Saturday 15 December 2012

Fashion: Hammer Horror Socks


These spooky socks, made by Hammer Films, feature Christopher Lee as Count Dracula (Dracula and Taste the Blood of Dracula) and The Creature (The Curse of Frankenstein). They pretty fantastic and, although I don't know if I'll actually wear them, they were given to me as a fun novelty present and I love them! 






Tuesday 11 December 2012

Games: Free Copies of Metro 2033




At the moment THQ are running a free giveaway of the apocalyptic  horror game  Metro: 2033. It's based on the novel of the same name by Dmitry Glukhovsky. Set in a future where nuclear war has forced humans to live underground, it tells the tale of survivors in Moscow who live in the underground metro away from the animals and humans on the surface who have mutated into monstrous forms.

To get the game you have to head to THQs Facebook page to see the promotion! Stocks are "limited" so hurry hurry hurry!

Link

However, if you don't mange to get a copy from there, there is also the THQ Humble Bundle, from which you can also get Metro 2033 and 5 other games for $1! The other games aren't really horror, though I suppose Red Faction: Armageddon has aliens, and in Darksiders you play as one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse! That promotion ends in 26 hours.

Link

Sunday 9 December 2012

Book Review: To Evil Comes a Daughter by Allen Carraway


Released in 2012, To Evil Comes a Daughter is a paranormal mystery novel by Allen Caraway.

"English magazine journalist, Sam Munro, is in Montana interviewing classic car collector, Doug Bamber, for an article when, to his horror, he discovers that his hotel is haunted, the paranormal activity terrifying him, and the disruptive and restless ghost pursuing Sam wherever he goes.  
To Sam’s astonishment, he also learns through Doug that a murder committed seven years earlier is directly linked to his tormented youth, catapulting him into a maelstrom of terror and vengeance when retired Chicago homicide detective turned PI, Gunther Parkinson, asks Sam to assist with his investigation. As he uncovers a horrific trail of violence and deception, Sam discovers that he has trusted the wrong person, and he could be the killer’s next victim..."

The plot of the book is quite standard for the paranormal mystery / detective genre; an unassuming, skeptical main character is pulled into a dangerous situation by visits from an unnerving spectre. However, the identity of the paranormal presence is unexpected, mainly because it is a character who is not previously introduced. This is also true of the name of the killer as well, with double identities and coincidences being vital to the plot. 

Unfortunately, some of the coincidences seem somewhat forced and far-fetched, serving only to create a twist at the end. The title of the book, too, is taken from one line in the book that seems thrown in specifically to create a catchy title rather than any other reason. 

Having said that, Caraway's writing style is wonderfully descriptive; he creates the beauty of the landscape in Montana just as vividly as the horror of gory murder scenes. However, the details don't become tedious and are punctuated by character developing dialogue and internal monologues. This is especially well done with the conversations between Sam and Doug, as they not only help to flesh-out the two friends, but also the other people they meet / know and discuss. It also ensures that all the characters introduced are more than just one dimensional husks and helps to keep the plot moving.

As well as great descriptions, the use of humour to break up the dramatic and traumatic scenes is effective and makes the book a little lighter than it would have been otherwise. Some of the jovial dialogue does seem a little inappropriate for the moment it's used in, but in general, it's well-timed.

To Evil Comes a Daughter moves at a good pace, has characters with whom it is easy to sympathise and reading it is enjoyable throughout. Even though there are some plot holes and predictable storylines, overall, the novel is a solid, well-written paranormal thriller. 

To find out more about To Evil Comes a Daughter, or its author Allen Caraway, visit the links below:

Thursday 6 December 2012

Shopping & Gifts: Zombie Back Scratcher


Hello fellow bloats and what nots, here on ZombiCV we have a great deal going on! Introducing the new, rotten, deliciously filthy, Z O M B I E BACK SCRATCHER!
This item, is just ideal for all you bloats who are quite unable to scratch their backs and other parts below their belly. Not only is this item ideal for scratching, but as well as harassing people sexually! Wink wink at you perverts out there!

Life is so much easier with a back scratcher, wouldn't you agree? Well? What are you waiting for? Click now! This item could be yours! Just go on and click!

Games: War For the Overworld

Greetings all you ghoultards and vampturds!

I have some extremely blood-dripping news for all of you (especially) Dungeon Keeper-, Overlord-, Evil Genius-fanatics! For years us Dungeon Keeper fans have hungered for the next sequel to Dungeon Keeper 2. Well, that will probably never happen, but wait! Here is the next best thing. I have for quite some time followed this team who are re-creating the atmosphere of all those games we used to play for hours and hours. The game is called War For the Overworld. Subterranean games has started a Kickstarter page, in order to make the game happen. For further information on the game, donations, etc. please click here.


I cannot even express my excitement over this game! August 2013 cannot come soon enough.

For my fellow Dungeon Keeper players, I leave you a question; what is your favorite minion in Dungeon Keeper one and/or two?



Sunday 25 November 2012

Book Review & Giveaway: Meta-Horde by Sean T. Page & John McCuaig

"The year 2020 was a good one for the walking dead. 
The initial reports of a mysterious plague reanimating corpses caused unbridled chaos and as the world descended into hell, nations turned on each other in the battle to survive. Europe is devastated. 

The remnants of NATO managed to create safe zones within cities that still had the protection of medieval built stonewalls. Once again, these ancient bastions were a sanctuary from invaders, keeping back the dead legions. The rest of the continent was a dead zone - populated by hundreds of millions of walking corpses. 

The medieval fortress-city of Carcassonne, in Southern France, became the headquarters of the living but as the last pockets of human survivors rebuilt the fragile framework of a new society, one man discovers a terrifying secret. So far, what has happened is only the beginning. 

Humanity now faces a true extinction level event. 

The dead are clustering in massive numbers. Mere walls can't defend against the overwhelming force of the meta-horde."

This is the intriguing plot of Meta-Horde, the latest zombie book from Sean T. Page (The Official Zombie Handbook, War Against the Walking Dead) and John McCuaig (The Church, The Pyramid of the Dead). Whilst the book has an overt zombie theme, it's also very reminiscent of many books (and films) set during WW1 and WW2, especially with soldiers from various nations coming together to fight a common enemy and the civilian population being expected to fight as well.

The story opens in Dubrovnik, Croatia, but swiftly moves to Carcassonne, France. It's here that the main character, an English scientist called Dr. Raymond Carter, his young, German lab assistant Darcy and Gary the obnoxious, teenage computer genius are introduced. They discover the meta-hordes of hundreds of millions of zombies forming and collectively migrating together. Then, with the help of the military presence within the city, the three start to calculate and form a viable plan of attack. This part of the story line is excellent; it's well thought-out, unusual and really made me want to keep reading.

Unfortunately, there is a twist part way through that really doesn't make a lot of sense and somewhat takes away from the great story that has been built up until that point. It could have been redeemed by more in-depth explanations and solid motives, but that didn't happen. Ultimately, it seemed as though the twist was introduced to provide a way of continuing the story, should the authors decide to write a sequel. It doesn't ruin the book completely, but it does detract from Meta-Horde as a stand-alone a little though.

Apart from this plot point, the novel was well-written, on the whole, though there were quite a few typos and grammatical errors that probably should have been spotted during the editing and drafting process. (So of course this means that I will probably end up missing some errors in this review...) Still, the writing flowed well and was consistent from chapter to chapter.

Although the plot is an important part of the novel, to me it seemed largely character-driven throughout. This is somewhat problematic, as I really started to dislike Carter about halfway through. I wasn't particularly fond of the vulgar and violent soldier Taylor either, but at least he doesn't self-righteously chastise others for behaving the same way he does. Moreover, I don't think that the authors intended Taylor to be likable, for the most part.

The problem I have with Carter's character is largely due to his hypocritical attitude towards saving Darcy at the expense of other people, while constantly criticising others for that exact same kind of selfishness. I understand that she's supposed to be like a daughter to him and, therefore, the only family that he has left, but he constantly bleats on about the (lack of) morality of the actions taken by everyone else. Yet when he needs them to help Darcy, those morals are abandoned almost instantly without any regrets. Perhaps the point is that people who wouldn't ordinarily behave in such a way are changed by their circumstances and the horrific realities of war (and zombies...), but Carter is present in such a substantial portion of the book that it's hard to keep that in mind during every one of his outbursts.

However, there are a plethora of other characters, each with their own personalities and back stories, involved throughout the novel. At times it seems as though there are too many personalities crammed into the 246 pages of plot and some of the characters are left undeveloped and seem quite generic. Having said that, there are others - particularly the soldiers - to whom Page & McCuaig give lots of dimensions and slowly deepen over the course of the book.

At this point, you may be wondering why there are so few mentions of the undead contained in a review of a book about zombies. Well, there really aren't that many zombies in the book. Or rather, there are millions mentioned, but they are always in the background gnashing their teeth, moaning and lurching their way forward, driven by their unsatisfied hunger for human flesh.

Even when the survivors are in conflict with the shambling masses, the horde are still predominantly a backdrop to the story progression. They serve as a grotesque, constant threat to humanity, with the occasional unique physical description here and there, but without individual identities. This meant that there was no screaming and shrieking at the mere sight of zombies, as there are in many stories of this genre. The silence, followed by mild but quiet panic that follows the sightings of an imminent zombie danger works much better here; especially as the dead are drawn in and frenzied by particularly loud noises. Besides, I think, after years of battling zombies that people would have reached this level of desensitisation towards the dead anyway, if only to keep their nerves and sanity in tact.

Meta-Horde, like any book, has flaws but overall it was an interesting read with a great starting premise. It was well-written and had a (mostly) plausible plot. Anyone who likes zombie action-dramas, apocalyptic war-time survival horrors / dramas or even conspiracy theory narratives will probably enjoy this book immensely.


Want to get your hands on a copy of Meta-Horde? 
Enter the giveaway below before December 5th for a chance to win!
Open internationally.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Many thanks to John McCuaig for providing the giveaway prize.

Meta-Horde is out now! 
To purchase the book or find more about the authors, visit the links below:

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Book Reviews: Land Down Undead by John e Normal


Land Down Undead by John e Normal is a zombie comedy, set in Australia, after an outbreak of the undead. Their government allows the other nations of the world to dump their undead in secure, allocated locations, but the zombies escape, unleashing a second wave of flesh-eaters. The other countries of the world, having offloaded their zombie problems in Australia, have returned to their regular lives and the younger generation can barely even remember the outbreaks. Land Down Undead Tours Inc decide to capatalise on that by offering them guided backpacking tours across the still zombie-infested country. After surviving for several years, John, the narrator, decides to get a job as a tour guide with the company, and that's where the story begins.

The premise of the book is quite amusing and, like the book Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse, it tells the story from a first person perspective, as though the zombie infection had actually happened. In this case, however, it's a human telling the story and not the zombies! The comedy is in a similar style to the films Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead though, in as much as there are frequent zombie killings - many times just for fun - and gory scenes intermingled with humourous quips and one-liners.

There is something I personally don't like in the zombie genre: killing zombies for fun / for sport. I don't mind the gore and flesh-eating or even the killing zombies for survival reasons and the zombie opera, but, for some reason, hacking off a zombie's arms and putting tape around their head so they can't grab or bite while a tourist bashes them over the head repeatedly with a bat bothers me.

On the other hand, you do get the sense that John has just become completely desensitised to death and violence in general because of his experiences, and uses humour as a coping mechanism. Even human deaths don't really seem to phase him much, as when any of his tour group is killed by one of the infected, he seems more concerned about getting grief from his employers and having a half-empty  tour bus, than anything else. Still, as a character, he is likable. Or I wasn't wishing he'd be eaten by zombies halfway through, at least!

Land Down Undead is promoted as a comedy and that's primarily what it is, but actually I think that there's more to it. I could be way off here, but the inclusion of zombie politicians, reality TV shows, Australian celebrities that only ever return to their country to get good publicity, and many other things seem to be something of a social commentary in the guise of a zombie book. The zombie apocalypse doesn't change human nature and there are always people looking to take advantage, no matter what the situation. As the narrator states at one point: "the scumbags who relished the new chaos were worse than the infected".

Overall, Land Down Undead is a quirky and fun read and works well as a mock travel guide to zombie tourism, especially with the references to real places in Australia. It is relatively short at 70 pages, but it doesn't really need to be any longer. Besides, the Kindle version only costs 77p, so it's not exactly expensive! I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone with a penchant for gory zombie spoofs, or who's looking for something a bit different from the genre.

You can purchase the book from Amazon here or visit the website below for more information:

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Games: Halloween Sale on Steam



This is only a short entry, mainly because I liked the graphic at the top (which you can see above). It is a sale thats going on right now with lots and lots of Horror games of lots of different genres. There are a few different images that appear randomly. Like this one below!


Anyway, there are also a few Halloween events going on (some of them on free games), and several of the games mentioned here, are on sale!

Monday 29 October 2012

Advertising: Nospurratu


The above cartoon appeared in a recent issue of the free newspaper Metro, as part of Anthony Smith's Learn to Speak Cat series. Nospurratu is a play on the title of and scene from silent film Nosferatu, and is subtitled "Unfed fiend." underneath. It's a pretty accurate description of my cats waiting for their dinner! Especially one of the black cats, whose name is actually Nosferatu, haha.

The parodied scene featuring, Max Schreck, from Nosferatu

Halloween Giveaway Winners!


The giveaway is now over and the winners have been selected - many thanks to everyone who entered!

Halloween Pack Winner: Hikma S.
Vampire Pack Winner: Stephanie G.
Zombie Pack Winner: Dianna E.

Congratulations, your prizes will be sent out tomorrow! :)

29th: Food: Spider & Bat Cupcakes


As I mentioned in a previous post, they have chocolate bats at Sainsbury's this year. So when I also got this bat cupcake decorating set (above) from Asda, I decided to combine the two and make some spooky cupcakes (below)!


They're really simple, so I didn't do a proper tutorial about them. Just use whichever cupcake recipe you prefer and, once cooked, then leave them to cool.


Following that, ice them all, put a bat-topped cocktail stick in and spider chocolate on each one and you're done! :)




This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

Saturday 27 October 2012

Places & Events: Model Village Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors

The Halloween flag
The Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors at Model Village in Babbacombe, Torquay,  is running this year from October 22nd - October 31st. Prepare yourselves for zombies, vampires, werewolves, witches, pumpkins, ghosts, monsters and more, all set in a miniature world!

A shot of some of the miniature models and real plant life
I didn't know quite what to expect from the evening, as the last time I visited Model Village was for school, with some German exchange students when I was about 14 and I don't remember liking the place much. However, The Evening of Mini Horrors was pretty great! I think what struck me the most about the event was how much effort was put into it. Model Village is not usually a horror attraction, and the Halloween event only lasts for 9 days, but nearly every part of the venue - inside and out - was transformed into a ghoulish spectacle, or at least decorated in a spooky way. Even the roof of the ticket booth had a giant tarantula on it, which my friend and I nicknamed "The Yeti Spider", and the woman behind the counter was wearing a ghost ring that I really wanted!

"The Yeti Spider"
So, on to the event itself...during the evening sessions, which run between dusk and 10pm (last admission at 8pm), there are various things to see and activities in which you can take part. First of all, there's the park, which covers 4 acres of land (not including the indoor areas) and has a multitude of moving model displays of varying sizes, interspersed with greenery and - at this time of year - Halloween props.

I don't want zombies on my lawn♪
It really pays to look closely at the scenes that are set up, as you often find unusual and interesting additions to seemingly everyday scenes. Even in the zombie scene above there's a random pumpkin head shambler! 

The Wicker Man display
After dark, many of the displays are illuminated and some even have pyrotechnics and sound effects going on too. The Wicker Man, The Addams Family house, (what I perceived to be a) haunted mansion, and castle with fire-breathing dragon displays were my particular favourites during the visit.

The Addams Family house
Gomez & Morticia get amorous
Pugsley & Wednesday "looking after" the baby
As we walked around the park, we ran into some of the undead staff who were floating around. They told us that although they didn't mind being photographed, the camera might not be able to see them. Luckily enough for us though, it did!


Apparently this was the first year that the park hired actors for Halloween and they really did a good job of staying in character, whilst also being amusing and entertaining. I did notice a few little children skirting around them, wide-eyed though - haha. Speaking of which...

Workshop of Horrors animatronic
The Workshop of Horrors tour is something of a cross between a haunted house and a spooky behind the scenes look at the model-making workshops. If there was one part of the evening that I thought perhaps wasn't suitable for very young children, it was the this. There are a lot of eerie sounds, life-size animatronics and models, scary stories and it's also fairly dark throughout.

A skinned dungeon dweller
That's not to say that all 6 or 7-year-olds would find it scary, but some younger, or more sensitive kids might find it a little disturbing. On the other hand, I loved being scared and creeped-out when I was a child, so it really does depend on the each individual's personality I think. 

Werewolf chained to a tree
The park does have plenty of signs warning parents about what the workshop tour entails though, and the actress leading the tour makes it very clear at the beginning that people can leave anytime they want if it's too frightening. Besides - upon exiting, this inflated cuteness (below) is just around the corner - who could be scared of that?!

Creepy-cute pumpkin ghosts
Apart from the displays and actors, there was also a 4D cinema with that showed an animated version of Dracula in the evening. What made it 4D, you ask? Well, in addition to wearing 3D glasses, the seats shook and rocked, blew jets of air at us and squirted water at opportune moments during the film. One of the moments was particularly gross, as even though I knew it was water, due to what was happening on the screen, it didn't feel like water. 

The Dracula 4D poster
Nevertheless, it was enjoyable and probably something that children over the age of 5 could watch without being frightened. It was really a light-hearted, horror-themed comedy adventure though, so it wasn't supposed to be scary.

This Dracula prop was at the door to greet us!
Overall, The Halloween Evening of Mini Horrors was enjoyable, well-put together and a lot of fun. If you're really only interested in being shocked and terrified, this isn't the place for you. As the MV website states, the Halloween event "is largely aimed at families with a light-hearted Halloween theme, it's not a scarefest". However, if you're looking for a spooky evening out - with or without children - that's a bit different, I'd definitely recommend this event!

Animatronic Uncle Fester (dressed as Dracula) in the gift shop
Location:
Babbacombe Model Village
Hampton Avenue
Babbacombe
Torquay
Devon TQ1 3LA
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1803 315315

This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

↓To see more pictures, click the cut below↓

Friday 26 October 2012

Book Reviews: Dark Water (2004) by Koji Suzuki


Dark Water by Koji Suzuki (author of Ring and Spiral) is a collection of short stories that are all connected to the theme of water in some way. You might recognise the title, as the film, Dark Water directed by Hideo Nakata, was based on the first story Floating Water. The book was originally released in 1996 in Japanese as Honogurai mizu no soko kara (Translation: From the Depths of Dark Water), which I think makes more sense in the context of the theme, but it's not really important.

The book opens with a prologue and closes with an epilogue, both of which are half of a story about a grandmother weaving eerie plots to entertain her granddaughter. These frame the collection of tales well, although only the last story Forest Under the Sea seems to be directly linked to them. I'm not sure if the other stories are supposed to be the ones which the grandmother is telling, but they don't really seem like something you'd tell a little girl, so I assume not.

Koji Suzuki's writing style is fantastic! Admittedly, I haven't read the original Japanese version, but the translation manages to make a detailed account of a man fixing a tap (in Watercolors) really interesting. I'm not sure how that's even possible, but Suzuki managed it. He's also extremely talented at building up tension and creating creepy scenes, which makes Dark Water a lot of fun to read.

However, there are two big problems with this book: the characters and the endings. For the most part, Suzuki portrays the female characters as neurotic or annoying and the male characters as violent and cold, but doesn't really add anyone with a personality that makes you care what happens to them. Adrift, Forest Under the Sea and, to a certain extent, Dream Cruise had somewhat likable characters in, but the endings were predictable. 

In fact all of the stories had predictable or unsatisfying endings to them and that, more than the characters, was the disappointing aspect to the book. Some felt unfinished, whilst others just made very little sense. I don't mind open-ended plots or fantasy / paranormal-based tales, but it often seemed like Suzuki had begun writing a full-length novel, couldn't think of a good ending and so turned it into a short story instead. 

Overall, while I did enjoy Dark Water and Suzuki's way with words is wonderful, the endings ultimately let the book down. It's worth reading, but it's not, by any means, Koji Suzuki's best work.


Posted as part of the Month Before Halloween event:

Tuesday 23 October 2012

23rd: Carving Pumpkins...With a Gun

The zombie uprising isn't for a few months, but lots have people have been getting prepared early! This one man Mr.  has apparently combined zombie preparedness with Halloween festivity and now uses this to carve his pumpkins!

This man has videos going back to 2009 of this method, and has released one for this years season!

It does have the bonus of carving both sides at the same time! Though the face is a little :- | it would be a very quick method for some last minute pumpkins during an assault of the undead!



This post is part of The Countdown to Halloween

Monday 22 October 2012

Toys & Art: Eyezon Tank at Double Punch


The Eyezon Tank is a vinyl and resin custom with glass eyes and a switched colour changing LED unit that illuminates the eyes.  It will be displayed at the Kaiju Eyezon 5th Anniversary show, along with various other pieces, at the Double Punch Store & Gallery. The gallery is located in the North Beach district of San Francisco, California.



Each Eyezon Tank is signed and dated by Bob Conge of Plaseebo, and will be at Double Punch from November 3rd - December 2012.


Sunday 21 October 2012

Documentaries: Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary


Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary
Ocean's Light Productions


Press release:
"Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary is an independent documentary taking an extensive look at the making of Pet Sematary, the origins of the story, the stories of cast and crew, memories of the Maine locals who helped make the film, and the legacy the film has established among horror fans and scholars of Stephen King's work. In addition to featuring many cast and crew members never before interviewed about their involvement in the film, this documentary will also take fans on a tour of all the filming locations. With never-before-seen photographs and footage from behind-the-scenes, original props from the film, media coverage of the 1988 production, and new stories about the Hollywood production being on location in Maine, Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary is an all-encompassing documentary by fans for the fans." 

Saturday 20 October 2012

Book Reviews: Raggy Maggie (Invisible Fiends 2) by Barry Hutchison


Raggy Maggie, the second installment of the Invisible Fiends series by Barry Hutchison, continues the story of Kyle, the 12-year-old boy who is forced to battle against vengeful, forgotten imaginary friends whilst confronting painful memories from his past. Whereas the first book, Mr Mumbles, dealt with Kyle's own made-up pal, this second book sees the imaginary friend of Billy the school bully returning. She isn't quite what Kyle expected: Caddie, a little girl with a doll named Raggy Maggie. That doesn't make her any less dangerous though and she kidnaps Billy, threatening to kill him if Kyle doesn't play a game with her.

Although this is the second book in the series, apart from quoting short sections of Mr Mumbles near the beginning, it doesn't really further the plot threads started in that book. The "Darkest Corners" is explained a little more and Kyle's father is introduced as a more important character, but many questions about Kyle's parents, his mother's imaginary friend and Ameena's background aren't really even mentioned, let alone answered. That's not necessarily a negative though, as the series spans six books in total and revealing everything in the first two would make the other four somewhat redundant.

Hutchison's writing style is still quite vivid, although, unlike Mr Mumbles, Raggy Maggie definitely seems more like it was written for children and young teenagers. The descriptions of the friendship / fights between Kyle and Billy are particularly written in a style more suited to older children but it is, after all, a children's book. This didn't, however, cause the characters to become annoying. Kyle and Ameena's "battle talk" was once again trying too hard to be sassy and just ended up being embarrassing though.

Overall, I don't think Raggy Maggie was as good as Mr Mumbles, as it felt much like a filler in a series. While it did progress the plot surrounding Kyle's father a little, missing out this book wouldn't be greatly detrimental to the set. Still, it was an enjoyable and easy read and I'd recommend it to anyone who liked the first Invisible Fiends book. On the other hand, if you haven't read Mr Mumbles yet, then definitely start with that one instead.


Posted as part of the Month Before Halloween event:

Friday 19 October 2012

Blogger Virtual Zombie Walk 2012: Books - Zombies: 'The Complete Guide to the World of the Living Dead' by Zachary Graves


So, the Blogger Virtual Zombie Walk is finally here! Last year, I decided to let some zombies make a cake, but their tastes seem to have changed to my brains and so simply writing about a zombie book seemed like a better option for 2012 (yes, shocking as it is, I do have brains :P).
"They have always lurked in the shadows, soulless and terrifying, but now zombies have come lurching back into our hearts."


Zombies: The Complete Guide to the World of the Living Dead (2010) by Zachary Graves is 192 A4, full-colour pages of everything from the origins of zombie mythology to the evolution of horror zombies to zombies in pop and more. The sections included are: The Voodoo Zombie (Haitian Vodou, The Bokor, Zombie Powder, Zombie Magic etc), 'Real' Zombies (The Zombie Myth, Zombie Sightings, Felicia Felix-Mentor, Clairvius Narcisse etc.), and The Horror Zombie (Zombie Apocalypse, The Romero Zombie, Evolution of the Horror Zombie I & II, Zombie Comics etc.). 


It's a very entertaining read and whilst, as with anything that references popular culture, it will probably be out of date quite soon it still serves as a good introduction to the history and origins of modern zombies in various media formats. Obviously, none of the subjects covered are discussed in huge detail, but the author does try to give various, balanced points of view and approaches to each topic, rather than simply stating his opinions. This is particularly evident in the sections about Vodou, Voodoo, necromancy etc.


I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in zombies, zombie-related mythology and zombie pop culture. While it may not be as in depth on each subject as some books, as an overview of everything zombie it's a great book!


Don't forget that you can also win the Zombie Prize Pack as part of our Halloween Giveaway!
↓↓↓↓



↓Now you've finished here, you can shamble your way over to the other blogs taking part in the Virtual Zombie Walk below!↓


Zombies Everywhere
[Retro-Zombie]
Halloween Blues
The Southern Northerner
Martha's Journey
Annie Walls
GingerRead Review
App'y Talk
Kweeny Todd
Jenny's House of Horrors
Bubba's Place
Fictional Candy
herding cats & burning soup
Author Sherry Soule Blog
Paranormal research Group Blog
Adult Urban Fantasy by Sherry Soule
Moonlight Publishing Blog
Candid Canine
Ghost Hunting Theories
Above the Norm
A Dust Bunny In The Wind
Faith McKay
Zombob's Zombie News & Movie Reviews
Flesh From The Morgue
The Living Dark
Some One Else's Cook
Stumptown Horror
Forget About TV, Grab a Book
Zombie Dating Guide
Strange State
The Paranormalist - Renae Rude
Idée Fixe
Random Game Crafts
WhiteRoseBud's Tumblr
Gnostalgia
Book Me!
Carmen Jenner Author
Sarasota Zombie Pub Crawl
Not Now...Mommy's Reading
Love is a Many Flavored Thing
Its On Random
Ellie Potts
Attention Earthlings!
Horror Shock LoliPOP
The Spooky Vegan
The Story In...
DarkSide Detectives Blog
Something wicKED this way comes....
Julie Jansen: science fiction and horror writer
Author/screenwriter James Schannep
The Zombie Lab
Creepy Glowbugg
Pickleope
Sharing Links and Wisdom
Midnyte Reader
This Blog Has A.D.D.
Carol's Creations
Jeremy Bates
Vanessa Morgan
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