Pretty hate machine: An interview with David Moody

“In most films and books which deal with the end of the world as we know it, it’s presumed that people will just accept that Armageddon has arrived and start trying to survive it. I don’t actually think that’ll happen. I think many of us will bury our heads in the sand and try and convince ourselves that things will get better. It would actually be a hard thing to accept that your time’s up.”

David Moody’s Autumn books quickly became an online phenomenon, leaving him free to quit his day job and write full-time. Not long afterwards Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro and The Orphanage’s JA Bayona came knocking and he signed a deal to have his recent novel Hater adapted for the screen. A twisted foreboding story with little or no indication to what is happening right in front of you, as it drags you screaming towards its ghastly conclusion.

Moody delivers the goods and you’ll be amazed at just how much tension, intelligence, blood and guts he crams into one book. Think 80s splatter punk with Romeroesque connotations and David Cronenberg’s stomach-churning intensity which push it towards a dénouement that will leave you gob-smacked. Moody shares his thoughts on what is quickly becoming one of the hottest horror reads of the year.

Alan Kelly: When did you move from print to online publishing, how difficult was that transition?

David Moody: I’ve actually moved from print, to online, and then back again! My first novel was published in 1996 [Straight to You] and it disappeared without a trace! When I’d finished my second book [Autumn] I decided to take a different approach and I made the book available as a free download from my site. I then went on to set up Infected Books – a small-press – and released my books in paperback. Overall, it’s actually been quite a simple, organic transition. Giving Autumn away for free was a calculated risk which paid off. During the five or so years it was available online, it was downloaded more than half a million times. I also wrote a series of sequels (which weren’t free). The first book has also been filmed and should be released later this year.

AK: What you’re exploring with Hater is how everyone is a ticking time-bomb, just waiting to explode. We suppress all that anger and rage until it becomes a festering boil, and when it is lanced, a terrible fury is unleashed.

DM: That’s absolutely right. I think it’s something that’s inside everyone, and that’s why Hater seems to have struck a chord. Everyone and anyone is capable of becoming a Hater, or being one of their victims. And these days, people seem to have a lot more anger and rage to suppress…

AK: Fangoria, Rue Morgue and Shadow Writer Paul Kane have already championed your work, with the latter showcasing your work on his website, have you always wanted to write within the horror genre?

DM:Yes, I’ve been a huge horror fan for as long as I can remember. When I was young I used to sneak downstairs late at night after my parents had gone to bed to watch the midnight horror movies. I grew up watching the Universal films of the 30s (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman) and the great B Movies of the 50s (Brain from Planet Aros, Plan 9, The Day the World Ended). The film that changed everything for me though, was the original Night of the Living Dead.

AK: Guillermo del Toro and J. A. Bayona are adapting Hater for the screen. Hater unfurls like the narrative of a great horror film, are you a fan of their work?

DM: Definitely. I’m a huge admirer of Guillermo’s work. I was hooked after I first saw Cronos and I’ve followed his work ever since. He just keeps getting better and better, and I think that’s a sign of a master filmmaker. He learns from everything he does and uses what he’s learnt to make his next movie even more of an experience. I still find it hard to believe that he’s attached to Hater. If I’m honest, it’s enough of a thrill having him blurb the book! I saw The Orphanage around the time that J. A. Bayona was linked to Hater and I was completely blown away. It’s a beautiful, hugely emotional film and I can’t wait to see what he does with Hater.

AK: Danny, your protagonist is your typically frustrated everyman: a dead-end job, young family, no money. Until he is thrown head-first into an apocalyptic nightmare, the horror seems to steal up on him while he is preoccupied by the everyday, nobody takes the threat seriously until it has it’s hands around their necks?

DM: In most films and books which deal with the end of the world as we know it, it’s presumed that people will just accept that Armageddon has arrived and start trying to survive it. I don’t actually think that’ll happen. I think many of us will bury our heads in the sand and try and convince ourselves that things will get better. It would actually be a hard thing to accept that your time’s up, and I think that’s what Danny goes through in the book. To illustrate the point, he’s seen people kill each other and he’s been caught in the middle of several horrific incidents, and yet he still tries to go to work.

AK: Hater has a 28 Days Later vibe about it. Has anyone else likened your book to that film?

DM: My work constantly gets compared to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. It happened with the Autumn books and it’s happened again with Hater. The settings are similar, and violent rage is key to both stories, but that’s where the similarities end. That said, I do love both of the movies. There’s an urban myth amongst my readers that the filmmakers acknowledged the influence of Autumn in 28 Weeks Later. I think it’s just coincidence, but if you watch the first scenes where a group of survivors are eating a meal, an old man drinks wine which he says has ‘hints of Autumn’.

AK: The Hated in Hater are unlike other “zombie” creatures, they retain their passions, their identities, their humanity, so the reader doesn’t really know where they are. That is a clever intellectual device, not knowing who the ‘monsters’ really are.

DM: It’s all about perspective. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that both sides feel equally justified in what they’re doing, so who are the bad guys and who are the good guys is a matter of opinion. And if you think about it, that’s exactly what happens repeatedly in real life. Both sides in every war think they’re fighting for the right reasons. It’s frightening if you think about it too much.

AK: How many more Hater books are in the pipeline?

DM: I’m contracted for two more. The first sequel, Dog Blood, is due to be published in Summer 2010 with the third book to follow later. Some people have expressed annoyance with the ending of Book One because it so obviously leads into the sequel, but the fact is each volume is a self-contained story looking at the impact of ‘the Hate’ in different ways. In Book One it’s about individuals, Book Two deals with society as a whole. I’m not going to say anything about Book Three just yet!

AK: What are your thoughts on modern horror writers, who influences or inspires you?

DM: One of the greatest things about the Internet is the impact it’s having on the publishing business. People are able to find their own voice, and new writers can find an audience and connect directly with them. I’ve just finished Scott Sigler’s incredible (incredibly gross!) book Infected which I really enjoyed. Scott has a similar backstory to me, in that he made his books available for free online (as podcasts) and built up a huge readership. Ive been closely associated with Permuted Press for several years. They put out lots of consistently good books. My recent favorite was Drop Dead Gorgeous by Wayne Simmons – a cleverly written vision of a zombie apocalypse set in Belfast. As far as my inspirations are concerned though, the two authors who made me want to write were H.G. Wells and John Wyndham. The Day of the Triffids still has a huge influence on me.

AK: I found the very idea that the person your closest to could turn like a “mad dog” on you at any second, without warning or provocation, that is more chilling than the apocalypse somehow, the idea that a family member or lover or close friend would become extremely violent for no good reason.

DM: You’re right. The most frightening aspect of ‘the Hate’ is that it can affect anyone. I wanted to write about something which was more divisive than anything we know at present – age, race, sex, beliefs. In Hater we’re dealing with a division that knows no barriers so parents turn against their children and vice versa, lovers turn against each other, students turn on teachers, soldiers start pointing their weapons at each other… And when it’s a family member, that makes it all the more difficult to deal with. Could you defend yourself against an attack from your own children or one of your parents? If your lover was trying to kill you, could you kill them to save your own life?

AK: How hard was it promoting your work online?

DM: I wouldn’t say it’s been particularly hard, but it is something that’s taken a lot of effort over a long, long time. I’ve been writing for almost 15 years and I’ve been online for 10 years and I’ve worked on either my books or promotion pretty much every single day. The thing about viral marketing though, is that it does take time to see results. I’ve had an absolute blast so far, and I’ve achieved more than I ever dreamt I would, so I’ve got no complaints!

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ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER

Alan Kelly is the contributing editor to Dogmatika. He has worked for a number of specialist magazines, Film Ireland, Pretty Scary, Penny Blood, Bookslut et al. He lives in Wicklow and is partial to pulp, noir, hardboiled, brainy erotica and horror fiction.