Peter Murphy: unsettling

He hasn't even sold the movie rights but Irish novelist Peter Murphy is already causing a storm on YouTube with his novel John the Revelator.

Keen to have his words spring off the page, Hotpress journalist Murphy has collaborated with film maker Seán Murray to make a promo for his new book.

The results are decidedly unsettling. "I'd describe it as halfway between an arcade penny dreadful and some sort of theatre of the absurd. Whatever is going on, it seems to have captured people's imaginations," Murphy said.

Filmed not on a sound stage but in a friend's fireplace, the two-minute clip features a ghostly gargoyle, the sound of jackdaws and Murphy reading aloud – elements the author himself describes as "chewing gum and string" but all adding up to one creepy experience.

It could have ended up overshadowing the book that inspired it if Peter's reviews weren't so good.

Released in Ireland last Friday, plans for Dutch, German, Australian and American editions are well advanced.

"The title fascinated me since I came across it listed as a song in an anthology of American folk music. The challenge was coming up with a book that would stand up to the title."

By all accounts Murphy's tale, the story of the relationship between loner John Devine and his mother, has succeeded, with praise coming from the likes of Colm Tóibín and Roddy Doyle.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wjHrnqAY48