Editorial: NecroScope Celebrates 13 Months Online!

Thirteen months! Over 200 posts! It's been a busy unlife for the staff at NecroScope since we started blogging from the crypt, and the popularity of zombies in literature, film, TV, gaming, and pop culture in general shows absolutely no sign of waning anytime soon!

Your friendly NecroKeeper would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us over this past 'year'; our staff and guest contributors, those who sent us notifications and material for review, and especially our slowly-growing horde of loyal Shamblers, who dutifully devour every new offering - either here on on our FaceBook page - and offer feedback and encouragement. Keep it coming, zomfans - you're the reason we keep running this freakshow, and - with the next year looking to be an even more massive one for zombie culture - we look forward to giving you more of what you've come to expect from NecroScope.

Review: Dead Men Walking

Tales of Zombies and the Living Dead (Fantasy and Horror Classics)

Various, 2011, Read Books

Dead Men Walking is one in a trilogy of zombie-themed anthologies from Read Books focusing exclusively upon more traditional zombies, particularly those of the Vodou or 'dead seeking vengeance' variety. Overall, this volume is a pretty decent showcase of zombie fiction, comprising such well-known classics as W. B. Seabrook's 'Dead Men Working in the Cane Fields' and G. W. Hutter's 'Salt Is Not For Slaves', along with lesser-known offerings such as 'The Hollow Man' by Thomas Burke and 'White Zombie' by Vivian Meik.

That said, Dead Men Walking may be more for the literary collector than the serious zombophile, even those whose tastes run more to the traditional, as not all of the pieces in this anthology have aged well since original publication during the early Twentieth Century. It's also worth noting that this volume is pretty pricey (AU$25) for such a slim publication (a mere 130-odd pages, comprising nine stories), and that the other two existing volumes in this series each include more than half of the stories already printed in Dead Men Walking. Odd, that.

Nonetheless, a sufficiently decent publication to warrant reading, although maybe one to pressure your local library for.

News: Get Zombified In A Comic!

Talented zombie-portrait artist Brendan Halyday has the following exciting news for fans of zombies, and comics. And comics about zombies...

Have you ever wanted to appear in a comic book, as a zombie?? Now is your chance! I am illustrating an OzZombie story for the Horror comic anthology DECAY. The story is currently slated to appear in issue 10 (scheduled for release Nov/Dec this year). For $100 you can get yourself (or someone you love) drawn into a comic as a zombie that will get published and bought by loads of people. You will also receive a signed copy of the comic, after it is published. The original artwork for the comic will also be available for purchase at a price of $200 per A3 page of original art. Spaces are VERY limited so get in touch asap to take up this offer!

 

To get in contact with Brendan regarding this offer, as well as to view examples of his zombie-themed portraiture, you may visit his website at  http://brendanhalyday.blogspot.com/ (where you'll even find a pic of your own NecroKeeper! See if you can pick him out...) 

Music: Pray For Daylight

Yet more music for the zompocalypse! Pray For Daylight is a folk album that explores the global zombie uprising, love, loss, and other grisly stuff. Chris Kiehne, the artist responsible, says of his work:

'I’ve always felt that the particular element of zombie films that elevates the sub-genre is that first moment of transfiguration, where a character ceases to be him/herself and commences being something other. It’s a really profound moment, insofar as it represents the simultaneous presence of polar opposites, which is otherwise a practical impossibility. You’re standing there, watching your wife rise up from a pile of dirt, and she is right then two opposing things: she is both her and not her, alive and dead. It’s a debilitating situation and demands really devastating moral decisions. It requires Helen to murder her daughter, Shaun to murder his mother, Francesco Dellamorte to murder his fated lover.  I guess in a way it’s sort of an allegorical examination of a diseased relationship, too. But it’s mostly just about zombies.'

Pray For Daylight is currently available for free download, no strings attached, via mediafire.

Review: The Living End

James Robert Smith, 2011, Severed Press

There are approximately 60 million domesticated canines currently living in the United States. When the walking dead rise, when society collapses...what happens to the dogs?

This is just one of the central issues uniquely addressed in The Living End that make this novel such a powerful and refreshing addition to the zompocalyptic genre. Simultaneously delving deeply into the role of religion in creating (or demolishing) societies, the feral dog thread - mostly presented from the POV of one of the canine pack-leaders - is utterly engrossing and original, not to mention genuinely frightening at times. There's an all-too-convincing nihilism to The Living End that puts one in mind of the excellent Eden novels, and Smith's take on the zompocalypse is right up there with Tony Monchinski's work.

Convincing characters, excellent dialogue and prose, and a tension-packed plot that keeps the reader guessing all the way...I'm not going to use the phrase 'instant classic', here, but I will say that this is a zombie novel that deserves to be read.

In conclusion, The Living End is one of those tales that proves, once again, that skilled authors can keep cooking up the 'same old' zompocalypse, provided they can season each new dish with unique and exciting condiments. James Robert Smith has managed to do just that.

The Living End is available to Australian readers via Severed Press, or through selected bookshops.

News: Run For Your Lives

In fiction, movies and games, zombies provide major motivation for the lead characters to keep moving in order to survive. So maybe it was always just a matter of time before someone came up with the bright idea of introducing zombies to stamina-based sports.

Welcome to Run For Your Lives - a genuine sports event being held in Baltimore this October...

Protect your brain and run for your life. This is one race where your legs giving out are the least of your problems. Run For Your Lives is a first-of-its-kind event, one part 5K, one part obstacle course, one part escaping the clutches of zombies — and all parts awesome. Runners will navigate a series of 12 obstacles throughout a 5K course in an attempt to reach the finish line — all while avoiding zombies. At the end of this adventure race, you get to celebrate survival (or zombie transformation) with live entertainment and music, local celebrities, vendors, food, and of course, beer!

Get your running shoes on and start training up now, sports fans. You'll need to be fast by the looks of it...

(Reported by Jessica Post)