Shaun of the Dead

Shaun and Ed are inseparable best friends that share the same hobbies: playing video games, listening to electro, and frequently drinking at the Winchester Tavern. Shaun’s girlfriend Liz is tired of being held back by Shaun and his slacker ways, so she breaks up with him. When he wakes up after trying to drink his sorrow away, he finds the world populated with the walking dead. After resolving to turn his life around, Shaun takes advantage of the apocalypse to take charge and win Liz back. Armed with a cricket bat and a shovel, he and Ed round up their friends and Shaun’s parents and seek shelter at the only safe, secure place they know: the Winchester. With everyone depending in Shaun, will he prove to be a hero or just a washed up loser?

Shaun of the Dead is the classic story of a slacker turning his life around and becoming a hero during the zombie apocalypse. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time because of its perfect balance of horror and comedy with a little splash of romance. I never would have thought that these elements could work so well together, but Edgar Wright’s masterpiece of a zombie film proved me wrong. The buildup to the zombie outbreak is simply perfect. It starts off as a typical romantic comedy with a look into a normal day in Shaun’s life where no one respects him and he lets his girlfriend down time and time again. The next day, he goes through close to the same routine, except for the people he usually sees on his route to the nearby convenience store are all dead, zombies, or gone. One of the things that makes this film great is the repetition. From the first normal day to the apocalypse day, many of the same things are done and said, but mean wildly different things on the second day than on the first. For example, someone commenting “You’ve got red on you” the first day means a red pen exploded in your pocket, but the second day means your shirt is splattered with blood from bludgeoning zombies to death with a cricket bat. There are quite a few things like this (way too many to write about) that provide many laughs and are also a sign of great writing.

Simon Pegg as Shaun and Nick Frost as Ed are a hilarious comedic duo. Shaun is the meek, kind of quiet slacker who lets others push him around. On Z-day, he turns his entire life around and does all the things he has always wanted to do. Ed is the foul mouthed, obnoxious under achiever who makes pretty much everyone uncomfortable around him. He’s still annoying and kind of a jerk on Z-day, but he really comes through for his best friend when it matters. They are definitely an unlikely duo to become leaders during the zombie apocalypse, but at the same time are realistic characters.

Their friendship is exhibited throughout the film, even when they are in the direst of situations. I know people who would go out of their way to kill zombies as if they were in a video game and pick a random location to hide out that might not work out as well as first thought. Although much of the film is funny, there are a few very emotional and touching scenes that brought me to tears. These moments show that the characters have dimensions deeper than their slacker facades. The ability for such a funny movie to succeed in having heartbreaking, tear inducing scenes is amazing and shows a culmination of writing, acting, and directing.

Many zombie films are used as an allegory for social commentary and this one is no different. The opening credits, surprisingly, is where this is most evident, but only on the second viewing. The scene shows many of the people who turn into zombies later in the movie going through their everyday routing: working at mindless, repetitive jobs and doing the same things day after day. Are these people really any different after they become zombies? It challenges the viewer to look at their own lives and judge if they are just good little mindless zombies themselves.

Shaun of the Dead has it all: zombies, humor, romance, loss, video games, and electro. Everyone could find something they like in this film, but it’s required viewing for all zombie fans.

My rating: 10/10 fishmuffins

**This post is for Velvet's September Zombies.**

My Zombie Valentine: Part 2

**Zombiewood Confidential by Marianne Mancusi**

Romeo George’s new zombie film, Isle of the Living Dead, is filming on a desert island, starring action star Mason Mark and high maintenance, demanding Cissy Max. Derek, the makeup artist, just hired Scarlet because he was desperate to fill the position even if she hadn’t quite finished cosmetology school yet. She has had a huge crush on Mason Mark since his days as a singing, dancing child star, but knows that people like that thrive off of fawning peons and try to take advantage of them. Mason really likes Scarlet as well, but is contracted to be in a relationship with the insufferable Cissy by the studio to generate interest for the film. While all this drama is going on, the extras playing the zombies are acting in increasingly strange ways, including biting the stars and repeatedly observing how delicious Mason’s dog smells. When the crew and extras keep disappearing, Scarlet thinks there is something really wrong. With this zombie film come true, can she and Mason stop the zombie apocalypse alone on a desert island?

This is one of my favorite stories of the anthology. The return to the flesh-eating variety of zombie is refreshing and makes me feel right at home. The writing flows really well, making it an enjoyable, fast read. Humor is infused throughout the story along with the typical romance conventions. It’s kind of like a more romance focused Shaun of the Dead. The romance aspect succeeds well in organically establishing the attraction between Scarlet and Mason, which made me care about the couple. In the first two stories, there really wasn’t any build up to the romance which made the story flat and made me more unwilling to suspend my disbelief. The two stars and the director are obvious parodies of famous zombie film directors, macho action stars, and slutty starlets, but there is a dimension to them that also makes them good, relatable characters. Scarlet serves as the everygirl of the story: just a normal person trying to make a living and pay her rent. Although she is justifiably horrified by the zombies and at having to kill one of her friends, she is no simpering damsel in distress. I really like her and I rooted for her through the whole story. The ending is kind of an implausible romance ending with a twist. Overall, I’d say this story rocked.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

**Every Part of You by Lisa Cach**

Angelica Sequiera is in Dr. Velazquez’s office to just fill in 6 shallow acne scars in her face with fat from her chin. Nothing major. She doesn’t exactly want to advertise this, but a rude surfer dude type guy named Tom Haggerty keeps asking her probing and insulting questions. She gets the procedure done and while she is under anesthetic that makes her loopy, the doctor asks if she wants Phi-Tox, a formula of Botox that he has made himself. She resists, but the doctor skillfully manipulates her and takes advantage of her loopy state and injects her. Later, Tom gets her phone number from her friend that works at the plastic surgeon’s office and she reluctantly goes on a date with him. They don’t mesh well at first, but through conversation, sailing, and picnics, they grow to fall in love. After she comes back from their trip, there are increasing cases of women bingeing on sweets, including herself and her friend. They soon realize that women are turning into zombies that only crave sugar because in a last ditch effort to stave off the paralyzing effects of Phi-Tox. It’s only a matter of time before the effect gets worse in Angelica. Can she and Tom find an antidote and save Dr. Velazquez’s clients from certain death?

This is the other story that I enjoyed the most in this book. Instead of a straight romance story, this one focuses on a larger message about how the expectations of society can become poisonous and make us into zombies that have no will of our own. The women in the story all get plastic surgery based on the mass media’s vision of the ideal woman and how others (like creepy, manipulative Dr. Velazquez) view them. Tom represents what true love should be: a man that will love every part of you as you are. He is my favorite character with his surfer dude demeanor, frank way of talking to people, and hidden layers that people who make assumptions about him would never see. The first things he notices about Angelica are the very things she has been led to think need to change to be beautiful: her nose, her breasts, and her butt. Unlike those trying to push surgery on her, he finds these characteristics of hers sexy and unique compared to the typical vision of what beautiful women should look like. The romance between Tom and Angelica is sweet and steamy. This is easily the hottest story of the book, so if you don’t like sex scenes, you should stay away from this one. I really like how the story starts as a typical romantic comedy and then ends with a crazy zombie epidemic. Overall, this story is fun, sexy, and sends an important message to its readers.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

**This post is for Velvet's September Zombies.**

My Zombie Valentine: Part 1

My mother bought me this book on one of her trips to Target as a joke. She reads lots of romance novels and I mock her mercilessly because of their practically X-rated covers and the fact that she’s ashamed to read them in public. She thought it was weird and funny that romance stories about zombies where written at all. Anyway, I finally mustered up the will to read this book and I have to say that it wasn’t all bad. Here’s a breakdown of the four short stories and their ratings.

**Bring Out Your Dead by Katie MacAlister**

This story introduces Ysabelle, the counselor for revenants (AKA zombies), part time tutor, and full time owner of two souls, as she runs into a man by chance on her way to her tutoring job and passionately kisses him. Shortly after, she’s attacked by a demon and his minion imps. The random stranger that she kissed saves her and she heads off to her job. Her charge is a very strange boy named Damian who is boarding up and fortifying the upstairs windows in fear of a Dark One (AKA vampire) that will be trying to kill them. The Dark One shows up and it’s the random kissing stranger. His name is Sebastian and he seeks revenge against Damian’s father who sold him out to a powerful demon named Asmodeus. To complicate things, he has decided that Ysabelle is his Beloved that will grant him a soul and be his for eternity. Can Ysabelle avoid Asmodeus while evading Sebastian’s strong overtures?

This is my least favorite of the stories. In just the first chapter, there are so many things introduced and explained rather than shown that it made the story convoluted and confusing. This story would have been better suited as a full length novel. The plot is complex (as seen in the summary) and there is an entirely new world to explain. The premise is interesting, but the follow through isn’t there. I don’t like that the story is about 5/6 typical vampire romance versus the other tiny 1/6 that’s about zombies. This story feels like the odd story out as a result. There are also many typos and spelling errors that really bothered me. In addition, each chapter jumps ahead in time after the end of the last chapter, leading the characters to fill in the blanks by talking about it. I would really rather just see what happened and I prefer not to rely on the characters describing it to me every single chapter.

I found the characters generally unlikeable. Sebastian in particular is insufferable with his forceful attempted seduction of Ysabelle before they know each other at all. Another extremely annoying character is Sally, Ysabelle’s spirit guide. She consistently speaks in the most infuriating mixture of very bad French and English. I don’t know if it is supposed to be funny, but it really made the story hard for me to finish. It seems as if the author didn’t know enough French grammar to make a properly speaking character and this awful character’s mode of speech was the fall back. There is literally no reason why this character needs to be there. The only part I really like is the end with its small surprising twist.

My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins

**Gentlemen Prefer Voodoo by Angie Fox**

Amie Baptiste has no man in her life, but she has a fulfilling life with a successful business. She wants to find love, but also doesn’t want to turn into her mother, who had a great many lovers, all who left her broken and sad. Being a voodoo practitioner, she decides to use a spell to find her soulmate. The spell works in that it brought her an incredibly handsome man named Dante, but she didn’t expect that he would be dead. Amie immediately tries to rid herself of him, but he’s no ordinary zombie. He now has three days to woo her or he will return to his grave forever.

This story is really cute. The basic story line is similar to the first story in that two people meet and immediately fall in love, but the woman is in denial and the man has to make her see their love. Angie Fox made the characters much more endearing, thus making the basic plot seem less male chauvinist dominated. Dante is a total sweetheart. He is willing to do anything for Amie, even if it means his permanent death. I like how his tragic past is revealed, giving his character layers as the story progresses. My favorite character of the story is Isoke, a Kagamoto dragon with a three foot wingspan. This mini dragon is the greatest comic relief. It’s just the right amount in the right places.

This story succeeds in that the plot is fairly simple with few characters that can be developed easily, without confusion and unnecessary complexities.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

More to come tomorrow!

**This post is for Velvet's September Zombies.**

The Loving Dead

Kate and Michael are roommates and work at the same Trader Joe’s in the California’s Bay Area. One fateful night, Kate’s friend Jamie from her bellydancing class is attacked by a seemingly crazed homeless person. Kate brings her home and starts to become intimate with her when Jamie suddenly turns a sickly shade of grey and her eyes film over. She has become one of the walking dead. After subduing the zombie, her roommates hope this is an isolated incident, but she is only the first of a great many to come. The disease is discovered to be transmitted through bodily fluids, so Kate is worried about turning into one of the walking dead. The next day, Kate leaves to go on a date with her boyfriend, which turns out to be a huge mistake involving a Zeppelin full of zombies. It’s also a mistake because she leaves Michael alone with a house full of zombies. Can these two reunite, admit their feelings for each other, and survive the zombie apocalypse?

When I first heard about this book, I was so excited. It sounded delightfully disturbing and funny. The actual novel isn’t as good as I expected, but not terrible. I like the new take on zombies. It’s always refreshing when an author is innovative and makes a change to make their novel stand out. These zombies can speak, eat flesh, and exhibit heightened levels of arousal and promiscuity. Basically, these zombies want to eat and have sex with you. Plus, they can be subdued with whips or anything that can make a whipping sound (including iPod apps). Even though it sounds kind of like the plot to a badly written porno, I assure you the writing is excellent. The apocalypse is portrayed very well. Many people had to see the zombies killing people before they believed those who warned them. By then, frequently, it was too late to escape. I think this is how really people would act. In addition, certain individuals would try to exert power over those weaker than them and hold valuables over the other’s head. It’s sad, but true. The ending of the novel is the best part, but I won’t elaborate and spoil it for anyone.

The pacing of the novel was the thing that bothered me the most. There is too much time in between patient zero and the full outbreak with the chaos that comes with it. A lot of the narrative is a weird in between area where there are some zombies, but the majority of people still don’t realize something is amiss. I think if people saw a giant Zeppelin fall from the sky and crash to the ground, they would know that something was wrong. The characters are a little vapid and fake to me. They are supposed to be portraying my age group and all they do is sleep around, party, and work at dead end jobs. Other than these things, I definitely enjoyed The Loving Dead and I would read more books from Amelia Beamer.

The Loving Dead is an undeniably unique zombie novel that, at its core, encourages its readers to embrace real love over meaningless, empty relationships even if it’s in opposition to what is popular.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

**This post is for Velvet's September Zombies.**

More Zombie Videos

The book trailer for Night of the Living Trekkies is here in all its pseudo-J.J. Abrams glory! It looks like the book would actually translate into a pretty awesome, cheesetastic movie. Check it out!



AND I found this adorable live action version of the video for There's a Zombie on Your Lawn from Plants vs. Zombies. If you are one of the few people who hasn't played it yet, go play the demo and then buy the game to fuel your new addiction.



** This post is for Velvet's September Zombies.**

Happy Hour of the Undead

Amanda Feral is a zombie. No, not a Night of the Living Dead, dressed in ugly tattered clothes type of zombie. She is an alcohol guzzling, sassy, fashionable, executive zombie. Oh, and she eats people too. She and her (almost) equally fabulous friends, vampire Gil and fellow zombie Wendy, are trying to find their incubus friend Liesl, who disappeared after sending a text message simply reading “help.” This coupled with the fact that other supernaturals have been going missing as well makes them worry. Amanda and her friends realize they don’t know very much about Liesl and go on a search for more information. A lead takes Amanda to a very powerful woman named Elizabeth Karkaroff, also known as the Devil, involved with a plot to create zombie outbreaks at local Starbucks. After she follows the lead, someone is definitely trying end her unlife with a car, guns, and an elevator (among others). Can Amanda stay undead long enough to save her friend and stop her food source from being destroyed?

I really like this book. It’s irreverent, witty, and features a very twisted and dark sense of humor. Amanda Feral’s voice is unlike any other. She is selfish, vain, egotistical, and really funny. I normally would hate someone like this, but Mark Henry manages to make her likable and makes the reader care about her. The language used is interesting to say the least. She uses imagery that evokes certain body parts and is unapologetic about the fact that she can’t stomach anything but human flesh and booze (and about what happens to her should she eat or drink anything else). She is also frank about her sexual appetite and the skill (or lack thereof) of the people she has sex with. I have read reviews by those that think her language and frankness are out of place and highlight the fact this it is written by a man, but I completely disagree. Just because she’s not a simpering, shy violet doesn’t mean that she’s not a woman. I also like that she went from someone who died because of her own selfishness to someone who would go through a lot of time and trouble to help her friends.

The format of the novel is also very interesting. There are 132 footnotes throughout the story that do anything from defining an acronym to chastising the reader for thinking dirty thoughts. There are also lists intermittently placed that feature drink recipes and playlists of music appropriate for the setting. I also like that Amanda frequently speaks directly to the reader like a twisted Jane Austen novel.

If you like a sharp wit and dark, twisted humor, this is the book for you. Allow Mark Henry to take you to a world that exists below the human world, rife with zombies, shapeshifters, and other supernatural creatures. If you have are squeamish or have a weak stomach, I would pass on this one.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

**This post is for Velvet's September Zombies.**

Boneshaker

In the 1860’s, the Russians look for a way to drill into the ice in the Klondike where there is supposed to be gold because they don’t possess the technology. To generate interest, they create a contest with a cash prize for the person who can create a machine that will access the gold for them. Leviticus Blue from Seattle is the lucky inventor that wins for his Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine. When he tests the machine, he tears through the city’s underground (and pausing at the banks) and returns home. Unbeknownst to him, his path through the city has caved in, leaving countless injured or dead. On top of that, it released a gas called the Blight from the earth that turns normal people into flesh eating zombies. Sixteen years later, after the city has been evacuated and walled up, Briar Wilkes is still dealing with the consequences of her late husband’s folly. Her teenage son, Zeke, convinced of his father’s innocence, goes into the abandoned city to clear his father’s name. Briar tries to follow him into the city, but his way in and out caved in after an earthquake. How can she get in the city to save her son? Is he even still alive?

When I first heard about this book, I was so excited! Steampunk, dirigibles, zombies, mad scientists, and alternate history: what’s not to like? I was not disappointed at all when I finally got to read it. Although the history is altered a bit to suit the story, I didn’t really notice the changes. This is partly due to the fact that I’m not a huge history buff, but part of it is because of Cherie Priest’s superb writing. Her style flows incredibly well, drawing the reader into the book. The details that she includes really bring the characters and setting to life. The Victorian era in post-Boneshaker Seattle isn’t what one would expect, but for good reason. The people who live in the Outskirts (outside of the wall from the Blight filled city) struggle to survive and make a living and feel isolated from the world as a whole. The writing also excels in fleshing out each character so they feel like real people.

Briar Wilkes is my favorite character in the novel. She’s a tough as nails, no nonsense woman who will go through, under, or over any obstacle to get to her boy. Discrimination or condescension from others has no affect on her and she does what needs to be done. Her life is made very difficult because of her involvement with Leviticus, the destroyer of Seattle, and a lesser person would have broken or given up. Briar is admirable and stretches herself to her limits. I enjoyed the chapters that were from her point of view much more than the chapters in Zeke’s. On each chapter header there is either a pair of goggles or a lantern to indicate who is the focus of the chapter (goggles for Briar and the lantern for Zeke). Zeke is a typical teenager, which is the reason for most of my annoyance with him. He’s kind of annoying and thinks it’s such a great idea to go into a city rife with zombies, poisonous gas, and criminals in order to wander around aimlessly and try to find where his parents used to live for some indeterminate evidence to clear his father’s name. With Briar’s narrative, more is known than just Zeke’s view about who to trust and who to be wary of and we see Zeke make wrong decisions about this at least a few times. It’s kind of frustrating, but in general, he’s a smart and industrious character.

Boneshaker is a fast paced, fun read. Even though the zombies aren’t the focus of the book, they still remain a constant danger that the characters always need to be aware of, giving the narrative that little dose of adrenaline and horror. I would recommend this book to fans of steampunk, alternate histories, and science fiction in general.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

** The next book, Dreadnought, comes out on September 28. Pre-order it here!**

** This post is for Velvet's September Zombies!**