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Dead Leaves
To Scott, Paul and Mark, horror films are everything.
The year is 1983, the boom of the video revolution, and Scott Bradley is seventeen, unemployed and on the dole. Drifting through life, he and his friends love nothing more than to sit around drinking, talking about girls, and watching horror movies.
But things are about to change.
As the ‘video nasty’ media storm descends, their desire to find a copy of the ultimate horror film – The Evil Dead – is going to lead them to the most significant days of their young lives. As the law tightens and their way of life comes under threat from all quarters, they come to learn what truly matters to them – and what doesn’t.
A heartfelt story of friendship, loyalty and youthful rebellion, Dead Leaves is a darkly funny and brutally honest depiction of aimless life in a Midland town, and perfectly captures the impact those first few years of video had on a generation.
The year is 1983, the boom of the video revolution, and Scott Bradley is seventeen, unemployed and on the dole. Drifting through life, he and his friends love nothing more than to sit around drinking, talking about girls, and watching horror movies.
But things are about to change.
As the ‘video nasty’ media storm descends, their desire to find a copy of the ultimate horror film – The Evil Dead – is going to lead them to the most significant days of their young lives. As the law tightens and their way of life comes under threat from all quarters, they come to learn what truly matters to them – and what doesn’t.
A heartfelt story of friendship, loyalty and youthful rebellion, Dead Leaves is a darkly funny and brutally honest depiction of aimless life in a Midland town, and perfectly captures the impact those first few years of video had on a generation.
146 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2015
6 people are currently reading
371 people want to read
About the author
Andrew David Barker
9 books37 followersAndrew David Barker is a screenwriter, director, and author.
Born in Derby, England in 1975, Barker has had pretty much every job going. In his time he has worked as a window fitter, a rail track worker, a factory worker, a carpet salesman, a car cleaner, a delivery driver, a bricklayers' labourer, a shop assistant, and a care worker, among others. None of them stuck.
In the late 90s he played lead guitar in a rock band. They got signed, made a single, played London, thought they were famous, and, subsequently, imploded.
As a filmmaker he wrote and directed the little seen opus, A Reckoning – a last man on earth tale which won acclaim from many who saw it - and has made several award-winning short films, including Laura Living Backwards, which he co-wrote, and Shining Tor.
In the feature film world, Barker is a co-screenwriter on the forthcoming horror satire, The Wilding, and the writer/director of micro-budget chiller, The House on Lidderman Street.
He is also the co-screenwriter of British gangland thriller, Improper Bastards, shooting this spring, and has several other projects in development for 2026.
He is the author of The Electric, Dead Leaves, The Winterman, and Society Place, and is an Arts Council Grant recipient for his writing.
He now lives in Warwickshire with his wife and daughters, trying to be a grown up..
Born in Derby, England in 1975, Barker has had pretty much every job going. In his time he has worked as a window fitter, a rail track worker, a factory worker, a carpet salesman, a car cleaner, a delivery driver, a bricklayers' labourer, a shop assistant, and a care worker, among others. None of them stuck.
In the late 90s he played lead guitar in a rock band. They got signed, made a single, played London, thought they were famous, and, subsequently, imploded.
As a filmmaker he wrote and directed the little seen opus, A Reckoning – a last man on earth tale which won acclaim from many who saw it - and has made several award-winning short films, including Laura Living Backwards, which he co-wrote, and Shining Tor.
In the feature film world, Barker is a co-screenwriter on the forthcoming horror satire, The Wilding, and the writer/director of micro-budget chiller, The House on Lidderman Street.
He is also the co-screenwriter of British gangland thriller, Improper Bastards, shooting this spring, and has several other projects in development for 2026.
He is the author of The Electric, Dead Leaves, The Winterman, and Society Place, and is an Arts Council Grant recipient for his writing.
He now lives in Warwickshire with his wife and daughters, trying to be a grown up..
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
May 29, 2018
ALERT – A number of quotes from the book are in the review.
I have a certain nostalgia for the 1980’s. My first real memories of growing up from a child of six to a teenager on the cusp of adulthood are from the 80’s. It was the film Drive (based on the book Drive) that took me back to the 80’s. Through this film I discovered synthwave/dreamwave music. My favourite artist being Timecop1983.
I then started looking for second hand 80’s horror books and kindle re-releases. Now I have a shelf full of 80’s books as well as modern day horror, some of which pay homage to the 80’s.
The nostalgia for the 80’s has entered the mainstream and popular culture. I would love to watch Stranger Things and Ready Player One (and read the book Ready Player One). I’m never on trend though and will get round to consuming them in a few years time.
Dead Leaves is not a horror story but I am going to put it on my horror shelf as it is a love letter to horror.
It is a coming of age story set in England during the year 1983 (although it has all of 80’s history condensed into this year which the author explains). It is the time of the video nasties scare which I am well aware of (The Video Nasties: Freedom And Censorship In The Media). Horror movies were put on a list and seized by the Police. Censorship in full force. Such was the hysteria that even Dolly Parton’s musical The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas and Apocalypse Now were seized because of their titles.
The 80’s was the decade of the video player. The battle between VHS and Betamax for supremacy which VHS won. Damn! My family had a Betamax. Just like we had an Acorn Electron (instead of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum). I am eternally grateful to my parents for liking what they liked and enjoying what they had rather then getting the next big thing or worrying about keeping up with the Joneses.
I recall going to my local Video Rental shop and being mesmerised by the covers on every video (VHS Video Cover Art: 1980s to Early 1990s). Works of art which 80’s horror paperbacks also had (Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction).
The story is about three lads who are trying to get hold of the most wanted video nasty, The Evil Dead. The quest takes them through various situations as adulthood begins to encroach on their lives. Dead Leaves has the look and sound of the 80’s. It is evocative of that decade.
There were a few sentences that resonated strongly with me.
“I got to the children’s playground in the centre of the park. I sat on one of the swings and contemplated my existence.”
I often visit the park of my 80’s youth and watch as my family enjoy it as much as I did back then. I feel like I am actually back in the 80’s as I sit on a swing and the memories come flooding back. I start to contemplate my existence.
“Did any of this matter?
My life that is. All this worry and anxiety and for what? I was nothing but molecules and atoms and stardust; a conscious grain of sand blowing in the universe for a brief spark of time, with only a one way ticket to the dirt as an absolute.”
This sums up my thoughts about life and forces me to face my own mortality. Life is short, time goes quick so enjoy what you have, do not worry about what you don’t have. Enjoy those special moments, for me it is being in a park with my family, in your life.
If you are told life is too short to read or watch horror and it is a waste of time then direct them to this book. Or tell them it’s my time to waste so let it go.
As a character states.
“Why should I not fully embrace who I was and the things I wanted to do with my life? Surely the entire journey should be played my way. I was the one checking out at the end”
I have a certain nostalgia for the 1980’s. My first real memories of growing up from a child of six to a teenager on the cusp of adulthood are from the 80’s. It was the film Drive (based on the book Drive) that took me back to the 80’s. Through this film I discovered synthwave/dreamwave music. My favourite artist being Timecop1983.
I then started looking for second hand 80’s horror books and kindle re-releases. Now I have a shelf full of 80’s books as well as modern day horror, some of which pay homage to the 80’s.
The nostalgia for the 80’s has entered the mainstream and popular culture. I would love to watch Stranger Things and Ready Player One (and read the book Ready Player One). I’m never on trend though and will get round to consuming them in a few years time.
Dead Leaves is not a horror story but I am going to put it on my horror shelf as it is a love letter to horror.
It is a coming of age story set in England during the year 1983 (although it has all of 80’s history condensed into this year which the author explains). It is the time of the video nasties scare which I am well aware of (The Video Nasties: Freedom And Censorship In The Media). Horror movies were put on a list and seized by the Police. Censorship in full force. Such was the hysteria that even Dolly Parton’s musical The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas and Apocalypse Now were seized because of their titles.
The 80’s was the decade of the video player. The battle between VHS and Betamax for supremacy which VHS won. Damn! My family had a Betamax. Just like we had an Acorn Electron (instead of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum). I am eternally grateful to my parents for liking what they liked and enjoying what they had rather then getting the next big thing or worrying about keeping up with the Joneses.
I recall going to my local Video Rental shop and being mesmerised by the covers on every video (VHS Video Cover Art: 1980s to Early 1990s). Works of art which 80’s horror paperbacks also had (Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction).
The story is about three lads who are trying to get hold of the most wanted video nasty, The Evil Dead. The quest takes them through various situations as adulthood begins to encroach on their lives. Dead Leaves has the look and sound of the 80’s. It is evocative of that decade.
There were a few sentences that resonated strongly with me.
“I got to the children’s playground in the centre of the park. I sat on one of the swings and contemplated my existence.”
I often visit the park of my 80’s youth and watch as my family enjoy it as much as I did back then. I feel like I am actually back in the 80’s as I sit on a swing and the memories come flooding back. I start to contemplate my existence.
“Did any of this matter?
My life that is. All this worry and anxiety and for what? I was nothing but molecules and atoms and stardust; a conscious grain of sand blowing in the universe for a brief spark of time, with only a one way ticket to the dirt as an absolute.”
This sums up my thoughts about life and forces me to face my own mortality. Life is short, time goes quick so enjoy what you have, do not worry about what you don’t have. Enjoy those special moments, for me it is being in a park with my family, in your life.
If you are told life is too short to read or watch horror and it is a waste of time then direct them to this book. Or tell them it’s my time to waste so let it go.
As a character states.
“Why should I not fully embrace who I was and the things I wanted to do with my life? Surely the entire journey should be played my way. I was the one checking out at the end”
September 19, 2021
A tremendous trip down nostalgia lane: the early 80s, the "video nasty" era, and how trying to track down a copy of the fabled Evil Dead impacts on the lives of life-long friends.
Absolutely loved it, and although I was younger than the protagonists at the time, I recalled so much, with the stress and turmoil of Thatcher's Britain.
Wholeheartedly recommended.
Absolutely loved it, and although I was younger than the protagonists at the time, I recalled so much, with the stress and turmoil of Thatcher's Britain.
Wholeheartedly recommended.
June 5, 2017
Dead Leaves is meant to evoke the essential Octoberness, perfect time for fans of all things scary. This is a book about by, for and about such fans. Specifically, in cinematic form. Set in England during the puritanical clean up act of the 80s, when such things were uniformly deemed filth and treated as such, this is a coming of age story where one young man must figure out what to do with his life. So it's a sort of aimless youth coming into focus thing. And quite well done for what it is too. The subject is obviously up close and personal for the author and it very much shows, he depicts the time and a general zeitgeist of it vividly and compellingly without the tinted nostalgia such things often possess. I've looked him up and seems like his debut novel is very much in the same vein. The story itself is fright free slice of life sort of thing, it isn't a genre thing, it's about the passion for the genre. The writing is strong, dynamic, dialogue driven. The characters might have been too young and angsty for me to relate to, but I wouldn't describe this as a YA book, I think that would be too dismissive for it, there's more of a tone and mood and quality to this, though it can certainly works as a young adult fiction. Very quick entertaining read. Recommended.
October 18, 2015
If you're aged around 35 to 40 and a horror fan, then the period in which Dead Leaves is set will strike a cord with you at some point along the way. Also, if like myself and countless other school leavers during this time (pick any point between the early 80's and to mid 90's) if you didn't make the most of your time in education and left with next to no real qualifications, then the prospect was factory, warehouse or job centre. And that, is really wants at the core of this novella. Protagonist Scott is a dreamer. A night crawler. You get a sense that neither he, his mate Paul, or even the third member of their gang, Mark, feel comfortable during the daylight. None seem to have any real existence. Scott and Paul have no job and do their best to keep it that way (so they become another faceless member of the job centre signing on line), while Mark has a job, but it is a joyless, dead-end job of endless 6am starts (going work in the dark & getting home in the dark) and working for cash in hand.
This story has more in common with Ted Lewis' 1975 novel 'The Rabbit' or Stephen Foster's 'Are You With Me,' than it does with horror. Yes the plot revolves around a quest for a bootleg copy of 'The Evil Dead' and there are countless references and name drops of other horror films of the time (House By The Cemetery, I Spit On Your Grave & my all time favourite horror, John Carpenter's The Fog), but the aspect which I found of most interest was in scenes like when the protagonist's dad thrusts the local paper under his nose with a warehouse job circled and a Clint Eastwood type stare on his face. You feel the sheer hopelessness of his situation and what a dreamer can do to 'get out of this place,' (a feeling I knew only too well back in the 90's). So if you've ever found yourself sitting in your bedroom at 17-years-old while watching 'Halloween 3' or 'Suspiria' at 2am with your mates or staying up to watch Dr Terror's chosen film on BBC1 on a Friday night, then this novella is for you.
This story has more in common with Ted Lewis' 1975 novel 'The Rabbit' or Stephen Foster's 'Are You With Me,' than it does with horror. Yes the plot revolves around a quest for a bootleg copy of 'The Evil Dead' and there are countless references and name drops of other horror films of the time (House By The Cemetery, I Spit On Your Grave & my all time favourite horror, John Carpenter's The Fog), but the aspect which I found of most interest was in scenes like when the protagonist's dad thrusts the local paper under his nose with a warehouse job circled and a Clint Eastwood type stare on his face. You feel the sheer hopelessness of his situation and what a dreamer can do to 'get out of this place,' (a feeling I knew only too well back in the 90's). So if you've ever found yourself sitting in your bedroom at 17-years-old while watching 'Halloween 3' or 'Suspiria' at 2am with your mates or staying up to watch Dr Terror's chosen film on BBC1 on a Friday night, then this novella is for you.
October 29, 2015
Last year's 'The Electric' by Andrew David Barker (previously reviewed on this blog) was a love letter to cinema and growing up in the 1980's. 'Dead Leaves' does much the same thing for Video Nasties - and does a grand job of it.
It is 1983 and to Scott Bradley, just out of school, on the dole and heading for a life of factory drudgery and his friends Paul and Mark Horror Videos are the be all and all of everything. Nothing much else matters other than getting to see the next Nasty. To them, what really matters is getting hold of The Holy Grail of Video Nasties - The Evil Dead. This is a world of pokey little video shops and dodgy dealers in a time when the clampdown on Horror Videos was in full swing.
This novella is also a story of friendship, of family and of growing up. Scott's dad wants him to get a job, constantly getting at him to fill in application forms for mundane (in Scott's mind) jobs when what he really wants is to go to film school. Anyone reading this book who was around at the time it is set will, as with 'The Electric' be taken back to a time when films weren't available 24/7. A time when you borrowed a film from the local video shop and had it for 1 day before returning it.
The friends have a plan to make money - there is a chance to get a copy of The Evil Dead so they can make copies themselves and sell them on. The only real problem is that they need to find £60 to buy their copy (remember, this is 1983)
Barker does a really good job of transporting the reader back to the early 80's (I was the same age as Scott in 1983 so I guess I know what I'm talking about) and his love of film shows through in what turns out to be another excellent story. I was looking forward to Dead Leaves from the moment I heard of it and it certainly lived up to my expectations. Now I can look forward to whatever Andrew David Barker comes up with next in the sure knowledge it will be well worth the wait.
It is 1983 and to Scott Bradley, just out of school, on the dole and heading for a life of factory drudgery and his friends Paul and Mark Horror Videos are the be all and all of everything. Nothing much else matters other than getting to see the next Nasty. To them, what really matters is getting hold of The Holy Grail of Video Nasties - The Evil Dead. This is a world of pokey little video shops and dodgy dealers in a time when the clampdown on Horror Videos was in full swing.
This novella is also a story of friendship, of family and of growing up. Scott's dad wants him to get a job, constantly getting at him to fill in application forms for mundane (in Scott's mind) jobs when what he really wants is to go to film school. Anyone reading this book who was around at the time it is set will, as with 'The Electric' be taken back to a time when films weren't available 24/7. A time when you borrowed a film from the local video shop and had it for 1 day before returning it.
The friends have a plan to make money - there is a chance to get a copy of The Evil Dead so they can make copies themselves and sell them on. The only real problem is that they need to find £60 to buy their copy (remember, this is 1983)
Barker does a really good job of transporting the reader back to the early 80's (I was the same age as Scott in 1983 so I guess I know what I'm talking about) and his love of film shows through in what turns out to be another excellent story. I was looking forward to Dead Leaves from the moment I heard of it and it certainly lived up to my expectations. Now I can look forward to whatever Andrew David Barker comes up with next in the sure knowledge it will be well worth the wait.
July 2, 2017
This book was so very good to me. This coming of age tale is set in England, but I could still relate so so much of what the characters were thinking and feeling, especially as an 80's horror fan. This book is not horror, but about growing up with the horror masters of the 70's and 80's, and trying to get your hands on that one horror movie that you just have to experience. Highly recommended by me ;)
February 10, 2023
"Dead Leaves" is a partly-autobiographical romanticisation of an adolescent's obsession with what were branded as 'video nasties' in the UK in the 1980s; horror films which due to their (supposedly) graphic violent content were deemed morally unfit for consumption, where items previously legally available were suddenly clamped down upon and video rental stores were raided and those films were removed and the peddlers sometimes arrested. It's almost impossible to believe that this would happen again today, however you are then reminded of the more conservative opinions of other countries, and book banning in the US (for example), and realise that the past isn't ever that far away.
Barker weaves this background into the foreground of this novel(la) - not sure on word count - creating a believable story of a couple of friend's hunts to watch "The Evil Dead" set against a background of disillusion and frustration. Whilst the characters were well-drawn I felt the story quite matter-of-fact in the telling, without the warmth - or depth - of Barker's "The Electric" which I had absolutely loved. So whilst it's competently told and quite the page turner, I had no real emotional connection here which might have increased my enjoyment. Definitely worth picking up, though, especially for those who were around at the time of this purge.
Barker weaves this background into the foreground of this novel(la) - not sure on word count - creating a believable story of a couple of friend's hunts to watch "The Evil Dead" set against a background of disillusion and frustration. Whilst the characters were well-drawn I felt the story quite matter-of-fact in the telling, without the warmth - or depth - of Barker's "The Electric" which I had absolutely loved. So whilst it's competently told and quite the page turner, I had no real emotional connection here which might have increased my enjoyment. Definitely worth picking up, though, especially for those who were around at the time of this purge.
October 16, 2015
Last year I read The Electric by Andrew David Barker and thoroughly enjoyed the eerie, beautiful prose in his reimagining of the classic haunted house story. I enjoyed it so much in fact, I awarded it my favourite read of 2014. Hardly a surprise then that when I was offered the opportunity to read the author’s next book I jumped at the chance.
I’m old enough to remember the furore that surrounded the rise of the video nasty back in the early eighties. There didn’t seem a day that went by when there wasn’t a new story in the press or on the news. Dead Leaves uses the controversy surrounding these films as its jumping off point. Three young teens stuck in the dark heart of Derby will do whatever it takes to see The Evil Dead.
The writing effortlessly taps into that strange limbo of existence that all teenagers experience. No longer children but not quite adults yet, Scott, Paul and Mark feel trapped within the confines of their lives. It seems like everything is conspiring against them to ensure that they can’t do what they want or make any decisions for themselves. Unsurprisingly, their default reaction is an act of rebellion. For horror nuts like these three, The Evil Dead is the ultimate prize; the promise of escape from the monotony of their day to day lives.
Barker proves two things with this new novel – (1) The Electric was not a fluke (2) He really knows his characters inside and out. Scott, along with his family and friends, are perfectly realised. Their actions and reactions hit all the emotive notes you could hope for. There is a wonderful sense of familiarity in Barker’s writing. A host of memories were triggered and came flooding back as I read further. Though I spent my formative years in an entirely different part of the UK, the skilled narrative cuts through any sort of geographical boundary. If you’ve ever been a teen, and I suspect most of you either are or have been, then you’ll pick up on the common themes of the angst and trauma that comes from that difficult period in your life.
As I eluded to earlier on, I’m a veritable ancient now, but I still remember the glorious sense of anticipation that came with the potentially illicit. As I recall my dalliance with video nasties also included The Evil Dead. It’s kind of ironic, I look back at it now and realise far more controversial movies have come since those days. I’d imagine a modern teen would view the original Evil Dead with nothing so much as a mild curiosity. They certainly wouldn’t be horrified. Perhaps though, that is kind of the whole point of the exercise; every generation has to push the boundaries of their predecessors and find their own Evil Dead.
On completing Dead Leaves I have come to the only sensible conclusion. The author is breaking into my house in the dead of night on a regular basis and harvesting my dreams. I found myself nodding along with so many of his observations this can be the only possible explanation. All joking aside, this novel is most definitely on a par with The Electric. If you get the opportunity, I strongly advise that you read it.
I’m old enough to remember the furore that surrounded the rise of the video nasty back in the early eighties. There didn’t seem a day that went by when there wasn’t a new story in the press or on the news. Dead Leaves uses the controversy surrounding these films as its jumping off point. Three young teens stuck in the dark heart of Derby will do whatever it takes to see The Evil Dead.
The writing effortlessly taps into that strange limbo of existence that all teenagers experience. No longer children but not quite adults yet, Scott, Paul and Mark feel trapped within the confines of their lives. It seems like everything is conspiring against them to ensure that they can’t do what they want or make any decisions for themselves. Unsurprisingly, their default reaction is an act of rebellion. For horror nuts like these three, The Evil Dead is the ultimate prize; the promise of escape from the monotony of their day to day lives.
Barker proves two things with this new novel – (1) The Electric was not a fluke (2) He really knows his characters inside and out. Scott, along with his family and friends, are perfectly realised. Their actions and reactions hit all the emotive notes you could hope for. There is a wonderful sense of familiarity in Barker’s writing. A host of memories were triggered and came flooding back as I read further. Though I spent my formative years in an entirely different part of the UK, the skilled narrative cuts through any sort of geographical boundary. If you’ve ever been a teen, and I suspect most of you either are or have been, then you’ll pick up on the common themes of the angst and trauma that comes from that difficult period in your life.
As I eluded to earlier on, I’m a veritable ancient now, but I still remember the glorious sense of anticipation that came with the potentially illicit. As I recall my dalliance with video nasties also included The Evil Dead. It’s kind of ironic, I look back at it now and realise far more controversial movies have come since those days. I’d imagine a modern teen would view the original Evil Dead with nothing so much as a mild curiosity. They certainly wouldn’t be horrified. Perhaps though, that is kind of the whole point of the exercise; every generation has to push the boundaries of their predecessors and find their own Evil Dead.
On completing Dead Leaves I have come to the only sensible conclusion. The author is breaking into my house in the dead of night on a regular basis and harvesting my dreams. I found myself nodding along with so many of his observations this can be the only possible explanation. All joking aside, this novel is most definitely on a par with The Electric. If you get the opportunity, I strongly advise that you read it.
April 30, 2016
I'll be honest, I took a while to get into this. A tale off a group of lads in the 1980s, it felt like the story didn't really get going and I was wondering what the actual story was, but the plot reveals itself in the search for a copy of "The Evil Dead" amidst the moral panic of the video nasty.
in the modern day world of streaming services and a more liberal approach to censorship, the story has a sepia toned feel that borders on nostalgia. At times the characters and their language borders on caricature, but by the end I was gripped.
Loved it. Absolutely loved it.
in the modern day world of streaming services and a more liberal approach to censorship, the story has a sepia toned feel that borders on nostalgia. At times the characters and their language borders on caricature, but by the end I was gripped.
Loved it. Absolutely loved it.
January 5, 2016
A wonderful read about having a passion and going after it. Loved the characters who go after a video nasty that was the king of all videos at the time. The topic of Horror videos was well-researched and is clearly a passion of the author.
Have read other works by Mr Barker which I enjoyed and he does not disappoint here. Topic, characterisation and descriptions are extremely sharp. Drew me in from the first sentence. A recommended read.
Have read other works by Mr Barker which I enjoyed and he does not disappoint here. Topic, characterisation and descriptions are extremely sharp. Drew me in from the first sentence. A recommended read.
August 4, 2021
( Format : Audiobook )
"Got that one in the back of me van, lad."
"At 17, horror films were everything to me" confesses Scott Bradley, lead protagonist in the book. who wanted, one day, to make films himself. And there was one title above all that he and his close mates wants to see, the illusive Evil Dead. It was Derby, England in the first half of the 1 980s and campaigner for moral hygene, Mary Whitehkuse, had invited a moral panic against 'video nasties' which resulted in po!I've raids and a sense of rebellion against state interference. This is a coming of age slice of time for Scott, his pals and the country.
Such an evocation of time and place for those who remember it and an interesting glimpse for those who don't at a time, not too long ago, before cell phones and the internet. All written in a way to take the reader straight back in time. The narratikn, by Josh Shirt, is spot on, too, his English Midlands accent perfectly representing the first person recounting by the main character. An excellent performance.
A look back into a different time, and inside a nerdy seventeen years old boy's mind. It was crude, funny, unexpected, exciting and far more than I had expected. I loved it. My deep thanks to the rights holder of Dead Leaves, who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. I recommend it to averyone, young and old alike: it sums up impressions of an era.as well as the years and hopes of coming of age.
"Got that one in the back of me van, lad."
"At 17, horror films were everything to me" confesses Scott Bradley, lead protagonist in the book. who wanted, one day, to make films himself. And there was one title above all that he and his close mates wants to see, the illusive Evil Dead. It was Derby, England in the first half of the 1 980s and campaigner for moral hygene, Mary Whitehkuse, had invited a moral panic against 'video nasties' which resulted in po!I've raids and a sense of rebellion against state interference. This is a coming of age slice of time for Scott, his pals and the country.
Such an evocation of time and place for those who remember it and an interesting glimpse for those who don't at a time, not too long ago, before cell phones and the internet. All written in a way to take the reader straight back in time. The narratikn, by Josh Shirt, is spot on, too, his English Midlands accent perfectly representing the first person recounting by the main character. An excellent performance.
A look back into a different time, and inside a nerdy seventeen years old boy's mind. It was crude, funny, unexpected, exciting and far more than I had expected. I loved it. My deep thanks to the rights holder of Dead Leaves, who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. I recommend it to averyone, young and old alike: it sums up impressions of an era.as well as the years and hopes of coming of age.
September 21, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this semi-autobiographical short. I could really relate to the grinding agony of wondering what life is all about and instead of dealing with it, funneling all that dread into hobbies or other pursuits. Despite not being a big horror fan, but I've loved The Evil Dead since finding out about it in the early 90s when Army of Darkness was released. The winding of the UK's version of The Satanic Panic around the coming of age story was great.
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
August 23, 2021
Bruce Campbell is a god in my book…. So anything that even mentions the Evil dead has my attention.
I loved this story. Would have like a little bit more at the end as it is short. I don’t want to spoil anything….. but….. when they actually watch the movie I’d love like a play by play of their reactions.
Narration by Josh Shirt was exceptional!
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I loved this story. Would have like a little bit more at the end as it is short. I don’t want to spoil anything….. but….. when they actually watch the movie I’d love like a play by play of their reactions.
Narration by Josh Shirt was exceptional!
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
July 18, 2017
Somehow I had foolishly assumed that a book which prominently features the horror cult classic 'Evil Dead' would itself be a horror novel. I was wrong, this is not a horror story. In fact, it is difficult to classify under any genre. It's just a slice-of-life story of a group of teenagers living in the England of 1980s. One keeps expecting something momentous to happen but, sadly, it never does.
April 13, 2023
What a swell read, and while I wasn’t nearly as shiftless as Scott, Mark or Paul, I well remember the depressing early to mid 80’s and how stacked against you the system is when you have folks the Reagan and Thatcher tearing down all the support structure.
While not a horror story, it’s definitely a love letter to horror film, and also to following your dreams.
Well worth your time.
While not a horror story, it’s definitely a love letter to horror film, and also to following your dreams.
Well worth your time.
June 3, 2020
If you like the 80s; if you like horror; if you like coming of age stories; if you like yourself in anyway, shape or form – then read Dead Leaves! This book is more fun than a work shed full of candarian demons!
September 13, 2021
audible:Good story.Josh Shirt was a good narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'
September 24, 2025
An absolute blast from the past... brought back so many memories
January 9, 2016
The cover, title and blurb about the book led me to think that this book might have veered into the realm of horror, but on this I was misled. What I got instead was a coming-of-age story and a visit to a time and place that's intriguing and familiar.
The story follows four young people at a crossroads of life in the early '80s, out of school and hiding from the responsibilities of impending real life. Horror films are their escape valve, easing parental and family pressure, relationship difficulties and the weight of carrying dead end jobs that feel all too literally "dead end". Now, even their escape mechanism is under threat because they live in Britain at the height of the UK's "video nasty" clamp-down. In an age before Netflix and video-on-demand, the films they love are widely available on video store shelves... until the government begins to raid the stores and seize this "obscene" material for destruction. But even as the opus of horror cinema is being snatched from their grasp, a chance is extended to see the Holy Grail of new horror films: The Evil Dead. What follows is a strange quest to obtain this forbidden video that will mark turning points in their lives.
Yes, this is a coming of age story, yet it's one that I found I could easily identify with. As a long-standing film fan (including horror, and yes, definitely including The Evil Dead), I could easily understand the escapism offered the teens in their film-watching rituals. I was not raised in the UK or under the opprobrium of the "Video Nasty" frenzy, but I can remember enduring the disapproval of relatives and peers for loving film more than the "real" world. Many other aspects of the story had touchstone moments that I think many readers may recognize from their own experience.
Barker's writing style is quite straightforward and he carries the story on quickly and effectively, without affectation.
So while the book was not at all what I was expecting, it was no disappointment.
The story follows four young people at a crossroads of life in the early '80s, out of school and hiding from the responsibilities of impending real life. Horror films are their escape valve, easing parental and family pressure, relationship difficulties and the weight of carrying dead end jobs that feel all too literally "dead end". Now, even their escape mechanism is under threat because they live in Britain at the height of the UK's "video nasty" clamp-down. In an age before Netflix and video-on-demand, the films they love are widely available on video store shelves... until the government begins to raid the stores and seize this "obscene" material for destruction. But even as the opus of horror cinema is being snatched from their grasp, a chance is extended to see the Holy Grail of new horror films: The Evil Dead. What follows is a strange quest to obtain this forbidden video that will mark turning points in their lives.
Yes, this is a coming of age story, yet it's one that I found I could easily identify with. As a long-standing film fan (including horror, and yes, definitely including The Evil Dead), I could easily understand the escapism offered the teens in their film-watching rituals. I was not raised in the UK or under the opprobrium of the "Video Nasty" frenzy, but I can remember enduring the disapproval of relatives and peers for loving film more than the "real" world. Many other aspects of the story had touchstone moments that I think many readers may recognize from their own experience.
Barker's writing style is quite straightforward and he carries the story on quickly and effectively, without affectation.
So while the book was not at all what I was expecting, it was no disappointment.
October 22, 2015
Set in 1983, during the fervent frenzy of the Video Nasties, three friends embark on a hunt for the nastiest nasty of them all The Evil Dead. These friends are painfuly real. They are in that difficult period of life after school, no longer kids but not quite adults. They are ambling blindly through life and getting nowhere fast.
Of these three friends Scott is our hero of the day. He is being pushed towards a future of factory work and mundane normality. He wants no part of it. He wants bigger and better things and he thinks. No, he knows, that horror movies are the key to it all.
Dead Leaves rattles by at an alarming pace. I read it in two sittings, the first was only cut short by the promise of food otherwise it would have been in done in one. It does however throw quite an interesting dilemma into the mix. It's chapters, and there are 75 of them are short. Some of them are only a few words long. This works surprisingly well and is a tactic I am already planning on trying out for myself.
They do say imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Now I am a classic "Just one more chapter!" reader. So in bed last night I kept promising myself just one more, just one more... and then it was done.
The end doesn't so much creep up on you, it more taps you on the shoulder and slaps you around the face. The ending itself has echoes of The Electric about it and this is no bad thing. There a few points where characters behave in a manner you didn't see coming or doesn't quite fit and this works better some times than others. He has also taken some liberties with the Video Nasty timeline but he freely admits this and it works well for the story.
If I have a gripe it's that I'd like it to be longer but overall Dead Leaves is another triumph for Barker and I thoroughly recommend it.
Of these three friends Scott is our hero of the day. He is being pushed towards a future of factory work and mundane normality. He wants no part of it. He wants bigger and better things and he thinks. No, he knows, that horror movies are the key to it all.
Dead Leaves rattles by at an alarming pace. I read it in two sittings, the first was only cut short by the promise of food otherwise it would have been in done in one. It does however throw quite an interesting dilemma into the mix. It's chapters, and there are 75 of them are short. Some of them are only a few words long. This works surprisingly well and is a tactic I am already planning on trying out for myself.
They do say imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Now I am a classic "Just one more chapter!" reader. So in bed last night I kept promising myself just one more, just one more... and then it was done.
The end doesn't so much creep up on you, it more taps you on the shoulder and slaps you around the face. The ending itself has echoes of The Electric about it and this is no bad thing. There a few points where characters behave in a manner you didn't see coming or doesn't quite fit and this works better some times than others. He has also taken some liberties with the Video Nasty timeline but he freely admits this and it works well for the story.
If I have a gripe it's that I'd like it to be longer but overall Dead Leaves is another triumph for Barker and I thoroughly recommend it.
November 2, 2015
A wonderful short novel. I think the length is perfectly suited to the plot as, although the storyline is engaging and enjoyable, for me the real joy of the book is its evocation of atmospheres and moods. The language is pretty much pitch-perfect and the author shows great talent in articulating the main character's emotions and reactions in a suitably ordinary way, but with depth and real feeling so that the whole book somehow felt subliminally extraordinary in tune with its subject matter. This is something that I really enjoyed about Andrew Barker's debut novel 'The Electric' which I also highly recommend.
December 7, 2016
This book was an absolute delight; Having grown up (like the narrator of Dead Leaves) as a horror fan in the Midlands in the eighties, it struck a particular nerve. I haven't yet read The Electric (which, based on this, I'll have to rectify this ASAP) but was expecting a horror tale. However, what I read was a well-observed and atmospheric coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the puritanical Mary Whitehouse and the media-fueled video nasty furore.
Barker does a fantastic job of conjuring up evocative images of that era -it's drenched in the atmosphere of the eighties. The setting and characters are completely believable. Simply one of the best books I've read this year.
Barker does a fantastic job of conjuring up evocative images of that era -it's drenched in the atmosphere of the eighties. The setting and characters are completely believable. Simply one of the best books I've read this year.
January 15, 2016
Another fabulous little gem from Andrew Barker. Read it in one sitting as I just couldn't put it down. Would he ever get to watch the horror film? I love reading about places I am from so the book being set in Derby is a must read for anyone local. That's not to say you can't read it if you are not from Derby. The book made me smile of years gone by. Andrew likes his nostalgia and this shows in his writing. Keep up the good work Mr Barker. Can't wait for the next one!
October 16, 2015
An enjoyable read set in Derby, England in 1983 during the video nasty crackdown. Anyone born and raised in Derby during that era will no doubt recognise or have inhabited many of the places mentioned.
A story about three friends and their search to track down the eventual cult classic 'The Evil Dead'.
Check it out.
A story about three friends and their search to track down the eventual cult classic 'The Evil Dead'.
Check it out.
October 21, 2015
Definitely not a one-trick pony.
I was really hoping this novella would deliver all the elements that I loved from The Electric and it did not disappoint. Great characters and vivid description of the settings, I was rooting for the main guy the whole way and the pace swept me along making me glad I could read it all in one sitting. A great story.
I was really hoping this novella would deliver all the elements that I loved from The Electric and it did not disappoint. Great characters and vivid description of the settings, I was rooting for the main guy the whole way and the pace swept me along making me glad I could read it all in one sitting. A great story.
February 1, 2016
Perfectly encapsulates the pain of youth. I remember spending my teenage years desperate to get hold of some of the video nasties mentioned in this book, obsessing over the macabre, gory and perverse details of films such as Cannibal Holocaust.
Just keep spoiling us Mr.Barker!
Just keep spoiling us Mr.Barker!
December 4, 2015
It was a fun read! based on interesting times and movies. Thank you to the author and Goodreads for the review copy.
April 15, 2017
I loved this book. It's short enough to never become tedious, but long enough to have you lost their world. It also reminded me of my love of horror. It was good to see characters admiring it as much as I do.
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