 Today marks the release of Duncan P. Bradshaw's comic horror masterpiece Cannibal Nuns From Outer Space! (yes that exclamation mark is needed and totally justified.), and to celebrate it's release Duncan has written an article on the five main influences on the book. I absolutely loved Cannibal Nuns From Outer Space, it's a glorious mix of over the top comedy, shaggy dog stories and well over the top horror. If you are on the fence about reading this book (shame on you) you can read our review of it here. FIVE INFLUENCES FOR…CANNIBAL NUNS FROM OUTER SPACE! BY DUNCAN P. BRADSHAWI wrote Cannibal Nuns from Outer Space! (CNfOS) to be a summer blockbuster film, a straight-up British b-movie. Like many of my books it has more than a few nods to other books and films which have left a big impression on me. If I were to list them all, we’d be here for quite some time, so I thought I’d limit it to just five. And now *drum roll on a pair of empty baked bean cans* in no particular order, let’s begin… 1. A Head Full of Ghosts – Paul TremblayI do most of my reading during my lunch break at work, so on a good day I have around forty-five minutes to make headway into my latest read. Every once in a while, I’ll read something that makes me wish I had a longer break. A Head Full of Ghosts was one of those, and then some. It’s the way he tells you the story, the drip-feed of ambiguity and it hooked me completely. CNfOS starts with an exorcism, and as Mr Tremblay’s book is set around one, I named one of my characters after one of his. A small nod perhaps, but some things need to be a bit more subtle, whilst others…not so much. 2. Predator Man, what a film! It has it all, a small group trapped in a forest hunted by an implacable foe. Except, instead of the default dumb teenage kids being eviscerated on their spring/autumn break WOOO, it’s a team of highly-trained soldiers. It has everything, the seemingly invincible enemy, endlessly quotable dialogue (even if it’s cheesy as hell), cool weapons and memorable deaths. There’s a section in CNfOS which doesn’t so much as pay homage to it, as have it adopted as its sordid love-child. If you miss it, then you need to check your copy, as it is impossible to. 3. Hot FuzzOkay, it’s not horror (though I’d argue that the spire squashing scene and the sight of Timothy Dalton sporting a spike through his face are pretty WTF moments) but Hot Fuzz is a massive deal. There’s the fact that it’s set down the road from where I live, and its portrayal of rural British town/village life is painfully close to the bone. Again, this has kickass dialogue and some absolutely mental scenes in it, both married so well that their offspring could have webbing between their toes. The town both it and CNfOS is set in are a close match, and one particular scene in my book has a few little tips of the hat to this absolutely incredible film. 4. Total RecallYes, it is evident that Arnie action films had a big influence on me growing up, and how could they not? As much as I love Commando, it’s Running Man and Total Recall that stood out the most. The latter in particular as it had that blend of action, sci-fi and horror, and it’s set on Mars, which I have a real soft spot for. One of the sequences that always sticks out is when Arnie gets to the red planet and goes to the rough part of town. The bar, with all of its…clientele, stuck in my head, and one that perfectly mirrored a section in CNfOS. 5. Invasion of the Body-SnatcherS What a film! Sure, like most from that era it hasn’t aged the best, but the impact it had when I watched it for the first time, is immeasurable. I think what hit me the most was that of helplessness, of knowing that these people are wrong and evil, but you’re utterly powerless to prevent it. If you manage to find someone who isn’t a pod person, how the hell are they going to believe a word you’re saying? Then, what if the person you confide in about something being wrong is a pod person? That feeling, that sensation, where you have to try and look beyond what you can see, and uncover the truth of these mysterious people, and then somehow deal with it? That’s the true stuff of nightmares. There you go, five references (hidden or so bloody obvious that you eye roll yourself back to 2016) from the book. When you read it, I’d love to know what things you spotted, and which were your favourites. Hit me up on Facebook or Twitter. Now please, enjoy the rest of your day, but be careful of the nuns…you never know where they’ve truly come from. about duncan p. bradsHAW Duncan P. Bradshaw lives in the majestic county of Wiltshire in Southern England, with his wife Debbie and their two furry faced fellows called Rafa and Pepe. They are often caught prowling around the vegetation at the base of railway lines, foraging for small reptiles to feed on and dock leaves to quell the savage nettle burn. Class Three was his debut novel, a homage not just to Romero, but to many things in popular culture that have squished him into the malformed collection of matter that exists in the same plane of existence as you. Since the release of Class Three Duncan has carved a path to become one of the finest exponents of horror comedy, with his excellent Mr Sucky and the newly released Cannibal Nuns From Outer Space! To find out more about Duncan and his books please follow the social media links below Website http://duncanpbradshaw.co.uk/ Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9276063.Duncan_P_Bradshaw https://www.facebook.com/duncan.bradshaw.37 https://twitter.com/DuncanPBradshaw CANNIBAL NUNS FROM OUTER SPACE! BY DUNCAN P. BRADSHAW  The summer blockbuster book! Probably. With an encyclopaedic knowledge of cake, and exclusive access to the church’s stockpile of holy weapons, the Order of the Crimson Rosary are on the frontline in the eternal war between good and evil. Whether it’s repelling demonic possession, judging the authenticity of supposed miracles or having the final say on the colour of bunting at church fetes, the organisation's members sacrifice their own freedom to keep the world safe. Father Flynn, the top operative in the UK, has been responsible for a number of recent high profile gaffs. Given an ultimatum, he must choose between returning to his old job of preserving the last microfiche machine in the church’s library, or submit himself for rehabilitation. Yet evil doesn’t take a ticket and wait in line, as the dreaded cannibal nuns from outer space land to begin their annual harvest. Can Flynn get himself sober enough to repel their evil machinations? Or will another idyllic British village become the nun’s latest buffet? One thing’s for certain, to beat them, Father Flynn is going to have to kick the habit. Book two in the GoreCom series, this time it's highly trained priests facing off against the titular cannibal nuns from outer space. Can the finest Crimson Rosary operatives in the UK thwart the nefarious plan to reduce another population centre to compote?   Comments are closed.
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