Dead Man Talking

Description

“Okay, I know what you’re thinking, but let’s get one thing straight: No. I’m not a vampire. I mean, yes, I rely on blood to sustain my part-human, semi-immortal lifestyle, but that’s as far as it goes, alright?”

For the dead man talking, each death is only a new beginning – as long as someone can be relied upon to donate enough blood to bring him back to life. But it’s hard to fit in when you’re legally dead, and a youth marred by constant reinventions has made relationships and employment seem futile. Unable to gain a foothold in the real world, he begins to question what it means to be human, to be a monster, and to exist.

Offering a fresh and frequently hilarious take on immortality, Dead Man Talking is the story of one man's many lives: from a hedonistic quest to determine whether pleasure alone can bring fulfilment, to a wayward journey of discovery with the self-styled King of the Goths. At the point of giving up, he finally comes to understand the meaning of life – but nothing is without cost, and his genetics will not allow him to escape his fate.

Jonathan Squirrell grew up in Whitby. He has written scripts performed in village halls, and song lyrics sung on BBC Radio 4. In 2020 The Last Supper Club was selected to appear in an anthology compiled by the WRITE Festival, and in the same year Becoming Familiar was released as a pamphlet by Wild Pressed Books. Jonathan is a writing tutor, and lives in Hull with his family.