Comic Zone: Why I Love The Incredible Hulk by Barry Hutchison

Long time readers of The Book Zone will know that I have been championing Barry Hutchison's brilliant Invisible Fiends series ever since I first read Mr Mumbles. The final instalment, The Darkest Corner, was published earlier this month (see my review here) and knowing that Barry is a huge comics fan I asked him if he would be interested in writing a piece for The Book Zone's Comic Zone.

Why I Love The Incredible Hulk

I first fell in love with the Incredible Hulk (platonically I mean, nowt mucky) when I was but a lad of around six or seven. The Bill Bixby TV series would be on every Saturday night, and I’d sit down to watch it every week without fail.

I’d follow the mundane, often repetitive adventures of  Dr “David” Banner (they changed his name for the TV series, because they felt “Bruce” wasn’t macho enough) right up until the point he started to get angry. The moment his eyes went white and his boots began to rip, I’d be behind the couch faster than you could say “Gamma radiation”. There I’d remain, cowering in terror as I listened to the terrible roaring of the Hulk as he dispatched that week’s villain.

Some weeks the villain would be a heartless property developer. Other weeks a small-time gangster would get on Banner’s bad side. Whoever it was, they were always surprised when scrawny Bill Bixby became bulging Lou Ferrigno, whereupon he promptly smashed the immediate area to smithereens.

I’d stay there behind the couch until the Hulk had transformed back into Banner, then I’d emerge and retake my seat to catch the final few minutes of the episode. To me, the series was just the story of a lonely scientist wandering from place to place, and stumbling upon smashed up building more often than coincidence allowed.

And yet I loved it - not for the Hulk, but for the stuff around the Hulk. I was gripped by the scenes of Banner trying to maintain control, despite the villain of the week slapping him repeatedly in the face, or threatening to blow up a bus full of nuns. I was fascinated by the concept of there being a monster within each of us, just waiting to break free. Not fascinated enough to watch when it actually did break free, of course - that was far too terrifying - but fascinated all the same.

That fascination led me to discover the Hulk’s comics. Over the years the Hulk has gone through more changes (no pun intended) than any other comic book character. He’s been grey, he’s been red, he’s been super-intelligent and barely coherent. He’s run a casino, joined the Avengers, and freed an alien planet from tyranny.

But through most of these changes the writers behind the stories have forgotten what to me is the single most important thing - the Hulk is not the interesting character. Bruce Banner is.

Oh sure, we all want to see the Hulk cut loose from time to time. We want to see him punch a tank into space, or kick the Abomination squarely in the nuts, but the Hulk’s real struggle has always been an emotional one. He’s a hate-filled tumour on the brain of a mild-mannered scientist, and it is their ongoing battle - not the Hulk’s ability to hammer nails in with his face - which makes the Banner/Hulk character one of my favourites in all of comic-dom.

Five of My Favourite Hulk Stories

The Incredible Hulk Visionaries - Volume 1

This is the first collected edition of Peter David’s twelve-year stint writing the Hulk, and it’s one of the defining period’s in the comic’s history. OK, so the Hulk in these pages is grey and not green, and he’s been separated from Banner, but this was probably the first time the character - possibly even comics in general - were written for grown-ups and not ten-year-olds. There’s some dark stuff in these here pages, drawn by the then-just-starting-out Todd Macfarlane.

A lot of Peter David’s later work on the title may be better than this, but it’s great to be able to follow along right from the beginning.

Return of the Monster

Bruce Jones is quite probably my favourite Hulk writer. Many fans were disappointed with his run, because Banner got more page time than the Hulk did, but that’s exactly why I love his work. The Hulk has been blamed for the death of a boy, and Banner is on the run from pretty much everyone in the world. But poor old purple pants has been framed, and it’s up to Banner to try to find out whodunnit. The plot is complicated and swings from conspiracy thriller to violent horror as and when it needs to, and this is a great jumping on point for those new to the Hulk’s adventures.

The End

Another classic from Peter David, this one-shot comic was originally adapted from a short story he wrote about the end of the world. A nuclear war has wiped out all human and superhuman life on Earth, leaving only Hulk/Banner behind. Banner has gone mad from the isolation, and longs only for death. He attempts suicide again and again, only for Hulk to emerge at the last second. This is a tale as bleak as they come, and I’m a sucker for a good Apocalypse, so that’s why this is one of my all-time faves.

World War Hulk

While his inner struggles may be more interesting, it’s good to see the Hulk cut loose and smash things up every once in a while, and in World War Hulk he smashes up pretty much everyone in the entire Marvel Universe. Sometimes twice. Iron Man? Smash. X-Men? Smash. Fantastic Four? Smash, smash, smash and smash. This follows on from Planet Hulk, and while I wasn’t too keen on the alien-world setting of that story, the fall-out from it makes World War Hulk a hugely enjoyable read. WITH EXTRA SMASHING STUFF UP!

Marvel Zombies

OK, so this isn’t technically a Hulk story, but I love the way the Hulk is depicted in the first Marvel Zombies collection. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a zombiefied Hulk devouring Spider-Man’s leg, only for it to erupt through his stomach when he turns back to Banner. Lovely stuff.

Review: The Beast by Barry Hutchison (Invisible Fiends)

Kyle is having trouble with the neighbours. They’ve turned into black-eyed, flesh-eating zombies. Now would be a good time to leave town but out there, on the snow covered streets, something far worse is lurking.

There is a beast in the shadows and the only way for Kyle to fight it is to use his powers. But every time Kyle uses them, he weakens the barrier between this world, and the terrifying, world of the Darkest Corners. If the barrier breaks there will be more killers on the streets.

I feel I must offer my apologies in advance for the brevity of this review. However, there is a very good reason for its relative shortness: to write as much as I normally do would create spoiler after spoiler as in The Beast a number of our Invisible Fiends questions are answered, and there are also a handful of "What the.....?" moments that you really will not see coming. If I had read a review where these were revealed to me in advance I would have been livid! In the words of Lord Melchett the plot of The Beast "twists and turns like a twisty-turny thing" and I am sure that you will need to be picking your jaw off the ground at least once during the story.

The Beast is possibly Barry's least scary Invisible Fiends book to date. However, this isn't saying much considering how pants-wettingly terrifying the first four books in the series have been and there are still more than enough nail-biting scenes to keep you balancing precariously on the edge of your seat. This time around the nasties that kyle finds himself up against are zombies, or Barry's own take on the ever-popular monster at least. I have likened each of the books in the series so far to a genre of horror film, and this one is most definitely a tribute to zombie movies, even if Barry does stray from the traditional by making his zombies super-fast moving. I had a brief Twitter chat with Barry about this, and I know he shares my opinion that zombies should be slow moving. As such he instead christens then Screechers (as a result of the noise they make), and as it is their fast speed is fully justified. 

This is the penultimate book in the series and Barry uses it to treat us to a number of huge revelations, answering some of the questions that have been bouncing around in my brain ever since I first read Mr Mumbles. However, not ever loose end is tied off, and there is more to come in the final instalment, The Darkest Corners, scheduled for release in August of this year. This means that we are left on something of a cliffhanger at the end of The Beast, but Barry can be completely forgiven for this as I am sure he is setting us up for a truly epic finale to the story (no pressure Barry!). I for one can't wait to read it, although as I mentioned in yesterday's post there will be a certain degree of sadness that there will be no more Invisible Fiends books to look forward to again. This is definitely one of my favourite series of books for the 9+ age group of the past few years, if not of all time.

The Beast is scheduled to be released on 5th January, but it is already appearing in a number of stores, both online and in the high street. My thanks go to the lovely Rosi at HarperCollins for sending me a copy.

News: Book Cover - The Beast by Barry Hutchison (Invisible Fiends Book 5)

I just did my habitual check of Twitter before going to bed and spotted that Barry Hutchison, author of the brilliant Invisible Fiends series, had sent me a Tweet to draw my attention to this image:

Yes, Invisible Fiends fans, it is the cover for The Beast, the fifth book in the series, with yet another great illustration from Jonny Duddle. The book is not due out until 5th January 2012, but you should rejoice rather than despair at the time you have to wait for this next instalment as this is earlier than had been previously planned. I am hoping that Barry will at some point add the full Duddle image for The Beast so that we can see it in all of its nasty glory (hint hint Barry!). Whilst you wait for January to plod along why not head on over to Barry's blog at http://www.barryhutchison.com/2011/08/something-beastly-this-way-comes/ and let him know your thoughts on this cover image.

Doc Mortis Blog Tour Day 1

Lock up your kiddies as today sees the start of the Doc Mortis blog tour. Over the next fortnight some of your favourite blogs are going to find themselves taken over by Doc Mortis, by far the most chilling and evil character to appear in Barry Hutchison's Invisible Fiends books to date.

I feel really honoured to have The Book Zone kicking off the tour, and even more so because I am able to bring you the first instalment of The Rise of Doc Mortis, a short story in five parts that Barry has written exclusively for this blog tour. The story tells the origin of Doc Mortis, the most horrifying Fiend so far. Tomorrow the second instalment of The Rise of Doc Mortis will be terrifying the readers of Serendipity Reviews, so make sure you head on over there..... if you dare!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INVISIBLE FIENDS: THE RISE OF DOC MORTIS by Barry Hutchison

Part 1: A DYING FRIENDSHIP

He stood by the wall, his gnarled hands clutching his leather case. In three minutes, the only friend he had ever known would be dead.

And he couldn’t wait.

Doc Mortis paced slowly around the chair, examining both it and the man strapped to it. He had watched them drag the prisoner in, then looked on as they presented him to the witnesses on the other side of the scratched glass. The judge. The jailors. The oh-so-grieving parents. They had displayed Doc’s friend, made him say his name, and then the curtains had slid slowly across the soundproofed window.

And then came the process of securing him to the chair. He hadn’t struggled much. He’d shuffled awkwardly, manacled by the wrists and the ankles, trying to remember exactly what had brought him to this moment. But the images that flickered through his head were hazy at best. The man had little memory of the things he had done.

Doc, on the other hand, remembered it all. The dark forests, the blades, the blood… and the screaming, of course. A shudder of pleasure travelled the length of Doc’s spine when he thought about the screaming. Oh, how he’d miss the screaming.

Doc had watched his friend be seated, the manacles replaced by straps across his wrists and ankles. Electrodes had been attached to the man, one on each freshly-shaved leg, the others concealed within a bowl-shaped helmet that was slipped over his head.

A man in a black suit with a white collar was muttering something, making the sign of the cross above the prisoner in the chair. Doc ignored him. He leaned in close, until his thick, rubbery lips were by his friend’s ear.

‘I think you are in trouble now, yes?’ Doc whispered, and there was something like a giggle mixed in with his Eastern European accent. He pulled his half-moon glasses down and peered over the rims. ‘They are going to make you pay for what you did to all those poor little kiddiewinkles. They are going to make you burn.’

‘M-make them s-stop,’ the man mumbled. ‘Please… make them stop.’

The priest raised his head. ‘It’s too late for that, my son.’

Doc Mortis stepped back, pulling his fish lips into a sneer. ‘He was not talking to you,’ he spat, and then he gave a low chuckle and turned back to his friend. ‘Oh, I forgot. He cannot hear me. Nobody can hear me but you.’

‘I don’t want to die. Not like this. Not like this. I d-don’t want to die.’

The priest spoke again, but Doc blocked it out. There was only the two of them, him and his friend. The way it had always been.

‘And those kiddiewinkles, did they want to die? Do you think they wanted to be sliced up, chop-chop, all alone in those woods, with no-one to hear their little screams?’

‘It… it wasn’t my fault! It wasn’t me!’

‘Crying for their mommies. Begging for their lives.’

‘But it wasn’t me, it was you! You told me to. You made me do it. You made me.’

Doc wagged a finger, as if scolding a child. ‘No, no, no. You made me, remember?’

He turned away and took in the room around them. There was the chair, obviously, made of sturdy oak. Wires ran from it, across the stone floor, before disappearing beneath the long, dark green curtains.

The walls had once been a clinical white. Now they were dirty and cracked, as if mirroring the souls of those who came to sit in this room. The only door in and out was closed, so that the priest may have privacy to do what little he could.

‘I am liking this,’ Doc said. ‘I am getting a – how would you say? – a good feeling about this place. It is homely, I think, yes?’

In the chair, his friend didn’t speak. His lips were moving silently and his eyes were flicking right to left, as if witnessing again the horrors of what he had done. What they had done. Together.

There was more murmuring from the priest, then the door opened, and he was gone. Doc Mortis tightened his grip on his bag. ‘Not long now, I think,’ he said. ‘I wonder what will happen to me? Once they have fried you to death, I mean. Will I stay here? Vanish? Go kaput?’

‘I hope you burn in Hell,’ the prisoner managed to hiss, before a sob caught at the back of his throat.

Doc laughed – a low, snorting sound, like a wild animal. ‘Then perhaps we will be roommates, yes? You would like this, I think. You would like this very much.’

‘Stay away from me, you… you freak. You twisted monster!’

Doc’s expression turned to one of mock hurt. ‘Such cruel words. I thought we were friends, you and I. Remember, I was not the one who did all those things. It was not me, it was you.’ He rested a hand on the condemned man’s shoulder and leaned in close once more. ‘Or maybe it was me, and you were but the weapon?’

He stepped back and laughed as the man in the chair began to pull against his straps. The leather cut grooves in his skin as he fought and struggled to be free. ‘Let me out!’ he screamed, the veins in his neck standing out in knots. ‘I want out. Let me out!’

‘Sssh, old friend, be calm. It will all be over soon,’ Doc soothed. ‘Remember how you used to sing to them? To the kiddiewinkles, as you dragged them along by their hair?’ He cleared his throat, then began to sing in a low, scratchy whisper. ‘If you go down to the woods today, you’d better not go alone…’

Almost immediately, the man in the electric chair stopped thrashing around. He sat still, his head hanging as low as the helmet and wires allowed.

There was a soft clicking as the curtains were slowly drawn back.

‘…it’s lovely down in the woods today, but safer to stay at home…’

The condemned man’s eyes raised. Faces. He saw faces. Watching him. Hating him. So many faces, blaming him for those things he had done. Those terrible, terrible things.

‘…for every bear that ever there was, is gathered there for certain because…’

Beyond the glass, two keys were turned, and two fingers hovered over two buttons. Doc ran a hand through his wispy white hair, then clutched his case to his chest. Its contents seemed to sing to him through the leather. He hoped, wherever he was going, that he was able to put them to good use.

In the chair, Doc’s only friend began to cry – not for himself, but for them. For all the dead children.

Doc’s purple lips parted into a grin, revealing teeth thick with yellow scum. He winked, as beyond the glass, two fingers pushed down on two buttons.

‘…today’s the day the teddy bears have their piiiic-niiiic!’

There was a buzz. The man in the electric chair went rigid.

And Doc’s whole world went dark.

Review: Doc Mortis by Barry Hutchison (Invisible Fiends)

Kyle wakes up in hospital...in the Darkest Corners. In this hospital the surfaces aren't clean, and the instruments aren't used for healing. But it's about to get much, much worse. The doctor is ready to see him now...

Tomorrow morning The Book Zone will host the first stop in the fortnight-long Doc Mortis blog tour. We will be bringing you the first instalment in an exclusive five-part short story that Barry has written for the tour, detailing the events that led to the creation of the most diabolically evil Invisible Fiend to date. As a prologue to this special event I thought I would publish my review of Doc Mortis for you today.

I love the Invisible Fiends series, ever since I first read Mr Mumbles back at the beginning of 2010. In a way, I view the series as horror's answer to Harry Potter as Barry has created a series that, although targeted at the 9+ age group, can be enjoyed by teens and adults just as much. Substitute the young protagonist for an adult, and the series would work almost as well and would in fact make a superb 18 certificate horror film. in fact, the series almost works as a homage to the various sub-genre of horror films: I have previously likened Mr Mumbles to the slasher movie; Raggy Maggie is most definitely more akin to the serial killer flick; and book three, The Crowmaster, is a hybrid of Jeepers Creepers and Hitchcock's The Birds, in my mind at least. When reading Doc Mortis two films sprang immediately to mind: The Human Centipede because of the experiments that Doc Mortis carries out and Saw because of the sheer sadistic nature of this character, although Barry's description of the Darkest Corners hospital in which he operates would also fit perfectly in that series of films.

Doc Mortis is a fantastic read, and the Invisible Fiends series is just getting better and better with every book that is released. This book follows on immediately after the events of The Crowmaster and things are not looking to hot for Kyle. As well as having to contend with whatever Invisible Fiend is thrown at him next, he is also now wanted by the police who suspect him of murdering his Aunt Marion. He is also is a pretty bad way following his battle with The Crowmaster, who unbeknownst to Kyle managed to infect him with a virus that pulls him into the Darkest Corners, and will possibly keep him there for good, or at least for as long as he can survive the creatures that live. Just before the virus kicks in and takes him away from the hospital to which he has been taken, Joseph, Kyle's mysterious guardian angel, warns him that: "There's someone in the hospital. Someone worse than anything out there. Worse than anyone you've had to deal with so far. You've got to stay away from him." Worse than Caddie? I was scared already!

Of course, when Kyle opens his eyes he is still in hospital, but this time in the Darkest Corners version, a building that is dirty, rusting, blood-stained.... as far away from the sterile ideal of a real world hospital as you could imagine. But is the hospital's inhabitants that are the really terrifying part of this book: aside from Doctor Mortis and his dirty,rusty implements, there is Wobblebottom, possibly the scariest clown you are ever going to read about; Patient #217 and his fellow hospital porters; and grimmest of all, the various children that Doc Mortis has 'helped' over the years. Hot only does Kyle have to fight his way through all of these in order to find the cure that will take him back to his own world, but this time he has to take a small boy under his wing and keep him alive as well. This young character adds a touch of pathos to the story, and you may be a little surprised by your emotions come the end of the story, especially with regards to the actions of a certain character from a previous Invisible Fiends book.

Barry Hutchison has outdone himself yet again; I don't know how the man copes with the pressure that he puts himself under as every book he writes raises the bar even higher. The next book in the series is titled The Beast, and I believe it is due out in January 2012. If it is anything like the previous four then it will be a cracking build up to the sixth and final book in the series. However, that is some way off at the moment, so I will leave you with this fantastic full-body image of Doc Mortis, illustrated by the equally fantastic Jonny Duddle. Be afraid!

News: Invisible Fiends: Doc Mortis Blog Tour

Be afraid book fans for soon you will not be able to visit many of your favourite book blogs without risking bumping into the evil that is Doc Mortis. Starting on Monday 1st August Barry Hutchison and the Doc will be spending a fortnight visiting a number of blogs as part of the Invisible Fiends: Doc Mortis blog tour. You can see the full schedule of the stops on the blog tour by clicking on the banner to the right of this page or going directly to http://www.barryhutchison.com/the-doc-mortis-blog-tour/

I am honoured to be hosting the first stop on the tour here at The Book Zone on 1st August, where we will be showcasing the first part of The Rise of Doc Mortis, a short story that Barry has written exclusively for the tour. I have read the whole story and it is brilliant so make sure come back on the 1st!

See you Monday 1st August..... if you dare! 

News: Book Cover - Doc Mortis (Invisible Fiends) by Barry Hutchison

Barry Hutchison tweeted a teaser image of the cover for his next Invisible Fiends book some time ago, but he has now revealed the full finished cover and I thought it so good I just had to share it with you. I think this has now become my favourite of the series so far, which is saying something as the Raggy Maggie cover was one of my picks of 2010. Yet again, illustrator Jonny Duddle has outdone himself. Due out at the beginning of August, Barry says that Doc Mortis is his scariest book to date. Brilliant!

 

Blog Tour: The Crowmaster by Barry Hutchison Review & Author Interview

After Kyle's ordeal at school, his mother packs him off to the safety of the countryside, where there will be no temptation to use his powers, and he can forget the bad things - like the fact that his dad is a monster determined to destroy the world.

But here's the thing about the countryside: it's full of nature, and nature sometimes has claws.

Followed by a spindly figure in the woods and attacked by crows, Kyle is about to discover that NOWHERE is safe from the invisible fiends…

Review:

Over the past twelve months Barry Hutchison's Invisible Fiends books have become my favourite horror series for kids. I have loved every one of them so far and on finishing each book I have waited impatiently for the next to be released, knowing that it will be brilliant. Yes, I meant to use the word 'knowing' there, rather than hoping, as by the time I had finished Mr Mumbles I was already convinced that Barry Hutchison had real writing talent, and he hasn't let me down yet. OK, so he might have to be a little sick in the head to come up with the likes of Mr Mumbles, Caddie and Raggy Maggie, but sometimes a warped mind can be a good thing.

I therefore didn't hesitate to answer a resounding "Yes please" when Tiffany at Harper Collins emailed me asking if I would be interested in taking part in a blog tour to celebrate the release of The Crowmaster, the third book in Barry Hutchison's Invisible Fiends series. I was even more chuffed when Barry said he would happily answer any questions I wanted to send on to him, and so today on The Book Zone we have a double-feature for you - a review of The Crowmaster followed by an interview with the author himself.

This book begins with Kyle seemingly being plagued by visions of the Fiends he thought he had managed to destroy. First there is Mr Mumbles in his living room, and then Caddie appears at the end of his bed. Unfortunately due to Kyle's special 'powers' when he imagines seeing these monsters they have a habit of actually materialising physically, and so the only option left for his mother is to send Kyle away to the countryside to stay with her cousin, and hopefully allow him to escape from the terrors of the previous few weeks. 

I don't think you need me to tell you that things do not go as well as Kyle's mother had planned, although I am not going to expand much on this at all as this would certainly create spoilers. However, there are some truly delicious moments in this story which will have your flesh crawling, and the first of these occurs on Kyle's train journey up to Glasgow, not that Kyle realises at the time that this might have anything to do with the battles he has been fighting recently. Once he arrives at Cousin Marion's place things go rapidly from bad to worse, and as observers we are a few steps ahead of Kyle in piecing together the clues that suggest there are even greater horrors around the corner, right up until the penny drops for him as Marion utters five words that strike terror in Kyle's heart: "He was my imaginary friend".

Just as Caddie and Raggy Maggie were very different fiends in comparison with Mr Mumbles, The Crowmaster is different again. Mr M relied on brute force; Caddie brought intelligence and a warped mind to the party; and The Crowmaster.... well his name says it all - he is a master of crows. And he uses this power over the birds to devastating effect, turning them from creepy harbingers of doom into vicious weapons. What's more, he seems to enjoy every single second of it, chuckling away as they tear at his victim's flesh. Still not as psychotic as Caddie in my opinion, but not far off. 

This book is no sequel in the way horror films have sequels and there is no feeling of "seen it all before" as you often get with franchises such as Friday 13th and Halloween. Barry Hutchison skilfully manages to make this book seem just as fresh and exciting as Kyle's previous two outings. We also see Kyle's character continue to develop as he becomes far more adept at rising to the terrors with which he is bombarded. It is, after all, only a short time since he was a pretty useless and confused boy, jumping at noises in the attic. Now he is starting to take the fight to the Fiends, as his powers continue to increase and become more second nature.

This is definitely a welcome addition to the series so far, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Doc Mortis, as Barry has suggested that this will be his most terrifying book to date. More chilling than Caddie in Raggy Maggie? Brilliant!

Interview:

How would you describe your Invisible Fiends series to potential readers?

A black-comedy-horror-adventure-fantasy. With buddy movie elements. Obviously. I always wanted it to be funny and scary, rather than just scary, and to delve into a range of genres that I enjoy reading. You could just call them horror books, of course, but (I hope) there’s more to them than that!

What was the original inspiration for the series?

The inspiration came from a variety of sources, really, but one of the main ones was my sister’s imaginary friend, Caddie (I stole the name for book 2). Caddie, my sister believed, lived inside a narrow air duct in my mum and dad’s house. In order to fit inside, her bones had been broken in several places, and her face was wedged up tight against the metal bars of the vent. The idea of this invisible girl, with her skeleton all snapped, lurking in the bowels of the central heating system really gave me the willies.

I first heard about Caddie when I was 12, and the idea of creepy imaginary friends bounced around in my head for almost two decades before I decided to do something about it.

The Crowmaster is the third book in the series. Do you know how many books there will be in the series and have you planned them out already?

There will be six books in the series and they’ve all been loosely planned out since day one. The prologue from the beginning of each book is actually a direct extract from book six, so I had to plan ahead to figure out where the scene was going to be taking place, who was going to be in it and what was happening. Hopefully by the sixth book anyone who has been following the series will think “So that’s what’s going on!” when they finally reach that scene in the proper context.

I think the invisible fiends concept is great. Do you have a favourite ‘fiend’ from those that you have created?

‘Favourite’ is a strong word. I think Caddie/Raggy Maggie win on pure heart-stopping scariness, and the Crowmaster has a sort of repulsive appeal to him. Or is that just me?

Bizarrely, I’ve actually grown quite fond of Mr Mumbles in the year since the first book was released. I wrote him as a monster, but in the end I found myself feeling quite sorry for the freaky big psycho. He had a terrible time of it, all things considered.

Could you tell us a little more about your latest fiend, The Crowmaster?

The Crowmaster is a big, spindly, Redneck scarecrow (very) loosely based on Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. He has no eyes, but can see through the eyes of the army of flesh-eating crows over which he has complete command.

He’s probably the most twisted of the fiends so far, and takes great delight in the thought of inflicting unimaginable agonies on everyone he meets. The Crowmaster, more than any of the fiends so far, is capable of absolutely anything. He will tear the skin from your flesh and the eyes from your sockets and he’ll laugh as he does it. The charmer that he is.

Where did your inspiration for the various invisible friends come from?

The first piece of advice I give anyone interested in becoming a writer is to write a story that you would like to read. There’s no point trying to second-guess what other people might like, so you should always write for you and you alone.

So, with that in mind, I set about trying to scare the bejeesus out of myself, and based the fiends on things that scared me as a child, and sort of still scare me now a bit.

When I was about four I fell and cracked my head open and had to get stitches right across my scalp. I still remember seeing my reflection in the mirror with these stitches puckering the skin on my head, and still feel uncomfortable whenever I think about it. So that’s where Mr Mumbles came from – an unstoppable maniac with his mouth stitched shut.

When I was younger, I remember being really creeped out by these porcelain dolls my gran had in her house. She had them all over the place – the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, wherever you could think of, really. They were horrible things, all fixed grins and painted eyes, and I thought even then how terrifying they would be should they somehow come to life. And lo, Raggy Maggie was born.

In book three, The Crowmaster has control over flesh-eating birds. I’ve been a bit wary of birds ever since one got caught in my hair when I was eight or nine, and promptly set about pecking and clawing at my face as it attempted to break free. I’m sure you can figure out the connection.

As for the other fiends... well, you’ll just have to wait and see.

Jonny Duddle has done a great job on the Invisible Fiends covers. Have you had any input outside of writing the stories?

Jonny did a lot of the artwork before second book was even underway, so before he could start I had to write fairly detailed descriptions of the characters for him to work from. I was a fan of Jonny’s work before Fiends, so I knew I was in safe hands, and I never worried that the artwork would be anything less than spectacular.

I’ve seen most of the covers for the remaining books, and I can only say that they just get better and better. I can’t wait until I have them all together on my bookshelf. Each cover is a work of art in its own right.

Why do you think young people find the horror genre so appealing?

Because people – kids especially, but adults, too – enjoy being scared in a safe way. They enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes with a good horror, while also enjoying the fact they’re safe in bed, or on the train, or in school or wherever.

It’s a primal thing in many ways, I reckon. When we were hunting Sabre-toothed tigers we must’ve been terrified pretty much every waking moment of the day, and I think that sort of heightened state is good for us, and actually very enjoyable when you don’t have the threat of being eaten alive hanging over your head.

Plus, I think screaming in fear is quite closely linked to screaming with laughter. How often have you giggled when you’re nervous, for example? That’s one of the reasons I wanted the books to have humour running through them, so you’re never quite sure if you’re going to get a laugh next, or a scare. I think that keeps the reader more on edge than if they knew something else horrific was lurking on the next page.

Do you ever worry that some children may have nightmares after reading your books?

God, I hope so. People talk about nightmares as if they’re a bad thing, but they’re really just the ultimate 3D horror movie in which you are the star. I love nightmares, personally. And if a nightmare helps a child learn to deal with scary situations, that’s a skill that can only prove useful in the real world later on.

In reality, though, I think kids are actually pretty resilient. I’ve actually had more adults complain of nightmares than kids.

There are some pretty brutal scenes in your books. How do you gauge the right level of violence in your writing? Have you ever been asked to rewrite passages because they are too horrific?

Actually, it’s not until book three that there’s really all that much in the way of gore. There’s violence in the first two books, yes, but much of the actual horror is implied suspense stuff – the scratching in the attic, the Christmas Hits CD sticking at “You’d better watch out... You’d better watch out...” etc, etc. The scariest chapters of Mr Mumbles are the first few, before he actually arrives. After that it’s mostly action-adventure with horror elements.

Book two is more of a horror, but again a lot of it is left to the imagination. Caddie is terrifying, but she doesn’t actually do all that much to anyone when you think about it. It’s the threat of what she might do that makes her so terrifying.

I have to admit, though, I was surprised that one scene in particular in The Crowmaster got through unscathed. It’s the scene in Marion’s bedroom. If you’ve read the book you’ll know the one I mean. I fully expected some cuts to that, but nope.

I did, however, have to make a few cuts to book four. Two scene especially had to be toned down three or four times, but I can’t say I wasn’t expecting that. The scenes run into each other. One involves a baby, the other involves a clown. I will say no more than that...

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

I’m not really a fan of ‘straight’ horror, because I don’t find most of it scary. I think children’s horror is actually leading the way at the moment, though, outshining pretty much every adult horror novelist currently out there.

There are obvious big names – Darren Shan being the most famous by a long way – but there are some real stars to watch out for, too. William Hussey, David Gatward, Sam Enthoven to name a few. I’ve heard great things about Will Hill’s DEPARTMENT 19, but haven’t had a chance to read it yet, so I’ll have to wait and see.

I really enjoy comedy horror, so Skulduggery Pleasant is a favourite. My son really enjoys Tommy Donbavand’s Scream Street books, which are horror for 7-9 year olds. They’re scary enough for the age group, but with plenty of humour for the adults reading along, too.

I recently read LET THE RIGHT ONE IN by John Ajvide Lindqvist and really enjoyed it. Did I find it scary, though? No.

Do you have any favourite horror films?

Again, I don’t find many horror films scary. I enjoy some of the older classics – the Christopher Lee Draculas, Dawn of the Dead, The Shining, and the like – but most modern horror movies leave me a bit “meh”.

If I really want to scare myself, though, I’ll put on Fire Walk With Me, the prequel to David Lynch’s brilliant Twin Peaks TV series. The moment Bob appears on screen I swear I stop breathing, and don’t start again until the credits roll at the end. A masterclass in surreal horror.

What made you start writing for children and young adults? Do you read many books for this age group yourself?

I didn’t really set out to write for children and teenagers, I set out to write the type of stories I’d like to read. Clearly I have quite juvenile tastes, because everything I’ve come up with so far has translated well to children’s books.

At the age groups I’m writing for the language used is more or less on a level with that in mainstream blockbuster adult novels, so it’s not like I had to dumb anything down to write for children. It’s really just about finding stories that will appeal to each age group, and I’ve been lucking with Invisible Fiends in finding something that seems to appeal to a broad range of ages.

I do read a lot of books for younger people. I find they are usually bolder, more inventive, and just more fun than adult books. That’s not to say I don’t read books for grown-ups, too, but if I’m honest I probably enjoy the children’s/YA stuff more.

Which books/authors did you read as a child/teenager? How do you think they compare with the children’s/YA books available today?

Between the ages of about 6 and 9 I read almost exclusively comic books. British comics – The Beano, The Dandy, 2000AD and the like – but more of the mainstream American stuff from Marvel and DC. I actually think this helped shape my writing style – the supervillain-esque baddies in Invisible Fiends; the punchy dialogue; the slightly... um... off-kilter world of The 13^th Horseman – it’s all down to reading so many comics.

When I hit about 9 or 10 I expanded my horizons, but skipped over reading kids books in favour of things like Hitchhiker’s Guide and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. The humour in those books really appealed to me, and I’ve absorbed some of that into my own writing, too.

I have to say, I think children’s writing is going through a real Golden Age at the moment. The stuff being published at the moment is much better than I remember there being available when I was in school. That’s why I didn’t bother to read any of it.

And I think publishers are still willing to take risks with children’s fiction, which they might not be comfortable doing with adult novels. That’s why there’s such a range of great books available for kids, covering pretty much everything under the sun. They’re spoiled for choice, and that can only be a good thing.

If you were to have a dinner party and you were able to invite any three people alive or from the past, who would those three people be and why?

OK, let’s establish some ground rules first. I’m assuming that if I invite someone who is dead they’re not going to turn up as a zombie and devour my other guests? Let’s work on the basis that they’ll be alive.

In fact, let’s say I have a time machine which allows me to nip back in time and pluck people out of history so I can take them round my house for a bite to eat and some chat, before returning them to their own time.

So, with that in mind, my first dinner party guest might seem an unusual choice. I’d invite Hitler. Specifically, I’d invite Hitler from 1938, just before he was declared TIME magazine’s Man of the Year. I’ll explain why in a moment.

My next guest would be Bill Murray. Why? Because he’s Bill Murray. He’s in Ghostbusters. He’s in Groundhog Day. He’s in Scrooged. Have you seen his cameo in Zombieland? On the strength of that cameo alone, he should be invited to every dinner party ever held. Ever.

You’d think I’d have some authors on this list, but the thing with authors is that so many of them are socially inept. Me in particular. I can’t see the banter flowing particularly freely with a room full of authors, so I’m not going to have any on my list.

Mind you, I’d quite like to meet Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk and countless other comic book characters, but I suspect he might get quite tiring after a while, and I’d be regretting inviting him by the time we were onto the main course.

It’s tricky this.

Stephen Fry would probably be the ultimate dinner party guest, but A) he’s an author, and B) he’s several hundred times more intelligent than I am. I reckon I could just about hold my own in conversation with Bill Murray and Hitler, but with Stephen Fry in the room I’d come across like some kind of gibbering ape-man, barely capable of stringing words together to form sentences. That’d do nothing for my ego, that.

So, taking all that into account, I’d probably invite Warwick Davies, the pint-sized star of Willow and The Leprechaun movies. No real reason, other than that I always think he seems like a nice bloke. And I don’t imagine he’d each very much.

I’m fairly confident that between me, Bill Murray and Warwick Davies, we could talk some sense into 1938 Hitler before he started killing and invading everyone. Try to steer him away from the mass-murder and into something less destructive. Latin American dance, maybe. Or ornithology.

Failing that, Warwick Davies could crouch behind him at the top of some stone steps, then I could push him down them. Meanwhile, Bill Murray could be out in the back garden, digging a hole in his inimitable sardonic way.

Maybe I’ve overthought this a bit. Let’s move on.

I know The Crowmaster has only just been published, but is there anything you can tell us about the next book in the series, Doc Mortis?

I can’t tell you much, other than that Doc Mortis himself is far and away the most disturbing, twisted, demented, psychotic, sadistic and downright unpleasant villain in the series this far. It sees Kyle trapped in the Darkest Corners, powerless, and trapped inside the barricaded hospital that Doc Mortis calls home...

It’s definitely scarier than the first three books, but it’s got a bit more depth to it, too. In fact, I think some readers may even have a few tears in their eyes by the end of it.

It introduces a new ‘good’ character, too, who was a lot of fun to write. But you’ll have to wait until the book is published in August 2011 to find out more about him/her/it.

Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else you would like to say to readers of The Book Zone?

Never ask me to organise a dinner party.

~~~

Huge thanks to Barry for taking the time to provide such lengthy and interesting answers to these questions - if you can squeeze an extra seat at your table I would definitely like to be at that dinner party! The Crowmaster is available to buy right now and my thanks got to Harper Collins for sending me a copy and helping to organise the interview. 

My Book of the Month - August

Where has the summer gone? It seems like only yesterday that we were breaking up for the school summer holidays and now I find myself frantically trying to do all the work things I has planned to spread out over the last five (and a half) weeks. Do I hear parents around the country giving a huge cheer and a sigh of relief that the holidays are over?

Anyway, it is the last day of the month and therefore time for me to announce the Book Zone Book of the Month for August 2010. This was one of the tougest choices so far - first off there was Dark Life, the fantastic debut from Katt Falls. This is a superb re-imagining of the classic westerns where pioneers worked hard to settle on land and fought off the likes of outlaws, but in this case it is set in a future and the settlers are establishing their homes under the waves as climate change has caused the seas to rise and dry land is at a premium. The second choice was Day of the Predator, Alex Scarrow's fab sequel to his first TimeRiders novel. For me this has none of the (albeit few) weaknesses of the first and I loved every page. However, after a lot of agonising I decided that really there could be only one choice this month - I enjoyed it so much I have already read it for a second time and I have been scanning the tables at car boots sales ever since looking for a battered china doll that I can 'adapt'. Yes... you've guessed it - the Book Zone Book of the Month for August is the fantastically scary Raggy Maggie by Barry Hutchison, the second book in his Invisible Fiends series.

This is the perfect horror book for kids. It will have them absolutely scared out of their wits, but without a huge amount of gore. As I said in my original review of the book, I think Caddie is one of the greatest ever creations in children's horror literature, and following a second reading I stand by this statement. If you haven't read this yet then make it a priority for September (but make sure you have read Mr Mumbles first).

And HarperCollins, if you are reading this, I am still waiting for those Invisible Fiends action figures to be released. Come on - you know you want to!

Review: Raggy Maggie (Invisible Fiends) by Barry Hutchison

Billy is a horrible bully. So Kyle could almost find it funny that Billy's childhood invisible friend was a little dolly named Raggy Maggie.

Almost, but not quite.

Because now Raggy Maggie is back, and she wants Kyle to play a game: find where she's hidden Billy – or Billy dies…

Barry Hutchison is back with Raggy Maggie, the second book in his Invisible Fiends series, and let me start with a warning - you better have a spare pair of underwear to hand when reading this book as it is poo-your-pants scary!

In the first book in this series Mr Hutchison terrified us with the eponymous Mr Mumbles, a hulking brute of a character that at the time I likened to the monsters from such classic slasher movies as Halloween and Friday 13th. In his new book the scares come from a very different kind of character. I'm thinking the minds of Hannibal Lecter and every serial killer that James Patterson and Jeffery Deaver have ever written about all packaged into the mind of a little girl in a dirty white dress and poorly applied make-up. For Caddie, the owner of the titular doll Raggy Maggie, is evil personified; the way she tortures and hurts her victims is part of a huge game to her, a game that if they lose they pay the ultimate price - wth their lives. And never have the words 'Peek-a-boo, I see you' sounded so chilling!

I LOVED Mr Mumbles (the book, not the monster I hasten to add) and I wondered just how Barry was going to be able to follow such a fantastic series opener. However, in a conversation with Tommy Donbavand, author of the Scream Street series and good friend of Barry Hutchison, I was reliably informed that Raggy Maggie was both better and more terrifying and so ever since I have been avidly waiting to get my hands on a copy. So much so that when it arrived from the kind people at HarperCollins I dropped everything to read it, although sixty pages in I did put it down...... and then finished it late at night, all alone in the house, in order to get the most from the horrors within it. For your own sanity please do not try this at home!

In my opinion Caddie is one of the greatest ever creations in children's horror literature. She is so totally deranged the reader just does not know what to expect from her next. Whereas with Mr Mumbles we always knew he was going to be very much relying on brute strength and his apparent invincibilty, just as we have seen in the past from the likes of Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees, Caddie, however, is just a child. She is small and frail, as little girls are, so surely she should be a relatively minor test for Kyle, the boy who defeated Mr M in such style? Definitely not - underestimate Caddie and it will probably be the last thing you ever do. First of all, Caddie is super-fast; one moment she is there, the next she is gone. Secondly she has powers; boy does this girl have powers. She can take over the minds of adults to use their greater physical size to aid her, turn every day toys like teddy bears and dolls into mankillers with needle-like teeth, and she can turn innocent playground activities like skipping into a game of death where you could literally lose your head. And just when you think you may have had a lucky break and got the better of her...... enter Raggy Maggie herself!

Barry Hutchison also carries on where he left off by slowly revealing hints and snippets of back story that leave the reader completely tantalized. There are already so many questions that need answering, and he is an expert at giving us just enough information to have us trying to guess what will happen next, and why. Why is Kyle's father so bitter and intent on changing the world, or 'making it better' in his words? What is the story with Ameena, who disappeared out of Kyle's life shortly after the Mr Mumbles episode, but then suddenly reappears just as Kyle needs her help the most? And just how is it that Kyle can 'leap' between his world and the Darkest Corners? I am sure that all of these answers will come eventually, but that Mr Hutchison will not make the wait easy for us in the process.

Raggy Maggie hits the reader on a psychological level in ways that the gore-ridden output of the likes of Darren Shan just cannot manage. Don't get me wrong, I love a bit of gore just as much as the next boy, but these chills are oh so much better. I once taught a pupil who had a phobia of clowns - she was terrified of them; I have a feeling that in a few years time I could be teaching whole classes who suffer from pediophobia, the fear of dolls, if this series becomes as popular as Shan's work as it certainly deserves to.

I have one message for HarperCollins that I want to add to this review - please, please, please can we have some Invisible Fiends action figures?! I can't think of many characters in children's horror fiction that deserve them more.

Review: Mr Mumbles (Invisible Fiends) by Barry Hutchison

 

When Kyle Alexander was four-years-old he had an imaginary friend: a happy, cheerful little chap whose unfortunate speech impediment earned him the name Mr Mumbles. Like all children, Kyle grew up. By the time he was six he had stopped seeing Mr Mumbles. By the time he was eight he had forgotten Mr Mumbles ever existed. But Mr Mumbles never once forgot about him...

On a wild and windy Christmas Day when Kyle is twelve, a very different Mr Mumbles returns. This time, though, he doesn't want to be friends, and he has no intention of "playing nice". All he craves is revenge on the boy who cast him aside all those years ago. And he will stop at nothing to get it. (synopsis taken from www.invisiblefiends.com)

IF YOU LIKE HORROR THEN GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK NOW!

Forget about reading the rest of this review - you are only wasting time that should be spent shooting out to your local bookshop to buy this book!

Still here? Why? Let me phrase it another way then - if you don't go out and buy this book then I will make sure Mr Mumbles finds out and he just might want to pay you a visit, and that is something you really, really do not want to happen. Mr Mumbles is the ultimate horror villain - if you're old enough, think Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers all rolled into one. If you are not old enough to know what I am talking about then ask your parents. He lurks in the deepest depths of your childhood memories, just waiting for you to remember him. Just waiting for you to open that doorway to let him back into your life..... with a vengeance! And when he does come back, whatever you throw at him, however much you might try to hurt him, he will shrug it all off in a seemingly indestructible manner and he will chase you to the ends of the earth... or even worse - to Hell and back!

Like all great horror villains his features are truly nightmarish, the description of his mouth being particularly nasty:

‘And his lips... Oh, God, the lips! Mr Mumbles had always had problems with talking but it had been a speech impediment, that was all. Now his whole mouth was disfigured.

The lips were grotesque: thick, bloated, and sewn tightly together with grimy lengths of thread. Each stitch crossed over its neighbour, forming a series of little Xs from one side of his mouth to the other, sealing it shut. The holes the threads passed through were black and infected, the flesh rotting away from within.’

The kids/YA horror genre seems to be having a bit of a renaissance this year. I have already reviewed several outstanding books in this genre that are due to be released in 2010 (Witchfinder and Crawlers) and Mr Mumbles is yet another outstanding addition to this list. Some horror stories go out of their way to appear bloody and gory - literature's version of a slasher movie - but Mr Mumbles, like Crawlers, hits you on a psychological level. There is very little blood in the story - the horror comes from the relentlessness of Mr Mumbles' attacks, and the fact that his creation began many years ago in Kyle's past, when he started off as a harmless imaginary friend. Many children had some form of imaginary friend when they when younger, but did you ever wonder what happened to them once that child grew up and forgot about them? This is the sort of thing that will scare kids who read it, and this is a good thing as kids love to be scared in this way.

In this story Barry Hutchison also delivers some great characters. Aside from Kyle, there is also the fearless, and slightly mysterious, Ameena who appears on the scene to aid Kyle in his quest to escape/destroy Mr Mumbles. There is Kyle's mother - a seemingly normal, loving single-mum, who obviously has a few secrets she wants to remain hidden from Kyle such as who his dad is. And then there is Kyle's Nan - at times totally barking mad, but also showing occasional lucid moments that when coupled with her mad ramblings help to reveal hints about Kyle's childhood years. Mr Hutchison uses these hints sparingly - he wants to keep you guessing what is going to happen next, and he does this incredibly well. And just as you think you have it all worked out...BLAM! like Mr Mumbles he he hits you full in the face with a twist that you never saw coming at all.

This book has everything: the aforementioned horror, great characters, nail-biting fight scenes, heaps of tension and just enough humour to make you smile (just a little) between the horror scenes. It is the first in a planned series of six Invisible Fiends books, with the second (called Raggy Maggie) due to be released in July 2010. There is a short excerpt from Raggy Maggie at the end of this first book, and it looks as if it might be even more terrifying than Mr Mumbles. The flash-forward prologue of Mr Mumbles also gives us a taste of what is to come - unlike many books where the story set-up in the prologue is usually concluded within the book, the author has used his prologue to set the scene for the whole series. The ending of Mr Mumbles is also a blinder, although its disturbing nature is likely to impact more on the psyche of adult readers.

Mr Mumbles is published by HarperCollins and is in stores already. The Invisible Fiends is also well worth a visit and if you go to this Bebo page before the end of February you could win one of 50 copies of the book.