The Rising: Selected Scenes from the End of the World

This was written in two days, in my office, during Halloween week. Mean, a.k.a. Mike Nolan, gave me a lot of information on New Zealand (including Mount Egmont) when I wrote to him and asked for his background in reference to the story. I’m glad he did because until then, the only thing I knew about New Zealand was that they grew kiwis, and Lord of the Rings was filmed there. Mean was an excellent travel guide, and I fully intend to visit, based on his descriptions alone. There was one bit of trivia he gave me that, very regretfully, I didn’t have room to use. It’s very cool, but I just didn’t have room for it. So I’m including it here, because I’m positive the rest of you will think it’s cool, too. Mean wrote: We had an old single shot .22 rifle mainly for rabbits and opossums. Our opossums are not like your possums there in the States. Our opossums may make good zombie stoppers, as they don’t actually attack people—but when they get frightened, they consider people are like trees and climb them and wrap themselves around your head. They have very long sharp claws, prehensile tails, are incredibly strong, and don’t smell too good. Removal is a difficult process, to say the least. See what I mean? Is that not the coolest fucking thing you’ve ever heard? I’d love to do an entire novel about zombie opossums, but you guys will have to convince Delirium to publish it. Write to Shane now!

“You Only Live Twice”

This was written in my home office, in one day’s time—all three drafts. Truthfully, a lot of these are Jade’s own words. I just turned them into a story. I wanted to do something quiet and introspective, giving you readers (and myself) a momentary break from the violence and gore. I’m very happy with the results. Hopefully, it worked for you, too. I do feel badly for the Jade in this tale. I’d like to think that in an alternate universe, she and Anthony got married, she bought that Mustang she’d always wanted, and her cat didn’t turn into a zombie. And you know what? Maybe she did. Alert readers will notice a tiein with “The Viking Plays Patty Cake.”

So who was outside? Did the National Guard really reoccupy Detroit, or was it just the zombies playing a trick? I know—but I’m not telling. This is one of those endings that you all like so much. (Ducks before the readers can hit him…)

“And Hell Followed With Him”

The problem with this story is that I didn’t want it to end. I could have easily (and happily) turned this into a novel. Bob is a close, personal friend of mine, and York, PA is my hometown (which is why you’ve seen it pop up in some of my other works). As a result, there was so much more that I wanted to write about, places and situations that I wanted to throw in. Unfortunately, there’s only so much you can do with 1,000 words.

The story was written in my backyard, in the midst of the summer heat wave, on the exact same spot where Bob and I have drank many beers. Bob spends a lot of time hanging out with Geoff Cooper and me, and is often seen as the quiet, responsible member of our trio; the “safe” one, as my wife calls him. If the dead started returning to life and bikers killed his family, I think Bob would put both Coop and I to shame, and that’s why I transformed him into this Crow-like spirit of vengeance. Also of note, the things happening in York (in this story) are also referenced in The Rising.

“The High Point”

I took a break from this book for a while. Didn’t want to, and it set us back as far as the deadline, but circumstances were beyond my control. I had a previous deadline to beat ( The Rutting Season) and I had to get that finished or forfeit a sizable amount of money. So I did. The day after I finished the novel, this was the first thing I wrote. It felt good. Real fucking good. All three drafts were done in one evening, in my office, while it rained outside.

“Where The Down Boys Go”