Oh. You write about zombies.

I just returned from FenCon 2016, held in Irving TX. My lovely wife was kind enough to fund my attendance of a writing workshop that this con offers for an additional fee. There were many issues regarding this writers workshop I could gripe about (switching of instructors at the last minute, lack of supposedly vital print material, use of Yahoo!) but I just want to concentrate on one thing.

I submitted a short story for critique as was required for all participants. My submission was called “DMZ”  a short story I submitted to Homepage of the dead a few years ago. Its zombie survival horror, noting the battle between a zombie horde and not only the US Army and South Korean forces on the 38th parallel, but also with fragments of the North Korean army assisting the US/ROK forces as well. Not my best story, but not my worst either. There were issues with the story that had been brought up to me, but instead of correcting it I left them in so I could discuss them with the critique group.

Now, let me be clear; I don’t mind being critiqued. I’ve both given and received critiques on work throughout my academic career. Its part of the writing game, regardless of what you write. However, not only was I the only person to write about zombies (out of 19 participants) but the opinions I got from my critics were mostly negative. Which is fine, but they also told me that none of them actually liked or read zombie fiction, and I shouldn’t write about zombies either because “the market is flooded and nobody considers them good material.”

What. The. Hell? Getting a critique from non-zombie readers can be a good thing, but in this crowd I was treated to a near-unanimity of disdain and virtual eye-rolling for even submitting something so trite as zombie fiction. This group in its turn had long and enthusiastic critiques of urban fantasy, Native American fantasy fiction, dystopian sci-fi, children’s Christmas tales, and even a trans-gen horror-fantasy story.

Yet my zombie story (and apparently zombie fiction generally) barely rated a sneer. Everyone got some books mentioned to them as possible sources of inspiration and study, and I expected something along the lines of Mira Grant’s Newsflesh or even Max Brooks…which I’ve read already but are the better ends of the genre.

What did I get? A passing (no pun intended) recommendation of ‘The Passage’ and they then rushed off to critique the Young Adult Harry Potter ripoff. The Passage is good, don’t get me wrong. But its not even zombie fiction and seems to be used by non-ZA’s as a go to reference for most anything post-Apok.

Maybe I’m overreacting, but it’s a kick in the teeth to go to a scifi/fantasy writer’s con like FenCon and then to have your favorite genre belitteled and not worth the time for an extended critique on merits not personal preferences of the critics. One of the three critics wasn't too bad, I should note. However, even he admitted he didn't find the genre of interest. Oh, and none of them mentioned the problems I originally was critiqued about online. Of course, my session was cut short because time was poorly scheduled in this workshop, but that’s another story.

OK, I’m done now. Thanks for letting me vent!

Zombie Chow
Proud writer and reader of Zombie fiction!

  

 

 

Questions for the Readers: Books?

Hey all,

I've been looking for zombie apok books to read, and have been hitting a lot of zombie PI/Urban Fantasy stuff. Which is fine if you like that, but I want more traditional ZA stuff.

Can anyone recommend some books? I prefer books set at the outbreak, or pretty close to it anyway. I also prefer ordinary people not commandos, and finally I like Romero-style zombies. Now these latter two aren't set in stone, since in the past I've found books that violate each but were still great reads.

I look forward to the assistance!

Zombie Chow

The Zombie Apocalypse and 'Consumption'!

Hello all,

 

Believe it or not, I’m still alive. I’ve been busy over the past year writing a RPG for Troll Lord Games (Victorious) along with five supplement books. I haven’t given up on zombies though, and I do intend on returning with Connor and Chance to continue the blog game in a month or so.

 

I’ve been recently reading some zombie books and fic to get back “in the mood” as it were. During this recharge of mindset, something unusual occurred to me.

 

How often in zombie stories do the main characters have to deal with simple supply problems? All too often its like the original Dawn of the Dead movie after the mall was secured. There’s some chaos with the outbreak, but all too quickly both survivors and zombies are gone and its “one stop shopping” as Roger’s comment put it. Food, water, arms, even reading material is sitting in locked stores, unmoved and available to anyone willing to break in. Does this sound plausible?

 

So, if anyone is still out there checking this blog…. ;)

 

How realistic is this to you? In my opinion, most of the ‘obvious’ places such as grocery stores, Wal-Marts, gun shops, etc. should be hit at the first. Oh, you can go house to house and that’s very plausible IMO, but unless you’re extremely lucky it seems to me that it’s not going to be a free shopping trip. Those houses will have zombies in them, or rarely even paranoid survivors who might shoot before asking little things like “Why are you breaking into my house? “

 

Opinions?

 

 

Zombie Chow

 

Gravel & Gems: They Walk by Amy Lunderman

First off, let me say I’m not a book snob. Or, perhaps better to say I don’t let a category deter me. If a book is labeled “Young Adult” (YA) for instance, I don’t simply decide it's juvenile and refuse to read it. Some YA novels like The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan were pretty good and I enjoyed reading it quite a lot.

Then I came upon They Walk by Amy Lunderman. Which is an odd title, since all her zombies run and don’t walk! Still, running zombies aren’t a deal breaker if the story is good enough. Alas, its not. Perhaps it’s my fault because I know more than the author about military gear, behavior, how guns work, etc. Still, here’s a hint to all authors out there. If you don’t know about a subject you’re writing about, either A) Skim over it and don’t give details in your story, or B) Research! The author’s inability to do either really put me out of the story and was frankly painful. National Guard Armories do NOT use CBs in their communications room. They do NOT keep guns loaded and sitting on a shelf for people to just dump into bags. They do NOT have police issue weapons like UZIs or Mac 10’s. Corporals do NOT say “Hey dude.” Or similar to Captains. Captains do NOT say to his men its “OK to desert, it's reasonable” in front of his men. The men he’s trying to keep on duty at a rescue station to boot!

Anyway, here’s my grades:

Book: They Walk by Amy Lunderman

Type of Zombies: Fast zombies, actually undead (not infected)

Setting: Contemporary, through the eyes of people at a teen party.

Characters: Maggie, teen girl with unerring ability to make headshots. Claire, friend of main character. Dan, brother of Maggie and semi capable. Matt, BF of Maggie and bites it early in the book. Gabriel, hunky friend of Dan’s who Maggie hates, so of course she ends up hooking up with him. Noah, aforementioned corporal in prior list.

 Synopsis: Teens go to a party and are in the middle of festivities when zombie apocalypse happens. Most of the partiers are killed and revive (reanimation is within seconds). Book covers their efforts to find parents and get away.

Grade: 4/10, some good characterization but scenario is highly unbelievable. People just don’t act that way!

Slow or Fast Apocalypse?

Obviously, I've been convinced to hang around. Thanks to the followers of this blog who are willing to hang in there with me. ;) My wife's taking Design classes this semester, and her sculpting has taken up my gaming room. But I've been keeping my Zombie interest up with reading, 4th season Walking Dead, and a little writing in my spare time.

Something that's come to my notice is the idea of "Society Falling Apart"(TM) that's endemic to most Zombie fiction. How long do you think it would take for society to fall apart? The original Romero 'Dawn of the Dead' had the news guest Dr. Foster ranting about how the public hadn't listened to reason "...for three weeks! What does it take?". Of course, that was in the late 1970s. Today's technological society could collapse much more quickly than that.

Or could it? Would the Internet allow people to perform duties from home and thus actually extend that slow decline? This seems to be the tact that Mira Grant uses in her NewsFlesh trilogy. I'm still chewing on the pros and cons of each argument. Fiction is of little help, since depending on the author civilization falls within years to hours; depending on the needs of the plot.

Opinions?

Zombie Chow

Gravel & Gems: In the Dead by Jesse Petersen

Title: “In the Dead” by Jesse Petersen
Zombie Type: Romero-Style for the most part. Though very infectious with “Black Sludge” coming from them to infect others; they are dead and not just infected a la 28 days later.

Time of Setting: Varies with each short story, though most are at the outbreak.

Main Characters: Main characters vary with each story.

Synopsis: Jesse Petersen is known for the Living With The Dead series of Zombie Novels, which play on various popular books with titles like “Married with Zombies”, “Flip This Zombie”, and “Eat, Slay, Love”. Despite the titles they deal with a single set of characters, a couple who are in marriage counseling when the Zombie Apocalypse hit; thus the title of the first book. The others are their continuing adventures in the western USA after civilization has fallen. I’ll do more comprehensive reviews of them at another time.

     In this anthology-style book the author gives several short stories set in the LWTD universe but with new characters. Each short story deals with two people (usually a couple) dealing with the Zombie Apocalypse in one way or the other. Though many of the stories are at the beginning of the outbreak, a couple is set well afterwards.

     This book, while overall a good read, is not for people who get attached to characters or don’t like short stories. If you haven’t read Petersen’s other books you might feel a bit lost. Still, if you’re a fan of (mostly) outbreak stories and people whom are not Commandos dealing with zombies, this is a good book to look at. It’s listed as volume I, so I assume more will be in the offing. I believe its e-copy only at this time, but if any of my readers know if its available as hardcopy please let me know.
Rating: Four Head Shots out of five

Zombie Chow

Survival, Horror, and Happy Endings?

     I've finished my first game of Two Hour Wargames' Colonial Adventures 19th century miniature rules, with a superior force of Zulus being badly handled by British Colonial Infantry with a field gun. Now its over and my game board is cleared, I'm going to try a game of ATZ using the Final Fade-Out rules. Or, at least the ones I like. ;)
     As I've done more reading, it occurs to me that in the Zombie novel genre there are many takes on "Survival Horror". Namely, some emphasize the survival aspect and others the Horror aspect. "Happy Endings", while rare, usually happen in the survivals and almost never in the horror books.
     So, I ask my blog readers the following. To you (be it book or game), which is more inportant in your Zombie Survival Horror and why? Are Happy Endings impossible in a "proper" ZSH?

Zombie Chow

Gravel and Gems: Rise Again by Ben Tripp

 ***Spoilers!

Rise Again by Ben Tripp

* Romero-style Shamblers, at least at first
* The story begins just prior to the outbreak, where we are introduced to the main character and a few supporting characters: * Main character is Danny Adelman, a small town sheriff in Southern California who is an Iraq veteran suffering from PTSD and alcoholism. Supporting characters are Patrick Michaels, a gay interior decorator with his own TV show; Wolf, the local bum who turns out to be a Vietnam vet (also suffering from PTSD);  Amy Cutter, the local veterinarian; others introduced as the book progresses.

* The story begins with Danielle “Danny”  Adelman’s teenage sister Kelley writing a note that implies suicide but is really a runaway note. She can’t stand how her sister’s PTSD is making home life impossible, and so she takes off with her sister’s classic mustang. Sheriff Danny Can’t pursue immediately as she’s covering the July 4^th events in her hometown as sheriff. A lot of tourists are in town as well, so we meet Patrick and his boyfriend Weaver in their huge RV. While events proceed with the festivities, the outbreak begins!

     The book covers between 6 months to a year of the outbreak, and has some political undertones…as usual in many zombie novels. The main non-zombie antagonists are a private security firm called Hawkstone (re: Blackwater) that is used initially by the government to try to combat the outbreak because most of the US’s military is overseas. The villains are pretty stereotypical of bad military-types, but Tripp’s writing style makes up for this. Tripp’s also not afraid to kill off a few liekable characters along with lots of redshirts.

            WARNING! There is a major cliffhanger at the very end that is supposed to continue in the second book. This book isn’t out yet, but according to Ben Tripp’s blog he turned in the manuscript in July of this year so hopefully it’ll be out by the beginning of next year. If you hate cliffhangers, you might wait to read this until the second book is out.
            I really liked the book because as I noted in my original discussion of “Gravel & Gems” I don’t like superhero style main characters in zombie novels. Danny Is competent, and has a lot of good points, but in the end she is “damaged goods” and has her share of faults and mistakes. The other characters are interesting as well, especially Patrick the interior decorator. How many zombie novels do you read about such a guy trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse? Not many I’ll warrant!

            I give Ben Tripp’s Rise Again five head shots out of five! Ok, I know I said I'd give 1-10 grades, but since I started listening to Mail Order Zombies again I'm going to steal their "Head Shots" grade of 1-5. ;)

 

Zombie Chow

Book Reviews: My viewpoint

To give people an idea of where I'm coming from in my preferred choice of novels I give the following brief breakdown:
1. I like books that start either at the beginning of the outbreak, or shortly before. I'm not a big fan of starting after everything's collapsed, unless there are a lot of flashbacks to the beginning of the event.
2. I like George Romero style zombies. Not a big rager fan, nor of "infection"-style Zombie Apocalypses. It has to be REALLY good for me to like a book in spite of this.
3. I hate the main character(s) being ex SEALs, Green Berets, or from Special Zombie Squad X. I prefer reading about average people put into sudden crisis with the end of the world. Police and/or National Guard aren't necessarily in the first category; it all depends on their portrayal.
4. I do not like a Zombie Rise where nobody seems to know what a zombie is. In our culture, it's silly. It's like doing a vampire or werewolf in a modern setting but nobody has a clue about garlic, wooden stakes, crosses, Wolvesbane, or silver bullets. Now, they may not work as claimed, but the general knowledge should be there! Such will damage my suspension of disbelief in the story.
* * *
Ok, now that's over I'll list my planned categories for synopses. There WILL occasionally be spoilers, but if there is I will try and mark them ahead of time so the reader is forewarned.
1. The name and Author of the book
2. The type of Zombies
3. The time period of the Zombie Apocalypse
4. A list of the main character(s) and a few words about jobs and personality.
5. A brief synopses of the story, with an effort to avoid spoilers if possible. If not, it'll be tagged ahead of time.
6. My grade of the book, with the understanding of my own personal prejudices as noted above. Grade will be 1-10 with 10 being a Must Read and 1 being an "avoid at all cost!"

Zombie Chow