Ritual make this Bookbub list.

THE RITUAL FILM – INTERVIEW WITH BEN LOVETT, CREATOR OF THE FILM SCORE

Fascinating interview with Ben Lovett, who created the score for The Ritual:

“you make a choice whether you’re going to measure expectations and protect your own personal well-being, or run screaming into the fire and try to make it out alive. I never really feel like that’s a choice because I only know one way to work – no matter what the time or resources it’s always full throttle, hells bells, work as hard as you can until they take it away from you.”

Full interview here

HASTY FOR THE DARK BOOK LAUNCH – FANTASYCON

I’m launching ‘Hasty for the Dark: Selected Horrors’ at Fantasycon, in Peterborough, next Saturday at 7pm in the Broadway Suite. My second collection, my tenth horror title, and a book that completes two volumes of my choice of my own stories, written across twenty years. There is a special BFS price too.

I hadn’t expected that so many people were going to show up last year, but the Some Will Not Sleep launch was a real highlight of 2016 for me: I needed 5 helpers, we filled the slot and then continued launching the book in a corridor outside the ballroom. So just in case as many people are as hasty for this book, the signature cards will all be signed in advance to speed things up, and I’ll personalize the books when/if required.

There are refreshments too, the usual book and drink deal.

I’ll also bring the Black Metal Tee stock, and some of the remaining copies of my first collection: ‘Some Will Not Sleep’.

If you can’t make this launch, I’m around all weekend and will have copies on me, Joel Lane style (I think I acquired all but one of his books from him directly at Fcon).

Think that’s everything covered, and I look forward to seeing many of you next weekend at the Con’! Bring it.

Beyond Fcon, in October, I am author-guesting at Liverpool Horror Con the following weekend, then Bristol Horror Con the weekend after that, and finishing in Birmingham for the Halloween Horror Con at Edgbaston during the final weekend in October. I’ll be launching Hasty’ at each of those events too (with convention prices).

THE RITUAL, THE MOVIE – NEW REVIEWS!

Lovely notice from Hollywood News, and a more considered take on the point of the book and film – to explore new ideas in a recognisable horror situation.

“why would anybody want to check out The Ritual, a British film that shoves some men into the Swedish woods? It takes from The Wicker-Man, The Descent, The Blair Witch Project, and Deliverance, with a bit of monster movie thrown in – meaning it’s far from original. So why go and see it? Because it’s bloody brilliant and genuinely terrifying … The entire film is a look at masculinity, so shoving a bunch of adult men in their mid-thirties into the woods in roles usually left for promiscuous teenagers really adds to the fear, as these are not people we want to see slaughtered for inventive deaths and gore. They are real friends whose pasts bring both joy and tension to one another. It’s this dramatic focus that powers the film forward and increases the sense of dread.”

Full review here

“Yes, Bruckner’s latest effort is yet another entry in the impressively long list of ‘lost in the forest being chased by a monster’ films, but before anyone loses interest too soon, it should be noted that a good director will always be capable of taking the familiar and making it just as engaging, if not more so, than the previous hundreds of times. Luckily, David Bruckner is one such filmmaker, and his latest endeavour is a tension-filled, mostly thrilling escapade with a generally compelling theme running throughout — which is typically what the best horror films strive for other than just audience shrieks and ghoulish surprises.”

Full review here

“An adaptation of Adam Nevill’s novel of the same name, The Ritual does not re-invent the wheel. Instead, it uses the now pretty typical trope of ‘getting lost in the woods’ as a venue to tell a more psychological story. With traditional Horror elements, we are allowed to slowly unravel a story of regret, and being haunted by grief. Bruckner Uses dreamlike visuals to send us toward a spiraling descent into understanding the lasting damage of a split-second mistake.”

Full review here

 

 

NEW FEARS PUBLICATION DAY

Some new horrors crept into the world today … One of my stories is tagging along too. A curious story about an empty zoo.

This is potentially a new annual venture from Titan and Mark Morris. So if enough of these black flies fill the air swarms will follow …

From the editor, Mark Morris: “It’s the official publication day for NEW FEARS! Featuring brand new horror stories by Alison Littlewood, Stephen Gallagher, Angela Slatter, Brady Golden, Nina Allan, Brian Keene, Chaz Brenchley, AK Benedict, Brian Lillie, Ramsey Campbell, Carole Johnstone, Sarah Lotz, Adam Nevill, Muriel Gray, Josh Malerman, Conrad Williams, Kathryn Ptacek, Christopher Golden and Stephen Laws. Available from all good bookshops!”

HASTY FOR THE DARK, LIMITED EDITION HARDBACK, HAS ARRIVED!

They’re here. Prospect of a delivery today and the sky goes black, then it opens. But the rain stops and the earth is bathed with a wondrous light a few minutes before the books arrive. 300 limited edition copies of ‘Hasty’. To me, all things are omens and portents …

Last time I carried each heavy box, in total containing 400 copies of ‘Some Will Not Sleep’, from the drive to my office, in a hurry, in the rain (3 days before the launch in Scarborough). This year, I had an all-terrain vehicle that folds into different shapes like a Transformer to mechanise the process (and the books have come in 3 weeks before the launch).

But this marks the end of another long, often fraught, and tiring critical path to produce an artisan book of selected horrors from the highest quality materials. During this process, my face has often been clawed by my own paws, and sometimes I may have muttered obscenities at the strange invisible beings that beset me … But 20 years worth of my pick of my own short fiction is now collected!

Pre-order customers and launch attendees (Fantasycon 2017) get their copies first in thanks for their hastiness for another selection of my dark imaginings (not long on shipping, but they take time to pack carefully and process).

If any blog mates aren’t on my mailing list and want to pre-order too, the book is in my online store at my website. Publication date is set for Halloween 2017 …

[Carries buckets of sand and fire extinguisher into office to safeguard the hoard]

 

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