This Just In...

Wow.

Um, hi.

So... Silas is busy right now. He's just, like, got stuff to do. He told me to give you guys the next few questions. So, like, here I am, to...

Sorry. I'm sorry. I guess I'm kinda nervous. All you folks paying attention to what I've got to say. Heh. I've never been famous before. I've only killed, like, four people. My ultimate aim is to kill 85 people, because then my bodycount will be in the 80s, which is, like, my favourite year for movies.

Silas wanted me to give you these clues all relating to serial killer movies, but I don't like them. I know, technically, I am one, and obviously I'm one of Silas's followers, but... but those movies scare me. So I've changed it, a little, and now all these clues are from 80's movies. Yay! So, uh, I'll begin before Silas comes back and figures out what I'm doing.

First of all, I want you to figure out how many letters in the thing that Goonies never say. Then I want you to multiply that by the year Marty McFly travels back to.

Got that? Good.

Now divide that by the number of letters in the place E.T. assured Elliott he will be.

"Elliottttt..." man, that movie made me cry.

Anyway, once you've done that, subtract the number of candles that Molly Ringwald had to deal with. With me so far? Keep that total.

Now get the difference between the year that we watched Darth Vader tell Luke the truth about his lineage, and the year the Lost Boys slept all day and partied all night. Divide that difference into your total, which brings you to a new total.

Clear? Good. 

Now you're gonna have to multiply something. First number is the amount of Ghostbusters there were before they started hiring. The second number... heh. The new Star Trek film has an actor playing Khan with a ridiculously long name. But how many letters in the name of the actor who ORIGINALLY played him? When you have it, multiply those two numbers, and subtract from your total.

Now I want you to find out how many Krptonian criminals turned up to face Christopher Reeve's Superman, how many rules you have to obey if you want to own a Mogwai, and how many times you must say Beetlejuice's name if you want him to appear. Then multiply all those together, and subtract from your total once more.

Oh this is FUN.

How many letters in the missing word: "Bueller? Bueller? ____?"

Subtract it from your total.

How much time has passed for Indiana Jones between Temple of Doom and the Last Crusade? Add this number to what Daryl Hannah was in Splash, and subtract from your total.

And what you get, is the next number.

Taunts From a Serial Killer

Those of you participating in the Theatre of Shadows, you're going to have to keep a very close eye on this blog and https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSkulduggeryPleasant — it seems a certain serial killer has started hijacking pages, and is divulging some hints as to his whereabouts.

The following has been sent out to all Theatre of Shadows registrants...

My friends,

Many of you have spotted the facebook incursion on Sunday from escaped fugitive Silas Nadir. He’s taunting us. We need your help now more than ever.

The first clue to Nadir's location arrived  late last night and we set our three top code-breakers  to solve the puzzle.

This morning, they were each found dead in their homes. On the wall beside each body was scrawled "Silas 3, Sanctuary 0."

And so we must call upon you.

Time is of the essence. Before they were killed, our code-breakers worked out that the clues seem to point to an unusual sequence of numbers. They managed to fill in not one space before Nadir found them:  ? ? . ? ?, leaving us four spaces to fill for now. 

Teamwork between Operatives is always encouraged, and we'll be monitoring the facebook/ blog and twitter constantly so that the best Operatives receive just rewards.

Remember Nadir's promised us three clues: so to throw him and his accomplices off the scent, the next clue will be sent out to all those registered to Theatre of Shadows.  If you haven't already – be sure to sign up for free as a matter of urgency. Operatives in the US, Norway and Sweden we know that registration is an impossibility for you right now: rest assured we will need you for the third clue. You are crucial too. 

Here’s the first clue:

1.    Take the number of letters in my magical discipline (here's a hint, idiots — it's a two-worded ability), then multiply that by the age of the Jitter Girls. Add to this the number of rooms in the Midnight Hotel and then subtract the age of a sorcerer named Petrichor. With me so far? Keeping up?  Now put in a decimal point (do you know what that is?), then the amount of damns I give about any one of you, and follow this with the maximum number of Dead Men there is at any one time. Now subtract   the number of babies stolen by the goblin brothers. Whatever their names are. Ugly little critters, the lot of them. Not as ugly as the babies, though.

And that's all he's given us to fill in  ? ? . ? ?. The Sanctuary’s resources are stretched so terribly thin… please help us find Nadir before he can kill again.

And be wary. He found our first code-breakers. He could find any of you, too.

Yours in magic,

Grand Mage Erskine Ravel

A Little More Detail

Right, some more detail as to the TDOTL Ireland/UK tour...


28th August: Requiem Ball in London. Tickets can only be won. Keep an eye out for details how.

29th August, 11AM: Waterstones, The Furlong Centre, Ringwood — signing.

3PM: Waterstones, West Mal Castlepoint, Bournemouth — signing.

30th August, 1PM: Waterstones, Bluewater — signing.

31st August: Dun Laoghaire, Dublin —  fan event and signing.


5th September, 6:30PM: Village Books, Dulwich — fan event and signing.

6th September, 11AM: WHS, Midsummer Parade, Milton Keynes — signing.

3PM: WHS, 30-40 Fargate, Sheffield — signing.

7th September, 12 Noon: Waterstones, Emerson Chambers, Newcastle — signing.


11th September, 4PM: Easons, Galway — signing.

13th September, 11AM: Easons, Donegal Pl, Belfast — signing.

14th September, 2PM: Easons, O'Connell St, Limerick — signing.


19th September, 6P: Hodges Figgis, Dublin — signing.


27th September: Theatre of Shadows, Dublin — MASSIVE fan event and signing.


To those readers who want to come along to the Dublin event on the 31st of August — do you have any suggestions as to what it could be..?  I'll do the usual question and answer thing if we can't think of anything special, but it'd be nice to have some sort of theme, like the event I did about movies that have influenced the books...

Any ideas, tweet them to me. I command you.

TDOTL Ire/UK Tour

Okay then, here are the locations and dates for my Ireland/UK tour.

AUGUST

28th: Publication day! Requiem Ball (London)

29th: Waterstones, Ringwood — 11AM — signing

Waterstones, Bournemouth — 3PM — signing

30th: Waterstones, Bluewater — 1PM — signing

31st: Dun Laoghaire — details to be confirmed — fan event and signing

SEPTEMBER

5th: Village Books, Dulwich — 6.30PM — fan event and signing

6th: WHS, Milton Keynes — 11AM — signing

WHS, Sheffield — 3PM — signing

7th: Waterstones, Newcastle — 12 NOON — signing

11th: Easons, Galway — 4PM — signing

13th: Easons, Belfast — 11AM — signing

14th: Easons, Limerick — 2PM — signing

19th: Hodges Figgis, Dublin — 6PM — signing

And then, of course, on the 27th, we're all going to be dragged into the Theatre of Shadows...

theatreofshadows.ie

To Clarify...

Poor Aby and Cory and everyone over at the Skulduggery Facebook page. They've been hit with a barrage of questions about the Requiem Ball and they've been so great about it, but I finally felt sorry for them and decided to clear up a few things here.

Let's see now, what kind of questions have they had to deal with...?

"Why is the Requiem Ball in London? Derek's from Ireland. The books are set in Ireland. HELLO??"

This is absolutely true. However, in Ireland we have the Theatre of Shadows. In London we have the Requiem Ball. That's just the way it is.

"The Facebook page has a competition to send them a picture of the mask we'd wear to the Ball! Do we have to make it or just design it?"

Either. If you win tickets you'll need to be wearing a mask — one you make or one you buy, it doesn't matter — but for the competition you just have to design it yourself. And the mask can be as simple or as ornate as you like — as practical or as bizarre. It can cover your whole face or part of your face. You can buy a mask and alter it. It's up to you. You don't even have to be artistic — you just need to be passionate. The deadline is August 10th and there's only one entry per person.

"How many tickets do we get if we win?"

Everyone who wins gets two tickets — but those under the age of 18 can get an extra ticket for a parent/guardian.

"I can't make it to London for the Ball! But can I enter anyway, just for the Event Pack?"

Yup. There'll be lots of you in this particular boat — not only in Ireland and the UK but also all around the world — so don't be afraid to enter.

"It's not fair that all the events are always in Ireland and the UK."

Actually, it's pretty fair when you think about it. Harper Collins UK publish me in Ireland and the UK, so naturally they can only organise events for their own territories. They've been wonderful, actually, in doing their best to include as many people as possible. I hate leaving anyone out, I'd love every competition to be open to everyone and for every country to have cool stuff happening, but that's up to the many publishers who release my books across the world — and there are close to 40 of them.

"How many individual tickets are there?"

Approximately 120.

"Would we have to make our own way there?"

Yep!

"Is there any age limit?"

No upper age limit, but anyone under 18 would need a parent or guardian to accompany them.


There will be other opportunities to win tickets — the Facebook mask competition is merely the first — and it's a pretty cool one.

TDOTL: Shadow Edition

Dun dun dunnn!!!

Behold the alternate cover. Gasp. Swoon. Wet yourself. Is it not brilliant? Is it not OMINOUS?

For more information, check out this guest blog I wrote for Waterstones here:
http://www.waterstones.com/blog/2014/07/skulduggery-pleasant-the-dying-of-the-light/#more-55456




(In other news, the Minions who have signed up for the Theatre of Shadows will be receiving an email on Saturday afternoon, around about 4 PM, detailing what the whole thing is about.

Here's a hint: it's AWESOME.

You can sign up at any time here theatreofshadows.ie)

Armageddon Outta Here Is, Um, Here

Ha!

I cannot BELIEVE they've let me use that title!

Ladies and gentlemen, the collection I've been promising you, the book that scoops up all those little short stories and provides you with some brand new ones, has been unleashed. There won't be a Spoiler Zone post because it's not one of the "book" books, but even so, try to limit the amount you give away about the endings.

Of the new stories included, I'm finding it hard to pick a favourite. The Horror Writers' Halloween Ball is the most out-and-out comedy of the lot, but Across A Dark Plain is a WESTERN, for god's sake, and it was SO much fun changing my writing style slightly to convey that mood.

But I think Get Thee Behind Me, Bubba Moon is probably my favourite. Much like The End of the World (which is also collected here), it's told from the point of view of an outsider, in this case a middle-aged American man. I didn't mean it to be quite so long, but it grew from a short story to a novella before I knew what was happening. The tone of this one is different, too — until a certain pair of intrepid detectives wander in with their bickering and their jokes...

Anyway, I hope you like it. I hope you ALSO like the sample chapter from The Dying of the Light. It is VERY well written, if I do say so myself.

Oh, and speaking of TDOTL, tomorrow I shall be revealing an awesomely cool limited edition alternative cover.

And it ROCKS.