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BOOKS: Duncan Swan’s Terrifying ‘Monstre: Volume One’ is Out Today

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Monstre: Volume One

“People think evil is easy to spot. They think of evil and imagine a monster. They imagine the Devil with horns, something obvious and identifiable. But sometimes evil looks just like the kid next door.”–Duncan Swan, Monster” Volume One

Duncan Swan’s terrifying novel, Monstre: Volume One, is out today. The compelling, often gut-wrenching novel marks Swan’s debut, and sets him apart as author to watch.

Set in the present, the novel begins at the CERN lab in Sweden where a sudden and inexplicable explosion occurs. In the fallout of that explosion, the air becomes toxic, a massive cloud begins spreading across Europe blocking out the sun, and strange creatures emerge the darkness.

The story is told in two time frames, jumping back and forth from ground zero in Europe and 90 days later as the cloud inches toward the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. and frantic citizens who already witnessed the destruction in across the Atlantic decide how to deal with the terror knocking at their door. With no known hope of survival, will they turn on each other or come together to survive?

Swan does not spare a single moment blending apocalyptic and cosmic horrors and drawing the reader into the novel. He lets us know, almost immediately, that absolutely no one is safe in this scenario. Not every character you connect with is going to survive this. The problem is that he writes his characters so well, it’s hard to remain detached. Even the most unlikable characters–and believe me when I tell you there are plenty–are compelling in their own way.

The other thing the author does exceptionally well is handling details and description. He seems to have an innate talent for giving his reader just what they need to set the imagination on fire. This works for him both in the realm of dealing with his monsters and what they might look like, but also in doling out the inevitable gore that comes from human encounters with them.

Like early John Carpenter films, Swan gives us just enough to make us think we’re experiencing so much more gore than we really are. He trusts that he does not have to spell out every little detail for the reader, and his instincts are impeccable.

Like any apocalyptic novel, Monstre: Volume One is not so much about the looming apocalypse itself as it is the people who are experiencing it. It is the humanity, or lack thereof, that keeps the pages turning. Swan presents his readers with numerous moral questions along the way, and the answers to those questions are not always comfortable.

Who do you leave behind? Is one life more important than any other? When do you trust your instincts and when do you listen to others?

The answers to those questions are never easy, nor should they be, and Swan writes in such a way that there are times you almost feel like you’re in the author’s chair making the decisions. I don’t mind admitting to you that I chose poorly once or twice while reading.

Monstre: Volume One is out today with volume two expected mid-year in 2021. Fans of Stephen King’s The Mist will no doubt want to add this excellent novel to their libraries. Get your copy by CLICKING HERE.

If you’re interested in hearing more about the novel from the author himself, Duncan Swan is hosting a special live event this afternoon/evening at 5 pm PT on Facebook. Details for the event can be found here!

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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