Tag: George Romero

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Escape from New York

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Escape from New YorkI have a habit (and I can’t decide whether it’s a good or bad habit) of neglecting everything else when I start writing a new book. I’ve been neck-deep in the first novel in the SPACES BETWEEN series for the last few weeks and haven’t been posting here as often as I’d planned. I’ll try and put that right.

I’ve just re-watched a classic. A real blast from the past for this Post-Apocalyptic Movie Club selection, and for good reason. I’ll be referencing this film, and the film I’m going to talk about next, in a new ‘What Works For Me’ article, coming up shortly.

There are three directors I regularly cite as having had a huge impact on me during my formative years. In no particular order they are George Romero, David Cronenberg, and John Carpenter. Romero is self-explanatory: without him there’d be no Autumn. Cronenberg – well, he’s responsible for some of my very favourite horror movies… The Fly, Shivers, Rabid – need I go on? I was once told that he’d been passed a copy of Hater. Just the thought that Cronenberg’s held one of my books is something I still find hard to believe.

John Carpenter completes this weird holy trinity. His films are, I think, more accessible than those of Cronenberg and Romero, but not less influential. I’m a particular admirer of his golden period: from Assault on Precinct 13 in 1976, through to The Thing in 1982, and pretty much everything in between. During this time he made a series of consistently strong, often ground-breaking horror films.

Escape from New York (1981) is a cracking movie, one which I’m sure you’ve probably seen. If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat. Here’s the synopsis, followed by a trailer. Click the link below for my thoughts.

In the future (well, 1997 was the future back then!), crime in America has spiralled out of control. Surrounded by impenetrable defences, New York City is now a maximum security prison: once you go in, you don’t come out. When the President of the USA crash lands in Manhattan, Snake Plissken, a disgraced special ops soldier, is sent in. Plissken has twenty-four hours to find the president and get him out.

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SCREAM issue 23 is out now!

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1394872570273A new issue of SCREAM is always cause for celebration, and this month is no different. As well as interviews with GEORGE ROMERO and DARIO ARGENTO, there’s a great feature on the latter half of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series and a report on LORD OF TEARS (a very creepy movie I’ll be talking more about in the coming weeks). Visit www.screamhorrormag.com to get hold of a copy. If you’re in the UK, you can buy the mag from any branch of HMV.

Also, if you’re a SCREAM subscriber, click here to enter their STRAIGHT TO YOU giveaway. Five signed copies up for grabs!

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Day of the Dead

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I have a huge list of post-apocalyptic films I want to write about here, but I don’t seem to ever get time to do it. It was early September when my ‘post-apocalyptic movie club’ last got a mention… there’s always something else needs doing first. But when someone else asks you to write about one of your favourite PA movies, the impetus is very different. A short while ago Wayne Simmons asked me to pick a  zombie film and write about it as part on an ongoing series on his site celebrating the US release of FLU and FEVER.

I chose one of my all-time favourite horror films: George A Romero’s DAY OF THE DEAD. Click here to visit Wayne’s site to read more.

You can catch Wayne and I on our last signing date of 2012 this coming weekend. We’ll be at Waterstones Swindon on 8th December.

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Fix the Chapel

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I’m guessing that if you’re reading this blog, you’ve almost certainly seen Romero’s original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, probably many times. And if you’ve seen NOTLD, you’ll no doubt recall the classic opening scene featuring Barbara and Johnny encountering the first ghoul in a cemetery: ‘They’re coming to get you Barbara…’

The Evans City Cemetery, where that iconic movie moment was filmed, has fallen into disrepair. A group of dedicated horror fans have started a campaign to save the chapel, and I urge you to support them. You can learn more about the campaign, make donations to the cause, and buy official ‘save the chapel’ merchandise at www.fixthechapel.com. I have a cracking T-shirt (courtesy of Jami Sroka – thank you Jami!) which I’m doing my best to wear to as many horror events as I can this year.

I was also asked to write the forward to a new Kindle book – STORIES FROM THE CHAPEL – which was coordinated by Alfredo Torres. The book’s a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it immensely. Each tale takes the cemetery and the zombie apocalypse as its inspiration, and each writer’s passion for the project really shines through. All profits go to saving the chapel.

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SFX Zombie Special (and who the hell is Muriel?)

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I’ve been waiting to talk about this for ages, and as it’s now been announced on the SFX website, I guess I finally can!

On 26th September SFX release their latest special issue – ZOMBIES: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE. Now any self-respecting zombie fan should immediately click here to order a copy, but if you like my writing (and as you’re on my website, I’m hoping you do), there’s another good reason to pick it up. As well as a huge number of zombie-related features, articles, reviews, and interviews (with George Romero, Charlie Higson, Mira Grant and myself amongst others), the magazine also features MURIEL – a brand new piece of original zombie fiction I’ve written exclusively for SFX.

So there you go… 132 pages of zombie goodness, free ‘zombie hazard’ stickers, a huge double-sided poster, and a new David Moody short story. Sounds pretty good, I think!

 

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What would you ask George Romero?

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I mentioned a while back that SFX Magazine are producing a zombie special later this year. I’ll be able to tell you more about it as we get closer to the September release. In the meantime, Ian Berriman at SFX has brought it to my attention that they’re interviewing the great George Romero himself for the special, and they’re asking readers to submit questions. So if there’s anything you’ve always wanted to ask George, now’s your chance. You can either email Ian, post it on this page of the SFX forum, or add a comment to this page.