Beyond Hammer gets a Mention...

I have just found out that my first book, Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970 was mentioned in the book The Best Horror of the Year. Edited by Ellen Datlow and published by Nightshade Books, Beyond Hammer is mentioned and briefly discussed in the opening Summation of the book.

Beyond Hammer Review

I recently came across a review of my first book, Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema Since 1970 in Morpheus Tales: reviewer Adrian Brady said:

"This is the sort of book that all film students should read... For me it was an enjoyable and insightful experience, as a horror film fanatic there are those rare treats of film books, and this is definitely one of those."

My thanks to Adrian for such a fantastic review.

Beyond Hammer Review

I recently found out that the November 2009 edition of Rue Morgue published a review of Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970. Reviewer Justine Warwick commented that it is "an in-depth and eclectic study" and that it "is smashing stuff!" In particular, Warwick comments on the chapter concerning Shaun of the Dead, stating that "let's just say by reading [the chapter on] it you'll probably pick up a few self-referential jokes you missed on the first, sixth or even tenth viewing"!

To purchase Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970 please follow one of these links:

Amazon.co.uk

Columbia University Press

Play.com

Auteur Publishing

Beyond Hammer - Press Reviews and Recent Acquisitions

Since its publication in May 2009, Beyond Hammer has been reviewed in Sight & Sound, Empire, Filmstar, Total Film, SFX and Deathray: Kevin Stuart, in his review for Filmstar, states the book is "well-written and enlightening, managing to tread that difficult line between academic depth and easy readability" whilst in Total Film the book is described as "a genre primer that lucidly skin-peels four decades of scares and subtexts". Deathray's review comments that the chapter on Hellraiser is interesting, a comment reflected in the Stuart review. Other chapters singled out for commentary included The Descent, which Nigel Floyd, in his review for Sight & Sound states "Saving the best for last, however, the essay on Neil Marshall's The Descent is cogent and insightful".

Beyond Hammer has also been recently acquired by the BFI National Library and Harvard University.

Current Commissions

Now that the First Drafts of the Doctor Who chapters have been completed and sent to their respective editors, I have been working on the Second Draft of the Studying The Devil's Backbone book alongside viewing films for my next essay in MediaMagazine, a text chronicling the history of the Horror Mockumentary.

Beyond Hammer

A review of my first book, Beyond Hammer, has been published in the August 2009 edition of the magazine Filmstar: rated three and a half stars out of five, the reviewer states that the book is

"all well-written and enlightening, managing to tread that difficult line between academic depth and easy readability."

They also state that it is "good to see Shaun of the Dead being taken seriously... it does, after all, provide the essence of Blighty; a strange, funny, but, in the end, a messed-up patriarchy where everyone goes and hides down the pub and tries to pretend it's not happening."

Filmstar, August 2009. p.148

Recently Published...

My first book, Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970 was published mid May this year by Auteur Publishing:

Though they are often critically neglected, British horror films make up a significant and steadily growing body of genre works within a nationally grounded cinema. Deeply rooted within the Gothic tradition, these post-Hammer Studio films place their antagonistic threats within contemporary Britain, allowing werewolves to roam the Moors and isolated islanders to practice Pagan sacrifice, hiding a family of cannibals behind the white tiled walls of the Underground, or unleashing a virulent plague that causes zombies to stumble through middle class suburbia. The juxtaposition between these unreal elements and the vivid Britishness of characters and locations has led to a collaborative body of work that examines the modern fears of contemporary Britain. Accessible to the general reader, Beyond Hammer provides new critical readings of classic, contemporary, and lesser known films of the post-Hammer British horror canon. Chronologically ordered, these chapters feature new and engaging readings of The Wicker Man, Death Line, An American Werewolf in London, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Hellraiser, 28 Days Later, The Last Horror Movie, Shaun of the Dead, and The Descent.

The book is currently ranked 24 (out of 100) in the Amazon Best Sellers list for books on Horror Cinema.

To purchase Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970 please follow one of these links:

Amazon.co.uk

Columbia University Press

Play.com

Auteur Publishing