My First Apocalypse - a review of This is Not a Test!

I recently wrote this piece for Post-Apocalyptic.com about my experience as a kid seeing my first "end of the world" movie, This is Not a Test! Check it out:

Covering Movies for Armageddon Films FAQ



October 29 saw the official release of my new book, Armageddon Films FAQ.  Published through Applause Books, an imprint of Hal Leonard, the over 400-page book deals with all the various types of end-of-the-world movies that have been released since the dawn of cinema up through the present.  From planets and other objects smashing into us, to zombies, to contagions, to the End-Times, to anything else you can think of, Hollywood has done a tremendous job in showing how we could snuff it.

I won't go on and on about things that you can read in the book itself (I do want people to buy it, after all), however I do think it was not only a fun experience, but ultimately a positive one (again, as is explained in the pages of the book).  The most telling thing is how often we end up with similar stories in these films.  Perhaps that is only logical, becaue - after all - no matter what method you put to the end of the world, it is still ultimately about ending civilization as we know it.  As can be seen above, it even extends to the poster art: Lifeforce shows us an eye over the earth, and just a few years later, Independence Day repeated the effect in one of their posters (albeit, with that of the mothership bearing down on Earth, but still the concept is the same).

Yet, even with that element in place of the films having an ultimate similar premise, the movies themselves stand out as dealing with their own aspects of such an ending.  There are adventure movies that are set up as the ultimate in disaster movies, quiet domestic dramas examining how we would handle the final hours (surprisingly several like this), racial studies, horror films, and science fiction.  Which is why a topic dealing with such films ended up being such a great concept for a book.  I hope everyone gets a chance to check out the book soon at stores and through places like Amazon and B&N, and definitely let me know what you think.

As to my next book, I'm already signed to a two-book deal that will see me through into 2015.  I'll give everyone more details as the time gets closer.  Meanwhile, in the next few weeks, I'll post some additional thoughts on the Armageddon book, as well as links to some of the reviews that are now starting to pop up for it.  So stay tuned!