Zombies

The number one movie in America right now is about zombies. I haven't seen it yet, but "Zombieland", starring Woody Harrelson is supposed to be extremely funny. Considering that my next book is going to be about zombies, I have been devouring everything I can get my hands on that has to do with zombies, so I probably will eventually get out to see the movie as well. (Only thing stopping me now is the stupid $10 a ticket when we're trying to save money for the wedding in 73 days!)

I recently finished the book "Dead Sea" by Brian Keene. It wasn't the best book I ever read, but it was decent. I certainly wouldn't call him "The next Stephen King" based on the merit of this book, but it was at least good enough that I read all the way through it. It's basically about a virus that kills people, then turns them into zombies that raise from the dead and hunger for flesh. Typical zombies really. But the story is about a black gay man living in Baltimore who is forced from his home (along with everyone who was hiding out from the zombie plague) because of fires. He smartly heads toward the harbor to find a ship, figuring that the sea is the only safe place left. It's a good premise for sure. I'd like to pick up some of his other zombie books in the future.

Now, however, I'm double reading in a way. I am reading through Carrie Ryan's young adult zombie book, "The Forest of Hands and Teeth," and as much as I enjoyed meeting Carrie Ryan and as much as I want to like her book, it's tedious. The tone of the book is so morose. Everything seems drab and dreary, with little hope that it will change. I'm about half way through, and taking a break to read the rest. Instead, I've picked up Max Brooks' "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War", and fuck it's amazing. I'm not even half-way through it yet and I'm totally hooked. It's basically told as though it were really a true oral history of a real war. As if the dead really have reanimated and we have been fighting a war with them for the past 20 years. Each little snippet of a chapter is a new oral account of what happened in a certain region. Like one doctor from China tells his story. Then a soldier from somewhere, etc. And gradually the entire history of the war is being put together through these accounts of people from all over the world. It's genius really.

I've also been watching zombie movies on netflix. "Night of the Living Dead", "Dance of the Dead", "Resident Evil: Extinction", "Shawn of the Dead", "Dawn of the Dead" etc. Mostly, I'm just gathering ideads, trying to figure out just where my own zombie story is going to take me. The possibilities are endless, and I'm excited to get started November 1 for NANO WRIMO (National Novel Writing Month). My goal is 60,000 words in one month, so for October I have to get my Desire novel in the mail and get my plot and characters figured out for the zombie book. Which, by the way, I"m calling "Pandemic".

Know any great zombie books or movies? Pass it along in comments and let me know!