Fear the Walking Dead

September 28, 2015 / / No Comments
Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

When The Walking Dead first premiered on AMC in 2010, I wasn’t really into the whole zombie thing. While I had certainly seen movies like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, they weren’t my typical go-to when I was in need of a scary movie fix. My coworkers, on the other hand, were a completely different story and after hearing them rave about the show, I decided to check it out. I valiantly gave it eight episodes – all of season one and then some of season two – but the show was just too dire for me.

Fast forward five years (several more viewings of Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, and Warm Bodies; a full season of iZombie; and a zombie panel at Awesome Con) and it’s safe to say I’ve been converted… mostly. Read More

The Living Dead

April 24, 2015 / / No Comments

I’ve never been a huge fan of zombie stories (I’m more of a vampire girl), so I’m not entirely sure why I’ve had them on the brain so much lately (pun not entirely intended!). Maybe it’s from seeing books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at my local Barnes&Noble or watching the CW’s iZombie or catching a preview for Maggie, an upcoming zombie apocalypse thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin. But regardless of the reason, it struck me last weekend that the living dead seem to have the most varied portrayals of all the supernatural creatures out there.  Read More

iZombie

March 26, 2015 / / No Comments
DC Comics

DC Comics

I first heard of iZombie a couple of years ago, when executive producer Rob Thomas mentioned his work on the new show in one of the many Veronica Mars Kickstarter update emails he sent to us backers. Since I’ve never been a big fan of zombie stories, I wasn’t entirely sure I would check it out, but the previews looked intriguing and as a Mars devotee, I figured it deserved a look.

Though I normally wait at least three episodes before reviewing a show (only two have aired so far), I figured I would make an exception for iZombie, partially because doing so would make this a Thomas week on the blog (I reviewed his latest Mars novel on Monday) and partially because I completely fell in love with the show!  Read More

Zombieland

July 25, 2014 / / No Comments
Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures

Though I enjoy most types of horror movies, it’s taken me a little while to get into the whole zombie thing. Sure, I’ve seen films like 28 Days Later, and a few episodes of The Walking Dead, but when it comes to scaring my pants off, those aren’t typically the kinds of stories I gravitate towards.

While I’m not exactly sure why this is, I think part of the problem is that I just don’t find them to be that scary. True, there is usually a lot of blood and guts and brain eating, but the plot lines often oscillate between blitz zombie attacks and long dour looks between the human survivors. This makes sense, considering the whole end-of-the-world/humanity aspect, but it doesn’t really make for the most exciting story.

Zom-coms (zombie comedies), on the other hand, are much more my speed. The humor breaks up some of the seriousness that plagues other zombie films, and more often than not, they focus on the relationships among the survivors instead of the zombies themselves.  Read More