I’ve always been very grateful for the support of the THIS IS HORROR team, and I always enjoy chatting with Michael Wilson and Bob Pastorella. I’ve been fortunate to appear on their podcast on a number of occasions, and my most recent conversation with Michael and Bob is now available for your listening pleasure. We cover all kinds of stuff in this one, including CHOKEHOLD and THE BLEED (about which I’ll have exciting news very soon). Click here or on the graphic below to listen.
Regular readers will know how much I love SCREAM MAGAZINE. I try and post here or on Instagram whenever there’s a new issue out. Issue 58 has got to be my favourite issue yet, not least because it features a STORMING review of CHOKEHOLD! “David Moody is one kick-ass writer… An enjoyable, hellacious ride into a blood-splattered finale that doesn’t disappoint.” I’ll take that, thank you very much!
As always, there’s loads of great stuff in SCREAM, including fascinating articles on SON OF FRANKENSTEIN and Tod Browning’s MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, and a look back at HOUSE OF THE DEVIL as it approaches its 10 year anniversary (where the hell does the time go?).
SCREAM is available from WH Smith, McColls, Martin’s, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Chapters Indigo and Easons stores. CHOKEHOLD is available here.
And if your ears can take more after such an aural battering, I wanted to remind you that the audiobook edition of CHOKEHOLD is now available from Macmillan Audio. It’s narrated by Gerard Doyle who, for his sins, has now voiced all six HATER audiobooks. His narration throughout has been superb, and I’m hoping to be able to ask him a few questions about his work on the two trilogies in the coming weeks. But don’t take my biased word for it, help yourself to a sample:
More people have been saying nice things about CHOKEHOLD. 2bookloversreviews said: “Authors are able to accomplish some incredible things: they create worlds that captivate people, they imagine characters that complete strangers connect with, they make people forget, temporarily, about the normal lives they live. David Moody has accomplished all of this with his Hater world.”
And I was equally pleased with AintitCool’s feedback (even though they got my name wrong in the headline!): “The novel is a speedy downhill slalom race to the final war between the Haters and Unchanged. There’s no air to breathe, every page is crisp and determined. As characters you love draw to their unfortunate ends, you’re left in their ashes wondering if anyone will make it out alive. It’s everything a novel on war should feel like. Desolate and relentless, no one is safe here. David Moody has put together a completely satisfactory end to this trilogy.”
To celebrate, and because it’s that time of year, I thought I’d join the rest of the world and launch a sale. From now until Monday 2 December, you can get 20% off any order of signed books at www.infectedbooks.co.uk. Just make sure you use the code INFECTEDXMAS at checkout.
Well the new book has been out a few days and, as I expected, it’s polarising opinion (as have the other books in the series, to be fair). Some folks hated CHOKEHOLD (sorry, Starburst), while others really, really liked it – many thanks to Max at Geeks of Doom for his great review.
CHOKEHOLD is just as the name suggests: a story that viciously grabs ahold of you and will not let go, no matter how much you struggle. It is cutthroat, relentless, and — trust me when I say this — shockingly inspiring.
I had the pleasure of chatting to Jason Henderson at the Castle of Horror about the novel yesterday, and you can hear our conversation here:
All joking apart, the reason for the title of this post is quite straightforward. I don’t write the prettiest of books, and I don’t shirk away from taking my stories down grim pathways if they need it. In the case of CHOKEHOLD, much of it is necessarily bleak. I hope that readers will find some positives from the conclusion of Matt Dunne’s story. I think this final chapter is surprisingly uplifting and it sets the tone nicely for THEM OR US.
What do you think? Have you had chance to read CHOKEHOLD yet? I’d love to know what you think.
If you haven’t yet got hold of a copy, here are the links you need: PRINT | AUDIO | EBOOK | SIGNED.
A series of nuclear strikes has left huge swathes of the country uninhabitable. It’s a level playing field now: both Hater and Unchanged alike have to fight to stay alive. Both have retreated to their camps to regroup, less than twenty miles away from each other.
It’s here that the last major battle of the final war will inevitably be fought, but neither side has any idea what’s waiting for them just around the corner.
Both armies are ready to fight to the death, each of their leaders hell-bent on victory. Their tactics are uniformly simple: strike first, get the enemy in a chokehold, then strangle the life out of them.
It’s very bleak, very bloody, and I hope you enjoy it!
Just one week to go until CHOKEHOLD hits the shelves. Here’s the first chapter for you…
Fifteen Miles East of Cambridge
The first few enemy figures appear on the horizon, and the fighters lying in wait for them are desperate to engage, starved of conflict. It’s been too long. These fuckers have had it coming. These fuckers will be shown no mercy.
It’s taken weeks to get to this point. Every meter of mud has been fought for; every reclaimed centimeter of concrete and tarmac has been won at a cost. They’re not going to give it up now, not after all those sacrifices, all those lives lost. There’s no going back. It’s them or us.
Word of the approaching attackers spreads quickly along the front line, accompanied by a nervous tension that borders on excitement. Some of these men and women dare to dream that the bulk of the bloodshed is behind them now, that this is the last push of the final war. There’s an unspoken belief that each new bloom of violence will bring them closer to restoring some semblance of normality to what’s left of their lives.
The service station is accessed by a single road that splinters off what used to be one of the major routes into Cambridge. The main road had been midway through a massive, years-long rebuild-and-regeneration program when the war began, and here, alongside the services, lies the abandoned remains of a construction base the size of a small town. The fighters used the roadworks equipment to strengthen and fortify their position while secreting their armored vehicles and heavy weapons among the highway maintenance vans and flatbeds. Diggers were used to carve deep trenches at a distance from the main buildings, and the ballast, soil, and scree they excavated now protects the service station itself—great drifts of the stuff used to block access, strengthen walls, and camouflage metal and glass from view. Inside the building, the familiar plastic façades of long-gone restaurant chains and fast-food outlets remain, reminding people what they’ve lost. But the rawness of their pain is eased knowing that what they have here is more than almost everyone else.
Remember these little beauties? If you’ve been following my work since the early days, you might remember these bloody HATER t-shirts which were popular when the novel was originally released in 2009. Now, because lots of you have been asking, they’re back. Click here or on the image below for more details.
I was sorry to hear about the death of Amazon’s Matchbook today. Matchbook allowed readers to get heavily discounted or free versions of the print books they bought from the site.
As a writer and a publisher, I believe in fairness and in not ripping off my readers. I think if you buy a print version of an Infected Books title, you should automatically get an eBook version too. Matchbook helped me to do that. But there is an alternative solution. Buy a signed copy of one of my Infected Books releases and you’ll be able to download an eBook version immediately. Conversely, if you’ve bought a digital version and you’d like a signed print version as well, you can let me know and I’ll discount the print book by the cost of the eBook you’ve already bought*.
2 weeks agoby davidmoodyauthorI’ve waited an age to use this video (made for me by my friend Iain McKinnon). I posted on davidmoody.net just now. We’re going through hell right now and it feels like one of my books BUT IT’S NOT. #staysafe#stayathome
2 months agoby davidmoodyauthorAlways loved this - the original AUTUMN cover art. Have I mentioned that I’m writing new #autumn novels? Update on davidmoody.net. I was writing about #zombies before #thewalkingdead was a thing! Can’t wait to get back amongst the rot!
3 months agoby davidmoodyauthorAnother brilliant issue of @screamhorrormag . Especially chuffed to find a storming review of the final #hater novel #chokehold on page 94. I’ve read and loved every issue of the mag, but I’m framing this one! Cheers #screamteam
5 months agoby davidmoodyauthorToday is my birthday. It is also my book’s birthday. Welcome to the world #chokehold - you’re a nasty piece of work, but I love you x #hater#finalwar
5 months agoby davidmoodyauthorIt’s 10 years since #Hater was released and it’s 2 weeks until #Chokehold - the final book in the series - is published. I’ve relaunched these lovely bloody t-shirts to mark the occasion. #spreadyourloveofthehate
6 months agoby davidmoodyauthorLess than a month until #chokehold hits the shelves. Very excited for people to read the last #hater novel. Signed copies available to pre-order at www.infectedbooks.co.uk
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