First published back in July of 2016, David Moody’s novella ‘Scratch’ formed the eighth instalment within the ‘Year Of The Zombie’ series which saw a zombie story from a variety of different horror authors published (in ebook format) each month of 2016. All twelve stories were later collected together and published within the ‘Year Of The Zombie’ (2018) anthology (which was also published in paperback format).
The novella was later reprinted within the special 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘Last Of The Living’ (2025) which was limited to just 100 hand-numbered hardback copies.
DLS Synopsis:
Jody Phelps was camping with her three kids when it all kicked off. One minute they were getting ready for another day of camping, the next they were being attacked by reanimated dead.
With just a flimsy canvas enclosure around them, Jody felt incredibly exposed. Susceptible to attack from all sides. Jody had one thing on her mind – protect her kids. Get them away from here. Get them safe.
They’d bundled themselves into their car and fled the campsite leaving everything behind. Already, across the radio, the airwaves were rife with reports of violence. The perpetrators reportedly the undead. Not attacking to kill. Not to feast upon the flesh. But to infect.
With fuel running low, Jody knows she has little to no options left. There’s however, one place close by where she knows at least the kids would have somewhere to hide out. Somewhere they’ll be taken in.
Her ex-husband and father to their three kids – Gary. Unfortunately, Gary and her aren’t exactly on the best of terms. In fact, they hate each other’s guts. But with the undead rampaging through the streets outside, desperate to spread their infection, Jody has little choice.
Hopefully Gary has enough decency in him to let the kids and her in. Otherwise, they’re in a whole heap of trouble. Because one false move, one scratch from the undead, and their lives are irreversibly over…
DLS Review:
Oh, I really like this one, mostly because it’s just such a textbook David Moody story. Yeah, yeah, we’ve got zombies lurking in the background, but that’s all fairly routine stuff here. However, it’s the human element again that’s pushed to the forefront of the story that makes it so fucking perfectly David Moody. The everyday lives thrust into incredibly non-everyday scenarios. Broken relationships thrown back into close proximity again. At the heart of this, the complexity of a dysfunctional domestic scenario that’s been forced into a pressure-cooker environment.
Okay, so the end of a relationship is tough no matter what. With kids involved, it becomes a minefield of problems and challenges. Retaining some civility is difficult at the best of times. Now, throw in a zombie apocalypse which means you’re forced back together and trapped inside the same house… it’s certainly a recipe for numerous bouts of conflict if nothing else.
If you’ve read Moody’s ‘Autumn’ series then you can no doubt imagine how the tale is constructed, how the narrative within the story comes together via the split family, the pressures and tension, and all the headaches and heartache that ensues. Of course, Gary has a drop-dead new girlfriend too. It’s actually her house they’re all hauled up within. So yeah, that’s a nice snug environment as well!
Moody utilises this whole set up masterfully. Constant conflicts, snapping and attacking. Defences always up. The kids dumped in the middle of all this, even though Jody and Gary try so hard for them not to be. The difficulties of split parenting, the struggles with jealousy, the unintentional rivalry, it’s all in there.
The zombies themselves are a tad different than the norm too. These ones aren’t out to maul, consume or kill. They’re just in it to spread the infection. To scratch the delicate skin of the uninfected so the victims will join the ranks of the undead. Even the ragged wounds are different. Yawning rips in the flesh, with microscopic things writing within. Burrowing deep into the brain of their victims.
As I said, the novella is classic Moody material. High-tension, character focussed, and deals with conflict from multiple angles. It’s damn compelling reading.
The novel runs for a total of 54 pages.
© DLS Reviews
