Re: Your Brains - A Tribute Video

Here's a video done by my friend Brittany (lotusfae on YouTube), paying tribute to the song by Jonathan Coultan.

Zombie: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!


Last Halloween we featured Night of the Living Dead.
Tonight we feature Dawn of the Dead.

Director George A. Romero's epic sequel to his legendary Night of the Living Dead has firmly established itself as the equal of its ground-breaking predecessor. Though shot in 1978 -- ten years after the first films' release -- Dawn's story begins as if the events in Night had happened only a few months before: after shambling armies of the recently-dead take over every major city -- seeking warm human flesh for food -- the U.S. government imposes a state of martial law, sending in special National Guard units to attack and destroy zombie infestation where they find it.

This is the faster-paced European/Italian version edited by overseas distributor Dario Argento. It's the full movie, from a playlist.

Friday Night Frights: Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Welcome to tonight's episode of Friday Night Frights.

Tonight's feature is the 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead, directed by Zack Snyder. The writers are George A. Romero (1978 screenplay) and James Gunn (screenplay).

A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman, and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island finds Scooby and the gang on Zombie Island, where they are menaced by the ghost of Moonscar the Pirate and the island's most infamous inhabits - Zombies!!

This is the full movie, from a playlist.

This Week in Horror: August 23 - 29

August 23
1974 – Ray Park (stunt double in Sleepy Hollow) born

August 24
1960 – Takashi Miike (director of many horror films) born
1990 – Darkman released theatrically
2001 – Ghosts of Mars released theatrically

August 25
1979 – Zombi 2 released theatrically
2005 – Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow released on the Nintendo DS in Japan

August 26
2005 – Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 released for the PlayStation 2 in Europe

August 27
1992 – Castlevania II: Simon's Quest released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe

August 28
1987 – Castlevania II: Simon's Quest released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan

August 29
1915 – Ingrid Bergman (actress in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)) born (d. August 29, 1982)
1935 – William Friedkin (director of The Exorcist, Rampage, The Guardian and Bug) born
1939 – Joel Schumacher (director of The Lost Boys) born




Source: wikipedia Portal:Horror/This day in horror archive

Please leave a comment with any additions/corrections. Thanks.

Zombie Alerts!

In this photo provided by Chris Nakashima-Brown, an electronic road sign is seen in Austin, Texas on Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. Two electronic signs intended to warn motorists of construction near the intersection of Lamar and Martin Luther King boulevards were changed yesterday by hackers.


By Jim Suhr
Associated Press
Published: February 5, 2009

Pranksters in at least three states are messing with electronic road signs meant to warn motorists of possible traffic problems by putting drivers on notice about Nazi zombies and raptors. And highway safety officials aren't amused.

The latest breach came Tuesday during the morning rush hour near Collinsville, Illinois, where hackers changed a sign along southbound Interstate 255 to read, "DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES."

A day earlier in Indiana's Hamilton County, the electronic message on a board in Carmel's construction zone warned drivers of "RAPTORS AHEAD — CAUTION."

And signs in Austin, Texas, recently flashed: "NAZI ZOMBIES! RUN!!!" and "ZOMBIES IN AREA! RUN."

Officials in Illinois are concerned the rewritten signs distract motorists from heeding legitimate hazards down the road. The hacked sign on Tuesday originally warned drivers of crews replacing guardrails.

"We understood it was a hoax, but at the same time those boards are there for a reason," said Joe Gasaway, an Illinois Department of Transportation supervisory field engineer. "We don't want (drivers) being distracted by a funny sign."

Authorities haven't figured out how pranksters access the signs. Gasaway believes the Illinois sign was changed remotely, and Austin Public Works spokeswoman Sara Hartley suspected the hackers there cut a padlock to get into the signs' computers.

Some Web sites, such as Jalopnik.com, have published tutorials titled "How to Hack an Electronic Road Sign" as a way to alert security holes to traffic-safety officials. Jalopnik urges its readership of 2.6 million a month not to put its lesson to practice.

"Hacking generally is about showing where there are holes in security systems, and I think this is a great example of that," the site's editor-in-chief, Ray Wert, told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday. "I'm sure there are all sorts of ways to use that information in a way that's inappropriate, but we're trying to make clear this is an issue that needs to be confronted by traffic safety and transportation officials."

Wert said he had no immediate plans to take down Jalopnik's how-to guide.

In Illinois, tampering with an official traffic control device is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $250 fine — half what a culprit might have to pay in Texas if caught. If convicted in Indiana, a culprit faces up to a year in jail and $5,000 in fines.

Studio 407's Netherworld

Chris Jones, the writer on this book, was kind enough to send me the press release below for a new release from Studio 407. He describes it as follows:

"It's a science-fiction/horror book about a research scientist abducted by the military for a covert mission on a hostile planet under alien control where all of the inhabitants have suddenly fallen dead. Now, I could go on about how its cold-war-political undertones are an homage to the classic sci-fi movies from the fifties, or about the emotional struggle the main character, Emily, has as a pacifist forced on a mission with a military objective, but I can really sum the book up in two words:

Alien Zombies."

Sounds great to me! Check out their site for other comics, as well.

PRESS RELEASE, for immediate distribution

Studio 407's Unleashes Sci-fi/Horror Mini-Series Netherworld on March 25th

January 12, 2009 - Studio 407 is excited to launch the first issue of "Netherworld" on March 25th. Studio 407 recently announced that their vampire series The Night Projectionist was picked up by Myriad Pictures along with the much anticipated Hybrid which starts filming later this year, directed by Ernie Barbarash (Cube Zero, American Psycho 2). Now comes an original new series Netherworld, which takes the zombie/undead genre to a terrifying new level. Adding to Studio 407’s growing stable of horror titles, Netherworld is penned by emerging writing talent Chad Jones and penciled by Brazilian artist RB Silva.

Jones says "I've been writing genre for as long as I can remember. So, I was kicking around a novel idea and was trying to describe the creature concept in the story to a friend and made the off-hand comment, "well it's not like they're alien zombies or anything..." Jones continues "And I stopped. And I thought, hmm.... that would be kind of awesome. Alien zombies. Hell, I gotta write that! And suddenly, Netherworld became my obsession. Everything else that I had been writing, planning to write or thinking about writing, got put to the side and I started hammering the keyboard like a mad person. And Netherworld came out in a flourish of alien body parts, political intrigue, humans running for their lives and lots and lots of blood."

Preview "Netherworld" at: http://studio-407.com/microsite_nw/index.html

Netherworld is described as: On a distant planet, a team of specialists investigate the mysterious remains of an alien civilization brought to the brink of extinction. Dead alien bodies litter the streets of a massive city of an once majestic, extraterrestrial culture still strange and foreign to them. As the team unravels the enigma surrounding this cataclysmic event, they discover the planet’s horrible secret, and soon find themselves surrounded by a legion of undead aliens. The comic series is written by Chad Jones and artist RB Silva.

Jazma calls "Netherworld": "Intense!"
Broken Frontier says "It may be the best small press sci-fi book going."

Bringing out of this world action with full on terror, Netherworld blends Aliens with Dawn of the Dead, and will be sure to satisfy both horror and science fiction fans alike.
You can pre-order "Netherworld" now by using the Diamond order code: DCD item # JAN094420

For more information on Studio 407, visit them online at (http://www.Studio-407.com), or check them out in your local comic book shop!

About Studio 407

Studio 407 brings together the imagination and creative talents of writers and artists from North America and Asia to generate a flow of distinct and kinetic East-meets-West entertainment. A writer driven studio that blends innovation with tradition, Studio 407 is dedicated to publishing the highest quality in comics and manga, across a wide variety of genres. From capes to kung fu, giant robots to vampires, and secret agents to mad scientists; at Studio 407, we sweat the details. http://www.Studio-407.com.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

This is hands down the BEST zombie book I have EVER read (and that includes Zombie Haiku).

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks, is a follow-up to his previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide, but is more serious in tone, and strives to be both factually and psychologically convincing.

Rather than a grand overview or a single perspective, World War Z is instead a collection of individual accounts in the form of interviews between the author and the characters. Taking place in the 2010s, the book charts a war against zombies from remote oddities, to a global pandemic to mass panic, and then to an armed struggle to reclaim the planet from the undead. In addition, the personal accounts describe the changing religious, geo-political, and environmental aftermath of the Zombie war.

Inspired by the The Good War and George Romero, Brooks uses World War Z to provide commentary on a wide range of topics including government ineptitude, survivalism, and uncertainty in our times. It has been praised by critics and the audiobook version, complete with an all-star cast, won the 2007 Audie Award. A film based upon the book is currently in development, and is expected to be released in 2010.

From the Publisher
“The end was near.” —Voices from the Zombie War

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brookssays in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.


Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war

“I found ‘Patient Zero’ behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he’d rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was ‘cursed.’ I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy’s skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse.” —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China

“‘Shock and Awe’? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can’t be shocked and awed? Not just won’t, but biologically can’t! That’s what happened that day outside New York City, that’s the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn’t shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They’re not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!” —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers

“Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth.” —General Travis D’Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe



Sources include this Wikipedia article

Fear Itself: New Year's Day (2008)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's an episode of the NBC show "Fear Itself".

New Year's Day was written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II).

A woman wakes up on New Year's morning to discover that the city is in an uproar. She vaguely remembers a party and it is assumed she passed out. She then attempts to get to her friend's apartment while continuing to remember parts of the party and all the while avoiding zombies.

The Stupidest Angel

This is an excellent book by Christopher Moore to read during the holiday season. A Christmas story with zombies!

'Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit.

But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he's not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn't run away from home. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead.

But hold on! There's an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It's none other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel's not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say "Kris Kringle," he's botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen.

Move over, Charles Dickens -- it's Christopher Moore time.

Day of the Dead (1985)

Here's a scene from Day of the Dead (1985) with my favorite zombie, Bub.

This final chapter of George A. Romero's "Dead Trilogy" is even gorier than the first two "Dead" films - Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978) - thanks to special makeup effects by gore master Tom Savini.

The blood and entrails used in the disemboweling of Capt. Rhodes were real. Pig intestines and blood were procured form a nearby slaughterhouse and used to make the scene. During filming the refrigerator housing intestines and blood was unplugged by custodial staff, and the entrails started to spoil causing most of those involved to become physically sick.

WARNING - CLIP CONTAINS SCENES OF GRAPHIC VIOLENCE

Friday Night Frights: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

They're coming to get you, Barbra!

Welcome to tonight's episode of Friday Night Frights.

Tonight's feature is the one that started it all. Night of the Living Dead is the classic genre-spawning 1968 horror film directed by zombie master George A. Romero.

The plot revolves around the mysterious reanimation of the dead and the efforts of Ben, Barbra and five others to survive the night while trapped in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse. Chaos descends as the bodies of the recently deceased inexplicably return to life and feed on human flesh. The only way to destroy the zombies is to destroy the brain!

Night of the Living Dead was awarded two honors thirty years after its debut. The Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 1999 with other films deemed "historically, culturally or aesthetically important in any way." In 2001, the American Film Institute named the film to a list of one hundred important horror and thriller films.

Wednesday 13 - I Walked With a Zombie

Zombie Haiku *and* a CONTEST

A haiku is simply a poem that follows a couple of simple rules. It has to be three lines, and those lines have to be 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables.

For a great book of haiku about - yes, zombies - I highly recommend Zombie Haiku, by Ryan Mecum.

As the publisher says: "Perfect for zombiephiles, video game addicts, grindhouse nostalgists, and horror movie fanatics, Zombie Haiku is the touching story of a zombie's gradual decay told through the intimate poetry of haiku. From infection to demise, readers will accompany the narrator on a zen journey through deserted streets and barracaded doors for every eye-popping, gut-wrenching, flesh-eating moment right up until the inevitable bullet to the brain. Plus the book is illustrated with over 50 photos from the zombie's eye and designed with extra blood, guts and pus!"

Some examples:

Biting into heads
is much harder than it looks.
The skull is feisty.

and

Nothing hurts me now.
Normally the screwdriver
wouldn't have gone there.

and

You are so lucky
that I cannot remember
how to use doorknobs.

This book is hilarious.

CONTEST:
In the comments for this post, feel free to share your own zombie haiku. Enter as often as you wish. We'll vote later on the best, and it will be posted on this blog underneath my profile for all to see.

25th Anniversary of Thriller

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller, directed by John Landis.
I remember the anticipation leading up to it's premier on MTV.

Zombie vs. Shark

Italian director Lucio Fulci used a real Tiger Shark in this famous scene from his 1979 movie Zombie 2 (known in the USA as Zombie and in the UK as Zombie Flesh Eaters).

THE Definitive Zombie Movie Guide

An invaluable reference I picked up a couple of weeks ago is
Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide, by Glenn Kay.

As stated on the back cover:

Zombie Movies is an essential purchase for all those who love (or fear) horror cinema's most popular and terrifying creation. This thorough and authorative yet uproarious guide

• Reviews and rates nearly 300 zombie films - from Bela Lugosi's White Zombie (1932) to George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead (2008)


• Traces the evolution of the zombie over the decades, from voodoo slave to brain-eating undead to raging infected


• Lays out what makes a zombie, as opposed to a ghost, ghoul, vampire, mummy, pod person, rabid sicko, or Frankenstein's monster


• Includes a detailed and chilling journal from the filming of Land of the Dead


• Lists the oldest and most gruesome things ever seen in undead cinema


• Covers not only mainstream American movies but also small independent productions, Spanish and Italian exploitation pictures, and bizarre offerings from Japan and Hong Kong


• Provides a detailed rundown of the 25 greatest zombie films ever made


• Features in-depth interviews with actors, directors, makeup effects wizards, and other zombie experts

For serious fans and casual moviegoers alike, Zombie Movies will provide plenty of informative and entertaining brain food.