Zombie Contest Closed!

Hi all,

The Zombie Shelter Contest is now closed. We are sorting through submissions - and arguing about whether to get our authors in as guest judges - and will post the results on Friday.

Many thanks to those of you who sent in submissions, and our commiserations to those of you who meant to but didn't get around to it. Although, actually, not too many commiserations. You should have got yourselves sorted out. Sheesh.

Watch this space...

David

Last Day of the Zombie Contest

...although since it's a zombie contest, I suppose it could shamble on after we kill it?

Never mind.

Tomorrow is the last day of Abaddon's Zombie Shelter Competition. We've had some very cool submissions, and we're well looking forward to judging them, but submissions aren't closed yet! Be sure and send in your zombie shelter by the end of tomorrow (Friday 27th November) to be considered.

Erm... I can't be bothered working out an actual time deadline, in GMT, EDT, CET and whatever else. Tell you what: we're not even going to start judging them until Monday, so if it's in the inbox when I get in Monday morning, that's good enough for me.

Cheers,

David

Never ones to miss an opportunity to embarrass our talented creators, Abaddon Books would like to present you with this video of Abaddon author and 2000 AD writer Al Ewing joining a boyband, along with fellow comic book types Kieron Gillen,* Michael Molcher and Matt Sheret. Watch to the end for the Take That impression:-





Keep the day job, Al...


Video taken from Matt Sherat's Flickr page, filmed at last weekend's Thought Bubble convention.

*Is that what you call phonomancy, Kieron?

One week to go...

There's a week left to our Zombie Shelter contest. We've had some fine entries so far, but it's far from a done deal; get your submissions in to abaddonbooks@gmail.com and you could win some of our acclaimed Tomes of the Dead books!

"Mark as undead"

Inspired by my throw-away comment, "What does it say about what I do for a living that I right-click an email and read 'Mark as undead'?", Alexander Allan (or the steampunk-obsessed stick-figure sketcher CapnAlex online) created this doodle. I thought I'd share it with you.

Cool, huh?

David

(Thanks to Alex for allowing us to publish the image.)

Victorian Zombies!

Hi all,

Thought you might want to take a look at this. Sherlock Holmes versus zombies, by Ian Edgington (who's written for 2000AD before) and Davide Fabbri.

How cool is that?

David

Abaddon Competition!

Alright, here it is! Our first ever Abaddon Competition!

Everyone knows it’s coming. You just gotta see the signs. And I see you all preparing – maybe getting some training in with simulations like L4D or House of the Dead, maybe going to see instructive films like 28 Days Later or Zombieland – but how ready are you, really? When the Zs start clawing at your door, what are you going to do? How will you fight them? Where will you take shelter?

With an eye to getting you all ready for the (sadly inevitable) Zombipocalypse, Abaddon is running a competition! We want you to tell us about your zombie-proof shelter. Where is it? How is it protected? Upper stories (good vision, shoot from the balcony) or underground (more secure, more energy-efficient)? Locked down or escape routes? Well-water or bottled? What do you look for in a zombie shelter? It doesn’t have to be a real place (although a friend of mine swears he’s heading straight to Reading Gaol) or at any rate your place (honestly, if you write to us and tell us that you for real have a gun-and-tinned-food-stocked bunker in the suburbs, we may be obliged to inform your psychiatrist...), just the sort of place you’d go when the eatin’ starts.

You have 100 words. Tell us why your hideout’s awesome, not just what it is. Convince us. And make us laugh. All submissions to abaddonbooks@gmail.com by November 27th; winner announced December 4th, and we’ll post the best three reports here. The prize is copies of a couple of our Tomes of the Dead books, to further prepare you for the days to come.

Reviews and (Shh... Top-Secret) Competition Teaser...

Hey all,

Two more reviews for Mike Wild:

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review on Twilight of Kerberos: The Clockwork King of Orl, and

Falcata Times on Twilight of Kerberos: Crucible of the Dragon God.


Also, we're going to be announcing our first ever competition on the Abaddon blog tomorrow.

Check in to take part.

Hint: Zombies.

Cheers,

David

Robots, redux

They open doors now!

It was bad enough when I found out that Daleks can hover up stairs.

Paul Kane - Signing and Interviews

Hi all,

Paul Kane of The Afterblight Chronicles: Arrowhead and The Afterblight Chronicles: Broken Arrow (and a super-secret third upcoming Robert Stokes book) will be at the British Fantasy Society Open Night on the Strand on Friday December 4th.

He'll be promoting his new Hellraiser-inspired anthology, Hellbound Hearts, (this is him signing books at the HBH release in San Jose on Hallowe'en) but should be up for signing copies of his other books and talking about his work in general.

Here's Mass Movement's review of Broken Arrow again, and another rather nice one by Falcata Times.

And here, for good measure, is an interview with Paul by Mass Movement, and another one by GASP etc.

So head on down to the Strand, if you can, and give him some support. Or touch him inappropriately or something, I don't know.

David

(Photo courtesy of Charles Prepolec)

Leeds Thought Bubble Convention

Hey all,

Just a quickie. Al Ewing (of Pax Britannia: El Sombra, Tomes of the Dead: I, Zombie, and The Afterblight Chronicles: Death Got No Mercy), Simon Spurrier (of The Afterblight Chronicles: The Culled; both of them, for that matter, regular contributors to 2000 AD) and Antony Johnston (of Dreams of Inan: Stealing Life) will be at the Leeds Thought Bubble Comic Convention on the 21st of this month. Get down there and poke them. Tell 'em I sentcha.

Al informs me he'll also be DJing at the after-party at Alea Casino on the Saturday night.

While you're online, check out Al's, Si's and Antony's blogs, or follow them on Twitter at @Al_Ewing, @sispurrier and @antonyjohnston.

Cheers,

David

Mike Wild - Reviews and Interview

Hi all,

Mike Wild's second Kali Hooper book, Twilight of Kerberos: Crucible of the Dragon God, came out a couple of months ago; if you've not read it (or the first Kali Hooper book, Twilight of Kerberos: The Clockwork King of Orl), you should check 'em out.

At any rate, Mike's directed my attention to this interview he gave Mass Movement Magazine around the time Crucible came out.

While you're at it, Mass Movement also reviews Clockwork King and Crucible on their site.

(And for a sneak peek at the opening chapter of the third Kali Hooper book, Twilight of Kerberos: Engines of the Apocalypse, pick up Twilight of Kerberos: Night's Haunting, out soon; we've given you a sneak preview in the back.)

Cheers,

David

Another Review...

Hi all,

One more from Tim: this review of Gary McMahon's Tomes of the Dead: Hungry Hearts.

Cheers,

David

Reviews: Broken Arrow and Barefoot Zombie

Hi all,

Tim of Mass Movement Magazine has been kind enough to write this review of Paul Kane's The Afterblight Chronicles: Broken Arrow, and this review of Jasper Bark's Tomes of the Dead: The Way of the Barefoot Zombie.

Thanks, Tim!

In other news, Matthew Sprange's Twilight of Kerberos: Night's Haunting, the second Lucius Kane adventure, went to press this week. So it'll be in stores as soon as we can get it there. If you haven't read it yet, check out the first Lucius Kane adventure, Twilight of Kerberos: Shadowmage.

Cheers,

David

Memento Mori

Ninety-three years ago yesterday, the 13th Battalion of the Penine Fusiliers vanished without a trace from the Somme.

Who knows or dares to dream what became of them, where they went, or what they met there...?

Lest we forget.



No Man's World: Black Hand Gang by Pat Kelleher, due out in February next year.

David