The Zombies are a comin'!!!!

[[deleted user]]

now that World War Z is in movie houses. i thought i would start a thread for us zombie fans...zombies are not REALLY sf or fantasy, I put them in the weird fiction category...fans of the movie should check out the book, World War Z by Max Brooks, much better than the movie. Also check out the Resurrection series by Tim Curran (i am a big Tim Curran fan) in the kindle store....what are your zombie picks?

[C.E.]

My favorite zombie movie is Undead, an australian flick with a nice twist ending.

Quarantine and Quarantine 2 are good viral zombies.

The best deadites are in Army of Darkness

And I have to admit that I really liked Warm Bodies- watched it with my teen daughter, and now I'm being pestered into buying a copy for our monster movie collection.

[E.J.]

Quarantine was good, but the sequel was bad IMO.

I liked the first few Resident Evil movies, but then they just threw out the plot - especially in the most recent one.

Bookwise...
I loved "The Reapers are the Angels" and the "Forest of Hands and Teeth" series (the trilogy has two hits and a miss - also a bit of romance in it of course).

[C.E.]

Hey, we neglected video games... best zombie game: Dead Island: Riptide, hands down. Or heads down, if you like decapitations...

[E.J.]

Resident Evil 5 is amazing for video games!
(still need to play Dead Island and sequel at some point :P)

[C.E.]

Skip the first Dead island- it's a fantastic game, but the improvements in Riptide are so good, I don't think I can go back to the first. Scoped Sniper Rifles! Mines! Sonic Pulse grenades! and my favorite... the harpoon gun!

[E.J.]

Nothing beats a harpoon gun in ANY game. xP
I did hear that they sort of fixed the "bugs" or "problems" or whatever it was from the first game so...
I need to get this game, lol.

OH!
ANOTHER GREAT ZOMBIE MOVIE: "28 Days Later"
The sequel ("28 Weeks Later") is okay, but not as good as the original.

[[deleted user]]

C.E. wrote: "Hey, we neglected video games... ..."

I think this is the first time anyone here has mentioned video games since I joined the group. Which is surprising, since there are so many science fiction and fantasy-based video games, and we've had a number of discussions of movies and TV shows.

[[deleted user]]

I've never been much for zombie movies. So my movie picks are: Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead.

[C.E.]

Wow- can't believe I forgot Zombieland. Good call... doesn't look like Amazon is picking it up as a series. Bummer.

[Daran]

Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, and the Resident Evil movies are favorites of mine. I know the Resident Evil movies can be over the top, but I prefer zombies in action movies, rather their traditional horror role.

In Night of the Living Dead, Geaorge A. Romero showed that it wasn't the zombies that were the monsters, but the other people. When society breaks down (for whatever reason) people become prone to paranoia, mob mentality, and are willing to chuck anyone overboard to survive a little longer. It's a really thought provoking movie if you take the time to think about it. Also, if you turn down the volume and put on Salsa music, the zombies look like they're dancing.

I think more recently zombies have been used in much the same way that Spielberg and Lucas used Stormtroopers, or Nazis. That is to say they are a monster you can kill without audiences being shocked that all these people are dying. Which is why I like them in action movies, they seem to belong there more than they do in horror, where I think they could be substituted for any natural disaster.

I've always thought zombies had a place in sci fi. I've loved all the ways that various movies and games have explained them. Everything from radiation to mutated mad cow disease. Those are all modern zombies of course. Anybody remember when zombies had something to do with voodoo?

[[deleted user]]

i rember zombies and voodoo...also, when it comes to zombie stories, i have to admit to being much more intrested in the outbrake and spread of the virus (or whatever)....once the zombies have taken over and the blood starts flowing i sort of nod off...unless its a REALLY good one...Day of the Dead was a good one, as was 28 Days Later...one of my geroge remero dvds has a 30 minute short movie one it...its set in a news room, nothing but 72 hours of time-lapse news reports...GOOD stuff

[Michelle]

I think my favourite zombie movie is 28 Days Later. I liked the second one, not as good though. I enjoyed the first Resident Evil, Zombieland and Warm Bodies. I love Shaun of the Dead, hilarious! Also, I don't mind gore at all! The bloodier the better :)

Walking Dead (the show) got waaay too boring so gave up on that.

Favourite zombie books are the Feed trilogy by Mira Grant, amazing. Enjoyed World War Z (didn't think the movie was that bad even if it was .001% like the book:)). Read a bunch of other ones and pretty much enjoy them all, though I am taking a break from them for awhile I went crazy last year and read a bunch haha

I don't think I've ever played any video games with zombies..definitely need to :)

[Daran]

I just remembered my favorite use of zombies in a book series is Cherie Priest, Boneshaker. A steampunk series set during the Civil War. The first book takes place in quarantined Seattle in the 1880's. Not only does it have zombies, it also has airships.

[C.E.]

Gatling Gun vs. Zombies? Armored Train vs. Zombies? Now that is something I could greatly enjoy...

[[deleted user]]

not quite zombie, but close is H. P. Lovecraft's Reanatimator...spawned two fun movies as well. :)

I haven't seen Walking Dead yet, BUT i have the first 15 TPBs (the thin ones, not the big phone book sized ones) and it is a kick-@$$ comic book...real good stuff

[[deleted user]]

Daran wrote: "I just remembered my favorite use of zombies in a book series is Cherie Priest, Boneshaker. A steampunk series set during the Civil War. The first book takes place in quarantined Seattle ..."

Agree, Boneshaker was a terrific book (it was also our group's Contemporary Novel Discussion back in January.)