A couple of librarians at Bay House School in the UK put together this ghoulishly groovy collection of recommended Halloween reads in the run-up to the big day -- and I was delighted to see Zom-B in among the mix. Thanks, Simone and Katniss -- you have great taste in books! :-)

This seems like a good time to link to a recent review of the first Zom-B book, which appeared on Blind Dog Books a while back. I liked the reviewer's warning at the start -- "this book deals with a lot of deep shit... racism, Islamophobia, Xenophobia and more."

Yep, if you haven't yet read Zom-B, while there are certainly plenty of brain-munching monsters on the prowl, and lots of fantastical plot lines, it also tackles some of the big social problems of our times, and looks at what happens when we don't stand up to racists and fear-mongerers and smooth-talking but soulless politicians. I felt it was sadly all too relevant back when I started the series a decade or so ago, and to my even greater sadness it's become even more relevant now. Hell, there's even talk of a lockdown in there at one point! :-)

http://www.blinddogbooks.co.uk/i-just-read-zom-b-by-darren-shan-and/

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The November issue of the Shanville Monthly went live yesterday with all the latest Darren Shan news and updates, including info about where you can buy the different editions of the first Volume of my new Archibald Lox series, plus an incredibly cool competition. Click here: https://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly