The science fiction horror story that perfectly sums up 2020

David Barnett speaks to David Quantick about cutting his teeth during NME’s ‘glory days’, falling in love with science fiction and his new novel ‘Night Train’, which hits a little close to home

From radio to TV to writing, Quantick is a jack of all trades... and a master of all of them (Rex)

Imagine you woke up alone, in a room that was pitching and rattling and you didn’t know who you were or why you were there. Then you realise it’s a train carriage, and it’s full of dead people. And you don’t know where the train is going, or why.

David Quantick might have accidentally written the novel that completely sums up 2020.

“I had the idea about 15 years ago,” says Quantick of Night Train, out now from Titan Books. “Somebody waking up in a dark room that’s making a lot of noise and shaking violently, and then they realise they’re on a train, and I’d never done anything with it. And then it was… well, what happens? And the answer is they go into the next carriage. And that’s always a good way to think about writing. Well, what happens next?”