Brett Davis's Blog, page 2
April 30, 2013
OK, time to revitalize this zombie blog with a ... zombie...
OK, time to revitalize this zombie blog with a ... zombie bobblehead! This is the "Karen Cooper" zombie from "Night of the Living Dead," as spotted at Seattle's Experience Music Project museum. It was in the science fiction wing's gift shop, for some reason. Couldn't resist.
March 24, 2013
So, last night I had this really weird dream that I was b...
So, last night I had this really weird dream that I was being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but then Fidel Castro was also trying to shoot me with a rifle.
I will send a coupon for a free copy of "Mama Lona's Man" to the first person who correctly tells me which one got me first. The race is on!
I will send a coupon for a free copy of "Mama Lona's Man" to the first person who correctly tells me which one got me first. The race is on!
March 11, 2013
So, when I first "got wind" of a zombie-related fragrance...
So, when I first "got wind" of a zombie-related fragrance, I assumed it made you smell like the undead, so maybe they wouldn't eat you ... and I was right!
From the article: According to Demeter Fragrance Library, notorious purveyors of offbeat scents, the new fragrances are designed to "make the dead simply pass by without offending.” They are designed to help you escape the zombie apocalypse by masking warm, spring-fresh natural human scents with deep earthy tones of dried leaves, mushrooms, mildew and moss, which mimic the "barely-dead" scents of the Undead, causing them to mistake the human wearer for their kind and allow the living mingle with the Undead undetected.
Too bad Valentine's Day is already over this year!
From the article: According to Demeter Fragrance Library, notorious purveyors of offbeat scents, the new fragrances are designed to "make the dead simply pass by without offending.” They are designed to help you escape the zombie apocalypse by masking warm, spring-fresh natural human scents with deep earthy tones of dried leaves, mushrooms, mildew and moss, which mimic the "barely-dead" scents of the Undead, causing them to mistake the human wearer for their kind and allow the living mingle with the Undead undetected.
Too bad Valentine's Day is already over this year!
February 15, 2013
Since I am both a bit lazy and a bit busy, I thought I wo...
Since I am both a bit lazy and a bit busy, I thought I would repost a guest post I wrote for Cloey's Book Reviews and Other Stuff. Hope she doesn't mind.
The Top 10 Things You May Not Know About Zombies
Number One: They didn't start eating people until 1968. Zombies originated in Vodou (or Voodoo) folklore, and referred to dead people revived by witch doctors, or bokors, to be slaves. So, for centuries zombies were just luckless slaves, kind of creepy but generally not all that scary. George Romero made them scary in his seminal “Night of the Living Dead,” although he refers to these hungry, reanimated corpses only as ghouls, not zombies.
Number Two: The first full-length zombie movie was a love story. That would be “White Zombie,” in which an evil witch doctor plots to turn a beautiful young woman into a zombie so she will fall in love with a wealthy plantation owner. This one dates all the way back to 1932 and stars Bela Lugosi as the bokor, just a year after his star turn as a certain vampire named Dracula.
Number Three: They don't have to have bodies. One type of zombie is a spirit zombie, or astral zombie, which are used to enhance the witch doctor's power. In “Mama Lona's Man,” I combined these two to create a spirit zombie who inhabits his own dead body. Gotta think outside the box sometimes.
Number Four: You don't have to shoot them in the head to kill them. Not the traditional Vodou zombie, anyway. You just need to stuff salt in their mouths, which either brings them back to life or convinces them to return to the grave. Easier said than done, for sure, but if you can accomplish it, less messy than firearms.
Number Five: They may be real. There have been numerous anecdotal accounts of researchers who visit Haiti and other Vodou-equipped areas and hear of the reanimated dead, and occasionally they even have first-hand accounts. Theories include the application of various drugs, hypnosis, and perhaps even actual black magic. Researchers wrote in The Lancet more than a decade ago that there were probably various interpretations for the zombie phenomenon, including mental illness, learning disabilities and brain damage. Such folks are “not uncommonly met with wandering in Haiti,” they wrote, which is not very nice to say.
Number Six: They may be real and closer than Haiti. And, in this case, caused by drugs. Namely the compounds known as “bath salts,” which sound kind of nice but seem to drive people completely nuts. Such as the guy in Florida who recently chewed another guy's face off and then withstood several bullet wounds from police before succumbing. Or maybe he had just seen too many zombie movies.
Number Seven: Vampires trump zombies. At least according to Spike TV, which runs shows like “Deadliest Warrior,” which pits historical figures against each other in speculative match-ups, such as Teddy Roosevelt vs. Lawrence of Arabia, or Saddam Hussein vs. Pol Pot (I am not making this up). They did one episode that pitted vampires against zombies. I didn't have cable at the time and didn't watch it, but it's online and judging by the comments, the vampires won. I don't know, I like to think that my book's zombie hero, Ravinell Straw, could take Edward Cullen in a fair fight.
Number Eight: Zombies can dance. Forgotten “Thriller” already, have you? For shame.
Number Nine: They aren't really that bitey. Sure, the zombies in “Walking Dead” can easily tear through flesh in one chomp, despite having allegedly rotting jaw muscles, but in reality humans rank fairly low on the bite scale compared with some other critters. The human jaw generates 120 pounds of bite pressure. Snapping turtles generate 1,000 pounds. “Night of the Living Dead Snapping Turtles”? Yeah, you don't really want to watch that. Crocodiles, just to show off, generate 2,500 pounds of bite pressure. Just an aside here to mention that my zombie character in “Mama Lona's Man” doesn't bite anyone. He may bite the girl he loves in a later book, but only if she asks him to. That could come in a planned sequel, “50 Shades of Gray Skin.”
Number Ten: Zombies are metaphorical, sometimes. Adam Ant, of 1980s new wave music fame, just issued his comeback single, which refers to his exile from the music scene when he moved from London to tiny Dayton, Tennessee. He was dead, but not dead, and still cool. And now he's going back on tour, so his career may be revived after all. The song title? “Cool Zombie.”
The Top 10 Things You May Not Know About Zombies
Number One: They didn't start eating people until 1968. Zombies originated in Vodou (or Voodoo) folklore, and referred to dead people revived by witch doctors, or bokors, to be slaves. So, for centuries zombies were just luckless slaves, kind of creepy but generally not all that scary. George Romero made them scary in his seminal “Night of the Living Dead,” although he refers to these hungry, reanimated corpses only as ghouls, not zombies.
Number Two: The first full-length zombie movie was a love story. That would be “White Zombie,” in which an evil witch doctor plots to turn a beautiful young woman into a zombie so she will fall in love with a wealthy plantation owner. This one dates all the way back to 1932 and stars Bela Lugosi as the bokor, just a year after his star turn as a certain vampire named Dracula.
Number Three: They don't have to have bodies. One type of zombie is a spirit zombie, or astral zombie, which are used to enhance the witch doctor's power. In “Mama Lona's Man,” I combined these two to create a spirit zombie who inhabits his own dead body. Gotta think outside the box sometimes.
Number Four: You don't have to shoot them in the head to kill them. Not the traditional Vodou zombie, anyway. You just need to stuff salt in their mouths, which either brings them back to life or convinces them to return to the grave. Easier said than done, for sure, but if you can accomplish it, less messy than firearms.
Number Five: They may be real. There have been numerous anecdotal accounts of researchers who visit Haiti and other Vodou-equipped areas and hear of the reanimated dead, and occasionally they even have first-hand accounts. Theories include the application of various drugs, hypnosis, and perhaps even actual black magic. Researchers wrote in The Lancet more than a decade ago that there were probably various interpretations for the zombie phenomenon, including mental illness, learning disabilities and brain damage. Such folks are “not uncommonly met with wandering in Haiti,” they wrote, which is not very nice to say.
Number Six: They may be real and closer than Haiti. And, in this case, caused by drugs. Namely the compounds known as “bath salts,” which sound kind of nice but seem to drive people completely nuts. Such as the guy in Florida who recently chewed another guy's face off and then withstood several bullet wounds from police before succumbing. Or maybe he had just seen too many zombie movies.
Number Seven: Vampires trump zombies. At least according to Spike TV, which runs shows like “Deadliest Warrior,” which pits historical figures against each other in speculative match-ups, such as Teddy Roosevelt vs. Lawrence of Arabia, or Saddam Hussein vs. Pol Pot (I am not making this up). They did one episode that pitted vampires against zombies. I didn't have cable at the time and didn't watch it, but it's online and judging by the comments, the vampires won. I don't know, I like to think that my book's zombie hero, Ravinell Straw, could take Edward Cullen in a fair fight.
Number Eight: Zombies can dance. Forgotten “Thriller” already, have you? For shame.
Number Nine: They aren't really that bitey. Sure, the zombies in “Walking Dead” can easily tear through flesh in one chomp, despite having allegedly rotting jaw muscles, but in reality humans rank fairly low on the bite scale compared with some other critters. The human jaw generates 120 pounds of bite pressure. Snapping turtles generate 1,000 pounds. “Night of the Living Dead Snapping Turtles”? Yeah, you don't really want to watch that. Crocodiles, just to show off, generate 2,500 pounds of bite pressure. Just an aside here to mention that my zombie character in “Mama Lona's Man” doesn't bite anyone. He may bite the girl he loves in a later book, but only if she asks him to. That could come in a planned sequel, “50 Shades of Gray Skin.”
Number Ten: Zombies are metaphorical, sometimes. Adam Ant, of 1980s new wave music fame, just issued his comeback single, which refers to his exile from the music scene when he moved from London to tiny Dayton, Tennessee. He was dead, but not dead, and still cool. And now he's going back on tour, so his career may be revived after all. The song title? “Cool Zombie.”
February 9, 2013
FREE! FREE! FREE!OK, folks, to celebrate the return of "T...
FREE! FREE! FREE!
OK, folks, to celebrate the return of "The Walking Dead" on AMC on Sunday, Feb. 10, I am offering a free download of "Mama Lona's Man" from Smashwords from now through the end of Sunday. Just enter the coupon code ZA89A. Offer expires at midnight on Feb. 11, Pacific time.
Just the thing to read during commercial breaks. Enjoy!
OK, folks, to celebrate the return of "The Walking Dead" on AMC on Sunday, Feb. 10, I am offering a free download of "Mama Lona's Man" from Smashwords from now through the end of Sunday. Just enter the coupon code ZA89A. Offer expires at midnight on Feb. 11, Pacific time.
Just the thing to read during commercial breaks. Enjoy!
Finally have gotten a break from bill-paying activities s...
Finally have gotten a break from bill-paying activities so I can update this. Wanted to highlight the end of the blog tour with these fun stops:
Cloey's Book Reviews and Other Stuff
Fang-Tastic Books
And, though I am not really all that green, nor a mom, nor, some might argue, creative, I do write at home so I qualified for a guest post here: The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
And, finally, wrapped it up with a nice stop at Roxanne's Realm, which is an interesting place indeed. Thanks, Roxanne!
Cloey's Book Reviews and Other Stuff
Fang-Tastic Books
And, though I am not really all that green, nor a mom, nor, some might argue, creative, I do write at home so I qualified for a guest post here: The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
And, finally, wrapped it up with a nice stop at Roxanne's Realm, which is an interesting place indeed. Thanks, Roxanne!
January 23, 2013
Had a very nice review/chat with Maghon Thomas of Happy T...
Had a very nice review/chat with Maghon Thomas of Happy Tails and Tales Blog ... wanted to highlight that here (you have to scroll down a bit).
Also with Books and Other Spells, which is viewable here.
But am feeling uncharitable toward whoever hacked my gmail account a week or so ago ... would like to set a zombie on them, a real nasty bitey one.
Also with Books and Other Spells, which is viewable here.
But am feeling uncharitable toward whoever hacked my gmail account a week or so ago ... would like to set a zombie on them, a real nasty bitey one.
January 18, 2013
Had some very nice tour stops in recent days, have just b...
Had some very nice tour stops in recent days, have just been out of town and unable to update this! I know, the Internet allows me to do this from anywhere, but time, unfortunately, did not permit.
One was a fun character interview on Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews. No, I won't just link to mine, I'll start you from the top.
Next up was Books and Tales. I will have to link to my interview, otherwise you'll have to scroll down too far to find me.
Then it was Bewitching Book Tours magazine, the January issue. A very nice publication.
More to come ... the tour's not over yet!
One was a fun character interview on Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews. No, I won't just link to mine, I'll start you from the top.
Next up was Books and Tales. I will have to link to my interview, otherwise you'll have to scroll down too far to find me.
Then it was Bewitching Book Tours magazine, the January issue. A very nice publication.
More to come ... the tour's not over yet!
January 10, 2013
Had great fun with Immortality and Beyond. Take a look!
Had great fun with Immortality and Beyond. Take a look!
January 8, 2013
Hanging with the Zombie Survival Crew was fun. Go check '...
Hanging with the Zombie Survival Crew was fun. Go check 'em out!
