Spread the Infection

What's going on? Is David Moody dead?

2008-09-02T10:50:00.003+01:00

At the beginning of August I closed down www.djmoody.co.uk, www.theinfected.co.uk and www.infectedbooks.co.uk. I posted an update / explanation on my message board yesterday and thought it would be sensible to post it again here. It's about time I started posting something...!

Was it Baron Frankenstein who first said ‘I’ve created a monster’?! I now know how he felt. I started writing way back in 1994, had my first book published in 1996 and then, in 2001, started to use the Internet to promote and distribute my work. Over the last five years in particular, things have gone from strength to strength. I’ve been fortunate enough to sell thousands of books and gain many, many fans around the world. It’s truly humbling to think that my books have had an impact on so many people.

Where am I going with this...?

If you're reading this you might know about the various projects I’ve become involved with over the last couple of years. There’s the Autumn movie, the planned Hater movie and the ‘disappearance’ of the Hater novel to name but a few. Each of these things have so far had two main effects on me on a personal level; firstly, they’ve hugely increased the ‘behind-the-scenes’ exposure I’ve been getting and, secondly, they’ve each added to my workload. I’m not bleating – I wouldn’t have wanted anything different – but it’s been difficult. Until February this year I was still working full-time, managing Infected Books (which was almost a full-time job in itself) and trying to write. Oh, and there was the small matter of trying to be a fully functioning human being and family man. It was getting to the point where the kids thought I was just a lodger who hired the smallest bedroom in our house as an office!

If I’m honest, things didn’t get quite that bad, but they weren’t far off. Something had to give and, between mid-2006 and early 2008, it was my writing that suffered – not a good position for an author to be in. I’m embarrassed when I look back now and see that as early as 2006 I was talking about the imminent release of Autumn: Disintegration – at least it’s finished now, written but still not published! Despite what you might think, it really pisses me off when I publish a timescale (in good faith) which then gets missed by several miles. I don’t like letting people down.

The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was last October when, after dealing with some pretty unpleasant personal issues, I published a letter on my website (and on this blog) explaining why there had been delays and what books I was planning to release and when. Literally days after the letter went live, a new deal came out of the blue which meant that everything changed again!

Enough grumbling, where does this leave everything?

Put simply, as of August 2008 I’ve closed down Infected Books and am no longer working independently. Why? Because by taking this new route it means I can concentrate on communicating. And what do I mean by communicating? Two things – first, writing and releasing new books, second, finally getting to meet, speak to and interact with the people who read my stuff. I worked in the financial sector for almost 20 years and I just don’t want to be in business anymore! Other people will be doing that side of things for me now so that I can concentrate on getting the mass of ideas I have down on paper and turned into novels, films, plays, comics or whatever...

You can say I’ve sold out if you like, I don’t mind. All I know is that this new arrangement means that I’m finally being paid to write instead of having to write, then edit, design, produce, distribute and sell my books before seeing a penny. To give you an indication of the kind of effect this is having on me personally, after taking 18 months to write half of the first draft of Disintegration, it’s taken just the last 8 months to finish writing the book AND to completely write Dog Blood, the first Hater sequel. I still have to work on Dog Blood with my editor, but I’m now in a position where I can start work on a completely new novel as well as begin writing the final book in the Hater series. Instead of one book every three years, I’m now on target for three books every year!

The new website will be up and running soon, and I’m hoping it will be much more dynamic and interactive than before. I’m taking my time because I want to get it right. It will be seen by more people than the previous site ever was – as an indication of how much things have changed, the initial print run of the new edition of Hater in the US alone will be many thousands more than the total number of books I’ve so far sold independently!

Here’s an update on where everything stands at the moment. Feel free to email any questions and I’ll answer them as quickly and honestly as I can.

The Autumn books – have been acquired by my US publisher and have temporarily been removed from sale. In the very near future we’ll be discussing the timescale for publication of the entire series and this will be announced as soon as possible. At this stage I don’t yet know when Disintegration will be published. The German language editions of the book will continue to be published at 6 – 9 monthly intervals (this was a deal agreed a couple of years ago). Herbst: Stadt, the German language edition of Autumn: The City, is due for release any day now.

Hater – I’m contracted to write two sequels to Hater. As I’ve already said, the first sequel, Dog Blood, is currently with my editor and work has begun on the third book. Hater will be re-released in the UK (by Orion) and the US (by Thomas Dunne Books) on February 17th 2009. The book has also been acquired by publishers in many other countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil and Romania! I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that the book has been ‘blurbed’ by none other than Guillermo del Toro. Check out the listing on Amazon.com to see what he (and others) have said about the book.

Trust and Straight to You – have disappeared for a while. Straight to You in particular, I feel, is a great story but it has dated badly since 1996 when it was first published. These two books may well get a dusting down and a re-release at a future date!

The movies – Autumn, as I understand, is just about complete. Renegade have updated their blog with an indication of planned release dates and I’m due to see the film any day now. I’ll post my thoughts as soon as I’m able to do so. The Hater movie promises to be incredible. I don’t have much more to say right now (I’ve spent most of the summer working with Universal Studios and the producers of the film to get all the legalities sewn up and sorted out) but keep checking back here or keep an eye on the film’s IMDB page for more news.

Those who’ve been pressing me for Disintegration and Dog Blood release dates are going to be disappointed by this post and I’m sorry for that. The Autumn movie and the Hater re-release aside, there probably won’t be any more news for the next 6 months or so although I plan to update the website, this blog and the message board regularly between now and then.

Thanks for sticking with me. I hope you’ll continue to do so because it will definitely be worth it.

Exclusive AUTUMN movie set report

2008-01-08T22:19:00.001+01:00

I've just posted a report from my visit to the set of the AUTUMN movie. Click here to read it.

AUTUMN Set Visit and Book Signing

2007-12-09T23:22:00.001+01:00

After a few delays I'm finally off to Canada this week to visit the set of the AUTUMN movie. We're also squeezing in a book signing on Thursday 13th December. The details are...

Hosted By: Renegade Motion Pictures
When: 13 Dec 2007, 19:00
Where: Prohibition Bar
696 Queen St. E
Toronto,
Canada

It would be great to meet any fans who are in the area!

The AUTUMN movie - first footage now online

2007-11-08T01:52:00.000+01:00

Footage from the first 8 days shooting of the AUTUMN movie is now online. Click here to watch!

A long overdue update...

2007-10-22T23:37:00.001+01:00

If you're reading this then thanks for sticking with me through the last five months or so of virtual silence. My family and I have had a difficult year and various things have happened which have kept me away from my desk for far too long.

That's not to say I haven't been working! In fact, I've been busier than ever recently and I thought it was about time I emerged to bring you up to date with what's been going on.

The Autumn Movie
Wow. What can I say about this one? I'm incredibly excited about the movie. I've been speaking to Steven Rumbelow, the Director, over the last couple of weeks and the project is shaping up to be something very special - unique and true to the book. I can't say much at the moment, but keep checking the website regularly for announcements. Filming begins in Canada today - Monday 22nd October - and continues through November. I'll be visiting the set towards the end of the shoot and meeting up with the cast and crew. Renegade will be updating their website and blog with behind the scenes footage and much more shortly and yes... I'm told they'll soon be putting out a request for zombie extras! By the way, if you still want to invest in the movie you've got until Halloween to do so. More information can be found here.

Autumn Books
I hope you've seen the Autumn: Disintegration update by now. Yes, I know, it's many, many months behind schedule but, as I said earlier, it's been a difficult year. Better to take my time and get it right rather than rush the book and disappoint you. Be assured - Disintegration is coming, and I hope to be able to make an announcement about the release date by the end of the year. In the meantime, new Echoes will be regularly added to the site.
To tie-in with the release of the fifth Autumn book, Infected Books will soon be releasing a strictly limited edition, individually numbered and signed hardback set of the entire series (including an expanded version of Autumn: The Human Condition which will be revised to include the new 'Echoes' dedicated to characters appearing in Disintegration). Featuring specially commissioned exclusive artwork and re-designed interiors, the books will be limited to 500 copies of each volume. More details will be available very soon. In the meantime, you can register your interest here and get release dates and ordering information sent to you as soon as they become available.
And that's not all. A brand new and completely free on-line Autumn novel (tentatively titled King of the Dead) will be serialized exclusively on www.theinfected.co.uk from early 2008. www.theinfected.co.uk will also be undergoing a major facelift shortly. Feel free to submit any zombie-themed photographs or artwork!

Dog Blood
Is now in development and is shaping up nicely to be a bloody and violent end to the Hater story. The book should see the light of day in the first half of 2008. By then I hope to have more news about the Hater movie also.

Recent Releases
You may have already seen a couple of other recent releases. The teen horror anthology 666: Number of the Beast includes an original story of mine - 'Grandma Kelly' - a cracking little tale of terrified teenagers, reanimated grandmothers and the end of the world! Number of the Beast is available now, as is Herbst: Beginn - the beautiful German language edition of the first Autumn novel.

Other Projects
There's plenty more in development. In late 2008 expect to see an anthology of short stories I've been putting together over the last couple of years. Early next year I'll also be co-writing a screen adaptation of another one of my books. That's right - a third Moody movie! I should be able to announce more details in the very near future.

So there you have it! Once again, I'm sorry for the delays and lack of news recently but I hope this update has whetted your appetite. Watch out for more regular updates coming soon, starting with the Autumn set-report in late November / early December.

Thanks again for sticking with me, and please continue to do so. It will definitely be worth it!

AUTUMN movie poster poll

2007-07-04T22:59:00.000+01:00

The team over at Renegade are asking fans to choose their favourite AUTUMN movie poster. Cast your vote here...

28 weeks later

2007-06-10T15:17:00.000+01:00

I finally got to see 28 weeks later this week. When 28 days later was released in 2003 I received a huge number of emails talking about the similarities between the film and the Autumn books. At the time I said (and I still believe) that this was purely coincidental although there’s a little bit of me that clings on to the belief that someone, somewhere might have come across my books on the net and taken some inspiration from my story. Who knows. The theme, the overall tone and the some of the locations were certainly similar.

I’ve had a large number of emails asking about the new film, particularly a line in the opening scenes where an old man tasting wine says “I smell raspberries... vanilla... a faint touch of autumn.” Just coincidence, I’m sure!

I was a huge fan of the first half of 28 days later. The opening part of the film was stunning. I thought it was a brilliant concept, had great performances and was made with a superb visual style. Unfortunately I think it fell apart as soon as the soldiers appeared and the whole thing went downhill rapidly until it reached one of the most disappointing movie climaxes in living memory. I wasn’t looking forward to the sequel and my expectations dropped even lower when I first read the synopsis. A dead UK is ‘re-booted’ by the good old USA. It was obvious from the start that things would eventually go wrong and the rage virus would return, but it all seemed a little simplistic and underwhelming. I was genuinely pleased when the first reviews of the film started to appear and the word was good. In fact, the word has generally been better than good.

I enjoyed the film hugely, as much as I enjoyed the first half of the first film, but I left the cinema feeling short-changed again.

28 weeks later has all the ingredients of a strong sequel. The audience is already familiar with the premise so there’s no need to waste time with the back story and it’s straight into the action. It carries over the intense and immediate visual style of the first film and there are some truly nightmarish images to be seen – piles of bagged bodies on street corners, snipers firing indiscriminately into crowds of terrified survivors and protective-suited soldiers prowling the streets with flamethrowers to name but a few.

My main gripe with the film, however, was the plot and the various assumptions and conveniences which drove the story along at the expense of its plausibility. Here are a few examples (spoilers below):

The country has been destroyed by infection and disease. Do you really start rebuilding it from the centre of the capital city? Wouldn’t a medium sized coastal town be more appropriate? London is a dangerous and unpredictable place at the very best of times...!
With so much at risk and such a biological threat to contend with, how do two children manage to escape from the protected area and get into the rest of the city? Are we to believe that the military really that inept? (I don’t want an answer to that question – we’re talking about a fantasy story here, not trying to draw any parallels with reality)
How did the mother manage to make it back home undetected?
I know he hadn’t seen her for weeks and he thought she was dead and that he’d let her down etc. etc., but would Don and his wife really indulge in a game of tongue hockey while she was strapped to a hospital bed. Oh, and would the janitor really have authority to get into such a secure area, and would he be able to do it unchallenged?
When the inhabitants of District One are locked into a secure area when the Rage virus first returns, how feasible is it that Don manages to get in through a ‘back door’?
And finally, if it’s such a struggle for the children and the army medic to get to the tube station near Wembley, how does infected Don manage to get there ahead of them?

I wasn’t intentionally looking for holes in the story, but they were so numerous and so obvious that I couldn’t help myself. But, like most good horror films (and 28 weeks later definitely WAS a good film), if you suspend your disbelief for long enough you’ll enjoy the ride.

So, in a nutshell, I thought the performances were great, the visuals were stunning and I had a blast watching the film. I enjoyed it a thousand times more than I ever thought I would and I can honestly say I’m looking forward to the inevitable 28 months later. Maybe someone would let me have a go at writing it...?!

Just to finish this long-overdue post off, I’ve just watched the trailer for Will Smith’s I am Legend and I can’t help thinking that it’s going to be appalling. I’d like to be able to write a positive review of it later this year but I somehow don’t think that’s going to happen. As I’ve said elsewhere, Matheson’s hugely important and influential novel deserves so much more than this...

The AUTUMN movie - video teaser

2007-05-12T19:50:00.000+01:00

The team over at Renegade have created a very short teaser video which you can see below.

Share certificates and autographed movie posters are currently being sent around the world to the many AUTUMN fans who have invested in the movie. With photography due to begin shortly time is running out to grab an infected piece of the action! For anyone who missed it, click here to find out how to get involved.

I hope that as many people as possible can share in this incredible project. It's shaping up to be something really special...!

Feature-length audio dramatization of AUTUMN - free download!

2007-05-03T21:55:00.000+01:00

Darker Projects' feature-length dramatization of Autumn is now available as a free download from www.darkerprojects.com and www.theinfected.co.uk.

Autumn Movie - official blog

2007-03-05T21:43:00.000+01:00

The team at Renegade have created a blog to keep readers up to date with the development of the AUTUMN movie. Click here to visit!

The AUTUMN movie

2007-02-08T01:22:00.000+01:00

I'm very excited to be able to announce that a movie adaptation of the first AUTUMN novel will start shooting in late 2007.

First details have just been posted here.

For a limited time you can own a piece of the movie. Click here to find out how.

Keep watching the website and this blog for updates!

AUTUMN audio dramatization

2007-01-08T23:09:00.000+01:00

I'm pleased to announce that the Darker Projects audio adaptation of Autumn will be released in March 2007. Until then why not click here and listen to the trailer.

HOME from THE UNDEAD

2007-01-04T12:00:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to advise that HOME, my AUTUMN story which first appeared in Permuted Press' excellent THE UNDEAD, is now available to read online at www.djmoody.co.uk and www.theinfected.co.uk.

Enjoy!

Nigel Kneale

2006-11-01T22:51:00.000+01:00

It's a sad day today. Nigel Kneale, one of the greatest and most prophetic authors, has passed away at the age of 84. Without a doubt Kneale's works, the Quatermass stories in particular, have been a huge influence on my books. In fact, as recently as when I was putting the finishing touches to HATER earlier this year, I found myself watching Quatermass to get myself 'in the mood'. There's an air of fear and confusion in the final scenes (as 'martian' humans turn against 'human' humans) which contributed to the HATER story.

As far as I'm concerned, Nigel Kneale ranks right up there with Wyndham and Wells as the literary genuises who defined 'social' science-fiction.

Rest in peace, Mr Kneale. And thank you.

I hate this

2006-10-25T23:49:00.000+01:00

I've posted on this blog and elsewhere many times about my hate of remaking films. Sometimes it works and the remake adds something to a flawed original or creates something entirely new, most of the time it doesn't.

Most of the time remakes and sequels to remakes and remakes of sequels etc. are simply thinly-veiled attempts to exploit the work of other writers and filmmakers for cash.

Remaking 'Day of the Dead' was inevitable. The remakes of 'Night' and 'Dawn' were both successful (particularly 'Dawn') so it was just a question of time. But the trailer for the new 'Day' which appeared online this week has left me really puzzled. I have a few questions...

1. Apart from the name, what the hell has this got to do with Romero's 'Day'?
2. Why does this trailer feel like the trailer to a bad 80's zombie movie?
3. Will this film really be as bad as it looks?

Have a look at it and judge for yourself.

Click here

Autumn News

2006-09-19T21:29:00.000+01:00

Haven't had chance to update anywhere for some time. Here's a couple of snippets of AUTUMN news which I'm really pleased about.

Audio Production
I'm presently working with Darker Projects on a full audio production of AUTUMN. Click here for more information.

German language editions of the AUTUMN series
www.otherworldverlag.com will be releasing the AUTUMN series in German. Click here to read their recent press release. To be available in hardcover, the first book is scheduled for release in the second half of 2007.

Message Board

2006-08-20T19:39:00.000+01:00

A great friend and supporter of my work, Craig Van Vooren, has very kindly created a message board at www.davidmoody.us. There have already been some great posts. Please head over and check it out. A link has also been added to the menu at the side of this blog.

Shivers

2006-08-14T19:42:00.000+01:00

Is there anything to be gained from remaking films? I didn't used to have a problem with remakes, but they seem to have reached epidemic proportions and the number of rehashes / reimaginings / revisions / redux of old ideas is really beginning to wind me up.

Over the last few years we've seen more than our fair share of bad remakes - The Fog, House of Wax, Rollerball etc. On the other hand, people have made a fairly decent job of remaking / reimagining The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

So is this trend purely driven by profit, or is there some artistic value to it?I'm not sure.At the moment it seems the percentage of new film ideas vs. remakes is beginning to tilt in favour of remakes - they're an easy option - possibly already well-known, a ready made audience, reduced development costs... Less effort = more profit.

I heard yesterday that someone's about to start work on a remake of David Cronenberg's Shivers. I immediately thought it was a bad idea (the original is, in my opinion, a stunning film) but then I reminded myself that one of my favourite Cronenberg films is The Fly - itself a remake of a 1950's B-movie. The Fog is widely regarded as one of the very worst of the current crop of remakes but The Thing (based on The Thing from Another World) is widely regarded as one of John Carpenter's very best films.

Did Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho or Peter Jackson's huge, multi-million dollar remake of King Kong achieve anything that the original films hadn't already? Did they actually damage the memory of the original classics?

I'm not against remaking, but I can't help thinking that it's getting out of hand. Films are being remade because remaking old films is the current fad and it's profitable, not because the filmakers think they're going to be able to bring us something new.

What does anybody else think? Please leave a comment or visit my message board.

HATER

2006-07-12T10:45:00.000+01:00

My new novel HATER will be available from 17th July. It’s already cropping up around the internet for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and various other sites.

As usual I’m undercutting the big boys. Signed copies of the book are available directly from Infected Books at a reduced price. Until the 17th the price has been lowered even further. Click here for details…

While I'm posting, I'd just like to say that yesterday was a very sad day. RIP Syd.

New Books!

2006-05-08T19:24:00.000+01:00

I know I’m useless at keeping in touch with people and letting them know what I’m up to. Truth is I’ve spent most of 2006 so far with my head down working on two new novels. This week I’ve finally had chance to post a few details on my websites so, if you’re reading this, please take a second to have a look.

First off we have HATER which will be published (depending on the speed of my typing) in June 2006.

“The country is rocked by a sudden inexplicable increase in violent assaults on individuals. Seeming to be without any reason or motive these attacks are brutal and extreme. There are no apparent links between one aggressor and another or any of the victims. Christened 'Haters' by the media, their attacks come without warning or explanation.

Every one of us - irrespective of age, gender, race, sexuality, culture or any other imaginable difference - has the potential to be a Hater. You can no longer trust anyone, no matter how close they are to you. You can no longer trust yourself.”

And later this year (probably around September) I’ll be releasing a fifth AUTUMN book – AUTUMN: DISINTEGRATION. Unconnected to the previous novels in the series, the book deals with the struggle between two groups of survivors who have developed very different approaches to staying alive in a world populated by the dead!

I am Legend

2006-04-26T13:20:00.000+01:00

For a long time I’ve intended to post something about I Am Legendthe classic novel by Richard Matheson. Although it’s a book about vampires, its style, structure and atmosphere has in some way influenced countless zombie stories (mine included) since its publication almost 50 years ago. People like Romero, King and Koontz have cited the book’s originality and importance. I was doing a spot of ‘guerrilla marketing’ the other day (i.e. leaving AUTUMN postcards on the shelves of the horror sections in bookstores) and I was pleased to see that the novel still rightly occupies a prominent position amongst the classics of horror literature.

For those who haven’t read the book, the story centres around Robert Neville, a man immune to a terrible plague which has devastated the planet, turning the rest of the population into desperate vampires. My one sentence synopsis doesn’t do it any favours – this is thought-provoking, uncomfortable reading. Post-apocalyptic fiction of the very highest order.

Seeing the book on the shelves again inspired me to get hold of a copy of Last Man on Earththe first film adaptation of Matheson’s tale. Vincent Price gives a good performance as the sole survivor (renamed Robert Morgan). The film is widely available on DVD and can also be found as a legal bit torrent download (it’s in the public domain) so there’s no excuse for not watching it. It struck me again just how dark and sinister this story is, and the inspiration for Romero’s original Night of the Living Deadis plain to see. The film is full of nightmarish images and has a wonderfully bleak ending which must have gone down like a lead balloon with cinema audiences at the time. All credit to a film which has the nerve to obey the first rule of post-apocalyptic story telling – chances are you’re never going to get a happy ending.

The story was filmed again in the early 1970’s as The Omega Manstarring Charlton Heston. After a promising opening the film degenerates into a series of bad performances and dated set-pieces. It’s entertaining enough, but I’ve found it’s one of those films you enjoy the memory of more than the film itself. I watched it from behind the sofa at a very early age and loved it. I watched it again a couple of years back and didn’t!

Now for the bad news, and this goes back to the comments I made in my earlier post about ‘Product’. It’s reported today that a new version of ‘I am Legend’ is to be made, starring Will Smith. Is it just me, or does this sound bloody awful? Will the studio allow the character played by Smith to have the same desperate fate as Robert Neville in the original novel, or Robert Morgan in the first film? Will he be a terrified and isolated survivor, or a cheeky, wise-cracking action hero / idiot? Will the film have a dark and atmospheric soundtrack, or will they have Smith doing another one of his fucking terrible radio-friendly, unit-shifting, soundtrack tie-in raps? I don’t think that there will be any artistic merit whatsoever in this remake. Yet again it’s all about profit and another horror classic gets defaced unecessarily.

Read the book or watch the Vincent Price version and let’s just pretend this new film isn’t happening.

Genius

2006-04-13T23:37:00.000+01:00

I think this man is a genius. Other people don't.

www.banksy.co.uk

Product

2006-03-10T13:34:00.000+01:00

I apologise in advance for the foul language used in this post but this annoys me. This really fucking annoys me.

Take a look at this link…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4790978.stm

Some of you may not know who this person is. He plays football for a team in the UK Premier League. That’s right, he gets paid a ridiculous (and I mean ridiculous – we’re talking tens of thousands of pounds a week here) amount of money to kick a ball around a football pitch. That’s not my gripe, although the fact that football players here are paid so much is, in my humble opinion, completely perverse and wrong.

What annoys me most about this story is what this ~~kid~~ ~~ball-kicker~~ gentleman has signed. A book deal for five million pounds! For an autobiography and four further books over twelve years. An autobiography? At 20 years old? And it’s going to be ready for publication in July?! Fuck me, the kid’s a quick writer. Unless he’s not writing it…?

This is depressing. It seems that every aspect of the media is in terminal decline. But why? Have people stopped having good ideas? Are we no longer able to come up with new and exciting entertainment concepts? Has every spark of inspiration and originality in the world suddenly been snuffed out? Of course not. It’s just that now, more than ever, profit comes before any artistic worth or entertainment. It’s all about product.

Switch on the radio. You won’t have to wait long before you hear some manufactured boy or girl band crooning in studio-adjusted harmony. Or, as seems to be the fad at the moment, the chorus of some much-derided 80’s track or other played on a loop over a new beat. Or manufactured punk – shouting, sneering idiots missing the whole point of what the Pistols and the Clash etc. were all about. It’s all fucking product.

Go to the cinema. Remember that great 80’s horror film you loved? Stick around and you’ll be able to watch a pointless remake of it before long. And then how about a sequel to the remake? Or a remake of the remake? Have writers stopped sending screenplays into studios? I don’t think so. It’s all fucking product.

Watch the TV. Watch reality TV. Alternatively put a mirror in front of the TV and watch that. Watch yourself. I’m sure you’re a hell of a lot more interesting than the freaks, geeks and idiots fighting to prostitute themselves, their morals and their self-respect on national TV. Or why not watch a talentless talent show? Or a celebrity talent show? Then go and buy the inevitable follow-up CD or get a ticket for the equally inevitable tour and watch the karaoke bullshit ‘live’. It's product. Product and follow-up product.

Go get yourself a book. Walk into a bookstore and head over to the best-sellers chart. Don’t try and look for anything too extreme or original or thought-provoking. Instead why not help yourself to a celebrity cookbook, or the autobiography of a sports person, a reality TV star or a manufactured pop idol or some other prick, or why not pick up a children’s book written by a singer?

I’m angry. Maybe I shouldn’t let it get to me but I can’t help the way I feel. If I’m honest, I’m not deriding the quality of any of the stuff I’ve mentioned, just the fact that it’s so available, and that it’s clearly available at the expense of the countless bloody good books, films and musicians which go undiscovered and forgotten. How many masterpieces are overlooked? For every truly great film produced, how many equally great features disappear into development hell or never even make it that far? And for every 'Harry Potter' or 'Da Vinci Code' sold, how many other books are rejected?

It’s a damn shame, and it makes me more determined than ever to take my completely independent books and shove them right in the middle of the mainstream as a two-fingered salute to the money-grabbing whores who control the media around the world.

Give me a hand please…

http://www.djmoody.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Spread.htm

Take it on the chin

2005-11-22T19:46:00.000+01:00

Over the years I've had a lot of jobs that have involved training, coaching and motivating people. Along the way I learnt that there's no such thing as negative feedback. There are positives in every criticism and comment which comes your way. This week, however, comments have been made about my work which have really pissed me off and I've struggled to take anything useful from them. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If nothing else it's started me thinking...

So what's the problem?

I'm more than happy if people want to challenge my style, my characters, my stories, my book covers or anything else. What I don't accept, however, is people criticising my work because they don't fit the norm of the 'traditional' zombie story. They were never supposed to.

When I wrote the AUTUMN books I decided, like everyone else who's worked in the genre, to set out my own rules - i.e. what the dead would do and what they wouldn't do. I decided that...

they'd be slow moving (because they're dead and you're not going to start sprinting around as rigor mortis and then decay sets in)
they wouldn't hunt the living to eat them (because there's no logical reason why they ever would)
their senses would gradually return over the course of the books and, therefore, so would their interest in the living
the strength of their reactions would increase as their control returned - they'd start as empty shells and become more dangerous as time went on
they'd react to sound and movement so, in order to survive, the living would have to be as quiet and isolated as possible (i.e. no guns, no bombs etc. etc.)

So please feel free to shout at me if you like or don't like the books for any reason, but don't complain because there isn't any pointless bloody brain eating or flesh ripping.

Thanks. Rant over.

I said at the beginning of this post that there are positives to be found in every shred of feedback. I have to admit now, having had time to chew over the comments I recently received, they've had a positive effect too. They've made me realise that I need to tackle the gun-toting, flesh-craving, redneck 'traditional' zombie fan and shove them in the middle of my 'Autumn' world to see how long they'd survive.

What I'm saying is these comments have given me the reason and desire to do what I said I wouldn't do and write another 'Autumn' book.

So, around September 2006, midway between the two books in my new 'Hater' series, expect to see a fifth 'Autumn' novel hitting the shelves.

Land of the Dead

2005-09-25T18:28:00.000+01:00

I wanted to love Land of the Dead. But I didn't. I didn't hate the film, but I thought it was a hugely disappointing way to end one of the most important film series in the history of horror, probably the history of cinema itself. If I consider the film in isolation (i.e. try and forget that it follows three hugely important landmark films) then I enjoyed it as a well-made and moderately entertaining slice of pulp horror fiction.

I guess I'm paying the price of spending too long thinking about dead people. I've spent the last five years writing the Autumn series and I've spent hundreds of hours planning 1000+ pages of zombie fiction. I've thought endlessly about the condition of the living and the dead, and I've tried to follow the zombie apocalypse from day one right through to a logical conclusion at the very end of everything. And that's why I was so disappointed by Romero's film.

I keep hearing people saying 'this wasn't the film he wanted to make...' if that was the case, why did he make it? Because in my opinion he's dragged a horror classic down to the level of Resident Evil and other such drivel.

So why didn't I enjoy it? My main gripe is that I felt the film didn't really have anything to say. The hopeless finality of Day of the Dead was the full-stop that the series needed. This uneccesary continuation didn't add anything. If you follow through the logic of a zombie story (any zombie story in fact) then the human race is doomed from the outset. Everyone dies, so in most cases everyone will, eventually, join the legions of the undead. There will be no happy ending. If, as in Romero's series, there is no immunity to the infection, then there will be no salvation. No matter how secure an outpost is built or how strong a community of survivors becomes, when someone within that community dies then, by default, the enemy is already inside. I don't accept that the walled city and Fiddler's Green would have lasted long enough to develop such a defined class system and economy.

Second problem - the 'awakening' of the dead. Romero's series has never had a set timeline. The films were made decades apart in cases but in reality Night, Day, Dawn and Land would have happened in quick succession. Within a year a body will rot down to just about nothing so within that year the vast majority of the world's six billion dead inhabitants would probably have disappeared. But if the film was set within a year of the crisis beginning, what was the trigger for the lead zombie's sudden awakening? Why did it start to remember at that moment? Was it the arrival of Dead Reckoning on the scene? Was this particular corpse somehow less dead than the others? Why wasn't this awakening being repeated elsewhere? Okay, perhaps it was happening elsewhere off-screen and off-story, but the isolation of the main dead character's actions made them difficult to believe. They didn't seem to follow the actions of Bub in Day who was being trained by Dr Logan to remember what it used to be. I had two other problems with the zombie leader. Firstly, his appalling make-up. He looked like he'd got fed up and walked out halfway through his stint in the make-up chair. The back of his bald head didn't match the decay of his face. Secondly, I was irritated by his annoying dead cronies who stood at his side continually (and illogically) and who, like their leader, managed to avoid endless rounds of gunfire and a long walk across the bottom of a (presumably) fast flowing river. Great make-up on the zombie with exposed teeth, but why did we have to see the same gormless expression on her dead face again and again and again...

Third problem - some shoddy writing. Bad dialogue makes me cringe. When I watched the scene when a group of soldiers explained to each other (clearly for the audience's benefit) how the city's defences worked, I could have cried.

Right, that's enough. I've made it sound like I hated Land but I didn't. I enjoyed it. It was a great 2 hours in the cinema that felt much quicker. It just wasn't a worthy successor to the other films in the series - films that have had such an enormous impact on myself and many other thousands of horror fans over the last thirty-five years or so since Night first fell.

The cinema chain and the film company got my money and I guess that, sadly, is all that matters.