Earlier this week I wrote a lengthy blog post about INXS' 1993 Get Out Of The House tour, which will appear later this month and because I was then in an INXS-kinda-mood, Alison & I watched the Live Baby Live DVD.
Way back when, I used to post INXS videos here on a Friday (hence INXS Friday - hey, I never said I was smart) and so I decided to briefly revive the tradition with two versions of one of my favourite songs (which, ironically, wasn't actually written by INXS at all).
The first version was recorded as an Australian-only stand-alone single in March 1981 and reached number 20 in the charts, later featuring on the 1982 compilation album INXSive. The song also appeared, in a dramatically different arrangement, on their 1987 album KICK. The second video, featuring the KICK arrangement, comes from the 1991 live album/CD Live Baby Live.
The song was written by Ian Clyne, Gerry Humphrys & Rob Lovett, members of the band The Loved Ones which formed in Melbourne in 1965. The band split in 1967 but the song really did live on, being selected as number 6 on the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA)'s list of Top 30 Australian songs of all time.
Friday, 18 October 2013
Thursday, 17 October 2013
If you think reading is boring...
I've been writing my own stories since I was eight, but reading for longer than that. I take reading seriously, I take book collecting seriously and I'm a real advocate for people losing themselves in a book.
I love the tactile nature of books (I'm not a convert to Kindle yet), I love the smell of books, I love the delight of finding a new bookshop and losing myself amongst the shelves (especially 2nd hand ones).
I love the delight of finding a new author to enjoy, I love the thrill of starting a new book and falling in love with the style and the characters and the flow of the language and I love the sense of satisfaction - mixed with a certain sense of loss - when you close the book for the last time and put it on your lap and rub the cover and want to say "thanks, mate, I enjoyed that".
And here's an icon of our times, who enjoyed reading...
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
House of Small Shadows, by Adam Nevill
In a new edition of the occasional series, I want to tell you about a book that I've read and loved, which I think adds to the horror genre and that I think you'll enjoy if you're a fan.
Catherine Howard is a valuer for Leonard Osberne, Auctioneer of antiques, an old fashioned firm that suits her down to the ground. Escaping from an incident in London - which resulted in her losing her previous job, home and friends - she’s determined to get her life back on track and with a new job and settled relationship, things are starting to look brighter. When she’s asked to catalogue the estate of M H Mason, a renowned taxidermist, she’s excited by the possibilities, especially when she understands the extent of his cache of antique dolls and puppets. Upon visiting Red House, Mason’s country mansion which is now occupied by his eldery niece Edith and Maude, the mute housekeeper, she discovers that it’s very close to where she grew up and suffered a terrible, bullied childhood. And when Edith introduces Catherine to her late uncle’s dark art, shadows from those dreaded days begin to close in.
This is another stunning novel from Adam Nevill (following last years “Last Days”) and this time he uses the supernatural and unnerving possibilities of old dolls and puppets to great effect (and gives Hartley Hare, from Pipkins, a heads up in the afterword), mixing them with an out-of-the-way location and a ruined, deserted village. On top of this atmosphere - and the book is dripping in it - he weaves the story of confused and oppressed Catherine, badly bullied as a child - “Smelly Cathy Howard, dopted, dopted” - who hasn’t managed to escape the pain or taunting which has followed her into adulthood. In fact, the target of her uncharacteristic violence in London, Tara, manages to create ripples that run through the whole book.
Nevill creates a wonderful sense of otherworldliness about the house and some of his set pieces - looking around the village, the small faces at the window, the beekeeper where there are no bees - are genuinely unnerving whilst a sequence with Catherine, who may or may not have been drugged, trying to find light in the house is brilliantly written, playing well on our claustrophobic fear of the dark. As with “Last Days”, he has created an intense and intricate mythology - cruelty plays - that constantly nips at the narrative and adds weight to the fantastical elements of the plot.
Superbly constructed, with vivid and often unnerving characters, this suffers a little in the pacing around the start of the final act but is otherwise a creepy masterclass of supernatural writing and, for a horror fan, highly recommended reading.
They watch you while you sleep...
Catherine's last job ended badly. Corporate bullying at a top television production company saw her fired and forced to leave London, but she was determined to get her life back. A new job and now things look much brighter. Especially when a challenging new project presents itself -- to catalogue the late M H Mason's wildly eccentric cache of antique dolls and puppets. Rarest of all, she'll get to examine his elaborate displays of posed, costumed and preserved animals, depicting scenes from World War I. When Mason's elderly niece invites her to stay at the Red House itself, where she maintains the collection, Catherine can't believe her luck. Until his niece exposes her to the dark message behind her uncle's 'Art'. Catherine tries to concentrate on the job, but M H Mason's damaged visions raise dark shadows from her own past. Shadows she'd hoped had finally been erased. Soon the barriers between reality, sanity and memory start to merge. And some truths seem too terrible to be real ...
Catherine Howard is a valuer for Leonard Osberne, Auctioneer of antiques, an old fashioned firm that suits her down to the ground. Escaping from an incident in London - which resulted in her losing her previous job, home and friends - she’s determined to get her life back on track and with a new job and settled relationship, things are starting to look brighter. When she’s asked to catalogue the estate of M H Mason, a renowned taxidermist, she’s excited by the possibilities, especially when she understands the extent of his cache of antique dolls and puppets. Upon visiting Red House, Mason’s country mansion which is now occupied by his eldery niece Edith and Maude, the mute housekeeper, she discovers that it’s very close to where she grew up and suffered a terrible, bullied childhood. And when Edith introduces Catherine to her late uncle’s dark art, shadows from those dreaded days begin to close in.
This is another stunning novel from Adam Nevill (following last years “Last Days”) and this time he uses the supernatural and unnerving possibilities of old dolls and puppets to great effect (and gives Hartley Hare, from Pipkins, a heads up in the afterword), mixing them with an out-of-the-way location and a ruined, deserted village. On top of this atmosphere - and the book is dripping in it - he weaves the story of confused and oppressed Catherine, badly bullied as a child - “Smelly Cathy Howard, dopted, dopted” - who hasn’t managed to escape the pain or taunting which has followed her into adulthood. In fact, the target of her uncharacteristic violence in London, Tara, manages to create ripples that run through the whole book.
Nevill creates a wonderful sense of otherworldliness about the house and some of his set pieces - looking around the village, the small faces at the window, the beekeeper where there are no bees - are genuinely unnerving whilst a sequence with Catherine, who may or may not have been drugged, trying to find light in the house is brilliantly written, playing well on our claustrophobic fear of the dark. As with “Last Days”, he has created an intense and intricate mythology - cruelty plays - that constantly nips at the narrative and adds weight to the fantastical elements of the plot.
Superbly constructed, with vivid and often unnerving characters, this suffers a little in the pacing around the start of the final act but is otherwise a creepy masterclass of supernatural writing and, for a horror fan, highly recommended reading.
Monday, 14 October 2013
Strange Tales, the 'special edition' collection
The Tenth Anniversary special edition of "Strange Tales" is now available again in print, from PenMan Press, with an ebook coming very soon.
Table of Contents
Infantophobia
Having A Bad Day
Empty Souls, Drowning
Dead Skin
Speckles
Up For Anything
Together Forever
The Darkest Hour
The City In The Rain
Dreaming Of A Black Christmas
Beach
plus - A Quiet Weekend Away
Story Notes
Publishing History
Story Notes
Publishing History
The book is available at Lulu.com for £5 (plus £2.99 post and packing, which is the charge they apply) and that's the same inflation-busting cost (£7.99) as the original edition.
Alternatively I have a few copies which I will be selling for £5, plus £1.50 p&p and I'll personalise these as requested. If you're interested in one of these, please email me at m.west31@btinternet.com or leave a comment below.
About the collection...
Originally published by Rainfall Books in December 2003, the collection was well received and picked up some nice reviews and, more importantly, sold out - which I was really pleased about.
It hasn't been available since 2004, though second hand copies do occasionally surface and often for much more than the original cost (I assume the higher priced ones command such a fee because they’re among the few that are unsigned).
This Tenth Anniversary edition, from PenMan Press, is a facsimile of the original Rainfall Books version, with the addition of an introduction and a bonus short story “A Quiet Weekend Away” (which originally appeared in Terror Tales 4). I have resisted the urge to update the stories - so Internet use isn’t widespread, mobile phones are basic and not at all smart and there aren’t many digital cameras - and I’ve also carried over the original artwork (if it ain’t broke…).
What others had to say at the time...
Mark West’s crisp economic style reels you straight in, and the horror hits you hard and quickly and refuses to lay off. He writes from the dark underside of our everyday human existence, calling on the sort of personal demons one could easily imagine lying in wait for any one of us. Tread here at your peril…”
- Paul Finch, author of “Stalkers” and “Sacrifice”
Mark West is an excellent, young writer. His compelling stories have a well-crafted, slowly-increasing sense of tension and dread, sometimes with a hint of creepy paranoia reminiscent of Phillip K. Dick mixed in, the endings always abrupt and chilling, like an unexpected splash in the face with ice water.
- Gene O’Neill, author of “The Burden Of Indigo” and “The Taste Of Tenderloin”
Mark West is a powerful and unique voice in horror literature. ‘Strange Tales’ is a chilling masterpiece of spine-tingling stories!
- T.M. Gray, author of “Feast Of Faust”
Mark West's Strange Tales are stronger, more gristly meat. His simple, unembellished style belies the often visceral subjects, imparting compassion and logic to a series of abnormal psychopaths and deranged souls. If you're at all squeamish, look away now...
- Simon Morden, author of “The Samuil Petrovitch Trilogy”
Pick up the book from Lulu.com here
What others had to say at the time...
Mark West’s crisp economic style reels you straight in, and the horror hits you hard and quickly and refuses to lay off. He writes from the dark underside of our everyday human existence, calling on the sort of personal demons one could easily imagine lying in wait for any one of us. Tread here at your peril…”
- Paul Finch, author of “Stalkers” and “Sacrifice”
Mark West is an excellent, young writer. His compelling stories have a well-crafted, slowly-increasing sense of tension and dread, sometimes with a hint of creepy paranoia reminiscent of Phillip K. Dick mixed in, the endings always abrupt and chilling, like an unexpected splash in the face with ice water.
- Gene O’Neill, author of “The Burden Of Indigo” and “The Taste Of Tenderloin”
Mark West is a powerful and unique voice in horror literature. ‘Strange Tales’ is a chilling masterpiece of spine-tingling stories!
- T.M. Gray, author of “Feast Of Faust”
Mark West's Strange Tales are stronger, more gristly meat. His simple, unembellished style belies the often visceral subjects, imparting compassion and logic to a series of abnormal psychopaths and deranged souls. If you're at all squeamish, look away now...
- Simon Morden, author of “The Samuil Petrovitch Trilogy”
Pick up the book from Lulu.com here
Friday, 11 October 2013
Monday, 7 October 2013
Return Of The Jedi matte paintings
Earlier this year, I posted an appreciation of "Return Of The Jedi" on its 30th anniversary (which can be found here). One of the things I touched on briefly then was that 45 matte paintings were produced for the film, though I didn't show any in that post.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I am very interested in behind the scenes stuff for films and one of my key areas of fascination are matte paintings (which I posted about here, back in January). I'm planning to do a small series, covering various films (Hitchcock's "Frenzy" will probably be the second post after this one) and I thought it'd be good to start with "Return Of The Jedi". So here we go, with as many before (the original shot) and after (how it appeared in the final film) images as I can find.
A quick history - Matte paintings were created by Norman O. Dawn (1884-1975), an illustrator and photographer who worked in Los Angeles. Around the turn of the last century he was commissioned to take some stills of a factory which was partly obscured by rubbish and telephone poles. His boss, Max Handsheigi, showed him how to put a pane of glass between the camera and its subject and paint in details which would then cover unwanted areas. He adaped the principle when making his first film, “California Missions” in 1907 as a way of restoring missing portions of the crumbling structures.
Although he was the first known proponent, he was keen to “dispel any assertion that I invented this technique—I merely built on to it and took advantage of conditions to advance an art in the making. One must not get the idea that other men were not doing things too. How much, will never be known.” Following this, glass painting became an important tool of movie makers and is still used widely today, though it’s almost all digital now.
All of the matte paintings for "Return Of The Jedi" were created by a dedicated team at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), made up of five people. Michael Pangrazio was the supervisor, Chris Evans and Frank Ordaz were the artists, Neil Krepela was the camera supervisor whilst Craig Barron was the camera operator.
The opening sequence, of C3P0 and R2-D2 going to Jabba's Palace, was a matte painting that was held for longer than usual (most matte shots are fairly brief, so as not to 'give away' the trick).
The droids arrive at the main gate
Early evening, outside of Jabba's Palace. Essentially an establishing shot, the added element of the beast having his dinner adds depth (and humour) to the shot.
An AT-AT Walker (a model, naturally) animated against a matte painting (detail shown)
As Han prepares to take the rebels to Endor, he & Lando say goodbye in front of the Falcon in the main hanger, a superb painting by Pangrazio.
Frank Ordaz at work on a matte painting of the hanger
Michael Pangrazio at work on the rebel hanger painting
Chris Evans working on the Death Star painting
Whilst researching this article - and wanting to see what the key players were doing now - I discovered that Barron & Pangrazio set up a company called Matte World when they left ILM, which thrived until last year when it closed down (a similar situation to many visual effects companies these days). The website has a "final farewell" screen which is worth a read, for the history if nothing else. It can be found here.
* Michael Pangrazio continues to work as a matte painter and he is now a senior art director at Peter Jackson's Weta Digital
* Frank Ordaz's last film was "All I Want For Christmas" (1991) and he is a renowned portait artist now.
* Chris Evans' last film was the Tim Burton directed "Alice In Wonderland" (2010), though he's a much in-demand fine art painter.
with thanks to NZ Pete, for his superby researched and lavishly illustrated blog Matte Shot - a tribute to Golden Era special fx and the ASC site.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I am very interested in behind the scenes stuff for films and one of my key areas of fascination are matte paintings (which I posted about here, back in January). I'm planning to do a small series, covering various films (Hitchcock's "Frenzy" will probably be the second post after this one) and I thought it'd be good to start with "Return Of The Jedi". So here we go, with as many before (the original shot) and after (how it appeared in the final film) images as I can find.
A quick history - Matte paintings were created by Norman O. Dawn (1884-1975), an illustrator and photographer who worked in Los Angeles. Around the turn of the last century he was commissioned to take some stills of a factory which was partly obscured by rubbish and telephone poles. His boss, Max Handsheigi, showed him how to put a pane of glass between the camera and its subject and paint in details which would then cover unwanted areas. He adaped the principle when making his first film, “California Missions” in 1907 as a way of restoring missing portions of the crumbling structures.
Although he was the first known proponent, he was keen to “dispel any assertion that I invented this technique—I merely built on to it and took advantage of conditions to advance an art in the making. One must not get the idea that other men were not doing things too. How much, will never be known.” Following this, glass painting became an important tool of movie makers and is still used widely today, though it’s almost all digital now.
All of the matte paintings for "Return Of The Jedi" were created by a dedicated team at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), made up of five people. Michael Pangrazio was the supervisor, Chris Evans and Frank Ordaz were the artists, Neil Krepela was the camera supervisor whilst Craig Barron was the camera operator.
The droids arrive at the main gate
Early evening, outside of Jabba's Palace. Essentially an establishing shot, the added element of the beast having his dinner adds depth (and humour) to the shot.
The Emperor arrives on the new Death Star - a massive shot that looks very impressive on screen
An AT-AT Walker (a model, naturally) animated against a matte painting (detail shown)
Darth Vader (the only live element in the entire shot) arrives on Endor by Shuttle
Frank Ordaz at work on a matte painting of the hanger
Michael Pangrazio at work on the rebel hanger painting
Chris Evans working on the Death Star painting
Whilst researching this article - and wanting to see what the key players were doing now - I discovered that Barron & Pangrazio set up a company called Matte World when they left ILM, which thrived until last year when it closed down (a similar situation to many visual effects companies these days). The website has a "final farewell" screen which is worth a read, for the history if nothing else. It can be found here.
* Michael Pangrazio continues to work as a matte painter and he is now a senior art director at Peter Jackson's Weta Digital
* Frank Ordaz's last film was "All I Want For Christmas" (1991) and he is a renowned portait artist now.
* Chris Evans' last film was the Tim Burton directed "Alice In Wonderland" (2010), though he's a much in-demand fine art painter.
with thanks to NZ Pete, for his superby researched and lavishly illustrated blog Matte Shot - a tribute to Golden Era special fx and the ASC site.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
The Lost Film Novellas are coming
"The Lost Film Novellas", a book of two linked novellas from Stephen Bacon & myself, now has an official launch agreed.
My story, "The Lost Film", features Gabriel Bird, a private detective who is hired to find Roger Sinclair, an exploitation film-maker from the 1970s. It seems that the last film he made, 'Terrafly', has the power to drive people mad and clips from it are now appearing online.
Roger Sinclair began to see the Monochromatics in a London made fraught by the heatwave and realised that in them he had the basis for his magnum opus 'Terrafly'.
Now, as Bird delves deeper into the case, meeting Sinclair's old colleagues and finding out about the Monochromatics, he understands why 'Terrafly' might just be the most dangerous film ever made.
Friday, 27 September 2013
400th blog post!
Well, I didn't think I'd get to this milestone - 400 blog posts, eh?
Since starting this blogger page up, back in 2009, I've met some great people, had twenty short stories and a chapbook published, seen "The Mill" rise to unanticipated heights, joined a fantastic writing group, edited an anthology, done a signing at Forbidden Planet, created loads of covers and book trailers, signed at FantasyCon and generally had the time of my life.
Here's to the next 400!
Since starting this blogger page up, back in 2009, I've met some great people, had twenty short stories and a chapbook published, seen "The Mill" rise to unanticipated heights, joined a fantastic writing group, edited an anthology, done a signing at Forbidden Planet, created loads of covers and book trailers, signed at FantasyCon and generally had the time of my life.
Here's to the next 400!
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Andromeda One
On Saturday 21st September, I achieved another milestone and attended my first Con as a guest and panellist. I was thrilled and the fact that it was in Birmingham, which isn’t too far away from me, made me happier.
Organised by Theresa Derwin (who I originally met through the Hauntings anthology) and Fringe-Works, with assistance from Alex Davis, it was held in the Custard Factory, in Digbeth and named for the wonderful Andromeda bookshop based in Brum (which closed a few years ago). The owner of it, Rog Peyton, was one of the Guests Of Honour, in fact.
Thanks to emergency roadworks (a big hole just off the M6, holding up traffic aiming for the A38) and Google (bloody) maps, I didn’t actually arrive until after ten and saw Mike Chinn who pointed me to reception, where I found my old friend Steve Harris loitering outside! I got signed in, dropped off my raffle copy of “Conjure”, said hello to Theresa and her lovely sister Tish, then bumped into Adam Nevill. I like Adam a lot, he’s a great bloke and a terrific writer and he signed my copy of “Last Days” and also the ‘Last Days cover’ that I created which got us both into trouble with Facebook. We’re putting the signed copy into the raffle.
I went back outside to catch up with Steve and we met James Everington and Phil Ambler, both Facebook friends of mine though this was the first time we’d met up in person. It was great to see them and conversations on Facebook ensured that we hit the ground running. We trooped off to the introduction session in The Theatre, where Steve somehow managed to break his chair - he sat between James & I and after a hefty sounding crunch, he slowly dropped out of sight! The four of us chatted and stayed on to the panel on crossing genre boundaries (which, for some reason, saw Adam shunted off to the side), which was interesting though it wandered and then went into the North Gallery for the zombie panel, which Steve was a guest on. There we met up with Dave Jeffery and it was great to see him again and the panel went well (still not sure where Scooby Doo came from though).
Then it was lunchtime and we bumped into Ian Whates, so after I'd introduced him to everyone, he came to the Old Crown pub with us, though he only stayed for a drink and left for a prior meeting. We stayed for food though - James & I both had a sausage fest, which was very nice but seemed to earn us some peculiar looks and Phil had a heart attack on a plate, which he demolished with ease (two burgers, no end of cheese, chips and more).
After lunch, we had a look around the Custard Factory (which is a great old building, with plenty of nooks and crannies and some brilliant artwork around it) and then went into the “Role Of The Small Press” panel which I was on, with Simon Marshall-Jones (I handed him my signed sig sheets for the Spectral box-set, which was a weight off my mind), Jan Edwards and Adrian Middleton. It seemed to go well and in approaching the subject from the side of the consumer, I think I held my own. It also led to an amusing incident - we were discussing cover art and I mentioned stock photographs and used the lady from the cover of Wayne Simmons' "Flu" as the example. "Like this?" said Phil and handed me a copy of the book that he just happened to have on him! The panel also gave me a chance to meet and talk to K T Davis, which was good (she & I shared space in the Anachron Press anthology “Urban Occult”).
James & I went to the dealers room, which was quite small and then the five of us went to the raffle, though Dave had to leave unfortunately. The raffle was delayed so we four suddenly found ourselves standing and chatting with Adam, pumping him for details about “House Of Small Shadows” and various other things, which was brilliant. As I said before, he’s a genuinely nice bloke and it’s great to see him making strides towards major publishing success.
The raffle was held in The Theatre and off we trooped, studiously avoiding the row with the busted seat! What then followed is something that I’ve only ever witnessed before, where the four of us took the raffle by storm. Steve won enough books to fill two carrier bags, Phil had a handful (which he didn’t know how he was going to explain away, after promising he wouldn’t pick many up) and so did James & I (we were giving them away by the end of it). I went up on stage and explained the significance of the ‘Last Days cover’ and Rog auctioned it, raising another £5 for the chosen charity (Phil ended up with it, we suggested he show that to his wife before the books…). As for me, my key win was the paperback of “House Of Small Shadows” that Adam had given me to hold.
The four of us decided on a curry for tea and wandered up towards the Bull Ring (which wasn’t far away at all) but couldn’t find one anywhere, so we ended up in a nice little Italian, talking about our work and our plans for the future. It was a real treat to meet up with Phil and James - and re-connect with Steve - and their friendship made the day even more special.
James had to head off then, so we said our goodbyes and wandered back, decided to avoid the ghost walk and went into “Just A Minute” but didn’t last long. So it was, the three of us sat around the empty Custard Factory fountain, talking books and horror and plans until it was time to go and it was a lovely moment, the exact thing that Cons should be all about, to my mind.
I had a great day, especially the company I kept and the Con was good (though my one criticism would be that the venue didn’t offer up a central point for everyone to meet, which I think they’re addressing for next year). I like the idea of a Brum con though and so I'll definitely be back for the next one!
Organised by Theresa Derwin (who I originally met through the Hauntings anthology) and Fringe-Works, with assistance from Alex Davis, it was held in the Custard Factory, in Digbeth and named for the wonderful Andromeda bookshop based in Brum (which closed a few years ago). The owner of it, Rog Peyton, was one of the Guests Of Honour, in fact.Thanks to emergency roadworks (a big hole just off the M6, holding up traffic aiming for the A38) and Google (bloody) maps, I didn’t actually arrive until after ten and saw Mike Chinn who pointed me to reception, where I found my old friend Steve Harris loitering outside! I got signed in, dropped off my raffle copy of “Conjure”, said hello to Theresa and her lovely sister Tish, then bumped into Adam Nevill. I like Adam a lot, he’s a great bloke and a terrific writer and he signed my copy of “Last Days” and also the ‘Last Days cover’ that I created which got us both into trouble with Facebook. We’re putting the signed copy into the raffle.
Steve Harris (Byrne), James Everington, Phil Ambler, me
I went back outside to catch up with Steve and we met James Everington and Phil Ambler, both Facebook friends of mine though this was the first time we’d met up in person. It was great to see them and conversations on Facebook ensured that we hit the ground running. We trooped off to the introduction session in The Theatre, where Steve somehow managed to break his chair - he sat between James & I and after a hefty sounding crunch, he slowly dropped out of sight! The four of us chatted and stayed on to the panel on crossing genre boundaries (which, for some reason, saw Adam shunted off to the side), which was interesting though it wandered and then went into the North Gallery for the zombie panel, which Steve was a guest on. There we met up with Dave Jeffery and it was great to see him again and the panel went well (still not sure where Scooby Doo came from though).
Then it was lunchtime and we bumped into Ian Whates, so after I'd introduced him to everyone, he came to the Old Crown pub with us, though he only stayed for a drink and left for a prior meeting. We stayed for food though - James & I both had a sausage fest, which was very nice but seemed to earn us some peculiar looks and Phil had a heart attack on a plate, which he demolished with ease (two burgers, no end of cheese, chips and more).
With Dave Jeffery (2nd from left)
After lunch, we had a look around the Custard Factory (which is a great old building, with plenty of nooks and crannies and some brilliant artwork around it) and then went into the “Role Of The Small Press” panel which I was on, with Simon Marshall-Jones (I handed him my signed sig sheets for the Spectral box-set, which was a weight off my mind), Jan Edwards and Adrian Middleton. It seemed to go well and in approaching the subject from the side of the consumer, I think I held my own. It also led to an amusing incident - we were discussing cover art and I mentioned stock photographs and used the lady from the cover of Wayne Simmons' "Flu" as the example. "Like this?" said Phil and handed me a copy of the book that he just happened to have on him! The panel also gave me a chance to meet and talk to K T Davis, which was good (she & I shared space in the Anachron Press anthology “Urban Occult”).
Adrian Middleton (Fringe Works), Jan Edwards, Simon Marshall-Jones, me
(photo by Dave Jeffery)
James & I went to the dealers room, which was quite small and then the five of us went to the raffle, though Dave had to leave unfortunately. The raffle was delayed so we four suddenly found ourselves standing and chatting with Adam, pumping him for details about “House Of Small Shadows” and various other things, which was brilliant. As I said before, he’s a genuinely nice bloke and it’s great to see him making strides towards major publishing success.
The four of us decided on a curry for tea and wandered up towards the Bull Ring (which wasn’t far away at all) but couldn’t find one anywhere, so we ended up in a nice little Italian, talking about our work and our plans for the future. It was a real treat to meet up with Phil and James - and re-connect with Steve - and their friendship made the day even more special.
James had to head off then, so we said our goodbyes and wandered back, decided to avoid the ghost walk and went into “Just A Minute” but didn’t last long. So it was, the three of us sat around the empty Custard Factory fountain, talking books and horror and plans until it was time to go and it was a lovely moment, the exact thing that Cons should be all about, to my mind.
I had a great day, especially the company I kept and the Con was good (though my one criticism would be that the venue didn’t offer up a central point for everyone to meet, which I think they’re addressing for next year). I like the idea of a Brum con though and so I'll definitely be back for the next one!
Monday, 23 September 2013
Necromancer: Necropolis Rising 2, by Dave Jeffery
In a new edition of the occasional series, I want to tell you about a book that I've read and loved, which I think adds to the horror genre and that I think you'll enjoy if you're a fan (especially if like pulp-style horror which is well written and heartfelt).
Opening with a bang, as two people succumb to ‘something’ in wonderfully gory ways, this picks up some time after the events of the first book (the excellent ‘Necropolis Rising’) that left Birmingham a walled city, following the experiments of Dr James Whittington whose Lazarus Initiative aimed to create and control zombies. He died in the blast that wiped the city but his experiment, a young man named Thom, survived and he’s now a Necromancer, capable of communicating with the dead. He and two ex-soldiers, Suze & Gaz, are holed up in Wyoming, trying to stay under the radar of Phoenix Industries, who funded Whittington originally. They now have his daughter, Dr Barbara Cope, working for them, in a well funded zombie laboratory on a huge oil tanker called the Ulysses.
I was a big fan of the original, which mixed brisk writing with good pulpy horror and thrills and it’s a delight to return to the universe and find the writer producing stronger work. Whilst this does still have those 70s-throwback rock-‘em/shock-‘em sequences, there’s more at stake here with the richly written characters suffering at every conceivable step of the way. The Thom story-line is gripping from the off, as the claustrophobia sinks in before moving through the wide open spaces of Wyoming to Miss Molly’s diner. There, in a tautly written and prolonged sequence, they and the diner patrons have a deadly encounter with a Phoenix Industries funded five-person SWAT-type force, all armed to the teeth. The action is brutal, the characterisation just right and the atmosphere is detailed and concise - you can see the diner and its furniture and feel the dust on your face as the characters walk around. The parallel storyline, as Cope conducts her experiments, revels in the claustrophobia of the ship location, in the middle of the ocean, with a zombie army gathering in the hold. It’s this section which features some of the best writing, as two characters - manager Harding and security chief Boyce - are forced to hide their love for one another, whilst the observance of such leads to the spectacular climax.
Moving at a cracking pace and never once letting up, this is filled with characters you quickly care about and it’s safe to say that nobody comes out of the chaos unscathed in one way or another. The zombie action is minimal but it works better for that, the sequences where they’re on the rampage being brutal and brisk, whilst The Risen’s ability to retain information is well explored. Beyond all this, Jeffery knows how to write action and his major set pieces are all superbly staged, dragging the reader along in a tumble of incidents.
A must for fans of zombie fiction, definitely, but also for those who like their horror to be well-written good fun. Featuring a suitably bleak ending, I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it.
The Lazarus Initiative was meant to be finished. The research lost, the terrible creatures it created, destroyed. A city was wiped out to make sure of it.
But its legacy lives on.
Deep in the belly of the super tanker Ulysses, a scientific city seeks to recreate the project that brings its unwitting subjects back from the dead. Corralled in a steel pit, The Risen wait for the sign from their Necromancer, a master who is thought to have died with the science that made him.
Then, one night, The Risen hear his call ...
Opening with a bang, as two people succumb to ‘something’ in wonderfully gory ways, this picks up some time after the events of the first book (the excellent ‘Necropolis Rising’) that left Birmingham a walled city, following the experiments of Dr James Whittington whose Lazarus Initiative aimed to create and control zombies. He died in the blast that wiped the city but his experiment, a young man named Thom, survived and he’s now a Necromancer, capable of communicating with the dead. He and two ex-soldiers, Suze & Gaz, are holed up in Wyoming, trying to stay under the radar of Phoenix Industries, who funded Whittington originally. They now have his daughter, Dr Barbara Cope, working for them, in a well funded zombie laboratory on a huge oil tanker called the Ulysses.
I was a big fan of the original, which mixed brisk writing with good pulpy horror and thrills and it’s a delight to return to the universe and find the writer producing stronger work. Whilst this does still have those 70s-throwback rock-‘em/shock-‘em sequences, there’s more at stake here with the richly written characters suffering at every conceivable step of the way. The Thom story-line is gripping from the off, as the claustrophobia sinks in before moving through the wide open spaces of Wyoming to Miss Molly’s diner. There, in a tautly written and prolonged sequence, they and the diner patrons have a deadly encounter with a Phoenix Industries funded five-person SWAT-type force, all armed to the teeth. The action is brutal, the characterisation just right and the atmosphere is detailed and concise - you can see the diner and its furniture and feel the dust on your face as the characters walk around. The parallel storyline, as Cope conducts her experiments, revels in the claustrophobia of the ship location, in the middle of the ocean, with a zombie army gathering in the hold. It’s this section which features some of the best writing, as two characters - manager Harding and security chief Boyce - are forced to hide their love for one another, whilst the observance of such leads to the spectacular climax.
Moving at a cracking pace and never once letting up, this is filled with characters you quickly care about and it’s safe to say that nobody comes out of the chaos unscathed in one way or another. The zombie action is minimal but it works better for that, the sequences where they’re on the rampage being brutal and brisk, whilst The Risen’s ability to retain information is well explored. Beyond all this, Jeffery knows how to write action and his major set pieces are all superbly staged, dragging the reader along in a tumble of incidents.
A must for fans of zombie fiction, definitely, but also for those who like their horror to be well-written good fun. Featuring a suitably bleak ending, I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it.
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