Stephen Kozeniewski's Blog, page 48

Amazicon or Bust!

I will be at Amazicon this weekend!  It will be a con.  And it will be amazing.  (As evidenced by the name.)


What's so great about Amazicon for the Kozeniewski fan and/or well-wisher?


Well, I will have paperback copies of BRAINEATER JONES, THE GHOUL ARCHIPELAGO, BRAVE NEW GIRLS, and BILLY AND THE CLONEASAURUS for sale (naturally.)  However, this convention will be your first opportunity ever to purchase my latest release EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED in person.  Books are $12 for one or $10 apiece for two or more.  And as always, if you took the time to come out to see me, all autographs are free.


Where is it? 


The Doubletree Hotel by Hilton
4727 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803


When is it?


Friday, 15 April 4:00-10:00pm
Saturday, 16 April 10:00am-7:00pm
Sunday, 17 April 11:00am-5:00pm


I am not scheduled for any panels.  That means you will be able to find me in the vendors room the entire con.  (If the vendors room ends up having separate hours from the rest of the con, I'll update this post.)


What if I hate you?


Not to worry!  Fellow author Mary Fan will also be present Saturday and will also be without panels.  It'll just be us and the lines around the block of our adoring public.


Not to mention I will also have a plethora of books from such great authors as Elizabeth Corrigan, Michael Meyerhofer, Melissa MacVicar, Laura M. Kolar, Collin Tobin, and more!


What if I can't make it?


Can't catch me in Wilmington this weekend?  Here are all my other scheduled appearances this year.  Want me to appear somewhere I'm not currently scheduled?  It could happen.  Contact me and we'll talk about it.


Thanks everybody!

EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED Named Book of the Month by Long and Short Reviews!

I'm very excited to announce that EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED won the vote for March 2016 Science Fiction Book of the Month on Long and Short Reviews!  I want to say thanks to everybody who voted, and if you haven't already, make sure to check out the original review that spurred such love.

Superman? More like Super...panned!

I finally got around to seeing "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" (God, if that isn't a mouthful of a title) so I'm a little bit behind everyone else on weighing in on this one.  "BvS:DoJ" (that's not much shorter, is it?) had a very strange critical trajectory for a pop culture icon.  Normally things go one of two ways:

a)  critics pan it, then everyone pans it, then it's a big stinky flop like "Battleship"

b)  critics love it, then everyone loves it, then it's a big surprise success like "Mad Max: Fury Road"

"Batman" had a very weird trajectory.  First, all the fans were predicting it was going to be garbage.  Then all the critics panned it.  Then...everyone who actually saw it started poking their heads out of the woodwork to say, "Hey, you know, maybe the critics were wrong."

That's what happened with me.  I thought it was strange that everyone was shitting all over a movie they hadn't seen.  Because why?  Because Ben Affleck isn't Christian Bale?  Well, I have news for you, baby blues, Christian Bale wasn't George Clooney.  And George Clooney wasn't Val Kilmer.  And Val Kilmer wasn't Michael Keaton.  And Michael Keaton wasn't Adam West.  And Adam West wasn't Lewis Wilson.  This is a stupid, albeit perennial argument.

Then I noticed a lot of people just kind of wanted to dump on Zack Snyder.  Except...I've always been a Zack Snyder fan.  I mean, first of all, I've always felt a debt of gratitude to him as part of the New Holy Trinity of Kirkman, Keene, and Snyder for rebooting zombiemania.  The "Dawn of the Dead" remake is the reason I exist today.  I loved "300" and I even loved "Watchmen."  The first five minutes of "Watchmen" is one of the greatest pieces of cinema ever.  I didn't much like "Sucker Punch," but, you know, everyone gets a bolo now and then. 

I mean, the dude can direct.  It's really fashionable, especially right this second in cinematic history, to shit all over Snyder, but he's not Uwe Boll.  He's not fucking M. Night Shyamalan.  He was neither a flash in the pan nor a talentless hack.  I mean, he's not Truffaut, either, but he makes good, stylish movies more often than not.  I always suspected the problem with "Sucker Punch" was that he had a talent for interpreting material, but wasn't much for creating original stories.  And I stand by that until I see otherwise.  "Sucker Punch" was way too precious, and probably because it was way too close to his heart, being the dreams of his childhood sketchbook and all.  Let Zack Snyder keep rebooting and reimagining good shit as long as Hollywood is going to - which is probably forever.  Just don't let him write his own scripts.

And so we come to "Batman v. The Really Long Title."  My confidence in one of my favorite directors was shattered - I remembered deliberately saying, "I'm not so sure about 'Sucker Punch' but I love everything Zack Snyder's ever done" before going into the theater for that one.  And so I was waffling a bit on "Batman" but finally decided I had to see it.

And you know what?  It was pretty great.  Was it "The Dark Knight?"  No.  But then, few movies are, and even with all the same actors and all the same budget, Christopher Nolan couldn't even recreate the genius of "The Dark Knight" four years later.  What "BvS" (there, I'll just settle on that one) was, though, was intelligent.  No, it wasn't a Marvel movie.  But the last Marvel movie I saw - which, I enjoyed, I'll point out - was a string of sex and fart jokes.  High cinema "Deadpool" was not. 

So people have been complaining that "BvS" was too dreary and not enough like Marvel.  Well, fuck you, man!  Who cares if it's like fucking Marvel?  "The King's Speech" wasn't like a Marvel movie, either.  What a stupid fucking argument.  No, "BvS" wasn't like Marvel.  Marvel movies don't have thematic concerns.  Flawed though it may be, "BvS" aspired for something higher.

This wasn't poop joke "Deadpool." This was the Götterdämmerung!  This was a heady meditation on what it means to be a man and what it means to be a god.  Was it Fellini?  No.  But there was clearly a point.  It was clearly meant to make people have a discussion.  What kind of a discussion do you have after "Avengers: Age of Ultron?"  "I'm against evil robots pulling a city into the sky?"  I mean, "Ultron" could have been heady.  It could have posed questions to the audience about what makes a person a person, what's the difference between artificial intelligence and human intelligence, what responsibility does a creator have to his creation, and vice versa.  It could've done all that shit, but it didn't.  Now people are pissed because Zack Snyder had the gall to make them have to think during a comic book movie.  Oh, the nerve of that guy!

I guess at this point I'm just more pissed that no one was willing to give this movie the benefit of the doubt.  No one was willing to go in and see what it was all about before getting all judgey.  Because when I went and actually watched the movie...all the stuff that the nerdosphere was complaining about was pretty fucking integral.

"Oh, Ben Affleck is too old to play Batman and he looks totally worn out."

Right...but, see, he's playing an old, worn-out Batman.

"Batman kills people!  And he brands people!  This isn't Batman!"

Right...but, see, he's playing Batman twenty years in, who's finally become corrupt.  He looked into the abyss and the abyss looked back.  Oh, but guess what?  Batman wasn't beyond redemption, because he's still fucking Batman.  And if that isn't at its core reemphasizing and celebrating the importance of Batman, I don't know what it is.

"Batman and Superman would never fight!"

Right...but, see, this entire movie is about them both being encouraged to fight and each finding the moral courage not to do so.

"Superman's too dreary and pessimistic.  Where's the Superman from that comic where he talked the girl down from the ledge.  It's a complete character derailment!"

(Not even exaggerating, literally every post on Facebook ever for the past three weeks was the fucking girl on the ledge comic.)

Right...but, see, the movie is about the entire question of whether a four-color Superman ethos can exist in the real world - our world.  And despite all the efforts of supervillains and just generally shitty human nature in general, Superman never ceases to believe that doing good is the right thing.  And if that isn't at its core reemphasizing and celebrating the importance of Superman, I don't know what it is.

The other big complaint I kept hearing was how this was neither fish nor fowl, it wasn't a Superman movie or a Batman movie, it was just a great big excuse to skip over all the meticulous, years-long plotting Marvel had done with their shared cinematic universe and jump straight into a Justice League movie.  Well, I won't say it isn't that - clearly DC is trying to skip the crap and jump straight to the team-up - but it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone said.  I could've done without the Aquaman, Cyborg, and Flash cameos.  They added fucking nothing to the movie, which was already testing my patience with a three hour running time.  I even groaned when they first pulled up the file that implied three new characters, the only one whose symbol I immediately recognized was The Flash anyway.  And then they brought it back and watched the videos and....no, just no.

But that was like five minutes of doing the studio's shitwork.  You're telling me you're okay with Thor wandering around in a bunch of hot springs having visions in "Age of Ultron" but not with three relatively concise teasers in "BvS?"  And Wonder Woman, who, though never called that, was actually in the movie and everyone kept saying, "Oh, it's going to be this huge crowded mess and blah blah blah" and you know what?  It was fine.  It was just fine.  Wonder Woman was one of the highlights of the movie.  She basically played a subdued version of the "my love interest has a secret" role from, gee, I dunno, every spy movie ever, not to mention Catwoman in "Batman Returns."  There was plenty of screen time for Batman and Superman and an extended cameo by Wonder Woman.  It wasn't this huge kitchen sink mess everyone was complaining it was going to be.

So, hey, what do I know?  I guess I'm being just as kvetchy as all the straw men I'm (theoretically) arguing against.  But I thought the movie deserved better than the chance people gave it.  I'll tell you one thing I'm sure of, this is a movie that will benefit from rewatching and I suspect that its reputation will improve in subsequent years, possibly in direct opposition to the way "Age of Ultron's" reputation degrades.  In ten years, when people aren't so hot around the collar about it, I think we'll finally know what "BvS's" true value is.

Why Do Some Terms Upset Otherwise Ordinary People?

I've never seen anyone use the term "please and thank you" when they weren't a jackass, douchebag, or dildo, midway through the process of actively being a jackass, douchebag, or dildo.


I don't know what it is about that phrase...although I sort of do.  It's like it simultaneously acknowledges that there is such a thing as manners and civil discourse, and then tosses that concept back in the listener's face.  Like they're saying, "Sure, I could say 'please' and 'thank you' like someone who went to Kindergarten in the Western world and had parents moderately interested in teaching me decorum, but instead go fuck yourself."


I dunno.  It just really grinds my gears.  Perhaps it's because I've never heard it in a genuine context.  I mean, maybe it defies being used genuinely.  It always seems to be something people use in a sarcastic manner.


My roommate in college couldn't stand the word "breath."  I didn't understand that.  I mean, I sort of do.  Breathing is vaguely related to germs and certain kinds of breathing can be sexual.  So, okay, just the idea of breath was bothersome enough to him that the word itself upset him.  "Please and thank you" might be my "breath."  Or you might all agree with me.


What about you?  Any terms or phrases or words that just get your hackles up?  Justified or otherwise?

Three Links

There's a lot going on right now, but rather than rehash it, it might be best if I just redirect you to where the action actually is.  Plus, it couldn't hurt to have you follow me on other social media platforms, right?  That's what they call "synergy," kids.


1.)  I Need Your Vote


No, this isn't an election year come-on.  I am up against two heavyweight opponents in the Long and Short Reviews Book of the Month Contest.  But I have an advantage they don't have: the best fans in the world.  You!  Oh, all right, I know you don't exist and I'm just typing this into an existential void.  You don't need to make me feel bad about it.  But, if by some Schrödinger's cat-like quantum miracle you do exist, feel free to vote for me.


2.)  New AT HELL'S GATES Cover Art!


AT HELL'S GATES IV has been a bit delayed.  Everybody who works on it is human, and some of us are more human than most.  But!  It has not been forgotten and we are making incremental steps towards completion.  Today the new cover art came out, sans lettering because the table of contents isn't completed yet.  Check it out here.


3.)  On a More Personal Note...


Remember how I said on Wednesday that I have a lot of personal issues going on?  Well, for the first time in a long time I can be open and forthright with you, my beloved fans and friends.  There's a reason I've been so out to lunch lately, and it's a she.

A Quick Word

Hey everybody!

I'm just going to level with you: I am not on top of my game.

I just got a new job.  It's extremely demanding.  The person I'm replacing hasn't left yet, and we don't think alike.  Which means I'm being second-guessed on nearly everything I say.  Which was bad enough when it was jut the nature of my job.  I guess you could say I'm now being third-guessed.

Not to mention I'm being trained while still having to do essentially 2.5 jobs (my new one, my old one, and a bunch of additional duties I've accrued over the years.)  My training mostly consists of being interrupted every five minutes to be asked to do something else.  So nothing is really getting done.

This is the first time I'm verbalizing this.  Well, type-verbalizing it.  Whatever.  I not good with word-thingies.

So I have been absent.  Absent from social media, which means the blog is suffering.  I've also been absent from the writing desk, but you wouldn't know that.  Only I know that.  It's disheartening at the end of a long day of getting nothing done to be too exhausted to get anything done.

I was going to make this post about the importance of reviews, but it seems that what I had intended to be a brief prologue has turned into practically a blogpost unto itself.  I guess that's one benefit of being long-winded.  Long-typing-winded.  Whatever.

So maybe I'll put off that review post until I'm more composed to put it together.  But for now I'll just say: sorry.  I'm human, too.  I usually try not to waste everybody's time complaining about stuff, but here I am.  So I'm going to try to crank out a few hundred words before midnight.  That's going to be my new goal.  And I'll apologize now if the blog ends up suffering.

God, is this even making any sense?  Okay, back in a jif.  Good night and good luck.

What's a "Nice" Dog Like Me Doing in a Place Like This? (Guest Post by Prozac, Star of THE THING IS)

Welcome, comrades!  It's another beautiful day for a guest, don't you think?

In the interests of full disclosure, I should admit that today's guest is the star of a novel by one of my fellow Red Adept Publishing stablemates.  But considering I've never read a bad Red Adept book (and I can't say that about any other publisher) that's basically just a matter of semantics.  Let's jump right in, shall we?

About Prozac:

Prozac is an orphaned Yorkshire terrier.  Blessed with spiritual wisdom and a high IQ, he is an active pet therapy dog. He also visits Evergreen Gardens, an independent living facility, each week.

Guest Post:
When I learned that I'd been asked to contribute a guest post to Manuscripts Burn, I thought....me? Moi? What could a cute and cuddly, five-pound Yorkshire terrier--practically a stuffed animal with a beating little heart inside--possibly contribute to a horror and sci-fi blog hosted by Stephen Kozeniewski, author of BRAINEATER JONES, and an avowed cat-lover, of all things!? Little, four-legged old me...sent into a lion's den promoting scary stories of zombies, ghoulishness, blood, and guts? Hey, wait a second—what's a nice dog like me doing in a place like this?

But hold your chewsticks a minute, folks! While I may not resemble the foaming-at-the-mouth likes of Cujo--once a good-natured St. Bernard-turned-vicious via the creativity of horror writer, Stephen King--I can be just as devious and damaging...minus the bravado of stellar attacks and rabid fangs. You see, my menace comes from my mind. It's not always about gut animal instinct/action-reaction. With me, it's often about insidiousness--dog-human head-games--like water slowly wearing upon a stone. Trust me, in the right paws, being emotionally exacerbating can be just as menacing as tearing into limbs! 

You see, I'm a "Spirit Guide Dog," which means I get the best of both worlds. Yes, I'm a dog. I pant, poop and slobber, and I can also lift my leg on fire hydrants like the best of them. (Although I've been fixed, so those types of gymnastics aren't my speed anymore.) But at the same time, I have the unique intellectual and spiritual capacity to experience a fully human perspective--as well as having divine insight; I see into human souls--which allows me to devise ways to help some pitiful humans...those like Meredith Mancuso, a blocked romance writer who has no romance in her life (that's a horror story unto itself!) and who shares narrating duties with me in THE THING IS. My job is to light a fire (not literally, of course) that sparks some significant changes in Meredith's lonely, stagnant life. And who better than a lovable (often devious, yet completely unsuspecting) little dog to achieve that end? Believe me, I love Cujo--yes, he even scared me--but I bet I could've taught him a thing or two in the canine (reverse psychology) finesse department!

So, if you want to learn more about THE THING IS and bask in the spot-lit glow of 'yours truly' (after this post, how could you possibly resist?), then click here.  Hope you'll pick up a copy of the novel soon, and we'll get to spend even more time together on the page... Happy Reading!!
About THE THING IS:

Meredith Mancuso is depressed. Ever since the death of her fiancé, she has shrunk from the world. Even with her successful writing career, she's not motivated to work. When her sister, Monica, begs for a favor, Meredith wants nothing more than to say no. But she’s ultimately roped into pet-sitting an orphaned Yorkshire terrier named Prozac.

Blessed with spiritual wisdom and a high IQ, Prozac is an active pet therapy dog. To heal broken-hearted Meredith, he rallies his fan club at Evergreen Gardens, an independent living facility, where he visits each week.

Prozac and the community of resilient older folks challenged by losses of their own propel Meredith, often against her will, back into the land of the living. Meredith learns that most people carry some sort of burden, but it's still possible to find meaning, purpose, and joy—and sometimes, even love—along the way.

About Kathleen Gerard:

Kathleen Gerard is a writer whose work has been awarded The Perillo Prize, The Eric Hoffer Prose Award and nominated for Best New American Voices and Short Story America, all national prizes in literature. Kathleen writes across genres. Her short prose and poetry have been widely published in magazines, journals and anthologies. Her essays have been broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR).  Kathleen's woman-in-jeopardy novel IN TRANSIT won The New York Book Festival - "Best Romantic Fiction" (2011). Kathleen is a book reviewer for and a contributor to Shelf Awareness and maintains the blog Reading Between the Lines.

You can find her on her website, Twitter, Facebook, and her Red Adept page.

Review Week! Part 6: THE STAKE by Richard Laymon

I have Christine Morgan to thank for a lot of things.  First, for her novel CURSE OF THE SHADOW BEASTS.  Second, for a whole shit-ton of reviews of my work.  Third, for a batch of Christmas cookies.  (Yeah, really.)  And, finally, for my first Richard Laymon books.

Laymon is a sadly underrated gem in his own country, the old joke about rock stars being "big in Japan" (or in his case, Germany and the UK) being applicable.  This was my first  Laymon  book, and the reason I read it is because I was working on vampire novel for Sinister Grin Press and I couldn't get over the worry that I was writing the same old shit, so my good friend Claire Ashby suggested I pick up a vampire novel to kick me in the ass.  It worked (I think) but more about that later.  Today is about THE STAKE.


About THE STAKE:
In an isolated corner of a deserted hotel, horror writer Larry Dunbar uncovers a grisly relic. It's naked, it's female, and it has a wooden stake through its heart.

Bonnie Saxton was a young, innocent high school senior...sacrificed on the altar of a madman's obsession to rid the earth of its most ancient, pitiless evil: the curse of the vampire.

A world of horrors was born the day the stake was driven in.

Now Dunbar wants to pull it out...

Review:
There's a sexual peccadillo or technique called "edging" which basically involves bringing yourself or your partner right to the edge of climax and then backing off multiple times so that when release finally comes, it's incredible. THE STAKE is essentially the literary equivalent of edging. The climax of the book is a foregone conclusion within the first hundred pages or so, as Larry Dunbar, a horror author and (one supposes) a thinly veiled version of Laymon himself, discovers a desiccated corpse in the desert with a stake through its heart.

For hundreds of pages Larry obsesses over pulling the stake, what will happen, whether the corpse is a vampire, and regardless of whether anything supernatural is going on or not who, exactly, staked her and why. And this is why I brought up edging at the beginning of this review. There must have been a dozen scenes when Larry or one of his close friends or relatives for one reason or another just about wraps their hands around the stake and then doesn't pull it out. For a while I thought that stake was going to come out handily, but (SPOILER ALERT, I guess, for a 25-year-old novel) it doesn't come out until the very end.

For a while I was pretty sure Larry was going to pull the stake early on and then the rest of the novel would be about the fallout from that. Instead, the whole matter was drawn out so excruciatingly that the tension never really seemed to tamp down. Meanwhile, a number of human monsters began to creep into the lives of Larry and his family, perhaps remoras riding along on the evil of the stake or perhaps just representing the general cussedness of the universe. And then, like the master I've repeatedly been told he is, Laymon weaves all of the plot threads together into the conclusion. It was a rather incredible balancing act, to be sure.

This is definitely an unconventional vampire novel - if it can be called a vampire novel at all. I suppose I won't spoil that for you. If you want to find out what happens when the stake gets pulled, well, you'll just have to read it for yourself.

About Richard Laymon:

Richard Laymon was born in Chicago and grew up in California. He earned a BA in English Literature from Willamette University, Oregon and an MA from Loyola University, Los Angeles. He worked as a schoolteacher, a librarian, and a report writer for a law firm, and was the author of more than thirty acclaimed novels.

He also published more than sixty short stories in magazines such as Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, and Cavalier, and in anthologies including Modern Masters of Horror.

He died from a massive heart attack on February 14, 2001 (Valentine's Day).

Also published under the name Richard Kelly.

Review Week! Part 5: BONE MEAL BROTH by Adam Cesare

It's the rarely seen Review Week! here on Ye Olde Blogge!  Today we feature a collection by a real up-and-comer who I've had the pleasure to have met in person.  Adam Cesare ("che-za-ray" or "see-zar," depending on whether you're endlessly singing the wrong lyrics of a Neil Diamond song or not) is a hell of a stand-up guy.  And a school teacher.  In Philly.  Which means you know he'll fucking cut you if you don't buy his book.  So do it.  Do it now.


About BONE MEAL BROTH:
The world is full of horrors both real and imagined. BONE MEAL BROTH adds a few more.

The nine stories in this collection vary in style and content, but all of them strive to unsettle.

Inside BONE MEAL BROTH you'll meet a P.I. who works the dark streets of a post-biological-cataclysm New Orleans, a sleazy glamor photographer with a pest problem, and a misanthrope who's just made the most important (and deadly) purchase of his life. And those are the heroes.

You'll visit the grotesque inhabitants of America's backwoods and shrink from the quiet terrors of suburbia. No matter your dark preference: a cup of BONE MEAL BROTH will hit the spot.

Review:
It seems peculiar to use the word "breezy" to describe a collection of deeply dark and disturbing tales of short horror, but that's the adjective that leaps to mind. Not "lightweight" in the sense that there was no substance to them, but "breezy" in that they flew by, slipping down the throat of my mind like sliders from some kind of infernal White Castle.

First, some generalities. Cesare has an incredible command of prose, and the way he assembled words and phrases reminded me of an orchestral conductor. This isn't workmanlike prose, this is art.

As for the style, I wouldn't really classify any of these as extreme horror, but neither are they quietly restrained Victorian spook pieces, either. I hate to use a term like "middle-of-the-road" because it implies mediocrity (and these stories are anything but) but their scare levels are somewhere between 4 and 7 on the terror spectrum. Gorehounds like myself will find a lot to enjoy but I don't think average, non-horror types should feel intimidated, either.

Now, a look at some of the specific stories. As with any collection, there were highs and lows. Nothing was truly terribly, but a few of the weaker stories elicited a "meh" rather than a bloodcurdling scream.

"Pink Tissue," on the other hand, was the standout of the lot. Set in a post-apocalyptic New Orleans populated by mutants who have become the de facto norm, this noirish body horror piece packed a punch and managed to sketch out a world in a few thousand words better realized than most sci-fi movies can do with a couple of hours and a multi-million dollar budget. I sincerely hope Cesare revisits this setting in the future.

"Bringing Down the Giants" was a fascinating creeper. I was a little bit lost on the nature of the creatures. Were they toys brought to life? If not why did they so closely resemble one of the protagonist's childhood toys? In any case it takes a conceit played for fun in countless cases of children's fare like "Ferngully" and "Epic" and turns it on its ear with the result being rather grotesque.

I know now where Cesare gets his reputation. As a primer and an introduction to the Cesarean section of the horror world, BONE MEAL BROTH is definitely worth checking out.

About Adam Cesare:

Adam Cesare is a New Yorker who lives in Philadelphia. He studied English and film at Boston University. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including Shroud Magazine.

His nonfiction has appeared in Paracinema, Fangoria, The LA Review of Books and other venues.

Review Week! Part 4: ONE UNDEAD STEP by Ian McClellan

Hello, chums and chumettes!  It's pretty rare that I feature reviews on the blog (because I don't want this to turn into a review blog - way too much stress) but every once in a while I break down and run out of other content...er...I mean...I decide that I've read a few books that are just so damn good, not reporting on them would be something of an unforgivable sin.  2016 has been a rare good year for me for reading, and for reading horror especially, and I've discovered a few incredible new authors and caught up with some old friends who I probably shouldn't have put off for this long.  So, let commence the second ever Review Week!  

We start with someone who is no stranger to the blog, having been interviewed here before, our good friend and star of "Lord of the Rings"  Ian McClellan  and his zombie/moon landing faking novel ONE UNDEAD STEP.


About ONE UNDEAD STEP:
Many people know that the 1969 moon landing was faked, but are unaware of the actual circumstances. Find out how the U.S. faked the moon landing to avert the zombie apocalypse as the lives of a disgraced B-movie director, a bar owner, some drunks, an Army Ranger unit, a bunch of gangsters, an affluent but very dysfunctional family, and a few cops come together in ONE UNDEAD STEP.

One year after Romero shocked the world with Night of the Living Dead, a small city is rocked by grisly killings, the gory details of which are only known through whispered rumors. The government presence that makes the populace all the more nervous is unable to contain the impending threat that grows out of control on a hot, humid night in Mid-July. As the city's residents fight for their lives, the Military rushes to make a film about two men landing a small spacecraft on the moon. Will their plan work? Find out as an evil man finds redemption, some soldiers choose between their mission and duty, a young couple finds forbidden love, an older couple reignites their passion, and a bartender gets stiffed for lots of drinks in ONE UNDEAD STEP.

Review:
** spoiler alert ** SPOILERS!

McClellan starts off with a familiar premise, one that's been run into the ground in fact: a group of plucky survivors in an American urban center face down the zombie apocalypse with nothing to rely on but their wits, and each is paid back in kind according to their moral compass (assholes die horribly, heroes die heroically, and plucky kids survive.) If you've read more than one zombie book you've heard this story already.

As I read on, though, I realized that my familiarity with this premise was what McClellan was counting on, and possibly preying upon. As the book progresses, he slowly fills in some fascinating details that gradually turn the narrative on its ear. With clever flourishes like a gangster named Nicky "No-Nickname" (get it?), a rather perverse story of statutory rape that ends as it must, and always, always in the background a seemingly unrelated B-story about a director faking the moon landing, McClellan gradually draws us in to a tale that's not been told before.

ONE UNDEAD STEP is "Mad Men" meets "Night of the Living Dead." Where the latter was a product of the '60s played straight, the former was an attempt to re-create an era through its anxieties and foils, also played more-or-less straight. I admired how McClellan tries to do the same with ONE UNDEAD STEP. As with any historical drama, occasionally the satire was a little too on the nose, but I don't remember anything especially egregious along the lines of, "Look, we're smoking on a plane because people used to do that back then isn't that craaazy?" or "Wouldn't it be cool if someday we had phones we could carry around with us?" McClellan's depiction of the '60s was aware but nuanced, without ever resorting to easy targets.

For a long stretch of this book I was wondering why the moon landing plot was even there. It felt completely shoehorned in. By the end, though, I realized that this was by design, so that McClellan could smash us over the head with a Shyamalan-style twist. Believe me, by the end, the title and the focus on the moon landing and not just "Mad Men" style '60s shenanigans becomes fully deserved.

If you love the shambling dead but you've been waiting for someone to do something new with them, your wait is over. Grab a copy of ONE UNDEAD STEP now.

About Ian McClellan:

Ian McClellan was born in a small harbor town in southwest Ireland. In an effort to be cliche his parents moved the family to New York when he was thirteen. Once a promising up-and-comer in the world of competitive eating, his career was cut short by an ACL injury. He now resides in Florida with his dogs and drives a truck for a living, but is crossing his fingers and hoping his writing career will earn him enough money that he can tell his boss where to stick it.