Zombie Tops: Music & Movies

As you can guess, my love of zombies is not limited to books.  In fact, it wasn't until a few years ago that I got my hands onto a zombie novel.  My only outlet was movies.  Here's my list of my all time favorite zombie movies and music!

Movies

• Shaun of the Dead —When this movie hit the theaters, I didn't give my poor husband and option of whether or not we would be attending.  Unfortunately, our local theater didn't bring it, so we traveled about an hour to find one that was showing it.  As soon as the movie hit the racks, I bought it!  Honestly, it is my all-time go-to favorite zombie movie!  Because of it, Simon Pegg is one of my favorite actors.
• Zombieland — This one seems to be a favorite of zombie buffs.  The rules nearly brought me to tears!  I find them to be extremely practical in most circumstances.  And how can you resist a zombie movie will Bill Murray? 
• The Last Man on Earth — I admit, I watched I Am Legend before seeing this movie.  However, while my dad was visiting a few years ago, we pulled this DVD out.  This movie really questions human nature and whether zombies are always bad.  Vincent Price will always be my favorite horror actor!
• Dawn of the Dead — The remake with Sarah Polly is my favorite.  The zombie baby is exceptionally creepy.  I love the guy across the street in the weapons store and taking shots at the zombies for pleasure.  And how could you not love the awesome zombie-mobiles they create?
• Planet Terror — I have no idea how to describe this movie.  It is action packed, full of blood and guts, and a sexy girl with a gun for a leg!  How could you possibly go wrong? 

Music

• Walk Like a Zombie by the HorrorPops — When I first put their CD into my player, I didn't pay too much attention to the song list.  After a minute, I realized that I was listening to a rockin' zombie love song.  It incorporates the Addam's Family, howling at the moon, and walks in the graveyard at night.  Plus the rockabilly upright base makes it that much better!  And, to make it that much better, I got the opportunity to see it in concert!!
• I Walked With a Zombie by Wednesday 13 — I'm not even sure where to begin on this song.  I just absolutely love it.  It's horror punk, so it's a little weird.  That being said, it is hilarious!
• Zombie Love Song by Your Favorite Martian — It's Ray William Johnson, is there anything else I can say?
• Zombie A Go Go by Captain Clegg — This is just a cute, throw-back to the 60s song.

Those are my top picks.  What are yours?

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the follow:

• Grab your current read
• Opening toli a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Share Title & Author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Here's my teaser for this week:

'They used to do that kind of stuff at Gameland, and other stuff that's even worse.  A lot worse.'"

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry, 163

Zombie Month Book Review -- First Days

Title:  First Days: As the World Dies
Author:  Rhiannon Frater
Genre:  Post-apocalyptic
Pages:  Oversize paperback, 331
Published:  2008, 2011
Opening Lines:  "So small.  So very, very small."

"It begins on a peaceful, beautiful morning.  Katie, a prosecutor, is driving to work when a dead man jumps into her car and tries to eat her.  Elsewhere in the city, Jenni, a housewife opens a bedroom door to find her husband devouring their infant son.


"Fate puts Katie outside Jenni's door when the younger woman flees her zombified family.  Fate—and Katie's quick reflexes behind the wheel—see them safely out of the city while most of the living are quickly chased down by the undead.


"The two women begin a cross-Texas odyssey to rescue Jenni's oldest sin and hopefully find safety . . . somewhere . . . Jenni discovers the great joy of watching a zombie's head explode when she shoots its brains out.  Katie learns that her analytical mind is perfect for planning the best attacks and escape routes.


"A small, isolated, fortified town is their only hope.  Fewer than one hundred people have gathered there, clinging to civilization and to hope.  They all know the zombies will come for them.  But until that day, they will live, and love, and maybe even laugh."

~ Jacket copy

Thoughts:  I first ran across this book back in 2008.  I'm not sure if I found it during a casual zombie search of Amazon or if I saw it mentioned somewhere.  One way or the other, I was completely and utterly drawn to this book.  However, for various reasons mostly focusing on forgetfulness, I never ended up buying it.  So, when I decided to host Zombie Month, it was the first book on my list!

First Days follows the story of Jenni and Katie—two women thrown together through unfortunate circumstances.  Katie is a prosecutor and Jenni is a battered housewife.  Both women are from completely different walks of life; however, they find solace and resolve in each others company.  After fleeing the city, they decide to rescue Jenni's remaining son.  Camping up in the National Park, Jenni hopes that he has escaped the dangers of the city.  On the way, the meet Narit, an ex-Israeli sharpshooter, and her husband Ralph at a small hunting store.  The four form a quick bond.  With Ralph and Narit's help, the girls now have a plan—and guns—to rescue Jason.  While everything seems to be going good, the women are chased by a horde of zombies and find they are far away from the safety of the hunting store with a dangerously low fuel line.  Through Ralph, Narit, a small town sheriff, and a CB, the women are led to a safe area in a small town.  Even with such a crazy and action packed beginning, their story has barely started!

Throughout the book, the POV shifts between Jenni, Katie, and sometimes other characters.  This can be problematic for some authors; however, Rhiannon does an amazing job of keeping each voice unique while supporting the integrity of the story.  It also gives the reader a well-rounded view of the zombie situation and the characters.  To me, this really added to the reading experience.

Even though Jenni had her short-comings and desperately needed to get over her victimization at the hands of a abusive husband, it was refreshing to read a novel with strong female leads.  In fact, I found Jenni's abuse was a wonderful vehicle to show character development and the realities of fighting for survival.  Along those lines, I felt that she put a lot of thought into her characters and their reactions to the situation.  The unknown vigilante and the renegades at the end really show that.  Also, the whole controversy surrounding the views of Richie, Shane's response to Katie, and so on goes a long way to show the tenuous nature of their small society.  As Juan said, in-fighting tends to make the zombies win.   

The scenery of the book was amazing!  I never felt bogged down by descriptions.  On the contrary, I felt Rhiannon gave enough details to allow me to form a mental picture.  It was obvious that she knew he way around Texas.  That lends an authority to the novel.  Further, she does an amazing job turning the zombies into background scenery.

My only misgiving about the book is editing.  On the whole, the book has very good editing; however, there are occasional mistypes and sentences to be reworded.  A few times, I had to reread sentences.  It kind of slowed down the reading and broke illusion.  But, as stated above, this was not all the time.

Honestly, this book was worth the wait!  I found myself intentionally slowing down, so I could make the book last longer.  It is action packed, but has a very deep plot.  Rhiannon definitely put a lot of thought into the book.  If you love zombie books, I highly recommend this one!

Stay Tuned for a Guest Post by Rhiannon Frater!

Rating:
Currently: Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
Current Pages: 2788
Current Progress:

8/50 books

Theme Song Saturday (17)

Welcome to Theme Song Saturdays, a new weekly meme, hosted by yours truly, in which we share our love of music and books! Since I love books and music, this meme is for fun to try to incorporate those two loves! Whenever I read a book, a certain song -- kind of like a soundtrack or theme song -- plays through my head.

Want to know how to play? Head over to this post to read the rules and get the code.

Here's my pick for First Days by Rhiannon Frater:



Three Little Birds by Bob Marley has been running through my head since last night.  Granted, for this book, it is a little upbeat, but I still feel it fits.  Even though both Jenni and Katie have been through some awful shit when they first meet, they are able to form a fast and thick bond; they end up with Jack; run over zombies with their truck; meet some awesome, gun-toting people; and more!  And that isn't even 150 pages into the book.  So whilte the zombies are moaning outside, the horde is cashing them, and they are T-bones with legs, the girls still manage to find things that make the situation better.  Plus, this song choice could also be seen as homage to I Am Legend.  (By the way, The Last Man On Eath with Vincent Price was much better!!)

What is your pick this week?  Leave a commnet with a link back to your post. 

Zombie Month 2012!

If you've been following my blog, you all know that I love zombies.  It isn't this casual passing phase.  I have enjoyed zombie movies since I watched Night of the Living Dead  with my Dad.  And this version, ladies and gentlemen, was the original black and white.

I guess you could say that something completely broke in my brain after watching this.  Even though I was young, I started planning for what seemed like the inevitable zombie apocalypse.  Since our house had a two-story flight of stairs to the front door and we had no windows on the back (well, except for my small window), I figured we would be pretty safe.  Even though the front of our house was covered with windows, I could not see how the zombies would be able to manage the stairs.  And, if all else failed, the four of us could crowd onto my loft bed and survive.  However, the ability of four people to live on the bed didn't really enter into the equation.


As you can guess, this passion followed me throughout my life.  I would scrape together money in order to rent the newest Romero movie to hit the shelves.  And I was so excited when Shaun of the Dead hit the theaters.  I told my husband he didn't have a choice and had to come with me.  We even spent one Christmas Eve watching movies like Fido!  When I was considering graduate school, I seriously toyed with the idea of writing my master's thesis on the Romero flicks and throwing in a little psycho-analytic theory to sweeten the deal.

With all of this in mind, imagine my excitement when I started noticing zombie books on the shelves at our local Hastings!  I practically did a victory dance in the middle of the store.  My first zombie book was the Breathers by S.G. Browne.  It opened an amazing door!  And, even after some good zombie books, it is still my all time favorite!

Sadly, even though I love zombies, I am better versed in the movies than the books.  And I hope to remedy that!

Starting the beginning of February, I begin a new job as an emergency dispatcher.  In celebration of the soon to be zombie status, I decided to make this month ZOMBIE MONTH!  I plan on reading as many zombie books as I can while working the late shift and finding awesome authors who are willing to write guests posts!

As the opener of ZOMBIE MONTH, I picked First Days by Rhiannon Frater.  This book caught my attention a few years ago, but I failed to buy it.  So, as an apology for never getting around to reading it, it has found its way to the top of my zombie list!


Let's the festivities of ZOMBIE MONTH begin!

Book Review -- The Isle of Blood

Title:  The Isle of Blood
Author:  Rick Yancey
Genre:  YA horror
Pages:  Hardback, 558
Published:  September 13, 2011
Opening Lines:  "Everyone has someone."

"On a quest to find the monster known as the 'Holy Grail of Monstrumology' with his eager new assistant, Arkwright, Dr. Warthrop leave Will Henry in New York.  There the boy finds himself living with a real family; not facing midnight vivisections, narrow escapes, or confrontations with monstrosities, human and inhuman.  After months go bu with no word from Warthrop, Arkwright returns with the devastating news that the doctor is dead.

"Will doesn't trust Arkwright, and he can't believe—won't accept—this information.  Determined to find Warthrop, he journeys to London in hopes of finding the doctor still alive, knowing that if he succeeds, he will face something worse than all the monstrosities he has seen in his young life.  They will go to Socorta, the Isle of Blood, where human beings are used to make nests, where those who are consumed are the lucky ones, where blood rains from the sky."

~ Jacket copy 

Thoughts:  Reading these books, I honestly wonder whether they were truly meant for children.  They are wonderful and well written books; however, I sometimes wonder if the subject matter and writing style might be too advanced for young adults.  That being said, I was extremely excited to find that my local library had this book sitting on the shelves.  After reading The Curse of the Wendigo earlier last year, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book!  I find them to be thoroughly engrossing and all consuming!

This book picks right up after the events of the previous book.  While there is mention of some of the previous characters, the incident in the monstrumarium, seeing von Helrung, and Lilly Bates again, this book appears to stand on its own.  As with the other books, this one starts out with a visitor on the doctor's door step.  However, this package brings something entirely different to Dr. Warthrop.  The contents of the package will cost Will his finger, find Warthrop in an asylum, and the doctor and his young apprentice across the world.  Honestly, this book is very hard to describe without giving too much detail away.

When this book opened up, I was surprised to find that Will Henry's voice had definitely aged from the previous book.  It was obvious that he grew up some between the two books.  I felt that the author did an amazing job expressing that while keeping Will's voice intact.  Further, I was also able to fully see that, while the story takes place in his childhood, Will is a man looking back on these experiences from a point of understanding and introspection.

Will's time with Lilly's family is another stark reminder of the life he is living with the doctor and his inability to fully be a child again.  I felt it was a bold move by the author.  While Warthrop is not physically abusive to Will, he can be seen as neglectful.  The contrast between the family life and life with the doctor was really apparent.  However, I also felt the author did a good job of showing that Warthrop, in his own right, loves and depends on Will Henry.

I rather enjoyed that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had a cameo in the book!  It was lovely and quite entertaining!

I find Yancey's writing style to be very dense.  These books remind me a lot of Victorian authors.  Since they are sent in the lately 1800s, I feel this is a very effective way to pull the reader into the period.  It also gives it a little more authority.  The dense writing, diction, and subject matter makes me wonder whether these are truly young adult books.  They all dig deeply into the basest parts of human nature.  This one more so than the others.  The author peals away the layers and challenges readers to find where the line is between humanity and monstrosity.  In a lot of ways, that seems like a hard thing to take on as a teenager.  It is hard to watch Will Henry go through many of the things he encounters in this book.  I cannot imagine how a young adult would feel reading this book.  As an adult, I also feel the "sick" nature of Warthrop and Will's relationship.  While I fully understand that Warthrop loves Will, there is a level at which it is completely wrong.

Even though I was wondering thinking through these things while reading the book, I loved every minute of it!  For some, the books might be a little too dense and slow getting started; however, they are amazing and well written.  I find myself forcing myself to stay awake and read one more page. I am eagerly awaiting the next book, and I hope my local library gets it soon!    

Rating:
Currently: First Days by Rhiannon Frater
Current Pages: 2546
Current Progress:

7/50 books

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the follow:

• Grab your current read
• Opening toli a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Share Title & Author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Here's my teaser for this week:

The monstrumologist returned to the reason for our visit. He found philosophical discussions like this distasteful—not precisely beneath him, but useless in the sense that the unanswerable was a waste of his time."

The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey, 116