Category: Zombies

Walking Dead, Season 2

Greetings, earthlings–

Whew. Majorly hectic week. I know we all have those, but gads what a pain in the you-know-what.

Anyway! Zombie Saturday! Time to talk about a super-cool show!

October 16 brings us the premiere of season 2 of AMC’s Walking Dead, the TV adaptation of the graphic novels of the same name. If you’re a zombie fan and you didn’t catch this series last year, OMG get yourself caught up on it. If you haven’t run screaming from Netflix yet, you can get season 1 via that route if you don’t want to buy it. And if you’re a newbie to the show, AMC has a good rookie guide here. For those of you in the know, here’s the season 2 trailer.

I highly recommend Walking Dead for a variety of reasons. One, the make-up and effects are great. Two, the characters are well-drawn and the acting is really good. Three, great dialogue and pacing. Four, if you like horror/thriller stuff, this series will bring it in buckets. Excellent tension build-up in a variety of arenas: zombies, other (and not so nice) survivors, and drama between the characters. I think that’s what really distinguishes this series from your basic run-of-the-mill zombie scarefest. The very human interactions and drama that go on between people who are trying to negotiate new boundaries and ways of interacting in a world that has gone completely batshit.

That’s what really hammers this series home in terms of apocalyptic scenarios (in this case, zombies). How people deal with it. It’s not a hopeful “yay we’ll survive” kind of thing. The people that inhabit Walking Dead survive not necessarily because they think there’s something out there that will bring redemption and safety, but rather because they don’t know what the hell else to do. They’re reduced to the very basics of mammalian urges: to live, whether it’s a good idea or not. You also see the different ways that different people adapt to the new circumstances, and whether or not old internal moral codes hold and if so, how does a character enact them and why? What’s the point of maintaining a sense of ethics? That’s something a few of the characters struggle with, perhaps because to them, doing so anchors them to themselves and to a past that no longer exists, and it’s part of the way they feed their survival urges. But it’s also an interesting examination of what makes us human, and why that even should matter in a post-apocalyptic zombie-infested society.

And on October 3rd, you can catch a webisode — an inside story derived from Walking Dead. For those of you who caught season 1, remember the first episode when Rick leaves the hospital and he’s wandering around and comes across that zombie in the park who doesn’t have legs and she’s crawling along and it’s really kind of sad? A six-part webisode gives you her backstory. Her name was Hannah. So check back on October 3 to catch that.

Sure to be good stuff.

And also, if you get a chance, do catch a zombie walk/crawl if there are any scheduled in your local communities. Many are also charity events — that is, to participate, the organizers might request that you bring a can of food or donation for a local charity/food bank. Then have a party. You’ll see some great costumes (even if you don’t dress up yourself) and people just really get into it. Most also have after-parties, and those are way fun, too. It’s a good way to blow off some steam, tap into your dark side, and show off your mad costuming skillz!

And don’t forget, some hardcore zombie aficiondos out there are planning 3-day zombie apocalypse events. For info on that, go HERE.

There you go. Happy weekend!

by Categories: The Awesome, TV shows, ZombiesTags: , , 3 Comments

Zombie Walks, Crawls, Events for Halloween

Plus some other stuff.

Like, for example, my random questions over at Women and Words. I took some random questions from readers yesterday and posted answers over at Women and Words. Here’s the link to check it out.

Okay, ’tis the season, friends! HALLOWEEN! Some communities around the U.S. are doing zombie walks in honor of this occasion (though zombie walks do occur at other times of the year, too). And others are doing zombie apocalypse meetups. Wanna see if there’s a community near you doing one? Here you go.

Here’s the official 2011 Halloween Zombie Apocalypse event site.

And here they are on Facebook.

The zombie apocalypse stuff is pretty involved, but it looks like a heck of a good time. Basically, you’re planning an entire zombie end-of-the-world in your community. A worldwide zombie-ish outbreak. The top 8 apocalypse teams will then go on to compete in an international competition (that is, who’s the best at making a realistic zombie apocalypse).

And you might get a kick out of the sponsor’s link, “Adrian’s Undead Diary.” Some good readin’ stuff there.

Here’s the schedule for the proposed zombie outbreak:
Day 1: Zombie Outbreak (October 29th)
Day 2: Survival of the Fittest (October 30th)
Day 3: Fight to the End (Halloween)
LINK for that info

If that’s far too complicated, then you can check to see if there’s a zombie walk going on in your city/town. That’s basically what it says. People dressed like zombies lurching down the street on a set route. Sometimes the walk benefits a charity. I heard of a walk scheduled this year in one community that would like participants to bring a can of food to the start of the walk. That food will then go to local food banks.

Here’s a good place to find some info about communities with scheduled zombie crawls/walks as Halloween approaches. It’s called Crawl of the Dead.

All right, friends. If I find more info, I’ll post it here. And do keep your eyes on the planning for the worldwide zombie apocalypse. That could be pretty freaky and freaky cool.

Happy Saturday!

by Categories: Apocalypse, Events, ZombiesTags: , ,

Excerpt (and yeah, some zombie-related stuff)

Hi, peeps–

Yesterday I posted an excerpt from a work in progress over at my other hangout, Women and Words. It’s the third chapter of a F/F romance I’m working on (WHUUUUUT? Andi writes novel-length romance??? Dunno yet–giving it a try). You’ll also find links at that post to the first 2 chapters, so have no fear, I’m not forcing you to hunt for ’em! So go on and clickie that linkie up there to have a looksee, if you’re in the mood.

Moving along…

Howsabout some post-apocalyptic vehicles? The only problem I can foresee here is fuel, but perhaps some intrepid inventor somewhere is working on getting one of these up and running on something other than fuel.

Check ’em out at Jalopnik. 10 vehicles for your perusal.

I’m kind of digging the MaxiMog:

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Although the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle is the shizzle, too. Did you see the movie Stripes? If not, get it. You’ll see the EM-50 in action.

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These vehicles are “post-apocalyptic,” which could be any kind of apocalypse, including zombies. And yes, the link mentions zombies, so clearly, some of these vehicles can help with that, if you’re fortunate enough to have one and if fuel isn’t that big a deal acquiring.

All rightie, happy reading, happy writing, happy Saturday!

by Categories: Excerpts, Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tips, ZombiesTags: , , , ,

Zombies might already walk the earth

I was thinking this morning that one doesn’t need to be undead to be a “zombie.”

Specifically, I’m thinking here of that awesome zombie flick Shaun of the Dead (2004), which if you dig a little deeper under the surface is kind of a metaphor about how if you’re not careful, living can actually suck the life out of you, and not in a good way. You wake up, you go to a soul-draining job that you’re not totally happy about, you go home. The next day, you wash, rinse, repeat.

In the movie, there’s the scene where Shaun wakes up the morning after the zombie-fication starts, and he’s not entirely awake, but he wanders down to the corner store where he usually buys a paper and a drink or a snack and already, the audience can tell there are zombies about, but he doesn’t make the connection that something’s freaky, even freakier than the night before when he and his buddy were at the pub, doesn’t notice that there’s a bloody handprint on the door of the cooler he opens to get his drink, doesn’t think it too weird that the clerk at the store is missing and the store’s kind of a mess. Shaun just leaves his money on the counter and goes back home, oblivious to the people wandering aimlessly around the street or some of the destruction.

Here’s a good compilation somebody did that juxtaposes Shaun going to the store when things were normal, and when things weren’t. He doesn’t seem to notice much…


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Point being that you can actually be a zombie without being undead, that your life can actually kind of drift along, you stuck in a job you hate, doing the same things over and over again, until before you know it, you’re so locked in you don’t even notice that an actual zombie apocalypse is under way because your synapses have been dulled by the anesthetized life you’ve been living.

So here’s your zombie survival tip for today: if you find that you are already living a zombie existence as I’ve described here, it might be time to try to make some changes. Get a new hobby. Play some sports (the physical conditioning will serve you well in an actual zombie apocalypse). Take some drives in the country. If you have access to awesome public transportation, go to neighborhoods in your city you don’t normally visit. If you’re in this country, take an Amtrak trip somewhere you’ve never been. If you’re in Europe, take a train somewhere you’ve never been. You’ve got to get past the zombie-fication that every day life can lead you to, so you can be sharper for the rest of your life (whether or not a zombie apocalypse occurs). You need a new perspective, mates. Go get one!

Happy Saturday!

by Categories: Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tips, ZombiesTags: ,

When zombies rule the earth

Hi, folks. Saturday survival tip!

Remember, I’ve already posted on how guns might be a good idea for back-up, but keep in mind the downside. You’re gonna need to keep finding ammo; they’re loud and might attract attention from more zombies and other survivors who want your guns; you have to keep them clean and serviceable if you want ’em to work correctly.

Again, they might not be a bad idea in a pinch. But true survivors like to increase the odds of their survival. Which means

1. avoiding potential confrontations with zombies and/or other survivors
2. staying on the move — the fewer people in an area originally, the fewer zombies
3. firing a gun as few times as possible in order to remain on the down-low

So if possible, get yourself a baseball bat (for our friends in non-baseball-playing countries, a cricket bat is quite nice). One that is easy for you to wield and stash. And you might consider getting yourself a lightweight plastic face shield. If you see some trouble headed your way of the zombie variety and it’s a lone individual or maybe a couple and there’s no way to kind of sneak away, get your gloves and faceshield on and…


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SWING, BATTER!

Again, I’m not suggesting that you go zombie hunting armed this way. But it’s always good to have a bat and faceshield at the ready should you be confronted by an individual zombie or perhaps 2. Three, and I’d suggest finding a way to not be there anymore, drawing as little attention as possible.

Attack ’em if you have no other options or if that’s the absolute best one. A bat at least gives you reach, and it won’t get stuck in a zombie like an axe or a pick or something like that. Gads, that’s a disgusting thought.

Anyway, there you go! Happy Saturday!

by Categories: Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tips, ZombiesTags: ,

Zombie Saturday

Hey, kids–whew. Okay, so here’s my tip today. Seriously.

STAY IN SHAPE and STAY HEALTHY.

Because in a zombie apocalypse, there will be no doctors’ offices, no hospitals, no pharmacies that are operating. You need to be able to outrun zombies and other survivors, you need to be able to climb and jump, and hide.

You also need to learn how to take care of minor and possibly major medical problems with materials at hand. And your chances of finding a doctor to help you do that are pretty slim. That’s a grim outlook. So get your cardio in order, start eating right, and learn some first aid. As cool as the video games make it seem — that zombie killin’ stuff — the fact is that every time you put yourself in a risky situation, you’re in danger of an injury and in this post-apocalyptic world, a minor scratch can lead to major infections. And if you sustain a major injury because you thought it would be fun to crawl around rubble and fight zombies, well, I hate to tell you this, but you’re probably toast and you have no one really to blame but yourself.

All right!

Stay safe!

by Categories: Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tips, ZombiesTags: , , ,

Chill Gear for the Zombie Apocalypse

Hi, folks–

Hope this weekend is treating you oh, so groovy. I thought even those of us dealing with the ZA might need a little break. So in case you’re needing a respite from the hard work of avoiding zombies and survivors once all hell breaks out, I found this delightful wine that might be able to help you unwind, as you’re hunkered for the evening in your darkened, cramped, stuffy attic (remember, no lights at night).


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Is it good? Probably not. But ask yourself this. You’ve been running, dodging, hiding, living on the edge of hell for a few months. You haven’t had a decent shower in months, or a meal that didn’t come out of a can or an MRE package. You probably have bruises, scratches, scrapes, and some creepy itch from running around in the woods. Are you REALLY going to care what this wine tastes like?

I thought not. So get yourself a bottle for the ZA and take a few minutes of chill.

Happy surviving!

by Categories: Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tips, ZombiesTags: , , ,

Zombie Apocalypse lore

Okay, so maybe it’s not quite “lore” in the classic sense of the word, but it IS a quirky tale of “life” during the ZA, as captured in haiku by someone who is turning into a zombie and then becomes a zombie.

This clever documentation of the ZA is Zombie Haiku, by Ryan Mecum, published in 2008 by How Books.


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Zombie Apocalypse via haiku. Who knew how much fun this could be? For those who don’t know what a haiku is, it’s a form of poetry that is three lines, each line with a designated number of syllables. In this case, 5-7-5. That is, 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third.

So a lovely zombie haiku from the cover of this book is:

Biting into heads
is much harder than it looks.
the skull is feisty.
source: cover of Zombie Haiku

The premise of this collection is clever, as well. It starts with a few lines of description of a survivor of the ZA. He originally started the poetry journal as a way to “capture the beauty of the world” through haiku. But then along comes the ZA and he writes hastily: “To whoever might find this, my name is Chris Lynch, and I’m pretty sure I’m dying. In face, if you are reading this, then I’m probably already dead. Not that anyone will be around to read this…from what I’ve seen, I’d guess this is the end of everything.” So as you start reading the haikus he’s written, it starts out all happy happy joy joy and then you notice he’s documenting the ZA, though he’s not aware that this is the case. He haikus about something in the news that says people are acting weird, but he turns if off. Then,

As I start my car,
my neighbor just keeps staring
and doesn’t wave back.
(p. 7)

He doesn’t realize, even with all the car wrecks and traffic and “drunk guy stumbling into traffic” what’s up. He gets to work, nobody’s there and one of his coworkers is “eating spaghetti in her car without utensils” and she smashes her head through the glass and tries to grab him, with glass sticking out of her neck. Anyway, our hero ends up not so lucky, and in the hands of a zombie mob. You see his metamorphosis through his clever haikus:

My skin is drying,
my veins are much ore pronounced
and I’m turning gray.
(p. 30)

one thing on my mind,
only one thing on my mind.
I’m going to eat you.
(p. 32)

Somehow, this zombie haikus being a zombie, and the illustrations and “dirt” and “blood smears” on the pages only add to the macabre, dark, hilarious fun in this book. The author’s handwriting morphs, too, and you end up seeing the world through the eyes of a zombie, whose haikus are short and sharp, like the staccato bursts of gunfire and the single-minded focus of an eating machine, which is what zombies are.

A seriously fun, clever, and wonderfully twisted book. See the ZA through a zombie’s eyes!

Happy reading, happy surviving!

by Categories: Books, Cool stuff to read, Funny stuff, Inspiration, The Awesome, ZombiesTags: , , ,

No Rapture, but how about a Zombie Apocalypse tip?

Hi, kids–

Well, I suspect you’re still here. News reports are saying NOTHING IS HAPPENING cataclysmically. No word, either, from the predictor of said Rapture, Mr. Harold Camping. Family Radio is playing nothing but devotional music and hymns, unrelated to the Rapture.

This is why stuff like this makes me think of cults. Seriously? A guy in New York blew $140,000 of his personal savings to put up ads and billboards and posters. [shaking head]

Anyway, this is just a funsies post about the ZA (which of course is WAY MORE REAL than the Rapture [I’m laughing]), but there are also good tips for basic disaster preparedness.

The CDC got into the “preparing for a zombie apocalypse” thing with this post, because they realized that whenever somebody mentioned Zombies in a Twitter feed or Facebook or something comparable, traffic went up. Zombies are popular, so the CDC used ’em to get us thinking about disaster preparedness.

Here are some tips from the CDC release, FYI:
Water (1 gallon per person per day)
Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly)
Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds)
Tools and Supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.)
Sanitation and Hygiene (household bleach, soap, towels, etc.)
Clothing and Bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)
Important documents (copies of your driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate to name a few)
First Aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane)

So, no Rapture, but it was cool that the CDC got into the zombie fun.

Happy Rapture Day!

by Categories: Funny stuff, Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tips, ZombiesTags: , , ,

OMG! More zombie apocalypse survival tips!

Hi, folks!

Happy Saturday!

Okay, so today’s ZA survival tip has to do with camping. Remember, I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago? We’d talk about camping (if you have to) during a ZA. I recommended then that you not travel at night and one of the primary reasons for this is that you can’t see very well in the dark and if you use a flashlight or any kind of light, you’re going to attract zombies. And just as bad, in some cases, other survivors.

That means you need to travel during the day, and you need to think about where you are at all times. We’ve already discussed getting out of urban areas (simple formula: the more people –> more zombies), and I recommended that you stay mobile. So you need to travel light, with some basic supplies. Other stuff you can grab along the way. No living crowds, anymore, at stores, after all.

I’m personally of the opinion that going north (if you’re in the US) is a really good idea. Why? Well, think about it. Huge swaths of Canada weren’t that populated prior to a ZA, which means fewer zombies. Also, I subscribe to the Max Brooks theory, in that cold weather slows zombies down. If you read his World War Z, there are survivors there who go north and make it a habit to go out with the spring thaw and start dispatching zombies that were frozen during the winter. So yes, winter and cold weather can totally suck and it’s dangerous for the living, but I think that it can provide a good chance for you to survive and perhaps even hunker down a bit, to give yourself a rest.


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ZOMG! There’s more!

Continue reading →

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