Review: Doom Rider by David Gatward

Seth Crow has lived a thousand lives, and in each one he's been murdered before he turns thirteen.

And now he's being hunted again. But this time it's different...

The Apocalypse is coming. And the only ones who can save the world, hold the power to destroy it.

David Gatward is a member of my 'drop everything' list, by which I mean that when a new book comes through from an author on that list I literally drop everything to read it. Even if I'm mid-way through another book. It isn't a particularly long list, although it grows year by year, but I still don't know what I would do if two books arrived at the same time. Let's hope that never happens.

I loved David's The Dead trilogy, and rank them as some of the best children's horror books ever written. Sadly though the adventures of Lazarus Stone came to an end, but I have been on tenterhooks waiting to see what Mr Gatward wrote next, and I have therefore been looking forward to this one for some time. Back in February I posted a guest piece by David about Doom Rider, as part of my Coming Up In 2012 feature, and I have been eagerly awaiting its arrival ever since. Thanks to the lovely people at Hodder I was able to dive in to the proof about ten days ago, and read it in a single sitting.

David Gatward is still yet to disappoint me. Doom Rider is a finely crafted apocalyptic horror story that proves he is no one-trick pony, and goes a long way to establishing him as having one of the darkest imaginations in teen fiction. Many of the reviews of The Dead trilogy, including my own, played heavily on the gore that dripped bloodily from the pages. However, there was a lot more to those books than just the blood splatter - great characters, descriptive writing to die for, cracking dialogue with many great humorous moments, tight plotting and an exciting pace that will have you reaching for the defibrillator as your heart struggles to keep up. But still, most review focused on the gore. In Doom Rider David Gatward gives the gore little more than a cameo role, but has still produced a great horror story that will have critics and teen readers begging for more.

Doom Rider is set in Britain, at some undefined point in the not-too-distant future. Religious extremism grips the population in a way that is similar to some middle-eastern countries at the moment. The religion of choice is referred to as The Way, the leader of their 'church' known only as The Protector. Seth Crow lives in a caravan with his sister and his parents, travelling from festival to festival, pulling in the crowds with their show that preys on the public's fears about the end of the world, and more specifically about how and when they will die. Christened The Apocalypse Boy, Seth is a key part of this show, as he has a talent for 'cold reading' people - just like TV's The Mentalist, in a matter of seconds he can read a person, and make eerily accurate statements about their lives. As such, when he moves on to telling them about their death's the crowds simply lap it up. However, Seth is fed up with this life of duplicity, and the moods of his authoritarian father, and so he plans to escape. However, before he can he meets Lily, and from that moment his life changes is ways he could never have predicted.

Lily is a seeker, tasked with tracking down young people before they reach the age of 13, at which point The Protector and his elite inner circle of enforcers, The Chosen, believe that they will morph into one of the prophesied four horsemen of the apocalypse. We quickly find out that Seth has had many, many previous lives, and in every one he has been violently killed before he can reach his teens. Lily has had enough of this, and instead of leading The Chosen to Seth she helps him to escape. Of course, as the clock ticks over onto the day of his 13th birthday all hell begins to break loose, for Seth is Conquest, the first horseman of the apocalypse. At this point the pace of the story ratchets up to a whole new level, as Seth and Lily try to track down the three remaining riders, whilst trying to avoid being killed by The Chosen. Their efforts are more than a little hampered by Seth's new-found desire to destroy anything and everything in his new role. That's pretty much all you are going to get from me plot-wise as Doom Rider a book that will best be enjoyed with as little prior knowledge as possible.

I grew up in the church, and my mother is an ordained minister, and so there were parts of The Dead trilogy that resonated with some of the great biblical imagery that I was opened up to as a child and a teenager. I was pleasantly surprised then, when I read the press release for Doom Rider, to discover that David Gatward had a very similar upbringing. His knowledge of biblical imagery and the events that take place in The Book of Revelation, is obvious in Doom Rider, and by putting his own twist on things he has created a dark, modern horror story that is a long way from the New Testament version of 'the end'. I was also pleased to see him veer away from the norm, by having his horsemen named Conquest, Strife, Famine and Death, which is more in line with the concepts I had when growing up. However, as David brings attention to this himself in his Author Note at the end of the book I can't help but feel something of a fraud by mentioning my this in my review.

Some might question how a boy who grew up in the church could turn into a man who writes such deliciously dark stories. In answer to that I would like to leave you with an excerpt from the press release that Hodder sent out with the book:

Dave, more than a little aware that it could seem odd to write horror and dark fantasy in light of his background in the church and religious writing, puts it like this: “Dealing with our fears isn't about running away or hiding, but often facing them head on. And I know this from experience thanks to drowning as a kid and, years later, deciding I'd had enough of being terrified of water and learning to swim. It was scary, but it was also the only way I could think of to deal with it. Which is why I love horror. It's a genre unafraid to deal with the darker things in life (and death). It scares and horrifies and disgusts, as

much as it entertains and forces us to ask questions. Then there's the other side of it, too. I love a good, scary story! I love creating horrifying monsters and putting my characters in situations they simply can't survive, but do. It's a part of that sense of being a kid again, and creeping downstairs in the middle of the night so as not to wake the parents to watch a horror movie on TV because you really don't want them to know you've just seen a head explode in full-blown technicolour, and some terrifying demon launch itself at the next hapless victim, claws dripping in blood... And you know what? I'm happy with that."

Doom Rider is a standalone story and the book is scheduled to be released in paperback on 5th July. My thanks go to the generous people at Hodder for sending me a copy to review.

Coming Up In 2012 #16: Doom Rider by David Gatward

On Friday I revealed to you the cover for Doom Rider, the new book coming from author David Gatward in July. I also quickly rattled off an email to David, firstly to express my excitement over the new book and its fantastic cover, but also to ask him if he would be interested in writing a piece for my 'Coming Up In 2012' feature. Despite having a huge amount of writing to get finished over the weekend David very kindly said he would get something to me, and lo and behold, this arrived in my email inbox this morning:

The first mention of Doom Rider was in an email I sent through to my editor, Naomi, last January. I was in the process of knocking together a completely different proposal about aliens and sent the following idea through as little more than an aside:

'I've also been dreaming up something about a boy who discovers he's one of the four riders of the apocalypse... Now what's not to love about that?! And he's lived a 1000 lifetimes and been killed before reaching his 13th birthday in each one. But now...'

There! That was it! Not much, is it? And I didn't do anything with it until a month later. But it just kept on nagging at me so I worked it up and before I knew what was happening, my original proposal was ditched and the Doom Rider one took over!

Where the idea originally came from I'm just not sure. I've always been fascinated by the imagery associated with the four riders of the apocalypse, but what I didn't want to do was play on it to the point of making it amusing. From the start I wanted it to be a serious book. I was also fascinated by the whole notion of destiny and how freedom and free choice would clash with that. After all, a teenager is the very essence of wanting to be free. And I figured that, if my character discovered his future had already been chosen, he might be a little miffed.

In the end, what I came up with was this:

Seth Crow has lived a thousand lives, and in each one he's been murdered before he turns thirteen.

And now he's being hunted again. But this time it's different ... Seth is CONQUEST. The first of the four riders of the Apocalypse. And people want him dead, before he can fulfil his destiny.

Seth's only hope lies in finding the other riders - Strife, Famine and Death. Together the fate of the world will be in their hands.

The Apocalypse is coming. And the only ones who can save the world, hold the power to destroy it.

Sounds fun, doesn't it? And trust me on this: it really is...

News: Book Cover - Doom Rider by David Gatward

I've just this minute received an email from author David Gatward that I just had to share with you. Long time readers of The Book Zone will already know that I am a huge fan of Dave's writing, so how can I be anything but mega-excited about his new book, Doom Rider, scheduled for a July release? David has very kindly sent through the book cover for Doom Rider, and it's a beauty! Many reluctant reader boys tend to judge a book by its cover - based on this cover I can foresee this being a very popular title in the school library (and make sure you click on the image to see it in all of its full size glory).

Seth Crow has lived a thousand lives, and in each one he's been murdered before he reaches the age of 13.

And now he's being hunted again. But this time it's different ...

The Apocalypse is coming. And the only ones who can save the world, hold the power to destroy it.

Review: Booksurfers by David Gatward

Booksurfers: Treasure Island

Jake, Becca, Ryan and Harriet are kidnapped by Dr Crookshanks and his accomplice, Professor Kaufman. Against their will, the gang have to jump 'into' the world’s best known adventure stories to steal important artefacts, using an incredible invention called the Nautilus. If they don't get what Crookshanks wants, what will he do to their parents? And what will Becca do without her dad's credit card?

Crookshanks explains that in order to keep their families safe, the children must bring him back the actual treasure map from Treasure Island. Their parents’ lives are in the hands of a complete madman! The Booksurfers have little time to argue. Before they know it, they are thrown into Treasure Island; they’re talking to Jim Hawkins, running away from pirates and risking their lives to get their hands on that map!

Booksurfers: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Booksurfers have barely dusted the sand off their clothes from Treasure Island before they are flung into another mission for the evil Dr Crookshanks. They land in the strange, magical and altogether pretty freaky Land of Oz, and if they don’t get Dorothy’s ruby slippers back to Crookshanks, they will never see their parents again! This time the Booksurfers aren’t just watching the action – they’ve become the main characters. Jake’s got no brains, Becca’s being ever so nice (for once), Ryan’s crying because he stood on a beetle and Harriet’s attacking strangers!

I know there are many people out there who think that ebooks are a product of the devil, an electronic menace threatening their beloved traditional paper books (or tree-books). Whilst I love the feel, smell, in fact everything about a proper paper book, if we want to continue to encourage 21st century children, and boys in particular to read for enjoyment then I feel we have to embrace rather than fear this new technology. There have been some fantastic book related apps produced for the ipad, but very little else until now as far as I am aware. So when I received an email from author David Gatward (whose The Dead trilogy I loved), asking if I would be interested in reviewing an ebook-with-a-difference that he had written I did not hesitate to say yes please.

David has teamed up with publisher FourteenFiftyFour to produce a new concept in children's books, titled Booksurfers, with the tagline: Ever wondered what it would be like to not just read a book, but actually experience it? The first in the series is called Booksurfers: Treasure Island, and we are introduced to a team of young book loving characters: Jake, Becca, Ryan and Harriet. The foursome have been kidnapped from their respective homes by the totally nasty Dr Crookshanks, and his evil inventor accomplice Professor Kaufman. His demands are simple: using the Nautilus, an incredible gadget created by Kaufman that allows people to enter the story of any book they choose, he wants the children to enter Treasure Island and retrieve Billy Bones' map so that he can sell it for a huge fortune. 

Unfortunately for Jake and his new friends they very quickly discover that this is not as simple as it sounds, and they can't just rock up at the first mention of the map in the story and nab it, as this would mean that the whole story would then cease to exist (what's the point of Treasure island without the map?), and therefore the map would be worthless. And so begins an exciting adventure for the 9+ age group that had me totally hooked. 

But.... there is much more to Booksurfers than just the standard "send new characters in to old stories" plot that has been seen before, as this new story is littered with Kindle hyperlinks that when clicked take the reader to the original R.L. Stevenson text, and in some cases, he very cleverly works this original text into his new story, especially where some of the dialogue is concerned, although this latter aspect is much more evident in the sequel, Booksurfers: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. These hyperlinks take a little bit of getting used to as initially I was unsure how they would work (but then again, I am a lifelong reader who is pretty much set in his ways). After clicking on a few of them, and feeling that they distracted a little from the flow of the main Gatward story, I chose instead to ignore the majority of them. However, inquisitive young minds will, I am sure, make much better use of them than I did. What I did do though was as soon as I had finished Dave Gatward's story, I then felt compelled to read the full text of Treasure Island for the umpteenth time. Did I not mention that with the Booksurfers story you also get the full original text? A brilliant idea and a surefire way of encouraging a new generation of readers to read classic stories, without them feeling like they are being told to read them, as I am sure many would do the same as I did.

Treasure Island is one of my all-time favourite books, and I was initially a little concerned as to how I would feel about a modern day story interfering with my beloved classic. I had little to worry about as I loved it, especially with the way that the new characters occasionally interacted with the likes of Jim Hawkins, Blind Pew and Squire Trelawney in order to ensure that the story did not deviate from Stevenson's original.

Of course, when the foursome finally complete their allotted task they discover that Dr Crookshanks is not going to honour his initial promise to set them and their captive parents free, preferring instead to give them a list of other popular books, with an item to retrieve from each one. This leads us straight into the sequel, Booksurfers: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was published at the same time as the first book. Having finished Stevenson's Treasure Island I was still very interested as to how Dave Gatward would be able to maintain enough variety in the plot to keep young readers interested past the first book. I have read L. Frank Baum's original, many years ago, and of course seen the film many times, but this book is nowhere near as dear to my heart as Treasure Island. And yet I think I enjoyed this Booksurfers outing even more, and instead of the foursome being extras in the original story, this time the Nautilus has them playing the main characters of Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin-man and the Cowardly Lion, and it works brilliantly.

A quick email to David Gatward received a reply stating that there are definitely more Booksurfers books planned: Robin Hood in September and A Christmas Carol in November, and I will definitely be getting these for my Kindle.

Review: The Damned by David Gatward

The Dead don't just want to return, they want Earth for themselves. And it's Lazarus Stone, Keeper of the Dead, who has to stop them. Trouble is, the Dead are the exact opposite of rotting, stumbling corpses. And they desire one thing only: to live again. To do that, all they need is a good supply of fresh, warm bodies... Lazarus now knows his mum murdered him, betrayed his dad, and is about to open a portal between worlds that will bring about the end of life as we know it. Trouble is, his best mate has disappeared (again), he still hasn't rescued his dad (but he will), and the only help he has is that of an undead priest (who carries a blunderbuss) and a female angel (who drives a 4x4 and has an alcohol problem). This isn't just about saving the world, this is personal...

A number of my friends think it is more than a little odd that I choose to read a great deal of books written for children and teenagers. Every time we have a conversation along these lines I implore them to have a try themselves as I know they will be very surprised at the quality of writing and story that is prevalent in the world of children’s and YA fiction these days.

This year, due to cutbacks in the school’s budget, we will not be buying in or (borrowing through the Education Library Service) as many adult books as we have in the past. The main reason for this is that our sixth formers rarely ever come in to the library to borrow fiction, and so we have to prioritise buying books for the younger readers. Every summer we hold a Staff Summer Reading Day where my librarian creates a huge display of titles that our staff can borrow for their summer holidays, but this year, because of these cutbacks, we are doing things a little differently. We are calling it “Embrace Your Inner Child” and the majority of titles will be from your main fiction shelves, sorted into various genres, and hopefully I will be able to bring many more adults around to my way of thinking:

A good story is a good story, whatever the age group it is written for!

David Gatward’s The Dead series is a perfect example of this within the horror genre and it will have a position of great prominence on the horror table on the staff reading day. He writes books that can be enjoyed equally by 12 year olds discovering horror for the first time, and forty year old horror fan-boys who have grown up loving the likes of HP Lovecraft and Clive Barker, and horror films such as Hellraiser and the giallo movies that came out of Italy during the 1970s, all this very much evidenced by the rave reviews he has received by many highly respected horror publications. The Dead was superb, The Dark even better, and the third instalment, The Damned, has raised the bar of children’s blood-soaked horror to an even greater height. It is nothing short of brilliant from beginning to end, and by far my favourite of the trilogy.

The end of The Dark was pretty brutal and left me as a reader craving to find out how on earth Lazarus would save his father and prevent the opening of a permanent portal between our world and that of the Dead. I say “how on earth”, but maybe it would be more accurate to add “and hell” to that, as this time Lazarus must travel even further beyond the world as we know it on his mission to save us all. As I said, I loved every moment of The Damned, but for me the story became more than special once Lazarus and crossed over to the other side and started to fight his way through to the realm of The Fallen. David’s story moves at a frantic pace, leaving his characters barely enough time to breathe, and his readers feeling pretty much the same, and yet his fast paced style does not come at the cost of poor descriptions of locations or the various entities that we encounter along the way that we sometimes see from other less accomplished writing. Despite the fast pace, every scene is brought alive by the quality of the author’s descriptive writing and reading this trilogy has at times felt like a cinematic experience. When describing the lands of the Dead and his version of hell his talent really shines.

I know David Gatward was a little down towards the end of 2010. Despite the amazing reviews his books were garnering, he had been asked by his publisher to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion at the end of the third book, instead of giving him the go-ahead to write more in the series (and if you go back to the interview he did for The Book Zone last year you will see that he already had books 4 – 6 plotted out, with a desire to write 18!). This of course meant quite a hefty rewrite of The Damned, but again, due to this man’s skill, this is not at all evident in the final product. The three books now read as a brilliant trilogy, and with the action of each book continuing straight after the climax of the previous book, they would even work very well as a single volume story. And even better news for Gatward fans…. although The Damned is brought to a natural and very satisfying conclusion, David has left the door wide open for a possible continuation of the adventures and trials of the Keeper of the Dead, Lazarus Stone.

If you like your horror to be fast paced and bloody then whatever your age please give this trilogy a try - I am sure you will not regret it.

My Book of the Month - October

So many great books have been released over the past month that making my decision for the Book Zone Book of the Month for October was possibly one of the hardest so far. Just look at this list of very worthy contenders:

• The Dead of Winter by Chris Priestley
• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
• Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
• Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
• The Dark by David Gatward
• The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey (review to come soon)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading every single one of these books as you will know if you have read any of the reviews I wrote for them. However, in the end I have decided to proclaim that the Book Zone Book of the Month for October is The Dark by David Gatward, and it seems pretty fitting to be announcing this on the night of Halloween.

I thought that David Gatward's first book in this series, The Dead, was a superb debut, but I also stated at the time that I felt that it was too short by some fifty pages or so. Thus I was overjoyed, on receiving a copy of the sequel, to find that it was significantly longer, as this would show whether the author could produce a continuation of equally high quality, and maintain this over a greater number of chapters. The verdict was resoundingly positive, and in my review I wrote the following:

If you are a fan of the work of Darren Shan and have not yet discovered this series then it is well worth reading. Dave Gatward certainly knows his horror, and at times this series comes across as his personal homage to the horror films he has loved for most of his life. As an adult reader there were several times when I felt a knowing grin creep onto my face as I spotted a subtle reference here and there. Many of these will be lost on David's younger target audience, but this is the kind of book that will inspire them to become lifelong lovers of the horror genre, both written and cinematic, and they will be able to look forward to spotting these fanboy references, but in reverse.

Review: The Dark by David Gatward (Book 2 of The Dead)

Lazarus Stone has been killed, resurrected, and attacked by demons. He's all that stands between our world and the Dead. But things are getting complicated: he's alone in the land ofthe Dead, his best mate Craig is missing, and he's no idea who – or what – tricked his dad into trying to bring back his long-dead mum. Oh, and he's wearing a corpse's clothes.

Life, he might think, couldn't get much worse. But it will...

Back in May I posted my review of The Dead by David Gatward. I really enjoyed that book, and the rave reviews it garnered from the likes of SFX, Gorezone and The Bookbag proved I was far from being alone in thinking this. My only real criticism at the time was that the book was just too short -  just as the story really got going it came to an end, leaving us with a pretty massive cliffhanger. David agreed with my comment, but promised me and the readers of The Book Zone that the next book in the series would be longer, and with The Dark having an additional 100 or so pages he has certainly lived up to his word. But is longer better in this case? Absolutely - quality has certainly not been sacrificed in favour of quantity.

The Dark starts at the exact moment that The Dead finished - no faffing around with back story, or setting the scene for the new book - so if you haven't already read The Dead then you had better rectify this before picking up this book. Don't expect me to go into too much detail about the beginning, for to do that would create too many spoliers. Suffice to say, Lazarus Stone is very much now a boy on a mission - to save his friend, find his father, and ultimately prevent the legions of the dead from breaking through into our world. In fact, the opening line to this book is a corker: "It could smell blood and flesh. And it wanted to burrow into it, like a worm into an apple". It doesn't take a great deal of imagination to work out that the owner of said blood and flesh could be in the a nasty surprise in the very near future!

The Dead set the scene for this book very well. In that first book in the series the author developed his main character, and a couple of his secondary characters, in a way that the reader warmed to them very quickly, so that when things went wrong we felt concern and worried about them. In The Dark he develops all of these characters further, and we also get to meet a few more, and we really start to see what motivates these people, and more importantly how they react when facing the horrors that walk the land of the Dead. My favourite character is the alcoholic angel Arielle - not only is she a great kick-ass heroine, but she also brings a great deal of humour to the story through her wisecracks and need to recuperate by drinking copious amounts of wine. We also get to see more of the bad-tempered Red in this book, although much of his personality still remains a mystery to the reader. I have a feeling we will be seeing much more of Red in future books.

The greater length of The Dark also allows for far more action set pieces that we were given in its predecessor, and these come pretty much non-stop from the first chapter onwards. Some of these are better written than others - one or twice in the middle of a frenetic fight scene I lost the thread a little and had to start reading that scene again. However, the author more than makes up for this with his descriptions of the setting and the various Lovecraftian creatures that our heroes come up against. Lest we forget, this is first and foremost a horror story, with action/adventure elements, and it is in the horror arena that David Gatward excels.

If you are a fan of the work of Darren Shan and have not yet discovered this series then it is well worth reading. Dave Gatward certainly knows his horror, and at times this series comes across as his personal homage to the horror films he has loved for most of his life. As an adult reader there were several times when I felt a knowing grin creep onto my face as I spotted a subtle reference here and there. Many of these will be lost on David's younger target audience, but this is the kind of book that will inspire them to become lifelong lovers of the horror genre, both written and cinematic, and they will be able to look forward to spotting these fanboy references, but in reverse. It has certainly made me dig out a few of my favourite (though long unwatched) horror DVDs.

April 2011 seems a long way off at the moment, but unfortunately that is also when the third book in the series, The Damned, will be released so fans of the series will have to be patient. Yet again Dave Gatward leaves his readers wanting a lot more - the cliffhanger is a little less heart-stopping than the one at the end of The Dead, but is more than enough to keep us hungry. The last line alone is enough to send a chill down your spine as you start to imagine the implications of it for our team of heroes. My thanks go to the generous people at Hodder for sending me a copy of The Dark to review, its official release date is 7th October, but I saw it in my local bookshop yesterday so it is already in the wild.

*** Contest: WIN a proof copy of The Dead by David Gatward

I recently posted a review of The Dead, the first book in a brand new horror series from author David Gatward, and earlier this week I published an interview that David kindly took part in for The Book Zone. Now, thanks to the generous people at Hodder I have FIVE proof copies of The Dead to give away (yes, that isn't a typo - FIVE copies). In order to win a copy of this book all you have to do is follow me on Twitter and add a comment below this post.

Please include your Twitter name or an email address with your comment. The first five names drawn at random after the closing date will win a signed copy of the book. Deadline for your comments is 8pm Sunday 20th June. This contest is open to UK entrants only.

Terms and conditions

Contest open to UK entrants only.
I will not be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

*** Interview with David Gatward (author of The Dead)

David Gatward is going to be the next big thing in YA Horror! That's my opinion at least, based upon my reading of The Dead, his debut horror novel due to be published at the beginning of July. I count myself really fortunate to have been sent an early proof of this book, and you can read my review here. David has kindly spent a great deal of time answering a set of interview questions I sent him. Don't say I never treat you Book Zone readers!!

How would you describe The Dead to a potential reader?

A splatter movie in book form for kids! Hmmm… that sounds a bit nuts, doesn’t it? I really wanted to get as close to a movie-like feel to it as I could. Probably a crazy aim, but it’s what I went for. It’s fairly visual throughout, with some crazy monsters and lots of destruction and a fair splattering of gore. I wanted the set pieces to be really vivid, like you were watching them on the big screen. I also wanted it to (hopefully) feel like the kind of book you’d want to hide from your parents. The closest analogy I came up with is that feeling of creeping downstairs in the middle of the night to watch a horror movie, while your parents sleep upstairs utterly oblivious to what you’re doing. You know, when you’ve got the volume so low because you don’t want them to wake up, and you’re sitting real close to the screen to hear it, and you’re super aware of all the creaks and groans the house makes at night and the thrill of the film you’re watching is a mix of excitement, daring and fear…

What inspired you to write The Dead?

No one thing inspired it really. It came out of a lot of stuff. I had a few ideas knocking around. One was about a lad whose rubbish parents are murdered and come back as ghosts to make up for their bad ways and to help him find the bad guys who killed them. Another was about a lad who notices something’s wrong with his dad, but doesn’t know what, and eventually discovers he’s been possessed by one of The Dead. Then there was this other idea about a remote village where the nightmares of the residents stalk the roads and moors at night. I still like all of those, but they kind of came together in various ways in The Dead. Then, just randomly, I wrote this crazy scene about a lad who’s home alone and finds a skinned stranger in his lounge telling him The Dead are coming and he has to stop them. This scene ended up in the book and the skinned bloke is Red! So Red started it all! And he’s just such a great character… Is he good, bad… which way will he go… Fab! I also wanted to do something that was about the dead, but not in the mindless, zombies-eating-my-brains-and-face kind of way. I wanted The Dead to be a real force to be reckoned with. Dangerous, filled with such a drive and lust to live again that they’ll do anything to experience life again. Reading this now I’m thinking, ‘Dave… are you nuts?!’ Then I found this quote by Mark Twain: ‘Pity is for the living, envy is for The Dead…’ And it was like ‘BLAM! THAT’S IT!’

Where do you even begin to start researching a book like The Dead?

First, you go to a graveyard, late at night. Then you run around trying to raise your very own zombie, while spraying everywhere in goat blood. Er… no! I don’t really know. No where and everywhere. I’m a horror fan anyway, so my brain is kind of tuned in to spewing out monsters and darkness. The relationships, the characters, that all comes from everyday life; people watching, taking note of what people are like with each other, my own relationships. Anything factual I always try to get spot on, though that’s not so important with this as it’s very fantastical. The layout of Laz’s house is based on a house I lived in as a teenager, which gives me a geography to work with. The same goes for a location I’ve used for book 2. Gives a better sense of place I think.

Lazarus Stone – great name for a main character. Along with the Fallen and Legion am I correct in guessing that the Bible has been a source of inspiration for you when coming up with ideas for the series?

Not so much inspiration as something that I simply can’t avoid. I was brought up in the church as my dad’s a Methodist Minister! I love the supernatural element of horror, and the Bible gives that backdrop in many ways. I’m not really dealing with a god issue as such with The Dead, but a definite after life, consequences and so on. As for names, the Bible is tremendous as a source! It’s great to have an interesting first name and a simple, strong second name. With Laz, though, there is a rather obvious link between his name and what he does. Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus, and he was in a stone tomb when it happened. But here I’ve got Lazarus doing the raising. Small things…

What do you see as the main influences on your writing?

The things I read and the things I watch. It’s taken years of trying and trying and trying to finally be where I am. In that time I’ve read all over the place rather than sticking to one genre. I’ve tried different styles, even blatantly copied writers at times to feel what their style was like. Eventually I think (hope!) I’ve developed my own way of putting stuff on the page. And I love the big screen. When I write, I do a lot of visualisation, imagining what it would look like in real life and as a film. I try different camera angles, try to work out what would look and sound best in the reader’s mind. And yes, I do imagine walking in to a cinema to watch The Dead on the big screen!

What is it about the horror genre that interests you so much?

I love the way a book or movie can scare you; I find that extraordinary. I went to see the theatre production of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, and that was even more amazing; hundreds of people all gasping in shock at once! I’m not one for stories that make me weep. I’m in to movies and books for entertainment; feeling sad isn’t something I enjoy that much! Fear, though, is something you can almost feel in your fingertips. Horror also explores the darker side of who we are, allows us to look at stuff so far beyond our own experience. And some horror is much like an extreme rollercoaster; you look at it, can’t believe you’re going to experience it, then you do, and you come out the other side, hair standing on end, adrenaline burning your veins… What’s not to love?

I recently saw on Twitter that there had been an item about YA books on BBC Breakfast. They asked a group of kids what they will write when they grow up. "Horror" they shouted in almost unison! What do you think it is it about horror that is so appealing to young people?

I think perhaps that it has more of a sense of danger and the forbidden than other genres. That’s what it was for me, anyway. It’s like that thing of always wanting to watch a movie that’s actually classified as too old for you. I have vivid memories of everyone talking about ‘X-rated’ movies back in the early 80s, like The Exterminator and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Goodness knows how these kids had seen these movies, but because of the playground, everyone had either seen them, or wanted to. Or that’s what we all believed! I’ve seen many of those old ‘banned’ movies, and compared to what we can see on the screen now, it’s pretty tame. In many ways, the violence is actually in your mind, and only really suggested on the screen. Horror novels have just that same sense of danger. It’s a statement to the world to be seen carrying a King or a Herbert or a Ketchum novel, isn’t it? A badge of being daring, of actively exploring and being in touch with your darker side.

The description of Red when Lazarus first meets him is pretty gruesome. How did you gauge the right level of gore in your writing?

I didn’t have a list of do’s and don’ts. With gore, I think it might have more to do with the context and tone, rather than just a simple equation of how much blood and guts you can show. Take Tom and Jerry; pretty darned violent, eyeballs bursting out, guts being pulled, bodies being crushed and frazzled and mashed… But it’s funny! I needed the gore to give that shudder and gross-out factor, to make The Dead over-the-top hideous, so that they jumped out of the page, as if you were watching it in 3D. It wasn’t page after page of people being tortured, focusing on individual pain and terror. Watch Evil Dead; despite the certificate, it’s pretty hysterical! That’s the kind of what I was aiming to do. Hope it worked…

Who are your greatest literary influences?


Every writer I’ve ever read, I guess. I can’t pin any particular name down. My aim has always been to write how I write, rather than how another writer writes. You can’t help but pick up ideas, approaches, that kind of thing, but in the end, what any writer wants is to sound a little unique. Most inspirational book is Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’.

Are you a fan of horror literature? Do you have any favourites?

I didn’t really get in to horror literature until later on. As a genre, I was in to the movies really. However, over the past few years, I’ve become a bit obsessed. I’ve read everything from King to Simon Clark (Blood Crazy), Barker to Ketcham. I’ve delved back in to weirder, older stuff, like Lovecraft, his Tchthullu mythos stuff, and Ron Howard’s stuff that he based on this (Howard is more famous for Conan). I’m currently reading Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts. He’s astonishingly good.

Do you remember the first horror movie you ever saw?

Well, the movie that got me in to horror in the first place is, I think, not a horror movie at all! It’s an 80s fantasy movie called The Sword and the Sorcerer! It’s cheesy, silly, bloody… but I still totally love it. I was eleven or twelve when I saw it (late night, parents didn’t know…) and it blew me away. I’d never seen anything like it in my life! Suddenly, from a world of family movies of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, I was thrust in to a world where hearts burst from the chests of witches, coffins had screaming faces, swords not only had three blades, but could cut a man’s head clean in half! OK, so perhaps I was a little young to watch it, but I wasn’t completely grossed out by it or affected in a bad, evil way. It made me realise how vivid a movie can be, and thus it begun. Then, when I was a little older, I trawled the 80s horror movies, from Poltergeist to Nightmare on Elm Street, through The Thing and on to Evil Dead, Aliens, Hellraiser… Now, I generally don’t go a week without watching at least one horror movie. This week I watched a rather amusing flick called Evil Aliens! Favourites over the past while include: City of The Dead; May; Devil’s Rejects; Psycho II…

The early (and bloody) scene featuring Red reminded me a little of the Hellraiser movies. Are these particular favourites of yours?

This was actually the first scene I wrote for the book and hasn’t changed all that much from what I initially wrote. It’s something I often do when trying to work out an idea; just bash out a scene with a couple of characters to see what happens. As for Hellraiser, yes, a big favourite! It completely turned my view of horror on its head. These weren’t just monsters; something was driving them, the whole pleasure/pain thing. I loved that motivation (which was why that quote from Twin really hit me). They weren’t just in it for the killing, or to be ‘evil’, as such, there was much more too it. Neither were they simply monsters to run away from. That fact that it is essentially us who calls them… Love it! And Pin Head! WOW! Considering it’s an 80s movie, the whole thing is astonishing. And it’s littered with great dialogue. Has anyone yet to better, ‘Tears are such a waste of good suffering…’ and ‘We’ll tear your soul apart!’

Who/what in your opinion is the ultimate horror movie monster?

One film really creeped me out. It’s neither gory nor modern. It’s the black and white classic, The Innocents, staring Deborah Kerr. It’s based on The Turning of The Screw. The creature in aliens is a tremendous monster. Pin Head is just wonderful. Jason is relentless and Freddy is (for me anyway) just too much of the clown to be taken seriously. But in the Innocents, the horror comes from a woman’s gradual discovery that the children in her care are possessed by the ghosts of a man and a woman who were in love when they were alive, and are now using the bodies of the children. Much of the terror is down to Deborah Kerr’s reaction to what is generally happening off screen, what she is seeing, rather than we the viewer. The movie also has possibly the bleakest ending I’ve ever experienced. It took my breath away and, as the credits rolled, I sat there feeling totally cold. It’s a work of complete brilliance. I would recommend it to everyone.

If you were to have a Halloween meal with any three people from the glorious history of horror literature and cinema, who would those three people be?

George Romero (his zombie movies changed everything), Stephen King (I’ve read his ‘On Writing’ book, and it was just so inspirational, so it’d be great to meet the man and hear first hand about his life, his approach to writing, where his ideas come from), and Sean Pertwee (a great British actor, who’s had roles in some of my faves, notably Event Horizon, and more importantly, his blistering performance in Dog Soldiers). If I could have someone turn up uninvited, I’d want Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Maniac Cop, Bubba HoTep) – the man is a legend and has had some of the greatest lines ever in cinematic history…

Have you ever come up with anything so wild that you scared yourself?


Not yet, but I hope to some day…

Do you listen to music whilst you write? What songs would appear on your ideal The Dead soundtrack?

I’ve actually put a list on my website of the stuff I was listening to while writing book 1, and I’m doing the same for all the books I write! I love music. Sometimes I listen to it when writing, sometimes I don’t. It helps me come up with ideas, get a mood right for a particular scene. I visualise everything I’m writing, even down to thinking what music would be playing for a particular bit of the story if it was made in to a movie! Is that crazy? Dunno. But it helps. I listen to a really fab radio station on the internet: Doomed on Soma FM! It’s dark, dark, dark music, and is the perfect soundtrack for writing horror, trust me! As for book 1’s soundtrack, you can see the full list on my website at davidgatward.com

What books/authors did you read when you were younger?

Oddly, for one so in to horror now, I didn’t read it as a kid! But then it was my interest in movies that got me in to the genre. So my reading was taken up with: Alan Garner (Weirdstone of Brisingamen); Willard Price (his Adventure series); Tolkein (Lord of the Rings); The Dragonlance Chronicles; Asterix; Oor Wullie; Clive Cussler…

I love the cover artwork for The Dead, The Dark and The Damned. How did you feel when you first saw them?

I was utterly astonished. I was sitting at work, doing my civil service work, and I got sent them to have a look at by the fab people at Hodder. I was gobsmacked. There, in front of me, was the first tangible proof that I wasn’t actually making it up! What I was writing was going to be published, to end up in an absolutely stunning cover. It also made me realise just how much Hodder were in to what I was doing. I did and I do feel very, very lucky. Mel Grant, the artist, is an amazing talent and to have him do the covers is a real scoop. He’s done album covers for Iron Maiden (seriously!) and for another very well known indeed horror writer! I still look at them and feel rather shocked, have to pinch myself…

Can you give us any hints as to what we can expect from your next book in the series, The Dark?


Well, it’s got two shocking revelations in it, both of which threaten to send Lazarus over the edge. And you get to meet a new character who, if I’m not careful, could steal the show! And yes, we do go to the Land of The Dead… but not Hell though… not yet, anyway…

As you know, I personally felt that The Dead could have been a little longer. Will The Dark be a longer book?

Yes! And I agree, it is too short. The Dark is about 10,000 words longer, and I think that’ll be the same for book 3. So it’s a fair criticism and I’ve already rectified it!

I noticed on your blog that you are currently thinking about books 4-6 in the series. Do you know how many books you hope to have in the series?

I have this crazy idea of doing 18, comprising three sets of six… giving me the very silly 666! I’ve a feeling that might be a bit nuts. I would like to do nine. Books 4-6 are already pretty much there in the planning so a further three would be great. I just love writing this stuff, so if people love it and want more, it’d be fab to be able to do it for a while anyway.

Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers of this blog?

I really hope you enjoy The Dead… If you don’t, they’ll be round your house ready to steal your body and drain it dry… Just thought you should know.

~~~

Thank you to David for taking the time to answer my questions. The Dead is scheduled to be released on 1st July and it is well worth you pre-ordering it. You can find out even more about David and his books on his website.

Review: The Dead by David Gatward

Lazarus Stone is about to turn sixteen when, one night, his normal life is ripped to shreds by a skinless figure drenched in blood. He has a message: The Dead are coming.

Now Lazarus is all that stands in their way. To fulfill his destiny, he must confront not only the dark past of his family, but horrors more gruesome than even Hell could invent. And it all begins with the reek of rotting flesh…

YA horror is big at the moment, and it seems that nary a month goes by without another one appearing on the market. Vampires, of course, seem to be the nether creature of choice at the moment, but demons (in various guises) aren't trailing too far behind. In the last few years we have been treated to, amongst many others, Darren Shan's Demonata series, Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist and Sarwat Chadda's Devil's Kiss. So, when I first read about David Gatward's The Dead, the question that jumped immediately into my brain was does the world really need another YA demon story? I for one am all vampired out at the moment. Thus, when I received a proof copy from the kind people at Hodder, it was with an unsually critical frame of mind that I started reading it. And yet, despite this pessimism, I loved this book.

It is difficult not to compare any book in the demon genre with Darren Shan's work, but I am sure that Mr Gatward will be glad to hear that the comparisons in this case are certainly favourable. I love the Demonata series for the gorefest that it is, but Shan has a way of getting away with such extremes, and this is what makes his books special, even though he is not a particularly great writer in the technical sense. The Dead starts off as a conversation between man character Lazarus Stone and his friend Craig and BLAM!.... chapter three hits you right between the eyes with a particularly bloody scene (more about this in a minute). But where Shan lays the gore on pretty thick, this was a much more considered scene. In fact, on a second read it isn't particularly gory at all, but the description of Red as he first appears in Lazarus' life will most definitely make you cringe - I certainly felt a shiver run down my spine. In fact, why not give it a try now by downloading this pdf of Chapter 3 from David Gatward's website!

I said I would come back to the description of Red. Anybody who has seen Clive Barker's Hellraiser movie will, I am sure, agree that Mr Gatward has been influenced by a scene from this classic horror film. I love the passage that reads: "Lazarus couldn't yet tell if the thing was male or female, but it was definitely naked, or so he guessed. He couldn't see any clothes, not unless they, like the rest of its body, were covered - no, drenched - in blood. From there on down, the figure was stripped of most of its skin. He could see individual muscles and tendons tensing, relaxing. And around the figure's feet, as they rested together on the floor, a dark pool was spreading". If you are a horror fan and that doesn't persuade you to rush out and buy this book then nothing will.

On the basis of Chapter 3 I was expecting the gore factor to increase throughout the book, but I was pleasantly surprised. David Gatward is actually pretty restrained when it comes to writing his horror scenes, but this doesn't mean that the chill factor is anything less than terrifying. There is one scene in particular, where Lazarus is in hospital, that I particularly loved. It is scary, yet there is hardly a drop of blood in sight, and Lazarus' life is certainly in great peril I won't say much more... just watch out for the nurse! This is the kind of horror writing that plays on your mind as it feeds the dark fringes of your imagination, and turns dreams into nightmares without warning.

Sadly, this book is not perfect. I have one big criticism - at 230 pages it simply isn't long enough. I know it is the first in the series, and as such it certainly does the job of introducing us to important characters and major plot threads, but in personally felt that it could quite comfortably have benefited from being at least another fifty pages longer. With this is mind, don't expect a nice, neat ending with a few plot threads left unresolved to take you into the next in the series. This book ends on a massive cliffhanger, and very little in the way of loose ends being tied off, and this cause a few readers to grumble. However, what it will do though is leave you hungry for the next instalment, The Dark, scheduled for an October 2010 release.

Short-ish books are very difficult to review without giving away too many spoilers, so from now on I will be careful. As a debut novel I also know very little about the author, and I would hate to make assumptions about his inspirations for writing. However, in my opinion there is most definitely a biblical link here - Lazarus' name for a start (and what a great name for a character in a YA horror story it is). Red is also descried as being one of the Fallen, and it looks like we may even be taking a journey into Hell in future books. Although, maybe not, as last time I looked I am not sure there was an alcoholic angel mentioned anywhere in the Good Book? Mr Gatward has very kindly promised to take part in an interview for the Book Zone in the near future, so hopefully we will find out a lot more about him and where he wants his story to go very soon. Watch this space.

On the evidence of The Dead, and with the sequel coming out only a few months later, I think David Gatward is going to become a big name in YA horror circles, especially as the cliffhanger ending suggests that we are in for one hell of a ride as we follow Lazarus into the land of the Dead. The Dead is published by Hodder and is scheduled to be released on 1st July. Whilst you are waiting for this date to arrive you could do a lot worse than to check out Mr Gatward's website where you can see the fantastically gruesome book covers for the first three books in the series.