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  Coming Attractions - October 2011                                      
 

Vacation Reviews!

Vacation has just been out for just a few and has gotten great reviews. A sampling:

"Costello offers a terrifying view into a dystopian future and a perhaps even more frightening look at the baser side of humanity. The cracking pace makes this a perfect choice for horror fans who want to be kept up late reading."
ALA’s Booklist

“Patrolman Jack Murphy, forced to leave a besieged New York City where he battles feral cannibals, gathers his family and heads for the hills in this tense apocalyptic thriller."
Publisher’s Weekly

“Costello knows how to keep a story moving, and his sparse, punchy style gives the writing urgency. Quickly paced and tightly written, VACATION maintains suspense. The characters are (excuse the pun) well-fleshed-out and the creatures frightening, as far as flesh-eating mutants go. In VACATION, Costello manages to wring life from an already overworked undead.“
Fangoria

“Welcome to Paterville! Family getaway for all, away from it all. In this “anti-zombie” tale from master storyteller Matt Costello, the future isn’t very bright.  In fact, his so-called “vacation” turns out to be anything but relaxing; thankfully, readers benefit plenty from his near future hell. Costello has yet to pen a bad novel, from Wurm to Homecoming to Nowhere. After succeeding in videogame battelgrounds (Rage & 7th Guest fame), he returns to a very familiar haunt."
Dave Simms - Horrorworld

“Readers will think trice about vacationing in idyllic rural areas as Jack and his family learns that Paterville has a nasty side under the glitter of a Vacation oasis as it is the Eagles Hotel California with a gruesome addition. This is a gripping post apocalyptic horror thriller.”
Midwest Book review

 
 
 

Vacation Audio Book Released

Blackstone Audio has also released a 6-disc, unabridged audiobook of the novel, read by Peter Macon. Perfect for your long drive up to the mysterious Paterville camp in the Adirondacks.

www.BlackstoneAudio.com

 
 
 
 

Day One – Where it all began

‘Day One’ is a short story prequel to Vacation, set seven years before the events in the novel, when the chaos all….begins. You can read it here:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/09/day-one

 
 
 
 

Coming Fall 2012…..Home

And just announced, Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press has just contracted with me for the sequel to Vacation, called Home. The new novel will start exactly where the first book ends, and to say any more would be a spoiler for those who have yet to book….their Vacation.

 
 
 
 

The Heart of the Great Alone

Neil Richards and I have written a binaural adopt script for an installation at the exhibit, The Heart of the Great Alone, opening at Buckingham Palace on October 21st. The installation will feature a vintage camera that people will look into to see a classic image from Frank Hurley of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, The Endurance, trapped in the ice. The script, with dialogue and sound effects that surround the viewer, will transport people to the moment the ship began rising out of the jaws of the ice.

http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/microsites
/HOTGA/MicroObject.asp?row=34&themeid=2599&item=34

 
 
 
 

An Interview about Rage

Rage, the novel, was released in August, and the highly anticipated game which I also worked on has just been released.

The publisher Del Rey ran an interview with me about both the book and the game here:

http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2011/08/interview-with-matthew-costello-author-rage.html

 

Rage on Breaking Bad
Rage showed up on a recent episode of the hit series, Breaking Bad. From Time Magazine's TV critic:

We begin this week with dual black-comic portraits of tormented men taking refuge in high-tech adolescent escapism. Jesse is playing the first-person shooter game “Rage,” set in a dank sewer-system labyrinth strewn with graffiti and lurching, deadly zombies. Which is to say, it's set in a close approximation of Jesse's apartment of late, complete with subliminal flashes of Gale getting his head blown off.”

See the clip here:

 
 
 
 

Malmo Crossmedia Workshop

I will be speaking on transmedia, building a storyworld, and games at a workshop and symposium October 27th and 28th, held in Malmo, Sweden. If fluent in Swedish you can learn more here:

http://medea.mah.se/2011/09/workshop-med-varldsledande-trans-crossmediaexperter/


 
 
 
 

Digital Ignition in Oz

As a Storylabs founding member, I will also be speaking and mentoring this November in Australia at the first Digital Ignition Multi-Platform Clinic. The event, held in New South Wales and directed by Storylabs, will be a five-day residential lab to develop multi-platform strategies for feature, TV drama, documentary, game or online projects.

You can see more at:
http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding/allmedia/digital_ignition_multiplatform_clinic.aspx