Wednesday 30 January 2013

Hateful Burden by Natalie Gibson: Book Review


Hateful Burden: Book Review

Author: Natalie Gibson
Genre: thriller/horror/psychological








A troubled girl brought up in an unloving family environment in a pre-modern era blacks out, only to awake in an insane asylum in a time where modern medicine wasn’t available and cures were more like torture.
So we start this book from the girl’s point of view she explains her home life which isn’t too good a possibly perverted stepfather and a childlike mother. After being told she is ugly because she is growing womanly lumps blacks out. I thought the beginning here ran a little too fast with only minor insights or explanations to begin with. These were soon to be quashed with further reading.
She awakes in West Freeman Asylum for Lunatics, where she’s apparently been for quite some time as explained quite distastefully by Doctor Federick there. She killed her parents which I’ll leave to the readers to find out how.
Here we get quite an insight that she could be quite dangerous as made out, it was around here I started to get absorbed by Natalie’s writing despite the small description at the beginning so don’t let that put you off as I soon realised that was all that was needed. As she explains the girls dire situation and treatment in the insane asylum to great effect.
Though at this point I was still a little detached from the girl as I didn’t know who she was or had much of a personal connection other than her age and apparent bad family life. I felt I would have liked to know her a little better to really appreciate the excellent description of her torture at the hands of the asylums staff.

When the asylum gets an apparent refit the story suddenly spins on its head here and we get that much needed insight but not only that, an actual explanation as to why the story is strangely detached this made me smile no end.
The girl who is telling the story is apparently 232 and some Sally (her better half?) has now told her that she shouldn’t have been telling the story from a retrospective. Talk about turn around I knew from this point on I had at least an above average book in my hands.
When she is later visited in her new room by Judith and Doctor Federicks wife Hester, to which is a surprise to the girl, who now introduces herself as Ramillia, see here comes the connections as Ramillia and Hester chat and they get to know each other we learn about our little protagonist and get our first glimpse there’s more to this than meets the eye, aside from the 232 age thing and Sally of course!

The better treatment we find out is by Ramillia’s distant cousin one Sir Julian Lawrence to whom she was betrothed to many year previous, he’s both rich and a doctor. Ramillia is eventually freed and we follow her adventures as we descend into the macabre and horrific as we learn of carriers and people able to jump into the bodies of others and the touched and Incolas who can do these acts.
In Natalie’s usual style the book does include some mild erotica and rude bits, which I enjoyed as the main girl from the descriptions in my mind at least was reasonably hot.
This is good because as any imaginative reader will tell you it’s the input and the mind that bring these things to life. It’s later again that you learn that this touch power is what started the whole thing at the beginning. To begin with every things quite ok and she slowly learns about touched people and carriers, which I will leave to you the reader to read about.
There’s more to add that Sally is one of them Incolas of some sorts that helps Ramillia in some states, Ramillia can leave her body and Sally takes over to protect her from certain acts that I won’t give away. It seems when we learn that Ramillia is pregnant Julian’s ultimate plans near the end are revealed to make children carriers to which Paetus another touched person we met early on has first claim over.
Ramillia is set against the way she is treated. The book comes to a surprising end in which Sally and Ramillia join as one and they share everything that has happened, giving Ramillia a better control over a power she’s always had.
Characters
Ramillia, initially a disturbed child that we find out is part of some master plan later, a good solid main character.
Julian, Ramillia’s distant cousin with designs on her with the touch and part of the master plan, another solid character
Paetus, Julian’s friend also has the touch and in on the plan, didn’t like this guy much very nasty
Sally and Incola that seemingly helps Ramillia

This of course is a mild review of the book I could go into more detail and spoil a whole lot as the book I reviewed was only 103 pages long, so if I go into too much detail I’m sure I’ll give too much away, but I hope you got the gist of it from this review. Also don’t be put off by the way it ends there is more parts to come!
Over all as a start to a series it’s a very good read, I will admit some bits did puzzle me and some bits could be edited a little better but I’m not talking no massive chunks there I mean some lines could just be made a little simpler or something explained just a bit more. I explained some of the things I thought were flaws which then span me around on my head earlier in the review. These are some of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much just when you think.
Natalie is a budding writer who I have had the pleasure to befriend and for someone who hasn’t wrote a massive amount in this genre and for a first major foray into horror/thriller territory I give her full marks in her effort and hope she better refines this new found skill in future forays into this genre, books which I hope she gives me the chance once again to read and review.

So Natalie as your first steps as an indie writer in this area I salute you and fully recommend this book for a lazy afternoon or two’s reading, yes it has flaws but I can only see this improving over time your book gets a solid four out of five stars and The Horror Nations recommendation







Please I implore you all readers of my fine blog to search for Natalie on amazon like rate buy her stuff so she’s encouraged to write more of this. You can find her on Facebook under Author Natalie Gibson and like etc. and show her your support there http://www.amazon.co.uk/Natalie-Gibson/e/B007UT880I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1359436346&sr=8-1

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Monday 28 January 2013

Sinister 2012, Review


Sinister 2012, Review

Year: 2012
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance and James Ransone
Directed: Scott Derrickson
Running Time: 110 mins





Sinister a cinema release horror/thriller directed by Scott Derrickson some stuff under his belt and quite a few films to come as well (the day the earth stood still, The exorcism of Emily rose and a chip in on the Hellraiser series, one I enjoyed actually, Inferno) a budget of only £3million makes this film quite a success with a worldwide pull in of £47 million.

Possibly due to the addition of paranormal activity and insidious in its Poster and DVD cover pulled in the folks who love them types of films. Now this isn’t a shaky hand cam it’s a proper steady cam filmed film which score bonus points in my books, you should all know I’m not a fan of real filmed films or lost tape/found footage films. Though it does have some found footage moments in there as the main plot it is integral to the story.
So failing true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke where have you been lately man? Anyway check out Gattaca one of his best movies) moves himself and his wife and two kids into a house where a horrific crime took place sometime earlier, The crime you see at the beginning sawn brand hanging of a family, only he knows it’s the actual house though.
His wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance nothing worth mentioning) knows there was a murder in the area though. While he’s putting their stuff away in the attic Ellison comes across some home movies on super 8. He watches these films and see’s that each end in grisly killings and uses these "snuff" films that he finds to help in his research for his new book. Unfortunately he soon finds it’s more than he bargained for, as there is a figure (Bughuul apparently) in each of the films how very SINISTER? Oh bad I know.

As a result his family start to suffer His son and daughter seeing doing and acting strange as does he. Things quickly take a turn for the worst.
The films show that kids from each of the families go missing afterwards. One night, Ellison hears the film projector running and goes up to the attic. There, he finds the missing children in various states of decay, watching one of the films.
Bughuul suddenly appears on camera before physically appearing before Ellison. Ellison takes the camera and the films to the backyard and burns them. Then he wakes his family to tell them that they are moving back to their old house. You know I don’t spoil endings here on The Horror Nation this movie ends just as you could have guessed though, suffice to say Ellison finally becomes famous again at the end, I’ll just leave you with that.
The film is initially quite slow to pick up and has some of the horror film staples. The weary sheriff who doesn’t like the main protagonist due to some mistake he’s made before.
He’s the troubled author who has minor family problems.
All pretty standard and that’s what this film is standard, a standard storyline, standard effects and ok slightly above standard acting. It comes together in quite a good film that’s well worth your time if you have 2 hours spare you won’t feel cheated.
A strong 3 out of 5 for this film!


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Sunday 27 January 2013

Scott Nicholson Interview, author of many supernatural thrillers


Scott Nicholson Interview

First let’s get to know you a little, Scott Nicholson is the author of many horror novels including Speed Dating with the Dead, The Skull Ring, and The Red Church Also a bunch of other books that are now winging their way to my book case thanks to Amazon, check his name out on there.
Here’s a little about him, please include a little bit about yourself fans may not know please Scott.

I have here a few questions Scott has graciously agreed to answer for my blog.

Q. Hi Scott, first off how are you these days?
A. Doing well, living a quiet life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.=, looking forward to planting season and working on some writing.

Q. Secondly at a guess how long have you been writing for?
A.  Hmm, over 15 years now as a career track, although I’ve been creating all my life.

Q. Please give us a little insight into each of your series’ of books please Scott a little overview to let us know about each one
A. Well, there are so many, we’d be here all day, but I write a lot of supernatural tales borrowing from Appalachian Mountain legends, and I also love mind-twisting psychological thrillers and the occasional fantasy or science-fiction tell. Right now I am working on a post-apocalyptic thriller series, After.

Next I have a few questions from my occasional co-writer on this blog Scott:

Q. when did you realise you wanted to write horror?
A. I don’t think i ever made a conscious decision. It just emerged out of everything I was working on when I started, because I write in many genres. Horror is a terrible marketing label in fiction, because there just isn’t a big audience for it. So I just call everything ‘thrillers” to cover all the bases.

Q. And one more, in overcrowded genre how do you keep things fresh?
A. Well, there’s the business and then there is the art. The business is to watch what is happening and respond in order to reach the most readers. That is an external task. The art is the internal journey, in which nothing else really matters outside your own personal world.

Back to me now:

Q. Scott there’s a lot of Indie writers out there that cater to a very specific crowd of readers now I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing one such man James Cook, how do you feel about these?
A. Whatever makes people happy is great with me. I think the connections made through stories, pictures, and sounds are an amazing part of our human experience. It may be our only salvation amid the madness.

Q. What influences if any have had an impact on your work?
A. Everything. I am curious about the world and can’t make any sense of it, so I steal from everywhere. Early on it was the wild imagination of Dr. Seuss, and then comic books, and then serious literature, and then the commercial storytellers.

Q. What information do you think you can give anyone who hasn’t read or would sway them onto reading your books?
A. There are a lot of great writers out there. All I can do is tell Scott stories, because no one else can do that. But i also believe it is the reader who brings them to life, so I need you!

Q. How popular do you think literature is in the world at moment, as in popular, less popular or on the come back? In my views thanks to kindles/E-readers it’s made a strong comeback (Though a lot of the time I still prefer a good paper or hardback in my hands)
A. The Internet in general has people reading more than at any time in history. It’s not just ebooks, it is texts, emails, Web pages, Facebook posts, tweets, much of our correspondence and interaction. The Kindle just happened to bring books to everyone’s fingertips—the hunger and opportunity was already there.

Q. Do you have a favourite book or series of books yourself, if so what is it?
A. That changes all the time, but generally I like Stephen King, William Goldman, and Ira Levin.

Q. I am currently trying my hand at writing I find it hard to concentrate on it for any long amount of time though, cooking, eating, something else catching my interest. So I write it bit by bit on a blog, how do you stay focused or what are your tricks for sustained and successful writing?
A. No matter how you go about it, it is still one word at a time. There is no better or worse way to do it. The only way to fail is to not do it.

Some fun questions now Scott if you would

Q. Do you have a Zombie Apocalypse plan?
A. Pretty much living it. I’d just as soon be a zombie as some machine-gun-wielding nut case barricaded up in a bunker.

Q. What are your favourite horror films/or series?
A. I like Romero’s zombies, and I also love psychological or poignant movies like Let The Right One In, Session 9, and The Orphanage.

Q. Aside from the obvious zombies what are your favourite classic monsters, Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, Wolfman?
A. I like the old movies but the tropes don’t really frighten me. i generally prefer supernatural themes simply because they are possible, while I don’t think vampires, zombies, or monsters are possible.

Q. What is your favourite non horror works, films TV etc.
A. I like most kinds of thrillers, although nothing that glamorizes police or military. That macho stuff just doesn’t appeal to me. I also read classics and the fantasy of people like Neil Gaiman and Ray Bradbury.

Q. I believe out of the major horror icons or even apocalypse settings that the zombie isn’t too far off in reality with all the chemicals and other types of ways zombies can be created isn’t it just an accident waiting to happen, what’s your views?
A. I can accept a viral outbreak or chemical contamination infecting all of us really, that is just a matter of whether we last long enough as a species for something like that to wipe us out. Walking around wanting to eat brains, though, I just can’t picture it. It’s really just a metaphor for the strangers inside us, and the strangers we live among.

Q. On that note what is that your favourite zombie reanimation way or do you like/prefer any of the following and what are your views, God/Supernatural, Chemical, Radiation, Voodoo, Viral or Extra-Terrestrial?
A. Any of them work for me, since it is pure imagination. The less explanation the better—just get right to the munching of entrails!

Finally Scott something I’m always interested in knowing running a b-movie/cinema release review blog is:

Q. Where do see your series’ and writing going in the future, as in more follow ups, new ideas, or any film/TV series plans?
A. I’ve written some screenplays but I’m not pursuing it too vigorously, since it is simpler just to sit home and write than to network with people who might have money to spend. I really have about four big book ideas, including the After series, and then I’ll see where things stand in a couple of years.

And is there anything else you would like to say to your readers and viewers of this blog? Please write below

Thanks for having me and I invite people to sign up for my newsletter for Kindle giveaways, free books, and exclusive news: http://eepurl.com/tOE89. Or drop by my website http://www.hauntedcomputer.com to learn about my books or order signed copies.
also heres his amazon page http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Nicholson/e/B001HCX30O
and uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scott-Nicholson/e/B001HCX30O/

Awesome interview there Scott really loved some of your answers hope this gives your fans an insight into their author of choice.
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look forwards to hearing from you all!

Friday 25 January 2013

Timothy W. Long Audio Book Competition

Hi The Horror Nation
Timothy W. Long (check amazon for his complete book series) has graciously decided to give me a code for audible for a free download of Among the Living the first book in his Among the series, a zombie apocalypse series that has really stand out characters.

So what can you do to win this awesome prize?
Simply answer the following three questions please send your answers to
quantum_time_flux_portal@hotmail.com
the closing date for this competition is one month from now and any answers put down the bottom will be swiftly deleted and not taken into consideration.

Q1. The zombie wilson diaries is a tongue in cheek name for one of Tim's books in what film does Tom Hanks actually have a football friend called wilson?

Q2. In Tim's Among the series what is the name of the katana wielding killer?

Q3. In a non Timothy related question, in the return of the living dead series of films what is the chemical gas called that reanimates the dead (full name)

So answers sent to the email above and i'll take one winner at random and let you know at the end of February if you've won!

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Thursday 24 January 2013

Timothy W. Long Interview Author of Among the Living series of books


Timothy W. Long Interview

First let’s get to know you a little, Timothy W. Long is the author of the Among the Living series, Zombie Wilson Diaries, Beyond the Barriers. Some fantastic books based in my favourite setting the Zombie apocalypse with a bunch of people you wouldn’t think would go together, in my eyes at least!
Also a bunch of other books that are now winging their way to my book case thanks to amazon, check his name out on there.
Here’s a little about him, I had fully intended to become a fantasy / sci-fi writer until an incident that occurred a few years ago. I was taking a writing class and got a note from my instructor following a writing exercise. It said: Tim, have you ever considered writing horror? Your writing samples were great but each one creeped me out and I mean that in a good way. It was at that point that a light bulb went off. I decided that I could always combine my love of the post-apoc genre and zombies in general, to write a book or two.

I have here a few questions Timothy has graciously agreed to answer for my blog.

Q. Hi Timothy, first off how are you these days?
A. I’m doing great, thanks for asking. I’m actually still enjoying the glow of a new book release in Among the Dead, the long awaited follow up to my bestselling book Among the Living.

Q. Secondly at a guess how long have you been writing for?
A. Not all that long. I have always wanted to be a writer but I didn’t really get started until about 4 years ago. 3 years ago my first book was published (much to my surprise) and I’ve gone on to write 5 books and one co-authored book in that time.

Q. Please give us a little insight into each of your series’ of books please Tim a little overview to let us know about each one
A. My series, Among the Living (Among the Living and Among the Dead) take place during the first few days of a zombie apocalypse in Seattle. The books are a mixture of points of view from a variety of characters. I have worked very hard to make my characters far from run of the mill. I think that you could take the characters out of the apocalyptic situation I have presented and they would still be interesting because they don’t always have the answers. They also don’t know how to pick up guns and start shooting people. In fact my fan favourite character, Kate, is a budding young serial killer that gets to put her unique skills at dealing death to good use but her weapon of choice is a Katana. Other characters in the series are a drug dealer named Lester, and the leader of a heavy metal band who thinks the zombie apocalypse is pretty freaking cool.

Beyond the Barriers is a more focused novel that sees one character dealing with the end of the world nearly half a year after it occurred. This is a more thoughtful zombie book that allows me to do some strong character building. Instead of finding people fending for themselves he finds that the world had now broken up into much smaller groups. Cities are now the size of a group protecting a small neighbourhood--to larger groups living in a massive Wal-Mart. This book also contains a different sort of zombie – ghouls. They have an almost telepathic way of controlling hordes of shamblers.

The other side of Timothy W. Long is in the funny business of writing satire and bizarro. My book The Zombie Wilson Diaries centers around a whiny protagonist stuck on a deserted island with only a female zombie for company. He keeps her alive so he will have a companion and someone to talk to. She just wants him for his body. Literately. It’s a good natured book that has been accused of being relationship satire.

My last book is one that I co-authored with Jonathan Moon called The Apocalypse and Satan’s Glory Hole. This is a very bizarre book about the end of the world gone terribly right. I like to describe it as a dirty tribute to Good Omens. Read this book if you think you cannot be offended and have a sense of humour regarding religion.

Next I have a few questions from my occasional co-writer on this blog Timothy:

Q. when did you realise you wanted to write horror?
A. It was coming across a number of zombie books at a Borders bookstore. I didn’t know that anyone in their right mind wrote and or published such things. That publisher is Permuted Press and I kind of decided that I was going to be published by them. It took a few years but they have now picked up 4 of my books.  As a fan of King, Barker, and all things zombie, it sort of clicked. Shortly after that I began work on my first book, Among the Living.

Q. And one more, in overcrowded genre how do you keep things fresh?
A. I try to balance out the horror with a dose of humour. I also like to ground my characters, no matter how outlandish, with a dose of reality. I read across a lot of genres and like to think that some of those other types of books have an influence on my own work. I like fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers, and even the occasional literary read. I hope that this always keeps my ‘voice’ fresh and people coming back to see just what kind of crazy shit I have dreamed up next.

Back to me now:

Q. Tim there’s a lot of Indie writers out there that cater to a very specific crowd of readers now I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing one such man James Cook, how do you feel about these?
A. I think it makes sense that writers would be seen to cater to specific crowds. Writers write for themselves first, and fans second. Having a niche in the genre means that others are probably looking for that specific niche. My book The Apocalypse and Satan’s Glory Hole, for instance, is a very niche title. It’s quasi-bizarro and has a very small appeal. The book is funny and irreverent but my target audience would be folks who find South Park not quite dirty enough. I mention this book because I have read it many times. If I need a laugh, I pick it up and just flip to a page. It’s not a bad thing when you are a fan of your own work.

Q. What influences if any have had an impact on your work?
A. I read a large variety of books, not just horror or post-apocalyptic. I’m a voracious nerd for epic fantasy and I also like well written hard science fiction books. I read thrillers and alternate history. I find that my biggest influences are books that evoke an emotional response. One of my all-time favourite books is the alternate history novel The Children’s War due to the journey the protagonist takes. It’s pretty much a 1,000 page book of him constantly getting his butt kicked and coming out of it, scarred, both mentally and physically but always keeping his humanity.

Q. What information do you think you can give anyone who hasn’t read or would sway them onto reading your books?
A. Though I write horror and zombie books I do sprinkle in a dash of humour. My books are also strongly character driven. My series Among the Living, for example, presents a story of survival from 4 radically different points of view. One is a young serial killer named Kate and another is a drug dealer named Lester who would rather hide in his house and smoke weed than face the reality of the evil outside his door. I try very hard to write real characters. No one in my books  is able to pick up a gun and just start shooting zombies in the head. Chances are that most of the characters have never even handled a gun before, much less know the difference between a ‘magazine’ and a clip.

Q. How popular do you think literature is in the world at moment, as in popular, less popular or on the come back? In my views thanks to kindles/E-readers it’s made a strong comeback (Though a lot of the time I still prefer a good paper or hardback in my hands)
A. I think it’s stronger than ever and it’s due to a few unlikely heroes. Namely Twilight, Harry Potter, and of course 50 Shades of Grey. It’s easy to laugh at but the fact is that ebook readers have made it very easy for people to buy books online and read them without being ashamed of the covers and or titles. Plus, you can’t beat instant gratification. See a book you like on Amazon and with a click it’s on your ereader.

Q. Do you have a favourite book or series of books yourself, if so what is it?
A. I’ve been a fan of epic fantasy for about 35 years. One of my all-time favourites is relatively new and it’s Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen. It’s an epic 10 book series that is staggering in terms of world building and characterization. I’m also a big fan of JL Bourne’s zombie books. I read Day by Day Armageddon 5 or 6 years ago and it was the first time I really thought about writing in the genre.

Q. I am currently trying my hand at writing I find it hard to concentrate on it for any long amount of time though, cooking, eating, something else catching my interest. So I write it bit by bit on a blog, how do you stay focused or what are your tricks for sustained and successful writing?
A. I think writing just needs to be done and treated like a job. You have to set aside time each day, it’s better if you can schedule it, and just get in the habit of writing. As soon as you treat it like a job (as it should be) then you will find that there are less distractions. I’m lucky in that I have a long commute on a commuter train. This provides a solid 1 ½ hours of writing every day. I also have my laptop at hand at all times. It’s a tiny little Macbook air so I can crack it open and jot down notes, ideas, or a hundred words no matter where I am.

Some fun questions now Timothy if you would

Q. Do you have a Zombie Apocalypse plan?
A. I’m the worst at this. I don’t even have a simple plan except to board up the house and hope we make it for a few days. The whole idea of zombies is a bit silly, though, so I think I’m safe… for now <queue ominous music.>. I do believe it’s important to keep a supply of emergency food and water, though. We keep an indoor butane cooker that has gotten us through more than one power outage.

Q. What are your favourite horror films/or series?
A. I really like a lot of foreign horror. Quite frankly, France and Korea are kicking America’s ass when it comes to horror and or disturbing movies. It seems like every horror movie over the last ten years can be classified in 3 categories. Found footage, which I like, but has degenerated into lazy film making (I’m looking at you Paranormal Activity 4), torture porn like the Saw movies, or slashers where teen’s/people act stupid and get killed in droves.

France is putting out movies like Inside (À l'intérieur), Irreversible, and Martyrs. These are movies that are extremely well written, shot, and gory. Martyrs is one of my favourite movies because it is so shocking and over the top, plus the ending MAKES the title. From Korea we have shockers like Oldboy which is one gut-punch twist after another. Plus horror like I Saw the Devil, and A Tale of Two Sisters which got a crappy US remake.

Q. Aside from the obvious zombies what are your favourite classic monsters, Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, Wolfman?
A. Frankenstein – but I prefer the Young Frankenstein version. Peter Boyle was fantastic as the monster. J

Q. What is your favourite non horror works, films TV etc.
A. I get very addicted to TV series and blame it on Lost. I think that was the first series that really got me to take TV shows seriously. I was hooked on that show and loved it all the way until the last episode <grumble grumble>. My daughter and I see most of the super hero and sci-fi movies together. Plus we are both fantasy nerds and we’ve already seen The Hobbit twice on the big screen. As far as favourite series, I keep up with Homeland, Game of Thrones, Dexter, True Blood, American Horror Story, Shameless, and my guilty pleasure, New Girl which consistently makes me giggle like a stoned sixteen year old.

Q. I believe out of the major horror icons or even apocalypse settings that the zombie isn’t too far off in reality with all the chemicals and other types of ways zombies can be created isn’t it just an accident waiting to happen, what’s your views?
A. Zombies are silly. There, I said it. BUT! If someone were to develop a virus or chemical capable of turning people into mindless shambling creatures (like an early morning stroll through a Wal-Mart), then we have a real threat. I think Jonathan Maberry covered this quite well in his book Dead of Night.

Q. On that note what is that your favourite zombie reanimation way or do you like/prefer any of the following and what are your views, God/Supernatural, Chemical, Radiation, Voodoo, Viral or Extra-Terrestrial?

A. I like mine to be grounded in reality. In both of my zombie series the Z’s were created with viruses. The one book that I deviated with was The Zombie Wilson Diaries. In this very silly book a woman ingests a weird plant and it brings her back from the (almost) dead. I used the plant as a plot device so the protagonist would have something to take back to civilization were he ever rescued from his deserted island.

Finally Timothy Something I’m always interested in knowing running a b-movie review blog

Q. Where do see your series’ and writing going in the future, as in more follow ups, new ideas, or any film/TV series plans?
A. I’m finishing up my Among the Living series now and should have book 3, Among the Ashes, out next year. After that I plan to do a sequel to Beyond the Barriers called Beyond the Barriers: Ghouls. I’m also expanding into new territory with a new series of books that revolve around a modern day Necromancer. The first book has been completed so I hope to shop it soon. I’m also working on a sequel to The Zombie Wilson Diaries because that book is just too silly to leave alone. And, assuming I can squeeze it in, Jonathan Moon and I are intent on working on a sequel to The Apocalypse and Satan’s Glory Hole called The Apocalypse Strikes Back!

I’d love to expand into TV or film so if Hollywood is reading, they are welcome to knock down my door.

And is there anything else you would like to say to your readers and viewers of this blog? Please write below

Sure, put me on the spot. Okay, I’ll tell you my motto. If it’s undead, aim for the head!

Thank you Timothy for doing this Interview and giving your dedicated readers a little more insight into one of their favourite authors and what’s going on in their world at the moment

If you enjoyed that interview check the rest of my blog for more authors interviews please follow me on twitter @TheHorrorNation
Also keep an eye out this weekend as i have a competition to win a free audio book of Among the Living graciously donated by the man himself.

Sunday 20 January 2013

Abraham Lincoln VS. Zombies Review


Abraham Lincoln VS. Zombies Review

Year: 2012
Cast: Bill Oberst Jr., Kent Igleheart and Rhianna Van Helton
Director: Richard Schenkman
Running Time:  96 minutes



Trying to run off the limited success of Abe – Vampire hunter comes this offering with a surprisingly low budget (as far as I can find) of only $150,000. This film was surprisingly entertaining and really, for me at least pushed the boat out on good acting/writing and on the effects side for such a low budget.
This should be set as a ground mark for future ultra-low budget b-movies as I was incredibly impressed by it. I would put a chunk of that success down to Richard Schenkman whose got a quite an impressive resume under his belt nothing to massive but a good line up of films spanning back to 1995.
So we join a couple running through a forest, I think its Abe’s parents at the beginning we then see a young boy chopping wood outside when he hears a gunshot and goes running inside. Apparently his dad has not had the guts to do away with his zombified mum/wife.
We then see the battle of Gettysburg waging and then cut to the white house the now adult Abe (played by Bill Oberst who is literally a film work horse his acting is a little iffy in most of his films and 90% of them are very bad b-movies as well so I guess that picked up in this because I think he plays an excellent Abe) he learns that a cannibal disease is in a fort that they need to capture to help turn the tide of the war.
Having had experience with this as a young child, unknown to the others that is. He goes to see an only survivor from a small team sent to take the fort. Abe after his general is killed by the escaped sick man chooses to take a small team of the new secret service to the fort to take it and stop the disease from spreading further. Now the main storyline is a little weak I will admit that, but the strong writing even in that shows through.
The acting is brilliant for a b-movie I know I’ve said it before but it does shine through, in the fort they encounter rebels and have a gun fight as zombie invade through an earlier broken door. Some die as they fight off both sides, the rebels retreat and Abe and the team re-block the door to the fort.
The rebels are then caught after a little confrontation; they think the disease is treatable whereas Abe knows best.

So my thoughts on this movie, as I said the effects for the small budget are fantastic they really try their best to make it look authentically 1800’s and use good locations and even some decent CGI to make places look authentic. The blood, deaths and all is as good as you can get for the budget too in fact I’ve seen similar or worse in films with 10x the budget. Make-up effects are top notch zombie make-up white eyes, grey pallor and veins showing through, really loved all that. All that coupled with a decent main character kept me engrossed in this film from start to finish.

Now all the bad points and even though I love this film and loved Abe the rest of the cast seemed very 2D and had no depth. The zombies seem to have increased strength at times and feeble others. The actual film does look like it was all filmed in one day, but then as a downside it can’t be that bad as it just means they had a brilliant day of shooting. Also and please I’m not racist in the slightest the black guy in this movie is not persecuted for his skin colour at all and back in that time I’m sure he would have been he does in fact become one of the more interesting characters. The film did sag a little in the middle unfortunately as their trying to fill in for time but the story picks back up after not to long and comes to an exciting conclusion.
So the rest of the film is confrontations between both the confederations and the zombies, in their morals, the zombie disease and how to deal with problems.

As always here on The Horror Nation I’ll not spoil the ending for you all, I’m also on the wire about giving this a four or five star mark. I really enjoyed it for the over the top action and the effort put in for the budget. The whole experience and the time frame it’s in did immerse me. So apart from its downsides which are a few I’ll give this 5 for amazing effort and great style in the face of budget adversity. Definitely worth a watch.
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Monday 14 January 2013

Silent Hill Revelation Review


Silent Hill Revelation Review

Year: 2012
Cast: Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington and Sean Bean
Director: Michael J Basset
Running Time: 94 minutes



Ah the long awaited sequel to 2006’s Silent hill, has been long coming and to me at least worth the wait. From director Michael J Basset, also the writer he’s not done a lot before this but one notable film he has in his repertoire is death-watch a brilliant head fuck of a film set in world war and quite reminiscent of silent hill itself so I think the best option writer and director of this film.
For me that was already a good start here, so Silent hill revelation, both loosely and directly at times based on silent hill 3. Guess they wanted to skip the second game (the best in a lot of people’s minds) not a bad thing though as it would have fit in with the whole scheme of things and non-silent hill game fans wouldn’t have got it.

We start the film with Heather Mason (Adelaide Clemens, she’s not been a lot mentionable things other than some TV series appearances and film bit parts, though she does have the great Gatsby coming up this year) in a theme park very reminiscent of the third games opening but not as convoluted. Being based on the game I could draw a lot of comparisons here but I’ll try not to as ones a film and one isn’t. The only thing I will say is you’ll recognise a lot of people from both and the film follows almost the same pacing as in locations and people.
That turns out to be a dream anyway we find out Harry (Sean Bean game of thrones, golden eye equilibrium) and Heather/Sharon have moved around a lot from the first film trying to dodge the cult who want Heather back.
Through this film we find out a lot about Heather that she’s Alessa sister/child created from all that good left in her when she was burnt to a crisp. In her new school she meets Vincent (Kit Harington, Game of thrones) another new kid in the class. Unfortunately you know these films he’s not what he seems, Harry gets kidnapped by the cult but not before telling heather to meet him all because she’s told him that she’s being followed by a guy.
Before he’s kidnapped he asked Heather to meet him in the mall where she does, the mystery follower guy is revealed as Douglas Cartland who reveals himself as a detective sent to find her. Realising he made a massive mistake tries to warn Heather about the cult but is killed by some bladed arm thing.

Escaping the shadow world version of the mall they find Doug’s body and Heathers discarded coat with him and link her to his murder. Vincent pops up and accompanies Heather home where she finds out about Harry’s abduction and goes to follow him with the crest of metatron as some kind of key.
I loved this bit because as their looking through a book you see some nods to silent hill monsters and other things. So they stop in a motel before silent hill Vincent then reveals himself to be a son of the cult but has learnt Heather isn’t evil, she doesn’t like this and the shadow world comes through and Vincent is taken away.
Waking up with the world relatively normal again and she proceeds up the road to Silent hill, the familiar fog is there. So the rest of the film is now in Silent hill with a confrontation between Heather and Alessa that bit of the film is dealt with rather quickly. So she rescues Harry who ultimately decides to stay back to see if he can rescue his wife Rose from the first film.
Heather leaves with Vincent as her protector now and for them silent hill seems to be clear. As they leave they thumb a lift from a truck driver one Travis Grady the protagonist from silent hill origins, as they drive off a police transport comes past with two police cars also a nod at silent hill downpour the newest game in the series.

So this film wasn’t perfect with its $20million budget it was well used with the make-up and effects it made a very realistic silent hill for me, it nicely doubled its budget in revenue as well so who knows maybe we’ll see more. Some unnecessary nudism, no nod to silent hill 2 though they did two other games in the franchise. Finally the whole Alessa thing cleared up rather quickly though not without some explanation so that wasn’t too bad.
So I love the games and the movies really do it for me it is like watching a walkthrough of a game like I said it has its flaws which is why I don’t give this a full five stars.
Silent Hill Revelation gets a very strong 4 out of 5 stars and I’d recommend you watch it if you have the time.
Peace out The Horror Nation




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Saturday 12 January 2013

Let Me In: Back Review


Let Me In: Back Review

Year 2010
Cast Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloë Grace Moretz and Richard Jenkins
Director Matt Reeves
Running Time 116 minutes



What can I say? I really enjoyed this haven’t been glued to a film like this for ages I felt in touch with the characters and didn’t fail to be entertained by any of the plot devices.
I was refreshing and even though a horror film didn’t focus too much on the horror aspect it was two children making friends despite a big difference.
At least on the surface so let’s pick this film apart first up its from director Matt Reeves and is a remake of sorts of a Swedish version of the same book Let the right one in. Matt Reeves other works include Cloverfield and writing other movies such as the yards and under siege 2.
A bit of a sleeper as it only did $12million in the box office which unfortunately pales to its $20million budget which I for one cannot see why this film cost so much to make most of the effects are make-up based and some shadowy CGI of Abby when she’s in feral vampire mode. Most of the actors aren’t big name stars so I guess trying to keep the film based in the 80’s as it is cost quite a bit perhaps?
So yes the movie it’s based in the 80’s we have the star of the show 12yr old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee, who voiced Norman in Paranorman and has quite a few other films and TV appearances under his belt, oh and he looks like a frickin girl!) so he’s from split family, his mum is a crazy god bod and this is possibly the reason her and hubby have split.
Not only that, he is bullied by a group of three kids in school who call him girl all the time quite apt because he does look feminine, poor kid. They even make him piss his pants at one point with a giant wedgie.
He’s a little odd sort and likes to view stuff out of his telescope in his bedroom often with his top off and pretending to be some serial killer, great kid!
So one night he views some people moving into the flat next to his mums, and then the next time he’s out late on the little climbing frame outside the apartment Abby comes up barefoot and cryptically tells him they can’t be friends. Abby (played by Chloë Grace Moretz, hit girl from one my personal favourite movies Kick Ass among loads of others things and a sequel!) visits him a few times and despite her protestations from before they spark up a friendship.
Owen often hear arguing coming from their flat and thinks it is her dad shouting at her possibly forming a bond before he should (though from my recollection he doesn’t find out ever that its Abby doing the shouting most of the time) He gives Abby Morse code so they can communicate through the wall.
So Abby’s dad as we know him at this point goes out and we see him collecting blood which due to a bad leg he stumbles and loses it. So yes by now you’ve all guessed Abby is a 12yr old vampire when he gets back to tell her Owen hears her, mistaking her father shouting.
So she goes out and ices a guy who tries to help her thinking she’s a distressed child the body of the drain boy from her father is found and this gets the police involved.
One more failed jaunt to get Abby blood ends in her dad whom soon we find out it’s not her dad get him badly hurt and caught by the police, not before he melts his face off with acid to prevent identification.
Abby finds out goes to the hospital where he lets her feed off him and kill him this mixes into the beginning of the movie here and makes more sense of what happens.
So Owen learns Abby is a vampire later on, which he seems to accept pretty easy and they kind of become girlfriend and boyfriend with one scene she gets into bed with him naked! Abby cannot enter a house without being invited “let me in” as the film’s title is called; we see what happens when she tries to do this without being allowed later.
She teaches him Owen stick up for himself, which backfires when he breaks one of the bully’s ears in half with a metal pole.
Abby makes a mistake feeding later leaving a woman alive who becomes a vampire in a hospital when the nurse draws a curtain she bursts into flames this helps the detective whose on the case know the right block of flats. When he eventually find the right flat before he can pull off the window coverings Abby ices him.
She apparently leaves after this a saddened Owen is actually trying to swim (sorry something he’s been a little reluctant to do since the start of the film) when one of the bully’s older brothers hatch a revenge plan and push Owen under the water.
Well I won’t spoil too much but it doesn’t end well for them. Right now what I see and most will see is two not ordinary children making friends through adversity, a lot of it!
Though if you dig deeper here at least in my eyes, Abby is actually manipulating Owen in a way so she can just get a new protector we see she’s done it before and she quite possibly has become adept at this kind of manipulation as we don’t know how many times this seemingly 12yr old girl has tricked an out of sorts young boy into being her protector.
Just once? I haven’t read the book so the last person may have been her brother who knows as we don’t know how truly old she is other than *old* so as far as we know she’s done it a lot and knows how to get what she needs to continue on, as we know from the shouting and the way she treats he last protector that she’s not exactly the nicest of people either.
Now aside from this dig into the films actual possible meaning I did love their interaction it was nice to see a down in the dumps kids form a relationship with a girl where in our ideal world would never have happened.
The film does have its flaws and through these I am giving this film a 4 out of 5 star review it’s definitely worth a watch if you got a boring 2hrs to pass on these upcoming rainy/snowy days


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Thursday 10 January 2013

Max Brallier Interview, Author of choose your own adventure ZA book Can You Survive A Zombie Apocalypse


Max Brallier Interview

First let’s get to know you, Max Brallier is an author, He recently caught my eye with an amusing book called can you survive a zombie apocalypse. It's in the style of choose you own adventure books which i used to love as a child. 
He has also written a number of other amusing books Reasons to smoke, reasons to drink and one of my favourite types of books toilet humour. Not about toilets of course just fun little trivia snippets to read while taking a long one!
I would suggest these books to anyone with a sense of humour, though of course this being a horror site today we’ll focus our interview on the foray into zombiedom.
I have here a few questions Jonathan has graciously agreed to answer for my blog.

 

Q. Hi Max, first off how are you these days?
A. Doing great!

 

Q. Secondly how long have you been writing for?
A. Began writing sorta seriously in college. Been writing for money since 2007. Full-time since 2010 or so.

 

Next I have a few questions from my co-writer on this blog Max:

 

Q. when did you realise you wanted to write comedy/horror as you have?
A. Kind of on a whim. I loved zombies. Zombies were popular in pop-culture. I lived in New York City. So I started playing around with a book about a zombie apocalypse in the city, and made basically a version of myself as the hero. But I had a bunch of different places I wanted to take the story, so I had the idea to do it in this pick your own path style. I didn’t know if it would work – I thought it would be a disaster. But I did about 15,000 words of it and I thought it was really fun.

 

Q. And one more, how do you keep your writing fresh?
A. Hmm. By reading a lot. Reading history, reading magazines, reading the Daily News – there are an abundance of great stories out there waiting to be written.

 

Back to me now:

 

Q. Max there’s a lot of Indie writers out there that cater to a very specific crowd of readers now I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing a few such as Mark Tufo and James Cook, how do you feel about these and would you put yourself in that bracket?
A. I don’t think I’d put myself in the indie bracket – though I’ve honestly never thought about it. But I do a lot of writing for big publishers like Penguin, Simon & Schuster, etc. And I have an agent. So no, not really independent. I did self-publish one novella digitally– really just as an experiment. I think independent writers – by which I assume you mean writing and publishing without the help of a publisher – are fantastic. It takes balls. And publishing is such a screwed up industry in many ways – so any shake up is good. Authors don’t make enough money in the current/traditional publishing system – they give up  a lot and, quite often, get very little in return. So keep doing what you’re doing, independent authors, fight the power. J

 

Q. On that note your book has a very specific niche itself, what took you from your usual style of writing and apply to the ZA (zombie apocalypse) setting?
A. I just wrote the book I wanted to read. It was the first piece of fiction I really wrote – so I didn’t have a usual style when I wrote it. I kind of developed it as I wrote. Also – I’m a lazy reader – I skim big paragraphs. So I try to leave that crap out. Anything I wouldn’t read, I leave out. At least I try to – how successful I am at that, I dunno!

 

Q. What influences if any have had an impact on your work?
A. Movies, more than books, were my biggest influences. I wanted the action scenes in Can You Survive to feel like a movie – the pacing, the feeling.

 

Q. What information do you think you can give anyone who hasn’t read or would sway them onto reading your books?
A. I’m a nice person and my rent is overdue so you should probably buy my books please thanks.

 

Q. How popular do you think literature is in the world at moment, as in popular, less popular or on the come back? In my views thanks to kindle/E-readers it’s making a come back
A. More books are being read, thanks to e-readers. And that’s awesome. I prefer physical books for my own personal reading, but I think e-readers are fantastic. It’s not the format of the book that matters – it’s the words that matter. The more people reading, the better – regardless of whether they’re holding a stack of bound paper in their hands or they’re holding a digital screen.

 

Q. Do you have a favourite book or series of books if so what is it?
A. Hmm. Favorite book of all time is probably Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg. Favorite series is Richard Stark’s Parker series. Someday, I’d really like to write a series about a hard-boiled anti-hero, like Parker. I think they’re still doing new Parker books with a different author, but I haven’t read them. I still haven’t finished all of Westlakes. I also like Robert B. Parker’s western series a lot and I was pretty devastated when he passed. I devoured TinTin books when I was a kid and I still come back to them. I love The Goon and Atomic Robo.

 

Q. I am currently trying my hand at writing I find it hard to concentrate on it for any long amount of time though, cooking, eating, something else catching my interest. So I write it bit by bit on a blog, how do you stay focused or what are your tricks for sustained and successful writing?
A. Oh god. It’s so hard. Don't get discouraged. It’s all cognitive behaviour stuff – figure out what works for you, and do that more. What doesn’t work, change it. I have a million tricks. My concentration is terrible. It’s not easy. I rarely write at home – it’s so hard. For a long time I wanted to write at home – I had set up a little office area and I bought a nice chair and everything. But it just didn't work. I couldn’t get stuff done. So I go to a coffee shop everyday. I need to be out to write. I write for 50 minutes at a time – I set a little alarm on my phone. When that 50 minutes is up, I shut my laptop and read a book or step outside or play a game on my phone – anything. I do that for 20 minutes. Then another 50 minutes of writing. Then another 20 not writing. I do that until I’ve written enough for that day. I try not to do research or fact-checking while I write – it’s too easy to get side-tracked. So usually, I shut off the wifi on my computer while writing. Sometimes I’ll listen to music, but not often – I find it distracting. If I do listen to music, it’s always something instrumental – lyrics mess me up. More often than not, it’s the Temple of Doom soundtrack. J

 

Some fun questions now Max if you would

 

Q. Do you have a Zombie Apocalypse plan?
A. You would think so – but no! Not really! I’d want a sawed off shotgun though. That seems like the coolest zombie killing gun.

 

Q. What are your favourite horror films/or series?
A. Original Dawn of the Dead is my favourite horror movie ever – it was a huge influence on me. I’m not a huge horror fan in general, though. I never liked slasher films much – like Jason or Freddy. They terrified me when I was a kid. I did love Scream when it came out though.  Other stuff I like: From Dusk ‘Til Dun, Jaws, Planet Terror, Shaun of the Dead (I friggin LOVE Shaun of the Dead). Oh, and American Horror Story!

 

Q. Aside from the obvious what are your favourite classic monsters, Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, Wolfman?
A. I like big monsters. King Kong, Godzilla. Godzilla was my favourite when I was a kid.

 

Q. What is your favourite non horror works, films TV etc.
A. Oh boy: Everything Walter Hill, Beverly Hills Cop, Indiana Jones, original Star Wars, Breaking Bad, Seinfeld, Happy Endings, Godfather, Newsradio, Die Hards, Lethal Weapons, Predator, everything Ridley Scott, the Wire, Total Recall, Bridge on the River Kwai, Strange Days. I could go on and on.

 

Q. I believe out of the major horror icons or even apocalypse settings that the zombie isn’t too far off in reality with all the chemicals and other types of ways zombies can be created isn’t it just an accident waiting to happen, what’s your views?
A. You’d have to ask a scientist! I’d like to hope it won’t ever happen. But yeah – a lot of recent zombie stuff seems to be based on some sort of fringe science. Jonathan Maberry writes a lot of stuff like that – and it’s all fantastic.

 

Q. On that note what is that your favourite zombie reanimation way or do you like/prefer any of the following and what are your views, God/Supernatural, Chemical, Radiation, Voodoo or Extra-Terrestrial?
A. Chemical and radiation are my favourite. Voodoo is super creepy though.

 

 

Finally Max

 

Q. Where do see your series’ and writing going in the future, as in any follow ups?
A. I’m doing a lot of work on licensed properties at the moment – comic book and novel adaptations of existing properties. I’d love to do another original zombie book in the fashion of Can You Survive. We’ll see if that happens!

 

And is there anything else you would like to say to your readers and viewers of this blog?
Just, thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter if you want to hear about my really boring life and how far into FarCry 3 I am.

Thanks Max for a great interview and i hope this gives some people an insight into your world and how their fave author is getting on!

Everyone else please join me on twitter look for @thehorrornation for updates on reviews and more interviews