My All Hallow's Read by Steve Feasey (author of the Changeling series)

At the beginning of the month I blogged about Neil Gaiman's fantastic All Hallow's Read idea. Judging by the number of times it is getting mentioned on Twitter it sounds as if the 'tradition' is really taking off this year, especially over in the US. My All Hallow's Reads gifts have been dispatched to various households around the UK, and I know that many others have been doing the same. Perhaps we can make this just as big on this side of the Atlantic over the next few years.

What would you All Hallow's Read be? Changeling author Steve Feasey has kindly joined us here on The Book Zone to tell us about his choice.

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The book that I’m going to recommend for All Hallow’s Read is Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg. I read this book while on a caravanning holiday with my family when I was about 14. I was reading a mixture of books at the time, and I thought this would be the perfect thing to bridge the gap between my love of horror and my newly blossoming liking for crime thrillers.

During the holiday, my family would often go to the club on the caravan site, and having seen my mother do the Birdy Song dance once was enough to make this teenage boy decide to boycott the place for the remainder of the stay. I found myself alone in the caravan with Hjortsberg’s book. To say the experience of reading it alone there, with the sea wind rocking the entire structure back and forth, added to the fear the book instilled in me would be the understatement of the century!

It’s a brilliantly written novel, and having seen the film adaptation, Angel Heart, since reading it, I was extremely glad that the book came to me before the film. Written in a Chandleresque, hard-boiled detective novel style, the basic premise is that a private eye is hired by an enigmatic and sinister client to find a missing person. The investigation quickly turns into a living nightmare as our hero, Harold Angel, gets drawn into a world of dark forces that he can’t even begin to understand.

The twist at the end is, for those who haven’t seen the film, simply brilliant.

Not an easy read, but well worth the effort for lovers of dark fiction.

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“Bloouuurrgghhhhahh!” (That’s Zombie for “I want to eat your eyes!”) - Steve Feasey's Zombie Dawn Guest Post

One of the things that strikes me when I do school events and talk about classic horror creatures is just how popular zombies are. It surprises me because on face value there isn’t much about them to suggest what’s so appealing. They don’t have the charm and allure of their undead brethren, the vampires, but nevertheless, every student seems to have an opinion on them, and all have a favourite film, book or game featuring them. It’s a good job too because with the final book in the series, Changeling: Zombie Dawn, featuring the shuffling undead in a big way, I knew I would have to explore what the appeal was, and what I was going to do about my own particular take on them.

Zombies are problematical for a writer if you’re not embarking on a ‘world domination and mankind’s last stand against the undead’ type of book. And the reason that they’re a problem is that they proliferate so damn fast! It takes very few zombies very little time to multiply into a vast army of rotting, shuffling, brain-eating creeps. As Caliban says in the book: “They infect others around them and spread like a virus.” And that’s the problem. Once a zombie outbreak occurs, it quickly becomes a pandemic.

One of my favourite zombie books is Max Brooks’s World War Z. It’s a great take on the tried and tested zombie apocalypse theme, and is in my opinion one of the best books written on the topic. Max very quickly has the zombie outbreak infesting numerous countries, and within the blink of an eye the human population is on the verge of annihilation. It’s gory and funny and brilliantly imagined, and if you haven’t read it yet I recommend you do so. But I didn’t want a zombie plague that would quickly turn into a worldwide disaster; I wanted a suppressed outbreak that would be devastating, but manageable. So I came up with the idea for the containment dome that traps both humans and zombies alike, and the more I thought about it, the more I knew how terrifying that would be for those stuck inside. 

The other great thing about zombies is the ‘method of dispatch’ which has to be employed by anyone facing them down. And it would seem that the more gruesome the act of ruination, the better. Classic zombie theory (if there isn’t such a thing, there should be) would suggest that removing the head or destroying the brain are de rigueur when it comes to seeing off these pesky revenants, and that lends itself to some great (and often very funny) action sequences involving a wide variety of weapons. 

Before writing ZD I really got into The Walking Dead graphic novels by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, and I was really excited to find out that it was going to be made into a TV series. The books are amazing and, like World War Z, are ‘must reads’ for zombiephiles. Graphic novels can be an expensive hobby, so if you can’t afford the 80+ issues that the series is currently running to, ask your library for them. 

So there you have it: my take on zombies and the walking dead. Long may they shuffle and moan and groan because most of us can’t seem to get enough of them.

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Huge thanks to Steve Feasey for taking the time to write this great zombie post for The Book Zone. The Changeling books have been one of my favourite series of the past few years and a review of Zombie Dawn will appear on The Book Zone in the near future.

Steve Feasey Zombie Dawn (Changeling) Blog Tour

The more observant amongst you may already have noticed the banner on the right hand side of this page giving details about the forthcoming blog tour that Changeling author Steve Feasey is embarking on. Just in case you haven't spotted it, the tour kicks off tomorrow at Empire of Books blog, and Steve will visit three other blogs before finishing his journey here at The Book Zone. I won't spoil any surprises by telling you what Steve will be writing about on each blog, but I know he has loads of really interesting things to tell us.


Tomorrow is also the release date for Zombie Dawn, the fifth and final chapter in Steve's brilliant Changeling series, and I know there are many readers who can't wait to find out what happens to Trey and his friends.

News: Changeling: Zombie Dawn by Steve Feasey Sneak Preview

If, like me, you are impatiently waiting for the release of the final book in Steve Feasey's brilliant Changeling series, then you could do a little better than pop over to Paul Kane's Shadow Writer website where you can read the Prologue and first chapter of Zombie Dawn. Less than two months to go until its release, and this short teaser has got me wishing my life away again. Just click on this link to go there http://www.shadow-writer.co.uk/zombiedawn.htm

News: Book Cover - Changeling: Zombie Dawn by Steve Feasey

I am currently not far off finishing reading Changeling: Demon Games, the fourth book in Steve Feasey's fab werewolf series (known as the Wereling series in the USA). I hope to get my review online by the end of the week, but in the meantime I just HAD to share this little piece of news with you. Earlier today Steve Feasey posted an image of the cover for Zombie Dawn, the fifth and final book of the series, on his blog and it is such a great cover that I wanted to post the image here too. In my opinion it is the best of the Changeling covers so far.... what do you think?

This certainly gives Changeling fans something to look forward to. I'm not sure when the exact release date is yet - as soon as I know I will add it to this post.

*** Interview with Steve Feasey (author of the Changeling series)

Steve Feasey is the man who is almost single-handedly making werewolves cool with his Changeling series of books (known as Wereling in the USA). I wrote a review of the first three books in this series recently and Steve very kindly volunteered to answer a few questions for The Book Zone as part of my horror month.

First of all..... why werewolves? What makes them so special in your eyes?

I suppose we’re on the crest of a vampire phenomenon at the moment, but I’ve always loved the brutal animality of werewolves. Let’s face it, in a straight-up, one-on-one fight between a vamp and a lyco, there really is only going to be one winner isn’t there? Having a teenage protagonist who also happens to be a werewolf allows me to explore the analogy between shapeshifting and the child-teenager-adult change. And werewolf transformation scenes are SUCH great fun to write!

What sort of research have you carried out when writing the Changeling series? Did you discover any really interesting facts during your research that you would like to share with us?

I did a lot of looking into the ancient werewolf and vampire legends. I needed to know which aspects of the legends I wanted to keep, and which parts I would make up to suit the world I was going to be imagining. The internet is great for that sort of thing. You can quickly build up a large information dump of the useless, the quirky, the helpful, and the downright scary. Sifting through it all is another matter…

I was amazed at how some of the beliefs in these supernatural creatures were still in existence today. At school visits I often tell the true story about a family in Romania who, because they believed their neighbour was a vampire, carried out the most bizarre ritual at his grave. This was as recent as five or six years ago!

Do you visit the locations that you write about?

I have visited most of the places that the books have been set in so far (London, Amsterdam, Iceland). I’ve never been to Canada which is the setting for most of book three, Changeling: Blood Wolf, but as it was a remote rural woodland setting, I figured I could get away with making most of that up.

Book Four is set in the Netherworld, and I’ve been visiting that every time I’ve sat at my desk in the last six months.

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

I think I get influences from lots of different sources. I don’t particularly have a favourite sort of book, and I enjoy switching between genres and authors. But I think the fantasy adventure and sci-fi stuff I read as a teenager have had a big influence on the Changeling books.

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

Imperilment. Good fiction relies on placing your protagonist in dire situations. The bigger the peril, the more impact that it will have on the character, whether in a positive or negative way. Horror allows you to place your characters in the direst of situations, and for me it is those characters’ reactions to those situations that makes horror so much fun to write (and hopefully to read).

What was your first introduction to horror in literature?

I was about twelve years old and I was at a loss for something to read, having just finished a book. I wandered into my older sisters’ room and found a copy of Carrie by Stephen King on the bedside table. I read it and it scared the living wits out of me (I had to sleep with the light on that night).

Do you have a favourite horror book or horror movie?

I think that my favourite horror book is Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg. I read it on holiday as a teenager and fell in love with the dark, gothic feel that it had, despite the fact that it is set in the deep south of America. It was one of those books that I came across quite by accident, and it has a great twist at the end.

Do you remember the first horror movie you ever saw?

It was one of the Hammer Horror vampire movies. They were really corny, and I think I’d laugh at it now. But at the time I was terrified.

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


Alien. It’s my favourite horror movie. As I’ve said, I used to read quite a bit of sci-fi when I was younger. When I saw Alien, I was blown away. You get three monsters for the price of one. *SPOILER ALERT* Firstly, you get the crab-like monster that attaches itself to the astronaut’s face, and plants something in his stomach. Next is the thing that bursts out of his stomach in one of the great movie scenes, and this grows into a thing with more teeth than you can shake a stick at. It has acid for blood, for heaven’s sake! Of course, the monster sets about killing the entire crew. Hey, there’s nowhere to run in space. Classic stuff.

What scares you?

Now I’m an adult, proper scary stuff like income tax.
I’m still capable of scaring myself witless if I’m in the house alone with a good book or film.

Some people think that horror writers must be a little weird to come up with their stories. Would you agree with them?

I think writers as a whole have to be a bit weird to do what they do. But yeah, I think it helps if you have a taste for the macabre if you want to write stuff that makes other people reluctant to turn the light out at night.

What do you think it is that draws so many young people to horror books?

I think that most people, but particularly younger people, like being scared. Hey, there’s a reason that rollercoasters are so popular with teenagers. The cool monsters help too.

What would you say to people who think that horror stories are not suitable for young people?

I would have to choose my words carefully. There is no such thing as a ‘type’ of book that is unsuitable for young people (just as there is, with a couple of obvious exceptions, no subject matter that is unsuitable). I think it’s the way that the ‘genre’ is handled. Clearly, a stomach-churning gore-fest book like Jack Ketchum’s cannibal stuff is not suitable for younger readers, but would anyone seriously think that it could be bad for someone to read Stoker or Shelley (Dracula and Frankenstein)?

There are some pretty violent moments in your books. How do you gauge the right level of violence?

They always start out, in the earlier drafts of the books, more violent than they end up. If I only listened to the majority of young boys that I meet during events, I’d end up with something like the Ketchum books I referred to in the last answer. But I think it’s better to hold back the violence a bit, and I tend to get a feel for when I’ve gone too far. Besides, if there is too much gore, the readers get inured to it, and it loses any impact that you hoped it to have.

Do you have time to read any of the many books for children that are published these days? If so, are there any other books or authors that you would recommend fans of your books to read?

To be honest, I don’t read much YA fiction. That’s not to say I don’t read any, and recently I enjoyed Meteorite Strike by A.G. Taylor as well as Sebastian Faulks’s Revolver. I’m also re-reading His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman at the moment.

I recently had a Graphic Novel themed month on my blog. Do you read graphic novels and if so do you have any favourites?

I love Graphic Novels. I’m a big fan of The Walking Dead series, and I also like The Punisher books. Oh, and Batman. Everyone loves Batman, right?

I know Blood Wolf has only recently been released but can you give us any hints as to what you have planned for Trey next? How many more books are planned in the series?

I’m writing book four at the moment, which will be called Changeling: Demon Games. It’s a slightly different format from the other books because it is set exclusively in the Netherworld. It’s great fun, but a difficult book to write. I plan for there to be five books in total.

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

Just that there’s a book for everyone out there. Whatever floats your boat, there are people writing to suit your tastes.I’m really glad that it’s seen as cool to read again. Maybe that makes me cool by association? Hmm, maybe not…

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Another great interview on The Book Zone from another great horror writer. Thank you Steve for taking the time to answer your questions - I hope we can do something again in the future. If you want to read more about Steve and his books then you can find his website here.

Review: The Changeling Series by Steve Feasey

Trey thought he was an ordinary teenager. Then he meets a mysterious stranger, Lucien Charron – luminously pale, oddly powerful, with eyes that seem flecked with fire and skin that blisters in sunlight. Somehow Trey finds himself in a luxury London penthouse, like a Bond villain’s lair. It’s the heart of a sinister empire, built on the powers of the netherworld – werewolves, vampires, sorcerers, djinns. And Trey himself has a power that’s roaring to break free. Is he a boy or is he a beast?

The world has gone vampire crazy and adult books featuring these creatures of the night and a host of other supernatural beings are being released almost daily under the banner of Urban Fantasy. In YA literature however, vampires and Shan's demons were reigning supreme, until the beginning of 2009 when the first book in Steve Feasey's Changeling series was released (the series is known as Wereling in the USA). Having become a little bored with the genre I never picked up Changeling at the time, and it is only recently that I have read the books, thanks to Dom Kingston at Macmillan who sent me all three of the books released so far. I am so grateful that he got in touch through my blog - it was a rare luxury to be able to read three excellent books in a series for the first time, almost back-to-back.

The first book in the series focuses on orphan Trey's personal voyage of discovery as he finds out that he is a werewolf, the only pure blood still in existance. He is helped on this journey by his new vampire mentor Lucien Charron, Lucien's daughter Alexa, and tough guy/troubleshooter Tom Callaghan, one of the few humans we come across in these books. This new found 'family' aid Trey in coming to terms with his new abilities, and also train him in the skills he will need should he ever come face to face with his nemesis, the evil vampire Caliban, who is determined to wipe all pure blood werewolves off the face of the planet.

I am determined not to give too much away in case you have not yet read any of these books, so I am not going to mention too much of their plots. Suffice to say, Steve Feasey has created a well imagined world, where creatures of the netherworld are used for both good and bad. The author has dreamed up a myriad of these nether-creatures, including shapeshifters, a battle-angel and my favourite, the particularly nasty Necrotroph. This demon is pure evil, desribed as a "hard-to-kill parasitic demon. Inhabits a body and controls the victom's mind. Leaves its prey dead or insane". The Necrotroph plays a big part in the second and third books and the scenes in which it appears are particularly dark and terrifying. Steve Feasey very kindly provides us with a demon lexicon in each of the books, a nice reference aid to help the reader keep up with the array of creatures that appear throughout the story.

Boys will love these books (and probably a large number of girls as well). Trey is a very believable character and despite being a werewolf many boys will be able to identify with him and the challenges and new emotions he faces. The plot is very fast paced and full of great action scenes, and there are many quieter moments that help build the tension so that the final climactic scenes feel even more rewarding when you get to them. 

Trey is no Twilight Jacob Black-style shapeshifter; when he changes he becomes a werewolf in the traditional sense - half human, half wolf - a brutal, towering beast who manages to retain his human thoughts and emotions only by wearing an ancient amulet that prevents him from becoming Wolfan, when his animal side would completely take over. It is not until the third book, Blood Wolf, that we see what a Wolfan is really capable of, and it certainly ain't pretty. In this book Trey's voyage of discovery takes him further afield, when he flies to Canada to search for his long estranged Uncle Frank. Where the other books focused on Trey's fight against Caliban and his netherworld forces this book is much more about Trey trying to find somewhere he feels he truly belongs. During this Canadian visit he discovers the LG78, a pack of Wolfan living on Frank's land, and these creatures do not have an amulet to suppress their basic animal instincts, and at this point Steve Feasey really lets rip and we see far more blood than in either of the previous books.

The greatest benefit of reading a series of books back-to-back is seeing how the characters develop, especially the secondary ones. The first book in any series has to focus primarily on devloping a small handful of characters. This is especially the case in books in this genre where a main protagonist has to come to terms with discovering they are not human and Changeling is no exception. Dark Moon and Blood Wolf see characters other then Trey having to deal with new challenges and emotions and then leave us wanting even more. The great news is that according to Amazon Demon Games, the fourth book in the series, is due to be released in September. I am very excited about this book, but I am not going to say any more about it now as very soon The Book Zone will be featuring an interview with Steve Feasey in which he tells us a little more about this book.