Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Zombie Expert to Speak November 14 (MANSFIELD, PA)
MANSFIELD, PA— Zombie expert and best-selling author Max Brooks will speak at Straughn Hall on Wednesday, November 14 at 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Brooks is the author of The Zombie Survival Guide, published in 2003, which touches on what it describes as pop cultural myths about zombies. In 2009, The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, a graphic novel depicting several of the events detailed in the first book's latter section, was published.
Between those two works, Brooks' wrote the best-seller World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War in 2006. It deals with the war between the human race and zombies. Paramount Pictures has acquired the movie rights and Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, will produce the film.
In an interview with the Washington Post about the book, Brooks said, “"Everything in World War Z is based in reality. Well, except the zombies. But seriously, everything else in the book is either taken from reality or 100% real. The technology, politics, economics, culture, military tactics...it was a lot of homework."
The son of legendary actor/director Mel Brooks and the late actress Anne Bancroft, Brooks earned an Emmy award for outstanding writing in 2003 as part of the Saturday Night Live (SNL) staff. He wrote for SNL from 2001 to 2003 and has several other writing and acting credits.
Brooks appearance at MU is sponsored by the Student Activities Office and the English and Modern Languages Department. It is supported by student activity fees.
~northcentralpa.com
Zombie haunted house sees backlash for basing story on real events
Letter-writing and social media campaign says attraction is disrespectful to victims of nuclear fallout.
A Rockville haunted house has upset some people by basing its mutant-filled attraction on actual events. Now, some want to see the attraction change its premise to something totally fictional.
The Warehouse: Project 4.1 is a new zombie-themed haunted house in Rockville. On its website, Hallow Inc., the company behind the attraction, says The Warehouse’s story is partly based on U.S. government testing of nuclear bombs during the Cold War in the Marshall Islands, located in the Northern Pacific Ocean.
The haunted house’s story, in a departure from reality, imagines that a private company later conducted further testing and experiments on the nuclear fallout victims, eventually creating zombies.
“Thinking about [the nuclear testing] as a joke or something that can be exploited is really, deeply disrespectful,” said Laura Sunblad.
Sunblad, who now lives in New York City, lived in the Marshall Islands for two years and said she heard about the haunted house through friends online.
“It’s clear that the organizers didn’t really think this through and didn’t take the tragedy seriously,” she said. “... This is a real tragedy with real consequences for real people.”
Krista Langlois, of Massachusetts, taught English for a year in the Marshall Islands and said the people there are still suffering from radiation effects such as birth defects and environmental damage. She said a haunted house depicting Marshallese people as deformed monsters is insensitive.
“There’s no reason that the haunted house has to be depicting the Marshallese people, and it’s really kind of a slap in the face of these people who have suffered a lot,” she said.
The haunted house’s story gained more exposure after an article about it appeared in a newspaper in Hawaii, where many Marshallese people live, Langlois said. As of Monday, more than 2,300 people had joined the Facebook page United Against Hallow Inc.’s Haunted House, and more than 100 had signed a petition on Change.org asking Hallow Inc. to rebrand its haunted house.
Hallow Inc. has posted a disclaimer on its website, saying that the haunted house’s story is focused on a fictional pharmaceutical company conducting genetic testing on people.
“The premise of our attraction is mad scientists, and the zombies are not representations of the actual Marshallese people,” the disclaimer says. “Hallow Inc. in no way intends to exploit this tragedy or its victims.”
The website also says Hallow Inc. has reached out to the Marshall Islands’ ambassador and plans to donate a portion of its proceeds to organizations in the Marshall Islands.
Representatives from Hallow Inc. were not available for comment as of press time.
Langlois said the disclaimer and donations are a step in the right direction, but Hallow Inc. should take the Marshall Islands out of its story.
“Keep the haunted house, but just change the premise,” she said.
Truckers and zombies: A match made in a tool factory, Hollywood and Colorado
A face in the Denver Zombie Crawl, circa 2008. (Denver Post file photo)
It’s Colorado. We have zombies, and because we have two major interstates crossing the state and intersecting in Denver, we have truckers, too.
And then suddenly, in a peanut-butter-meets-chocolate-meets-Halloween moment earlier this week, we had both.
The “Trucker’s Friend,” a hand-ax / multi-tool from Innovation Factory (photo provided by Innovation Factory)
Zombies and truckers together, in a press release from a little tool company called The Innovation Factory.
Innovation manufactures (in the U.S., no less) a multi-tool it calls the Trucker’s Friend. It’s a curved-blade hand ax, a little over 19 inches long, with notches and grippers and pryers and lifters and a hammer head. It’s billed for use in search-and-rescue, on campouts and hikes, for firefighters and construction crews. It’s useful for pulling on tire chains, chopping brush or firewood, prying out nails.
Innovation manufactures (in the U.S., no less) a multi-tool it calls the Trucker’s Friend. It’s a curved-blade hand ax, a little over 19 inches long, with notches and grippers and pryers and lifters and a hammer head. It’s billed for use in search-and-rescue, on campouts and hikes, for firefighters and construction crews. It’s useful for pulling on tire chains, chopping brush or firewood, prying out nails.
But also zombies.
To the surprise of Innovation Factory inventor-in-chief Marvin Weinberger, the tool has been adopted by the zombie-apocalypse-spoof community, which has been pretty much having the time of its undead life this month. And yes, I’m still in denial about having written the words “zombie-apocalypse-spoof community.” But community it is, virtual, imaginary, literary, filmic and face-to-face.
The Trucker’s friend has been reviewed on Aftermath, the semiserious apocalyptic website that posits that the world is going “to hell in a handbasket of nutters”; Zombease, the lifestyle guide to “Living with the Undead,” which gave away four of the tools on its Facebook page; and Weapon of the Week’s YouTube channel, which each week reviews a different weapon you might need in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse.
You might think this is crazy or wonder, as a co-worker did, why members of the zombie apocalypse spoof community havent’ got a lot better things to do with their time. But kudos to Innovation Factory inventor-in-chief Marvin Weinberger, who is showing the love right back to his product’s surprise fan base by becoming one of the sponsors of the push to get “Night of the Living Dead” director George Romero his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Not only that, the sheath for the tool is made here in Colorado, in Durango, with advice from our fire-prone state’s own firefighters.
With the Annual Denver zombie crawl bringing thousands downtown to the 16th Street Mall, a zombie run in Lakewood, a book out on zombie origami, and AMC’s “The Walking Dead” staggering into its third season, it’s probably time someone asked this question:
Can zombies jump? And if so, can they jump a shark?
No matter. Zombies come and go. Tools, though, last. The Trucker’s Friend sells through Amazon.com for $49.95, and will soon be for sale in select truck stops, Weinberger says.
~blogs.denverpost.com
TO EACH HIS / HER OWN
Zombies are everywhere. Ever since the classic "Night of the Living Dead," the undead have shown up in movies. Zombies now are featured in top-rated cable TV shows, and in apocalyptic novels and survival guides. An entire genre has ignited around the concept of adding zombies to classic literature ("Pride and Prejudice with Zombies," etc.). But why are we drawn to these gruesome figures?
In the New York Times, columnist Amy Wilentz reminds us why zombies scare us, and why we can't help but watch through our clenched hands covering our eyes. The zombie myth is rooted in something quite real, and quite terrifying. The zombie stories emerged in a Caribbean context of brutal slavery. The zombie's horror is that he is, she writes, a slave forever. After all, if even death cannot free you, you can never be free.
That's exactly the point, and here's why it should matter to Christians.
Zombies are horrifying not simply because they're mean and aggressive. They are horrifying because they represent what ought to repulse us: the rotting decay of death. But they still walk. And, beyond that, they still crave. In their search for human brains, they are driven along by their appetites, though always under the sway of a slavemaster's will.
That's our story.
The biblical story of the Fall of humanity is one of a humanity that comes under the sway of death by obeying the appetite. God places a fiery sword around the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3 tells us, so that the primeval humans wouldn't eat of the Tree of Life and live forever. Why? It's because God didn't want to consign humanity to a never-ending existence of this kind of walking death. He sentences us to the curse of death so that, ultimately, we can be redeemed.
The Gospel tells us that, apart from Christ, we were walking in the flesh, that is slavishly obeying our biological impulses and appetites without the direction of the Spirit. As such, we were "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). But we weren't inert. We instead, though dead, "walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). We were walking dead slaves.
And, in our death, our appetites weren't silenced but instead drove us along. This walking death, the Apostle Paul writes, was driven along as we "carried out the desires of the body and the mind" (Ephesians 2:3).
Caribbean people could resonate with the horror of zombies because they knew what it was like to be enslaved by evil people, with no hope of escape. And maybe our culture pays attention to zombies because we know what it is like to be dead inside, but unable to find peace, unable to stop walking.
The Gospel doesn't just extend our lives forever into eternity. That's what we, left to ourselves, think we want. The rich young ruler asks Jesus how he can inherit eternal life, but Jesus points out that he wants to eternalize his present state rather than to be hidden in the life of Jesus Himself. That's a zombie walk, and Jesus loves us too much for that.
Jesus offers instead life, and that abundantly, as we eat of His flesh, drink of His blood, share in His triumph over the accusing slavemaster.
So let's have some sympathy for the zombies. And next time you see the trailer for a zombie film, or see the picture of a walking corpse on the cover of a novel, remember that that was your story once, too.
In the New York Times, columnist Amy Wilentz reminds us why zombies scare us, and why we can't help but watch through our clenched hands covering our eyes. The zombie myth is rooted in something quite real, and quite terrifying. The zombie stories emerged in a Caribbean context of brutal slavery. The zombie's horror is that he is, she writes, a slave forever. After all, if even death cannot free you, you can never be free.
That's exactly the point, and here's why it should matter to Christians.
Zombies are horrifying not simply because they're mean and aggressive. They are horrifying because they represent what ought to repulse us: the rotting decay of death. But they still walk. And, beyond that, they still crave. In their search for human brains, they are driven along by their appetites, though always under the sway of a slavemaster's will.
That's our story.
The biblical story of the Fall of humanity is one of a humanity that comes under the sway of death by obeying the appetite. God places a fiery sword around the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3 tells us, so that the primeval humans wouldn't eat of the Tree of Life and live forever. Why? It's because God didn't want to consign humanity to a never-ending existence of this kind of walking death. He sentences us to the curse of death so that, ultimately, we can be redeemed.
The Gospel tells us that, apart from Christ, we were walking in the flesh, that is slavishly obeying our biological impulses and appetites without the direction of the Spirit. As such, we were "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). But we weren't inert. We instead, though dead, "walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). We were walking dead slaves.
And, in our death, our appetites weren't silenced but instead drove us along. This walking death, the Apostle Paul writes, was driven along as we "carried out the desires of the body and the mind" (Ephesians 2:3).
Caribbean people could resonate with the horror of zombies because they knew what it was like to be enslaved by evil people, with no hope of escape. And maybe our culture pays attention to zombies because we know what it is like to be dead inside, but unable to find peace, unable to stop walking.
The Gospel doesn't just extend our lives forever into eternity. That's what we, left to ourselves, think we want. The rich young ruler asks Jesus how he can inherit eternal life, but Jesus points out that he wants to eternalize his present state rather than to be hidden in the life of Jesus Himself. That's a zombie walk, and Jesus loves us too much for that.
Jesus offers instead life, and that abundantly, as we eat of His flesh, drink of His blood, share in His triumph over the accusing slavemaster.
So let's have some sympathy for the zombies. And next time you see the trailer for a zombie film, or see the picture of a walking corpse on the cover of a novel, remember that that was your story once, too.
~sbcbaptistpress.org
FREE AMAZON KINDLE ZOMBIE E-BOOK!
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Author: David P. Forsyth
Synopsis: Voyage of the Dead is the first book of the Sovereign Spirit Saga detailing the adventures of several groups of survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse. Most of them are aboard a ship that is well equipped to survive the end of civilization, while others struggle to survive in a world suddenly overrun by undead cannibals. This is a science fiction adventure set within a horror genre, full of blood, guts, violence and the human emotions that fuel our survival instincts.
Don't know how long this will be free, so get yours ASAP!
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Tough Love - Guest Story from Joshua Cook
A Zombie A.C.R.E.S. Story
“NO! Josh… No!”
Georgia Marie heard the screams by the time she reached the Saunders’ house. Gee was more than half a block from the house, so she kicked it into high gear and sprinted the rest of the way. As she came around the corner of the garage and entered the backyard, she immediately saw the reason for Alice’s hysterics.
Barbara was gnawing on Josh’s neck. Blood poured from the child’s lifeless body until Barbara finally dropped him. Gee had to look away. Even though she was not blood related to Barbara, the whole scene was too much for her to handle. Her attention then turned to her step sister.
I’m gonna have to handle this; Alice is a basket case.
Gee felt terrible for having little compassion for Barbara and Josh, but it was too late for them. She knew what had to be done and she knew Alice would be of little help in her current state. She struggled to block who the dead used to be from her mind. Memories like the day Barbara married Gee’s father, Josh’s last birthday party with the Spider-Man theme, and last Christmas Eve when Barbara had read Twas the Night before Christmas, as was her family’s tradition before marrying Gee’s father, still ran through her head.
Focus, girl! That’s all gone now and Alice needs you.
“Alice!” Gee screamed, trying to cut through the images of carnage as Barbara tore another flap of skin from Josh’s neck, this one ripping free only after it had taken his cheek with it. “Alice! I need you to listen to me! Do exactly as I say!” She whipped her red flannel shirt off, waving it wildly in the air in an attempt to get Alice’s eyes off of her mother, who was ready for her next snack.
Am I even reaching through to that little brat? Do I ever?!
Again, Gee felt horrible about her detachment from her father’s new family and her animosity toward Alice. How could she even be thinking such terrible thoughts right now? Just because Alice was not her blood sister didn't mean she deserved this.
Now, Georgia Marie was not a particularly fit girl; she was naturally thin, despite rarely exercising and typically eating junk food, as most college students do. She had, however, taken gymnastics back in elementary school and had learned to maneuver her small frame quickly; she hoped muscle memory and instinct would kick in and allow her to move with agility for the next few minutes.
“Alice! I’m coming to save you, but you need to calm down and listen to me! Look at me, Alice!” Something finally clicked in Alice’s head and Gee’s voice made it through. Alice turned and met Gee’s eyes, which were a steely, cold gray under her short brown hair. “Great! Thank you, Alice. Now listen carefully and do exactly as I say. Crawl under the table to your right. Go quick!”
Luckily Alice, whose gaze had shifted to the patio table, did not see what Gee saw. Alice’s mother…well the dead, rotting shell formerly known as her mother, was lurching mere inches behind Alice. A cold and sickly-looking hand was reaching, clawing, just behind the trailing of Alice’s long, red hair.
“Alice, I need you to move faster.” Gee tried to remain calm, remembering herself at Alice’s age: though it was only three years ago, it felt like a lifetime had elapsed since then.
There is no way I would have been able to make it through any of this at sixteen.
Alice may have just been a kid in Gee’s mind, but suddenly Gee realized just how much mental toughness her little sister possessed. Regardless, Alice wasn’t going to make it; Barbara was closing on her. Gee decided to pull on her big girl panties and make sure Alice had all the time she needed to get out of the death trap she was in.
As Alice was still crawling toward the patio table, Gee grabbed the first thing she saw, a lawn gnome, and threw it into the side of Barbara’s head. This blow only managed to daze the undead monster momentarily. As this former husk of Barbara spun and flailed her arms, she knocked over the table Alice was crawling toward. It hit the concrete patio with an ear-splitting CLANG which brought Alice even farther out of her shocked daze. She got to her feet and ran behind the upturned patio table, which had skittered across the concrete and was rolling from side to side on its round edge, much like the Weeble Woobles Alice played with as a child.
With her sister out of harm’s way, Gee knew it was time finish this and get out of dodge. She scanned the backyard for more of the undead. She had been so focused on Alice’s immediate situation that it hadn’t occurred to her that more of the creatures could be lurking around. Luckily there was only Alice’s now dead mother to contend with.
I coulda taken her when she was alive.
This thought actually made Gee laugh, which Alice must have thought odd. Gee searched the chaos of the backyard for anything to be used as a weapon. Time was running out, and Gee knew that she had to strike soon.
That is when a broken piece of fence was spotted, but not by Gee. Alice had spotted the piece of fence and noted the extremely sharp point the break made. Alice sprang up and grabbed hold of her newly found weapon.
“Alice! No!” Gee screamed, attempting to stop Alice as she ran full speed at her mother. The sharp, splintered end of the fence board was held high over her head, ready to be thrust into its target.
Without missing a step, Alice leapt from a chair and flew through the air. It was like a scene from an action movie: Alice flying through the air, weapon on target, aimed straight at her mother’s temple. Gee saw it all in slow-motion and she would later run the scene over and over in her head, mainly because everything went along great – until the landing. The wooden missile found its mark flawlessly, but Alice’s momentum carried her body into her mother’s. The collision flipped Alice backward onto the electric grill, knocking her unconscious. She slid off the chrome lid of the grill and slumped on the patio.
Gee ran to Alice, praying she was still alive. Tears stung her eyes as she scooped up her sister’s limp body and checked for signs of life. After finding a pulse and feeling Alice’s breathing, Gee was able to think more clearly. Her first priority was finding a safe spot to rest and helping Alice heal enough to move on her own again.
How the hell did Barbara become a zombie? Her job? Could the tabloids telling the truth? Is Roslun Global responsible for the outbreaks?
Zombies had become a fact of life nine years ago when a man by the name of William Lohman had shocked the nation by revealing he was a true to life zombie. He had accused Roslun Global of doing all kinds of experiments with the goal of bringing the dead back to life. This news lit up the conspiracy sites around the world, and thrust Roslun Global to the forefront of controversy and media attention.
Barbara worked at Roslun . Something must’ve gone wrong.
There had been scattered outbreaks of zombie activity since Lohman revealed his side of the story. They were usually small and quickly contained, many with no physical evidence left behind. The media was often too late to report anything other than after-the-fact eyewitness accounts and hearsay, but a few had been documented. Zombie surveillance websites, tracking attacks and other related events, had popped up like daisies; lots of people checked them as regularly as they did the weather. School kids were taught to look both ways before crossing the street and to look out the window before going outside. The attacks had been so few and far between that most people regarded zombies as something akin to rabid dogs; they were dangerous and real, but so rare that they could be confined to the back of one’s mind.
Where there’s one, there’s more. There’s always more.
There was a small abandoned house a few blocks away where Gee used to go to smoke a joint after school. She hoped it hadn’t been overrun by zombies, or worse, junkies. The fact was Alice’s home was just not safe anymore.
Having grown up in the age of the zombie, Gee knew what needed to be done. She pulled the fence board out of Barbara’s head, finding a sick gratification at the squishing sound it made as it overcame the suction of the wound, and headed for her step brother.
Gotta make sure he’s dead…For good.
Gee stood over her little brother’s body. Even though Josh and Alice weren’t her blood siblings, Gee had always thought of them as her little brother and sister. The tears came and she was powerless to stop them. She waited, watching for any movement through the blurry lens of her tears...Nothing.
Still better safe than sorry.
Gee tightened her grip on the fence board and braced for what she must do. She took a deep breath to steady herself and, without hesitating, she stabbed the sharp wood through her little brother’s head and fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
As she rose to her feet, wiping tears and blood from her face, Gee surveyed the devastation that surrounded her. Mere feet away lay the dead body of Josh, an innocent child, while Alice’s life is still in trouble. There was no fairness in any of it. The anger over this injustice swelled inside Gee until she could not resist one last kick to the side of Barbara’s bloody head.
You did this. I only wish you could feel it.
Gee mustered her remaining strength and decided it was time for them to move. Alice was still unconscious on the patio, so Gee picked her up and carried her inside the house. She reached for the patio door out of habit, but realized it was already closed. It had been shattered, and Gee shivered a little when she guessed how.
Gee lowered her sister gently to the kitchen floor and began to search for some necessities for the road. Luckily, most of the items she needed were right there in the kitchen; flashlight (which was on the floor in the corner instead of its normal spot in the cupboard above the fridge), hammer, a few cans of food, and some bottled water. There was one more thing, but she had to run upstairs to grab it.
Once upstairs, Gee dashed into the guest bedroom. Whenever she came to visit, this was her Fortress of Solitude. Things got tense sometimes, and this was the only escape she had. That’s being polite about it, Gee. This thought lingered in her mind for a moment as she crossed over to the window.
Normally this view was as beautiful and peaceful as any street in America. Things now took on a sinister tone. The trees that lined either side of the street played with the lights, casting dark shadows on the ground. Moving in and out of these shadows were a few of the neighbors. Instead of waving and greeting each other, these once happy neighbors were now shambling aimlessly along the street.
I knew it – there had to be more of them…just what I need right now.
Gee opened the bottom drawer of the dresser, rummaged at the back of it, and grabbed her weed kit. If this was the end of the world, she’d need it.
Alice was still out cold when Gee got back to the kitchen. She looked at her little pile of supplies and realized she couldn’t carry her sister and the survival gear. She stole a quick glance into the back yard. The coast was clear. She headed to the garage. At the very front, behind a couple of boxes of random junk, stood what Gee was looking for; Barbara’s mountain bike with the Burley kid trailer still attached. It hadn’t been used in years, but the tires were still full of air. Barbara had been big on exercising when Josh was younger, but that hadn’t lasted long. Gee maneuvered the bike past the boxes, tapped the garage door opener, tossed the big crowbar that had been her dad’s in the trailer, and rolled the bike and trailer into the driveway.
The sun was beginning to set. Gee ran into the kitchen and scooped Alice up. She carried the teenage girl out to the bike, and laid her in the trailer, gently kissing her forehead and wiping the red hair from her face. After grabbing the supplies and setting them alongside her sister, Gee hopped on the bike and peddled toward the only refuge she could think of.
The house seemed eerily quiet when they got there, though most old houses were eerie at night. Gee stashed the bike and Alice’s trailer in some bushes near the house. If this outbreak gets out of hand, she didn’t want people to know anyone was here. She grabbed the flashlight and crowbar and peered into the windows.
I don’t see anyone, alive or dead, but that doesn’t mean much. I’m surprised there isn’t more activity; it looks like somebody has actually bought the place in the last couple years.
Gee tried the front door. It was unlocked. She made a quick run through of the whole first floor. Nothing seemed disturbed; no signs of the undead or destruction. It wasn’t like there was much to take. The front room and dining room had a few random pieces of furniture, most of which would be too large to be practical on the move. The kitchen was pretty bare as well, but the cabinet drawers were scattered on the floor.
I’m glad to know I haven’t fallen into the Twilight Zone at some point. Somebody was here and took what they needed. Maybe they haven’t left…
Gee crept to a staircase at the front of the house. Quietly moving up the staircase, she steadied herself, ready to attack at the first sign of movement – whatever the cause may be. When she reached the top of the stairs, she saw there were only two bedrooms and a bathroom along a dark hallway.
She easily cleared bedroom one as it was completely empty and didn’t even have a closet. Heading a little further down the hall, she started to smell something. After searching the bathroom, she walked toward the bedroom at the end of the hall. The wind outside picked up, carrying that pungent odor right into her nose.
Gee knew that smell. It was rancid and her stomach suddenly felt like it wanted to turn itself inside-out. Flashlight in one hand, crowbar in the other, Gee slowly opened the bedroom door with her foot, heart pounding with the fear of what she may find.
As soon as the door creaked open, the smell slapped Gee in the face. The source of the smell was immediately located near the window. In a couple of armchairs sat the bodies of an elderly couple, both with gunshot wounds to the head.
Poor couple. Murder-suicide. Looks like the wife was bitten, which makes the husband the gunman for both.
Gee walked slowly out of the room, wondering if she would have been able to do the same in the husband’s place. By the time she got downstairs, nighttime was fully upon them. She needed to grab Alice and bring her into the safety of the house, even if it was just for the night.
After setting up a makeshift bed out of some old, and only mildly disgusting, blankets and laying Alice down, Gee went about boarding up the first floor windows. The furniture that was too heavy to be stolen was perfect to secure the place for now. After what seemed like an eternity to Gee, the first floor was secure enough for the night.
It’s not like I’m gonna be sleeping anyway.
As she sat cross-legged on the floor, holding Alice and just trying to absorb everything that had happened in the past few hours, Gee just lost it. She screamed and sobbed, rocked back and forth, all the while holding her little sister in her arms. Gee’s body was shaking so much from all the emotions that she didn’t even notice when Alice first started moving.
“Alice! You’re awake!” Every single thought left Georgia Marie’s mind in an instant. The tears came on worse than they ever had, but they felt different – almost good. “No matter what, I will protect you from this point on…I promise!”
Gee hugged Alice tightly, holding her against her chest. As she brushed some dirt off of Alice’s arm, Gee’s mind once again went instantly blank…
No…How? You were fine…Maybe the scratch isn't from your mother.
Gee examines the scratch closer. It is just as she feared. The edges of the scratch were already forming blackened edges.
Only a scratch. I have a little time before I have to…Well, before it’s time to say goodbye.
***
Tough Love is just one story from AiZ: Alice in Zombieland (Complete Saga) - a book about family, love, and zombies. Find out what happens to poor Alice and her sister Gee, as well as meet some new characters in this Zombie A.C.R.E.S. book by Joshua Cook. Sam Ashe has been a horror geek his entire life, so when his ultimate dream becomes a nightmare in reality, Sam must man up or shut up to save his fiancee. AiZ: Alice in Zombieland (Complete Saga) is now available in Limited Edition, featuring new artwork, larger size, limited print run, and the never before seen comic Bruce Campbell vs The ACRES. This special comic pits the great B horror star against hordes of the undead. Get this limited edition, plus a digital version and regular paperback edition for one low price, only through ZombieACRES.com.
About Joshua Cook
Joshua Cook was born during the winter of 1977 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Writing has always been a passion for Josh, but the real world never allowed him the time or money to pursue his dream. Now Josh lives in the Seattle, Washington, area with his girlfriend and four year old spanidor dog, Sam Dogg. Here Josh blogs, writes both fiction and non-fiction, and works as a freelance writer for hire.
Joshua's Links
Zombie A.C.R.E.S. on Facebook'The Walking Dead' season 3, episode 4 spoilers: 'The Killer Within' will strike
On October 31, new "The Walking Dead" season 3 spoilers were leaked and they reveal some pretty shocking news about episode 4, "The Killer Within." Spoiler alert: stop reading now if you don't want to know what's coming up on the show.
SpoilerTV.com has made the claim that two characters will die over the course of the episode. While they don't reveal who exactly will die, they offer a poll which contains the two names. Who are they? Well, the poll lists: Merle, Rick, Daryl, Axel, Lori, Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Carl, The Governor, T-Dog, Andrea, Lori's Baby and Michonne.
Missing from the list is Hershel, which could have been a leading choice due to his amputation.
Does the episode title contain a clue? "The Killer Within" could mean so many things on the show. Is the killer in the prison? A recent preview that was released for this episode shows that someone leaves a prison yard gate open and another preview shows someone setting off the loud alarm in the yard, drawing the zombies close to the fence. Is someone trying to sabotage the prison?
Maybe the "Killer Within" is in Woodbury. The Governor is an evil character and the show has introduced him in a gentler light. Surely at one point, they are going to have to show his true colors, right? Who would he kill? The obvious choices would be Andrea, Michonne or Merle. It isn't likely that Andrea or Michonne would die though because their characters play so heavily into later issues of the comic series. Of course, that doesn't mean much considering the show has no problems diverting greatly from the comics.
The person who does die in the comics is Lori. Perhaps the "Killer Within" refers to her baby. Maybe the baby passed away and turned into a zombie, threatening to consume her from the inside. Gross, right? This would be a pretty big departure from the comics in which she lives to deliver the baby, but she and the baby are both killed when trying to escape when the Governor attacks and tries to take over the prison.
One thing is for certain, it will be an emotional episode. Norman Reedus who plays Daryl Dixon on the show recently said, "We just watched Episode 4, as a group, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house, even though these were people who were there while we were filming it, all day, over and over again."
What do you think? Who do you think will die in the next episode?
~examiner.com
Zombie phenomenon is alive and well in the Poconos
Welcome to the Poconos, or Zombietown, U.S.A.
The area suddenly has become awash with zombie-related Halloween-time activities, with zombie walks, races and movie premieres all lined up for the Poconos weekend.
Mark Berryman, 42, a zombie fanatic from Stroudsburg, said he expected the recent popularity of zombies to crest by now.Zombies have become a pop culture phenomenon in the last five years, invading movies, television and video games.
Lucky for him, it hasn't, and he doesn't think it will anytime soon. He's a producer on the movie "Holiday of the Dead," a locally shot zombie movie that will premiere at the Sherman Theater at 7 p.m. today.
It's preceded by the theater's second annual "zombie walk," where zombie enthusiasts put on their best zombie garb and invade the route to the theater and comes one night after a zombie crawl at East Stroudsburg University which benefits Habitat for Humanity on Friday.
Last weekend, Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony held its own zombie walk and costume contest.
"Part of (the popularity) is because it's become a friendly way to talk about survivalism," Berryman said. "There are online forums, meet-ups, and a lot of it is just a thinly veiled way to talk about how you'll survive the zombie apocalypse. What kind of weapons you'll have, what food you'll eat, and what your ability is to do this, that and the other thing."
Andrea Simmons of Matamoras has been a zombie fan since she saw the zombie flick remake "Dawn of the Dead" in 2004.
She's become such a fan she wanted to run in the touring 5K zombie race, "Run for Your Life" — but the closest stop is in Pittsburgh.
So instead of packing up for a six-hour, one-way trip, she decided just to make her own, and now the Matamoras Apocalypse Run will bring together zombie fans and runners in eastern Pike County.
More than 50 zombies are expected to line the natural obstacle course Sunday at the Matamoras Airport Park with about 200 people expected to enter the race.
The zombies will chase the racers through the course, but there is a no-touching policy, Simmons said.
In its first year, it has one major difference than all the other adventure races in the Poconos this year: It's free.
Simmons said the zombie phenomenon picked up because of the inherent fear factor that a zombie apocalypse actually could happen.
When you add it to all the recent media concentration — the wildly popular "Resident Evil" video games and movies, a spike in zombie movies and "The Walking Dead," cable television's most popular show — it seems even more real.
The attention may have escalated since there have been popular, feared end-of-the-world events since the Y2K scare in 1999.
"And it brings together the conspiracy theorists too," she said. "Are zombies the work of government testing? How did they get here?"
I dunno, I just love zombies.
~poconorecord.com
WINDYCON 39 NOVEMBER 9-11, 2012 (LOMBARD, IL)
Friday Programming Schedule
Saturday Programming Schedule
Sunday Programming Schedule
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Welcome to the Zombie Apocalypse!
This fall, roast up some Brains-onna-Stick, and join us in a Zombie Shuffle! We have an awesome lineup of guests this year!
Author Guest of Honor Seanan McGuire
Also known as Mira Grant, and the author of the Hugo-nominated Feed!
Filk Guest of Honor Amy McNally
Also known as Amy McFiddler, who rocks a violin!
Gaming Guest of Honor Steve Jackson
Founder of SJ Games, collector of pirate-themed Lego sets, and keeper of the Chaos Machine!
Artist Guest of Honor Pete Abrams
Creator of Sluggy Freelance.
Fan Guest of Honor Eric S. Raymond
Wandering anthropologist and troublemaking philosopher.
Special Guest Jay Bonansinga
Author, director and visiting professor.
About Windycon
Windycon, now in its 39th year, is the Chicago area's oldest science-fiction convention. Run entirely by volunteers, it is held annually at the Westin Hotel in Lombard over a three-day weekend in early November. Science-fiction and fantasy fans of all stripes come together to talk about their favorite books and movies and to listen to guests and panelists from across the country and around the world. Weekend activities include panels, concerts, anime, a masquerade and costume contest, a dance, as well as a lively dealers' room with books, music, games and costume pieces for sale, and an art show where both amateur and professional artists display and sell their art. Fans can meet, mingle, and talk with the Guests of Honor, who are prominent authors, editors, artists, and musicians in the science-fiction genre.
Friday Programming Schedule
Saturday Programming Schedule
Sunday Programming Schedule
FACEBOOK!
TWITTER!
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