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:

Land Down Undead Promo Site

Reviews: Zombie Tarot

The Zombie Tarot Deck

The zombie apocalypse is upon us and you, unlike those zombie-action movie heroes, have no idea what the right course of action to take is. Your friends and family can't help - they're all zombies - so the fate of the human race lies with you! Unfortunately though, your indecisiveness allows the shambling hordes time to find you. What's more, the remaining humans are fighting for survival and you really don't want to get in their way...

The Seven of Swords

Don't worry though, the Zombie Tarot is here to help! Simply shuffle the deck, deal the formation that suits you best ('The Beginner', 'The Broken Heart', 'The Gravestone', 'The Eyeball', or 'The Severed Head') and concentrate on whatever question of world-changing importance you might have. The instruction booklet provided will guide you through every step and clear, concise explanations on interpreting each card are included as well.

'The Severed Head' layout

Okay, so the zombie apocalypse isn't really happening, but Quirk Books were kind enough to send us one of these amazing decks to try out...just in case. This gorgeous "high-caliber divination" tool was made via a collaboration between author / tarot reader Stacey Graham and Headcase Design and has the honour of being the only zombie-themed tarot deck in existence! (I guess if you shuffled these together with Quirk's 'Housewives Tarot' deck, you might end up with something like 'Zombie Housewives of the Apocalypse', though.)

'Zombie Tarot' without its lid

Anyway, when I say it's gorgeous, I mean it! From the outer box, to the instruction booklet, to the cards themselves, it's a visual feast (...for the zombies, hurhur). The photographs I took don't really do justice to the amazing, kitschy artwork and the great quality of the equally aesthetically pleasing packaging, but they give an idea at least.

The High Priestess, front and back

Using the 78-card deck is fairly straightforward if you follow the instructions provided, whether you're experienced with tarot cards or not. It is pretty much the same format as the Rider-Waite deck, with the exception of the Minor Arcana suit 'Pentacles' being replaced by 'Hazards', which are represented by a bio-hazard symbol. As for the rest of the Minor Arcana, 'Cups' are shown as a skull with a brain in, 'Wands' are bones, and 'Swords', in true horror style, are denoted by a machetes. 

'The Queen of Hazards' and 'The King of Hazards'

Another bonus about this deck is its humour! The tone of the booklet is macabrely tongue-in-cheek throughout and the illustrations are peppered with gory comic relief, without becoming overly silly. At the back of the booklet there is also a page featuring adverts for fictitious products that can help you to either stave off the zombie attacks or, should the worst happen, disguise your infected bite wounds to avoid detection. I have to say though, my personal favourite was the "Bite-proof under armor! For him and her". Haha!

Maybe it's something 'The Lovers' could use?

Overall, this is a unique, beautiful, and strangely amusing tarot deck that any zombie fan would love. Even I, who has grown somewhat tired of the constant bombardment with undead rotters of late, think it's an excellent find and it's managed to restore some of my enthusiasm for the sub-genre again. Hurray!

More photos after the cut below↓

Movie Posters: Dark Shadows (2012)

Scanned from Apollo Cinema's free 'Escape' magazine

Movies: Ghostbusters... 3!

Yes! You're reading it right, little monsters!

After all these years, a 3rd sequel of the famous "Ghostbusters" movie is going to be released.

And as the previous ones, it'll be directed by Ivan Reitman.

The cast? Some of the names are Anna Faris, Eliza Dushku and... of course, Bill Murray!

It's going to be released the 25th of December, 2012. Such an awesome Christmas gift don't you think? ;)

As you all will have noticed by now, I'm pretty excited about this :P Such a classic of my childhood coming to life again!

And you, little monsters? What do you expect from this threequel? ;)!

Commercials & Advertising: The Munsters Cheerios Commercial

"Big G Little o...Cheerios!"

I cannot believe I'd never seen this before today. Evidently, I was born a few decades after it aired, but still!

Toys: Dismember-Me Plush Zombie

I remember spending hours when I was a child trying to create my very own zombie from parts of broken toys and bits of string. Little did I know, that in the future, those clever people over at ThinkGeek would create a plush zombie for me!

"What happens when you take old broken plush toys and bury them in the woods by the light of the full moon while whistling the theme song from "Halloween"? Unfortunately nothing...which is why the skillful design monkeys here at ThinkGeek were forced to come-up with our own scary (but cute) zombie plush.

The Dismember-Me Plush Zombie begs to be torn limb from limb. After all he is a decaying re-animated corpse turned into irresistible cuddly plush. Rip off an arm... he doesn't mind. Tear him in half.. he'll barely notice. Pull off his legs... ok now he's getting a bit annoyed. Steal his brain... now you've really done it. Keep your teddy bears under close guard tonight because undead plush have come back from hell to walk the earth."

One of these delightful little darlings can be yours for just $12.99 from the ThinkGeek store.

Movies: Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things

Bob Clark's dark comedy horror, 'Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things' (1972), is a movie I've been wanting to see for quite a while now, but never have. The story centres around a theatre troupe who carry out a necromantic ritual, as somewhat of a joke, to bring the corpse of Orville Dunworth back to life. After it seemingly fails, their director, Alan (played by Alan Ormsby, who also wrote the film) decides to take the body back to the house in which the group are staying. However, the joke turns serious when the corpses of Orville and the other people buried on the island come back to life to teach the troupe a lesson.

It's a B-movie, so obviously it might be a little silly, but B-movie or not, it certainly sounds very entertaining!

Movies: Zombieland

Well, after a little break from updating (okay, so it was only just over a week, but still!), I'm back, with something for all the zombie fans out there. I am of course talking about the upcoming comedy horror 'Zombieland'.

"In the horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss -- but when you're afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying' bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies."

'Zombieland' may be ridiculous at times, but it's still gory, the plot seems interesting and  zombie movies are always a little amusing anyway (though I love them haha). There's no reason why horror shouldn't be fun too and I for one will be going to see it in November. If you happen to live in the US, it's being released a month earlier, on October 2nd.  

Official Site