"Beautifully hazy and non-linear... captured me."

Jay Wilburn

MV Clark is new to zombie fiction as an author, but her first published novel, The Splits: Personal Histories of Scott-Lapidot Disease from the Splits Archive, does not read like someone new to the craft. Her diverse background which included journalism made her uniquely qualified to knock out this novel in a huge way. Not only is The Splits well written and interesting, it covers an expansive narration which includes 40 years of time and six different narrators. It unfolds an intertwined and complex plague which utilizes both zombies and ghosts in great ways. A lot of authors could find many ways to go off track with something this epic, but Clark captured me and held my undead attention for the full 40 year journey with both sides of her undead split apocalypse. She does an excellent job of creating an “outbreak” which is beautifully hazy and non-linear. The causes and effects aren’t always spelled out plainly, but she carries this style of storytelling so well.

She is in the process of putting together the second book in this series which will deliver a tighter story in timeframe, setting, and scope. I asked her about this shift between book 1 and the forthcoming book 2. The story that came to her for the second book was just so different from the first story, which was all about people growing up and discovering themselves amidst this creepy plague. The second book is about one life-changing event for two people – a prostitute and her client, who have to fight off a zombie horde – and it’s all going to take place in 24 hours.

Her series will be much like “paraquels” where she explores sideways in the massive world she laid out so well in The Splits. Clark admits she may have left herself with no other option, given that the first book covered such a long period of time. Also, there were so many stories spinning off in her mind during the writing of the first book that she just couldn’t put in the first book, so she thought then she might turn them into “paraquels.” Having said that, the latest book is going to be set in 2016 in The Splits universe timeline, so it will actually follow on chronologically. It won’t have the same characters, however, a few will make an appearance, but on the whole it’s new characters and completely new material. I can’t wait to revisit this universe.

I’m always interested when I come across a newly published author who uses the craft well. I want to know what motivated her or him to finally take the plunge into publishing. Clark told me she wrote a lot as a child and a teenager, loved ghost stories and horror, but, in her words, stupidly never thought of writing it. She gave up creative writing for a long time to work in journalism during which time she got even more into horror as a fan. Then, she decided she’d had enough of journalism and wanted to do something else. Her husband suggested she write a novel. Then, one day, and this is where the story gets interesting to me as a creative type, her 6 year old son was muttering to himself about zombies and said, “What if every zombie had a ghost?” She wasn’t even listening at the time, but her husband was and he said, “What a great idea for a book …” And then he turned to her. It was a wonderful turning point in her life. She decided to write creatively again, for the first time in 20 years, and she decided to write horror. It felt fucking great to be writing horror, she said. She was finally being her true self.

Clark admits, zombies were never officially her favorite horror trope, although she was into them. But then her son sparked this idea. Since then, she’s come to love zombies enormously. They’re so flexible, in her opinion, you can do so much with them. The Splits zombie plague that she’s invented is still mysterious to the characters in the book – no one quite understands it. It’s still a bit mysterious to her as the writer, in fact, she told me. It’s a physical illness, but also a metaphysical malaise. She sees the process of working out what the disease is as the writer, and telling more stories, as complementary processes. This is not to say that she wouldn’t write something totally different. I asked her what else might be stirring in her mind apart from The Splits and she said, she has a few ideas. She’d really like to get some short stories out there at some point too. I asked her for some previews, but all she’d tell me was they would be horror. That’ll have to do for now and I’ll wait with anticipation for everything MV Clark produces over what is sure to be an interesting career.

I hope I have made the case for MV Clark. Check out The Splits right now.

"She knows what she is doing."

Jay Wilburn

M V Clark is new to the zombie genre and her featured novel, The Splits: Personal Histories of Scott-Lapidot Disease from the Splits Archive, is her first novel release. I’m very excited to bring new authors on the tour for veteran zombie readers to discover. I’m particularly excited about The Splits because this book has a style and energy which sets it apart from the field. It creates an apocalyptic story with a massive scope. Clark worked in journalism and public relations for almost two decades and she brings this experience to the characters and story in this book. It reads like an experienced and creative writer who knows what she is doing with the words and where she is taking the reader. Check out The Splits now and thank me later.

"I kept looking it up to see if it was a true story."

Horroraddicts.net

I was immediately attracted to this story with the tagline, “A psychological zombie novel.” I found this story kind of refreshing that it isn’t your typical zombie story it’s more of a cross between horror and sci-fi. I liked that the writer actually focuses on the medical side and what is causing the problem of zombieism.  A lot of the stories about zombies mention finding the cure but you never see them actually do that or even attempt. The characters are called Splits as that is what is happening to them from the inside and outside.

The story centers around two sisters and their families.  Claire and Anna have very different experiences and you follow their story from the onset to the final conclusion. Anna is a journalist and her journey gets her involved with interviewing people dealing with the outbreak. During all the trauma, she falls in love and gets married as life is going on around this outbreak like normal, but not normal. You never know who is going to come down with this disease and you’re never sure of the triggers. Anna’s story has many ups and downs. Claire’s journey with the disease is not as obvious at first, but her son Michael is not what he seems. However, he doesn’t seem to have the Splits either.

The story also follows a young woman named Lupe who starts out with her family being effected by the Splits and follows her journey of trying to explain it and solve it. I think she is great and analyses the outbreak while triying to fight the government and society. She tries to figure it out and come up with solutions.  I don’t really want to say more as it will give away the story.

The great part about this story is, I kept looking it up on Google to see if it was based on a true story. I could believe it was real because it wasn’t just a case of the whole world changing into zombies and only a few survivors. We get to see society going on like nothing is happening and that they are just dealing with an outbreak like the common cold. Great book!

"Unlike any other zombie book"

There are zombie books that are your typical zombie books, following the formula, laden with the classic tropes. Then there are zombie books that aren’t your typical zombie books, twisting the formula, playing with the tropes.

And now there’s this one, which is unlike any other zombie book I’ve ever read. I’m not even sure it should technically be called a zombie book … or even a pandemic/infection/outbreak book … although that’s what it’s about.

Set mostly in England of a similar but alternate timeline, it involves a condition that comes to be referred to as “the Splits” … partly because of the way it causes the skin of its victims to split and ooze, and partly because of its ultimate (and scarier, more profound) effect.

The first documented attacks take place in 1969, with feral behavior, crazed biting, and fast-spreading contagion. Not so fast, though, that all society collapses etc.; the authorities are able to mobilize and get some procedures set up in time. Soon, there are government agencies, response teams, cleanup (and disposal) crews, quarantine facilities, and bevies of scientists investigating possible causes and cures.

There’s also the fear, and the stigma, and people trying to hide or deny their condition, or not report infected loved ones. And the dreams, and the claims of seeing ghosts, as if the spirits of the affected victims have somehow ‘split’ from their deteriorating bodies.

The story spans the next several decades, following a handful of primary characters whose lives become interconnected by the unfolding events. It’s presented in a variety of forms, from straight narrative to interviews, articles, and case file notes.

So, yeah, it IS a zombie book, but with a broader scope and wider, more long-term focus with build-up and slow-burn repercussions. If you’re looking for a chaos-fest of carnage and headshots and braaaaaain-eating, this won’t be for you … if you want something more psychological, sociological, and thought-provoking, you’ll likely be very satisfied.


"Totally believable"

Phantasmagoria Issue 7

Anna is a journalist in 1969 when the first outbreak of the Splits occurs. Patient zero was reported in America leaving its victim in a zombie state - aggressive, uninhibited and with a reckless nature. And now the disease has found its way to England. The streets of London are not safe, the police have to resort to shooting victims in the head. London is put on lock down and residents are told to stay inside whilst the outbreak is dealt with.

Alone in her flat with no food, Anna takes a chance and loots a neighbour’s kitchen. Unaware the family have all succumbed to the Splits, Anna is startled by the family’s grandmother and accidentally cuts herself. Returning home she is consumed by the fear that she may have contracted the disease or worse still, is a carrier of it. She confides in no one, not even her younger sister Claire.

Claire has her own fears about the disease. Whilst on a beach with her husband Martin she comes into contact with a grey ichor-like substance. Although she cleans it off her hands, she is unable to shake the idea that it has made its way into her system and will affect her unborn baby.

Patrick is a young poet who meets Anna when she is asked to interview him because he has survived contact with a Splits victim. During lock down Patrick sees a distressed woman walking the streets and calling for her child. He goes out to help her and realises that she’s infected but still lucid and looking for her daughter, Lupe. When he relates this story to Anna she knows who this child is and asks Patrick if he can tell the family. Subsequently, Anna and Patrick marry but she never divulges her fear that she may have the Splits to him.

The story then follows the evolution of the Splits and its effect on not only its victims but also the way it is dealt with scientifically. Centring around Anna, the family and friends that are her life, we follow the story from the original outbreak in 1969 until 2015. It is an intricate tale that shows both the human perspective and the scientific view. Often showing how they can overlap and muddy the waters.

As the reader, I felt this book lost momentum at times. This is because for me the scientific reports (that are part of the story and track the disease's course) diverged from a well-written storyline. I know they were necessary but they were written with too much jargon, which deterred me as a reader.

I did however like the character of Anna and her back story and I equally felt empathy for the other characters because I could identify with them. The way that varying types of relationships and dialogue are written is spot on, and totally believable. MV Clarke has written an ambitious story that is complex and original. I have to say for a debut novel it is really good and I would definitely read subsequent novels by her.

Helen Scott

"A masterful bundle of tension"

An assessment of society in a dystopian present threatened by zombies. The Splits – book review. 

MV Clark’s debut novel is not a zombie apocalypse novel – zombies are part of the day-to-day life in the parallel universe drawn by the author, a journalist for 18 years with a Masters in comparative literature.

The Splits follows a few, well-rounded characters who live in a world where the so-called Splits (a new re-imagination of the cinematic and literature-related zombies) are under fragile control within an alternative modern history of London. Clair, Anna, Patrick, Lupe and Michael alternatively narrate their own, interconnected stories through first person narrative and throughout more or less 40 years – spread out onto 298 pages.

Not long ago, I reviewed Ravenous (2018), an arthouse zombie horror film, which I called pretentious because there’s only so much you can do with a story revolving around zombies. Well, I was wrong. Although I still stand by my grade and opinion about Ravenous, the The Splits made me appreciate how a trite subject matter can be treated in a very original, refreshing way.

As a horror drama, The Splits works on multiple levels, of which the standouts, for me, were story, characters and chilling elements.

In terms of the story, through the fantastic writing of Mrs Clark, the reader gets more and more involved in the story, which unfolds slowly but constantly throughout the pages. The novel takes its time to describe the reality around our main characters, but it doesn’t waste any before introducing the viewer to the first, original twists. In a way, the zombie subgenre can be linked to body-horror (zombies are notoriously people falling apart), here, however, their soul is crumbling down as well, adding a layer of psychological and supernatural horror simultaneously to the story.

When it comes to the characters, their interactions develop the story as much as the aforementioned twists: in a way, they are the story itself, since we get to see the different happenings through their eyes and points of view. This clever and ballsy narrative technique helps the reader to question everything that happens: “Is this or that really that important, or is it the character that sees it that way?” Questions like that rise at every page, in this masterful bundle of tension. Also, the main characters we follow are, as I stated previously, very well-rounded. They feel like genuine and real people, who sometimes can be likeable, sometimes unlikeable. Every now and then, they make stupid or irrational decisions. Isn’t that what all of us do, though? Nevertheless, the protagonists here are mostly clever, which helps quite a bit to care about them.

What was the third aspect I mentioned before? Oh, yes: the horrific elements. Rather far apart from each other, the most intense moments in the book are extremely well descripted and feel rough and real. What I appreciated the most about them, however, is that they’re not necessarily connected to the zombies (pardon me, the Splits…): sometimes they come from the conflict between characters, which makes them even more impactful and triggers an emotional response from the reader.

As per flaws, I honestly didn’t find many. Perhaps, there’s a little dive in pace and tone right before the last 60/70 pages start, where some conflict should have been thrown in the mix and some action should have kicked off, in my opinion. Fortunately, one of the scariest and most goosebumps-inducing action in the entire story (I’d just call it the horde) interrupts this small portion of the book that drags a tiny bit.

Besides that, I pretty much loved MV Clark’s debut novel and I’m looking forward to reading more from her. If you’re in search of a novel that combines horror and real-life drama, The Splits is the one to go with… in general, I strongly recommend you check this one out, you won’t regret it!

The Splits                  9/10