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BOOK 3 -
Slawter
"lights,
camera, slawter!!"
"Slawter" --
book 3 of
"The
Demonata"
-- is set a
few months
after the
events of
"Lord Loss".
It started
life after
I'd paid a
couple of
visits to
the "Harry
Potter" film
set. Several
years ago,
the movie
rights to
"Cirque Du
Freak" were
bought by
Warner Bros.
The producer
who set up
the deal was
David
Heyman, who
produces the
"HP" films.
David very
kindly
invited me
to pay a
visit to the
set. They
were filming
the first
movie at the
time. I went
with two
young
cousins of
mine, Ronan
and Lorcan.
We met lots
of the
actors (many
of whom were
fans of
mine), and
even had
lunch with
some of
them. At one
stage during
lunch,
Daniel
Radcliffe
(who plays
Harry) did
his little
party trick
and burped
the
alphabet!
Lorcan
responded by
sticking a
hand under
his armpit
and making
farting
noises!!!
Daniel tried
to copy him
but couldn't
quite get
the hang of
it -- though
he gave it a
damn fine
try!!!!!
Later (when
they were
making the
second
movie), I
paid another
visit to the
set, this
time with
Bas. We were
escorted
around the
set on this
occasion by
Linda Lewis,
mother of
Matt Lewis,
who plays
Neville in
the films.
Linda was
closely
involved
with taking
care of the
various
children on
the set, and
had some
amusing
tales about
the kids and
how they
were coping
with the
fame that
had come
their way
since I
first met
them.
Around that
time, I
began
playing with
the idea of
writing a
book based
on a film
set. It was
going to be
a
non-fantasy
story, a
funny,
realistic
tale of life
in the
movies,
inspired by
some of the
stories
Linda told
me, mixed up
with
invented
stories of
my own. In
the end this
didn't come
to anything
and I lost
interest in
it. That
often
happens --
I'll play
around with
an idea,
decide it's
not for me,
and drop it.
But I still
liked the
idea of
doing a
movie-based
book,
exploring
the lives of
a bunch of
kids on a
film set --
only with
some sort of
a
fantastical
twist. I'd
written
another
couple of
Grubbs Grady
Books by
that stage
(they'll be
released as
Books 5 and
6 of "The
Demonata"),
as well as a
novel set in
the past
(book 4),
but hadn't
quite
figured out
the structue
of "The
Demonata"
series yet.
I didn't
have any big
overall
story arc.
This was
before I
wrote "Demon
Thief", and
I couldn't
quite see a
way to pull
all the
novels
together and
build them
up into one
big,
inter-connected
series.
Was it
possible, I
wondered, to
do ANOTHER
Grubbs book,
but set
before the
other two? A
book to
bridge the
gap between
"Lord Loss"
and the new
Grubbs
books, to
flesh out
the universe
I'd created
and maybe
help me find
the way to
the heart of
the BIG
story that I
could sense
lurking
somewhere
beneath the
surface of
the
individual
books I'd
already
written?
What if ...
what if ...
What if I
sent Grubbs
and Dervish
to a movie
set, and
wrote a book
which both
spoofed
over-the-top
horror
movies and
worked as a
fun bit of
over-the-top
schlock
horror
itself?!?
And that's
when the
idea for
"Slawter"
was born.
* * *
As I
said,
the idea
for
"Slawter"
started
with a
trip to
the
"Harry
Potter"
film
set. I
was
first
invited
onto the
set by
the
movie's
producer,
David
Heyman.
He had
also
optioned
the
rights
to my
book
back
then
(when
Warner
Bros
were
involved),
and one
of the
perks of
that was
an
invite
to drop
by and
see the
"H.P."
set. I
don't
normally
take
much
advantage
of my
position
as a
writer
-- I
don't
look for
tickets
to
advance
screenings
of
movies,
or
pester
people
for free
books or
advance
reading
copies,
or hang
out with
"celebrity
firends"
in cool,
chic
locations.
But this
was one
opportunity
I wasn't
going to
pass
up!!!!
David's
a really
nice
guy,
with an
interesting
past. He
started
out in
the film
business
working
for
David
Lean --
one of
my
all-time
favourite
directors
-- on "A
Passage
to
India".
The deal
with
Warner
Bros
didn't
work out
in the
end, but
that
wasn't
David's
fault,
and I
have no
hard
feelings
about it
whatsoever
-- I'd
happily
go
through
the same
process
again
with him
if he
ever
showed
interest
in any
of my
other
books.
Because
I liked
him so
much, I
decided
to pay
homage
to him
in the
book
that
grew out
of my
visits
to the
set.
But, as
those
who know
me have
learnt
to their
cost, I
like to
twist
things
around a
bit when
I put
people I
know
into my
books.
Thus, my
brother
Declan
and my
best
friend,
Paul
(Pablo)
Kenny,
became a
pair of
tramps
when I
worked
them
into
"The
Saga of
Darren
Shan"!!
My
cousin,
Sharon
Egin,
became
an
exploding
witch in
"Demon
Thief"!!!!
Etc.
etc.
So,
although
one of
the key
characters
in this
book is
based on
David
Heyman,
the pair
aren't
quite
the
same!
For a
start,
this
character
is a
woman.
She's a
slightly
batty
horror
producer-cum-director,
who's
probably
seen a
few too
many
gruesome
flicks
in her
time,
and has
got a
bit too
close to
the work
she
does.
She's
not
nasty,
just a
bit ...
strange.
She
serves
as the
book's
catalyst
-- she's
the one
who
invites
Dervish
to come
to the
set, and
who says
it's no
problem
if the
boys tag
along.
She's
also
written
the
demon-strewn
screenplay,
and is
personally
overseeing
the
creation
of the
demonic
props.
Is it
possible,
as a
rather
hysterical
Grubbs
postulates
at one
stage,
that
she's in
league
with the
Demonata
hordes?
Or is
she a
victim
of
happenstance?
Or is
Grubbs
just
imagining
the
whole
threat?!?
You'll
have to
read the
book to
find
out!!!!!
But, in
the
meantime,
sate
your
curiosity
with
this
small
nugget
of
information,
and wink
knowingly
at your
friends
when you
read the
book and
let them
know the
origin
of the
oddly
named
producer
...
Davida
Haym.
(aka
David A
Haym
-- she
doesn't
like
horror
fanboys
to know
she's a
woman,
so she
hides
behind a
man's
name!!)
* * *
The
title
of
Slawter
came
to
me
very
late
in
the
day.
I'll
often
have
the
title
of
the
book
clear
in
my
head
before
I
begin
writing,
or
will
have
come
up
with
it
by
the
end
of
the
first
draft.
But
sometimes
the
title
takes
longer
to
fall
into
place.
Slawter
was
the
trickiest
one
I've
yet
to
land!!!
The
working
title
of
the
book
was
Demon
Town.
In
fact,
that
was
still
the
title
I
had
up
to a
few
months
ago!
I
wasn't
overly
keen
on
it,
but
at
the
same
time
it
was
quite
punchy
and
accurate.
I
think,
if
there
hadn't
been
other
considerations
at
work,
I
might
have
stuck
with
it.
But
...
Book
2
was
called
Demon
Thief.
That
title
was
absolutely
perfect,
so
there
was
no
way
I
was
going
to
change
it.
But
I
felt
Demon
Town
was
too
similar,
especially
coming
so
soon
after
Demon
Thief.
My
agent
and
publishers
agreed,
but
couldn't
think
of
any
better
title
for
it.
So I
had
to
go
searching!!!
I
toyed
with
lots
of
different
ideas
and
approaches.
I
wanted
to
something
that
would
reflect
what
happens
in
the
book,
but
also
the
fun
nature
of
it
(and,
as
dark
as
it
gets
in
places,
this
is
one
of
my
more
fantastical
and
wryly
humourous
books).
After
a
while
I
began
playing
with
the
word
slaughter.
I
transformed
it
into
slawter
fairly
swiftly,
but
at
first
I
didn't
think
that
was
enough.
I
wanted
another
word
to
go
with
it.
I
came
up
with
a
whole
variety
of
names
--
Slawter's
Den
...
Slawter's
Lot
...
Slawter's
Edge
...
etc.
I
was
having
a
hard
time
choosing,
so I
sent
a
list
of
them
to
my
agent
and
my
publishers.
My
UK
editor,
Stella,
immediately
zoned
in
on
Slawter
and
said
that
was
the
best
name
for
the
book.
And,
after
much
thought
and
deliberation,
I
saw
that
she
was
right.
And
thus
Slawter
was
chosen!!
I
then
had
to
go
through
the
book
and
change
all
the
Demon
Town
references
(that
was
the
name
of
the
movie
set
in
the
book
in
the
early
drafts)
to
Slawter!!!!!
The
only
voice
of
dissent
came
from
my
American
publisher.
They
wanted
to
go
with
a
two
name
title,
as I
had
originally
planned.
They
liked
the
titles
of
Lord
Loss
and
Demon
Thief,
and
wanted
to
stick
with
two
name
titles
for
every
book
in
the
series.
Well,
I
normally
let
my
foreign
publishers
do
what
they
like
with
the
names
of
my
books,
but
I
felt
they
were
wrong
in
this
instance,
so I
resisted.
The
UK
and
American
markets
are
very
close
to
each
other,
and
I've
already
tasted
the
confusion
of
promoting
a
series
with
a
different
name
in
one
than
in
the
other.
(In
America,
The
Saga
of
Darren
Shan
is
known
as
The
Cirque
Du
Freak
Series.)
I
think
it's
easier
to
have
the
same
name
for
a
book
or
series
in
America
as
in
the
UK,
and
since
I
felt
Slawter
was
the
best
name
out
of
all
the
proposed
titles,
I
strongly
urged
Little
Brown
to
go
with
it.
And
since
they're
such
nice
people,
they
agreed
--
hurrah!!!!!
* * *
Why
do I
use
those
strange
arrows
at
the
start
of
the
chapters
in
"The
Demonata"?!?
Well,
originally
there
were
two
reasons.
When
I
wrote
"Lord
Loss"
I
started
to
write
it
in
the
third
person.
After
a
couple
of
pages
I
realised
it
wasn't
working,
that
the
story
needed
to
be
quicker
and
more
personal.
So I
switched
to
the
first
person
and
present
tense,
and
it
flew
like
a
guided
missile
from
there.
Because
I
wanted
it
to
be
fast
and
punchy,
with
short
sentences
and
chapters,
I
decided
to
do
something
with
it
stylistically,
to
provide
an
actual
visual
pointer
to
its
super-fast
speed.
Hence
the
arrows
-- I
wanted
them
to
draw
attention
to
the
action
immediately,
to
point
to
the
words
as
if
to
exclaim
"LOOK!!!!"
A
bit
obvious,
perhaps,
but
I
thought
it
was
a
nice
touch.
I
actually
got
the
idea
for
the
arrows
from
Kurt
Vonnegut.
He
used
the
arrows
in
his
book,
"Breakfast
of
Champions",
which
was
the
first
book
of
his
I
ever
read.
(I
didn't
think
much
of
it
the
first
time.
When
I
read
it a
second
time,
having
read
lots
of
his
other
books,
I
fell
in
love
with
it.)
Vonnegut
is
one
of
my
favourite
writers,
and
his
short,
snappy
style
has
been
a
big
influence
on
the
way
I've
written
"The
Demonata".
So
the
arrows
were
also
my
way
of
tipping
my
hat
to
him,
of
acknowledging
his
influence.
(As
an
aside,
when
I
told
this
to
my
Japanese
editor,
she
ordered
a
copy
of
"Breakfast
of
Champions"
--
only
to
discover
that
in
more
recent
reprints
the
arrows
have
been
removed!!!!!)
As
I've
explained
elsewhere,
"Lord
Loss"
was
never
meant
to
be
the
start
of a
series.
It
was
intended
to
be a
stand-alone
book.
But
then
I
had
an
idea
for
another
book
about
demons
...
then
another
...
and
another.
As I
worked
my
way
into
the
series
and
slowly
figured
out
what
the
hell
was
going
on,
I
realised
I
wanted
to
tell
a
large-scale
story
that
featured
three
main
characters.
The
stories
of
those
characters
wouldn't
connect
early
on
in
the
series,
but
as
it
progressed
I
planned
to
draw
their
stories
together
and
show
the
links
that
existed
between
the
three
leads.
To
that
end,
I
decided
to
use
the
arrows
for
Bec
and
Kernel
Fleck,
who
are
the
other
two
narrators.
Even
though
they
don't
narrate
quite
as
quickly
and
snappily
as
Grubbs,
they
do
tell
their
stories
in
the
present,
and
the
arrows
unite
them.
The
arrows
are
a
clue
for
readers
--
they
let
you
know
that
although
these
three
teens
might
not
seem
to
be
connected
to
each
other,
at
some
level
their
stories
are
linked,
and
at
some
stage
during
the
series
they
(or
their
stories)
will
bleed
into
one
another,
to
reveal
the
larger,
over-riding
storyline
of
"The
Demonata".
* * *
Here's a little taste of just a few of the very many treats that lie in store in Slawter ...
The Lambs, who were mentioned but never seen in "Lord Loss", put in their first sinister appearance of the series ...
Lord Loss returns, and those who were disappointed that we didn't see the demon master actually fighting in the first book will at last be able to follow him into battle ...
We get to meet a host of new demons, along with an all-too-familiar little monster who should be in diapers ...
There will be deaths -- many deaths ...
Bill-E Spleen becomes the focus of a possible kidnapping ...
Dervish gets sweet on a pretty new lady -- could the aging ex-punk be falling in love?!?
And Grubbs finds his magical powers developing, but he isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing ...
For more details, you'll have to go read the book!! See you all soon in Slawter!!!!!!!
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