Personal Survival Plans

The most enjoyable thing about zombie related media is discussing your survival plans with you friends. There is always the guy who tells you he owns a katana and will decapitate his way to safety and then there are people with so many different escape plans, you wonder just how long they've been thinking about this unlikely doomsday. Last weekend, a friend of mine brought up my blog and asked if I was prepared in any way for an outbreak of super rabies.

The way I look at it, for me to get out of New York City alive, I would have to make some immediate moral sacrifices that would not appeal to my readers. I do not own a gun or a car and I do not stockpile food. If I couldn't convince a friend or neighbor with a car to take my husband and me along, I would need immediate alliances with dangerous people. My only plan is to hitch a ride out of the city and convince other survivors to go with me to my Aunt's farm in rural New Jersey. She has guns, cars, crops and cattle. When we arrived, we would immediately secure a perimeter and go on regular runs to collect weapons, ammunition and medicine.

My father's plan differs from mine based on his location in Florida. He would load up his boat and take my mother to a remote island accessible only by water. The plan might work perfectly well, assuming zombies cannot swim or walk the ocean floor. It's a pretty big risk. You would not want to be trapped on an island with flesh-eating zombies. He argues, however, that a swimming zombie would be an anomaly and he could handle the odd adversary.

My mother would prefer to defend their house, boarding up the windows, getting barbed wire on the fence and harvesting crops in their backyard. They already have the large planters. If humans ever raided them and stole all their harvest, she has an edible crop called cranberry hibiscus that looks like a useless hedge. They would be able to survive on it until the rest of their crop came back.

I welcome you to share your personal survival plan. The TV show Walking Dead has introduced us to the concept of long-term cohabitation with zombies. If rescue isn't coming, where do you go? You need to find a way to get out of metropolitan areas, have access to transportation, supply your own food and protect yourself indefinitely.

Survival Tip of the Day:
Don't let your emotions get you killed. I believe there is a place for morality on Z-day, but getting all emotional and keeping a zombie bitten individual in your group is a bad idea. Take a tip from Dr. Millard Rausch from Dawn of the Dead (1978).

World War Z - A Zombie Enthusiast's Review

"Don't fly too close to the horde."

Nothing could have torn me away from that screen. World War Z is two hours of heart-gripping suspense. I liked the dynamic of looking at a zombie virus on a global scale, visiting many different parts of the world and seeing what kind of communities had survived.  It's PG 13 and most of the graphic violence is implied. A little hamburger meat here and there wouldn't have killed them. If it weren't so psychologically disturbing, I'd say you could take your kids to see it.

"Daddy, no!"

Within the first five minutes of the film, I realized we were dealing with my least favorite kind of zombie: fast zombies. My husband and I differ on this opinion, but I have always thought fast zombies were kind of silly, especially when they are capable of inhuman acrobatics. He feels this makes them scarier and emphasizes their ravenous nature. I appreciate slow zombies in great numbers. They are symbolic of death creeping up on you, slowly enough so that you feel you can dodge the inevitable. Then, at some point, you are surrounded with no way out.

I had fun watching World War Z, but I had a few problems with parts of the story that I found impossible to swallow. The script really asks the audience to put complete faith in it while the chips fall into place to create another life-threatening situation for Brad Pitt's character Gerry Lane. It starts to feel like the whole world revolves around Brad Pitt at some point. And hey, maybe it does. You will see what I mean when they get to Israel.

As for Gerry Lane as a character, he's your typical Hercules. He's a family man, he's better at surviving than anybody else and he is a risk taker when the survival of others depends on it. He has zero character flaws. He's even nice to his wife and kids when they repeatedly endanger others with their stupidity. Not much to say about him, except that he doesn't exist.

The film had at least one compelling character named Segan played by Daniella Kertesz. Her character was so original and had this admiral resilience that made you root for her from the second she appeared on screen. I don't think she had more than three lines in the film, but she didn't need to say much. Her expressions and the way she acted in the field showed the audience her personality.  Segan should have had a little more screen time and a memorable quote here and there. Perhaps the producers worried that she would look too much like a love interest for Gerry Lane if they developed her character any further.

The movie managed to keep me on the edge of my seat, my heart pounding and my shoulders painfully tight. I probably shouldn't have had that Monster energy drink as I was watching it. It's an intense ride with only a few moments of comic relief to help you catch your breath. I highly recommend this movie for your next date night. It has been proven in studies that women become more attracted to the nearest man when they are afraid.

Survival Tip of the Day:
Tape magazines around your forearms and ankles to protect yourself from the dreaded zombie bite. Source: World War Z.

Utility Belts for the Zombie Apocalypse

If the dreaded scenario of zombie apocalypse or any other kind of mind blowing crisis happens tomorrow, you might find yourself making a list of things to carry on your person at all times.  Finding a weapon and ammunition is obvious, but something as simple as a well-planned utility belt could make all the difference. I'm not suggesting a utility belt like Batman's, complete with grappling hook and flamethrower. Alas, not everyone can be an eccentric billionaire.

While playing the new Tombraider on Xbox 360, I found myself admiring how Lara Croft carried everything she needed on her belt. Just in case most male players were too busy admiring something else, I feel the need to share what every post-apocalyptic adventurer will need. This blog reminds me of when I used to blog for a retail website. Despite what it may seem, I'm not trying to sell the end of the world. Let's make that clear before we continue. Now, let's go over what you will need on your utility belt for the apocalypse.

Clip-on waterproof LED flashlight. You wouldn't want to find yourself without a flashlight, ever. I would even recommend carrying two since this is such a light weight item. I personally like the ones with carabiner hooks attached. When you've got zombies pulling on you, you want your utilities to stay firmly attached. There are multi-purpose carabiner hooks that come with a flash light, compass and a knife built into the steel, but I would need to assess the quality before recommending it.

Belt pouches. These little pouches are perfect for carrying bullets, medicine or various other necessities. You can choose to go with military or medieval. That part is up to your personal style.

Flask. You should have tons of water stocked up in your safehouse, but when you get left behind by other survivors and you have five minutes before zombies break through the glass doors and swarm you, you'll be glad you have that last drink. It could also be your only source of an anesthetic when your friends are chopping off your arm to save you from a zombie bite.

Rope. With rope you can pull a friend to safety, set traps for zombies or trace your path in a dark building. You might even have to detain hysterical or violent humans. In the picture, notice how Lara Croft bundles her rope up neatly against her thigh.

Swiss Army Knife. If you get separated from your group or your supplies, you will always have this tool to help you hunt, skin animals, open canned and bottled goods or escape from other human beings.

Magnifying glass
If you don't wear glasses, you'll be glad you have this when you need to get a fire going. You can even opt for a cool magnifying glass necklace, a la Evil Dead. As they're in style right now, they're pretty easy to find. When your flashlights finally die and you can't find any functional batteries, you will have to start lighting your own torches.

Finally, it would be great to have a solar radio to hear emergency broadcasts or find other survivors and group up with them. However, as we learned from Walking Dead, contact with other bands of survivors can get your people killed. In a world of violence and anarchy, keeping your social network small can be a good strategy. Radios and walkie talkies might also compromise your position if they make noise while you are hiding from the undead. If you're going to use them, use them wisely.

Survival Tip of the Day:
"Keep your hair short." -- Lee Everett, The Walking Dead, A Telltale Game Series. With short hair, it's easier to slip away from a zombie's lunge.

Top 5 Zombie Shooters for Party Gaming

When it comes to video games, if there aren't already zombies, a zombie expansion is inevitable. Some zombie shooters are better than others, but I've always enjoyed the cooperative games played with friends. A disorganized team in an online match will never make it when things get hairy. You will also find yourself screaming into the TV when an artificially intelligent toaster lets you die. Inviting friends over for zombie co-op can be a blast. These five games are the best for when need to let off some steam with your buddies.

Halo 4 Infection

A zombie infection spreads even to our beloved Spartans. Is it a zombie game if the zombies look like robots? When you're the last man standing, shotgunning your infected companions, it's definitely a zombie game. These matches are fast. The infected use sword lunge against the other players, and they can overtake the survivors in a matter of seconds. Once in a while, a few humans hole up together and keep the zombies at bay. If you get hit, you become one of the zombies and it is your turn to attack your friends.

Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone

Konami offers a downloadable arcade game for Xbox and Playstation where you and your party members kill the horde and rescue other survivors. It can definitely keep a group entertained for an evening, but the novelty of the game wears off pretty quickly when you play by yourself. Most people complain about the endless spinning around as zombies enter from all directions.

Call of Duty World at War Zombies

Sometimes, I get a little guilt tripped over killing guards in video games. They're just doing their jobs. However, there are two types of people that I feel completely justified about killing. Zombies and Nazis. Call of Duty gives us a chance to kill Nazi Zombies with our friends. In a way, it's a commentary on how the soldiers who "were only following orders" were no better than mindless zombies consuming the world with death and atrocity.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Two teenagers wander through their suburban neighborhood, battling all kinds of bizarre monsters, and of course zombies. If you have a Super Nintendo or an emulator, this cult classic from 1993 provides hours of two player zombie killing fun. In a universe where water guns dispatch the undead, you can't go wrong. It's campy, challenging and the soundtrack is absolutely brilliant. You will be playing it at your next Halloween party.

Left 4 Dead/ Left 4 Dead 2

"Help me help me help me!" is all you will hear from your friends when you play this game. Prepare to be swarmed by an ocean of zombies. Sometimes you have to just grab a frying pan and whack your way free of  the mobs. The sequel gives you a chance to play as different zombies with special powers, working to screw over the humans on the other team. Surviving these levels depends heavily on teamwork. Friends will fall down and have nothing but their pistols to keep zombies from eating them. You can go back for them and have their support for the rest of the level, or you can make a run for the finish line all by yourself. Tensions can get pretty high if you leave your friend behind, and that's when it's a good time to remind everyone that it's just a game, and you would never do that in real life...

Survival Tip of The Day:

Coach reminds us that survival depends hugely on teamwork and coordination. Better start practicing now.

The French Zombies of Les Revenants

They look just like you and me, but they are the people we used to know who are dead now. Les Revenants is a series about several people who come back from their graves. An article I read in Belfast called them zombies, and that was the whole reason I watched the show. However, they seemed more like ghosts, and initially I thought the translated name of the show was "The Ghosts". In French, ghosts are often called les revenants, but the noun is related to the verb revenir, which means "to come back". Les Revenants literally translates to "The Ones Who Came Back". Some have died ten years ago, while others passed away over thirty years ago. Some of them don't even know they're dead. The stylistic choices have been compared to David Lynch's show Twin Peaks.

Camille's family feels both horrified and blessed when they watch the fifteen year old girl walk through the door like she hasn't been dead for the last four years. Her parents accept Camille right away, calling her a miracle and considering their options for reintegrating her into their small community. Lena, her identical twin sister, now four years older than the unchanged Camille, does not trust her. Lena calls Camille an impostor and is leery of her presence.

Lena's first confrontation with Camille.

The first few episodes had a lot of slow moving dialogue that set the stage for the show. It wasn't until
the start of episode four, once they started developing Victor's character, that I had to know more. As the story unfolds, it becomes clearer how these French revenants earn the status of the new breed of zombie. Unlike ghosts, they are in the flesh. Instead of eating people, their presence sacrifices the lives of those around them in mysterious ways. People in their vicinity have the tendency to get sick or drop dead.

Simon ravenously devours a piece of chicken immediately
after being too aggressive with his lover. 

Additionally, the revenants never sleep and are always hungry for food, alcohol and sex. Les Revenants demonstrates its French roots by giving us the first zombies who have sex and smoke cigarettes. The story is wrought with love triangles and sensual love scenes that make the show so emotionally engaging.

Camille notices a change in the sore on her face.

I still wasn't completely sold on them being zombies. One of them eats human organs, but he also did that back when he was alive; it doesn't really count. Soon enough their skin starts cracking open into hideous sores.  When an eerie horde of the undead makes its way into the town and everyone locks their doors, I felt pretty safe calling this a zombie TV show. It's not the traditional zombie premise at all, and that's what makes it so good. Nothing is predictable, because there is no precedent for this kind of monster.

While I ended up deeply enjoying the show and even crying a little during the season finale, I struggled getting into it at the beginning. During the first three episodes I was very confused by so many characters looking so alike. Instead of a survival tip of the day, I give you a chart for surviving the confusion of telling people apart on this show. Be warned that in flashbacks, Lena is played by the actress who plays Camille. Jerome and Pierre look very similar in certain shots. Also, for a while I thought Laure and Adele were the same person. The information is out there online, but it's in French. Nonetheless, you should check out the official website: http://lesrevenants.canalplus.fr/

Bonne chance, mes amis! Let me know if you like these French zombies. Even if you don't, immersing yourself in this show will definitely improve your French language skills.

Ghouls, Zombies, and Nuclear Fallout

Bethesda's Fallout series for PC and console gaming introduced us to a reality of zombies actually happening in a post-apocalyptic world. These zombies are intelligent beings called ghouls and many of them have created their own communities away from humans. Unlike the usual outbreak scenario, these zombies are the result of exposure to nuclear fallout.

The Fallout universe diverges from our own after World War II.  On October 23, 2077, people pile into vaults and full on MAD (mutually assured destruction) takes place. The effects of radiation mutilates animals and creates hideous rotting individuals overnight. http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline

Most people die from the radiation, but those with a genetic X factor become hideous monsters instead. When it comes to ghouls, radiation causes their skin to rot and ironically extends their lives by hundreds of years. In 2277, you can meet ghouls who survived the A-bombs of the Great War. Not only can these creatures talk, but their feelings will be hurt if you make fun of their appearance or use racist slurs like "zombie" or "brain eater".

Such slurs exist because of feral ghouls, people who were closer to the blast who lost their intellect and attack regular folks on sight. These are basically zombies. While some ghouls maintain their sanity for hundreds of years, others may lose their minds and join the ranks of the feral. The onset of zombie madness is accelerated by isolation. If a ghoul doesn't use his mind, he becomes a monster. Becoming a zombie is pretty harsh punishment for anti-social behavior. Moral of the story seems to be that giving up in a dangerous world has severe consequences.

The thing I find most interesting about this breed of zombie is that it cannot reproduce. Ghouls are sterile and their condition is not contagious. "There ain't any ghouls but old ghouls...We're the first and last generation of ghouls" (Typhon, Fallout 2). You will be swarmed by them if you go into the sewers, but once you've killed them all, you needn't fear that they will ever come back. If one bites you, you can just eat a squirrel on a stick and go to bed in a dirty pile of rags. Just hope you don't wake up next to this beauty from Fallout New Vegas.

Survival Tip of The Day:
If nuclear war is impending, get yourself to a government vault facility buried beneath 3 million tons of soil 200 feet underground. If this is not available, seal off windows and door cracks and once you're up against a dirt wall in the basement, pray to God that you have the genetic X factor to become a ghoul and be healed by radiation for the next 200 years.

"The future. Survival anywhere. We surpass the norms." - Set, Ghoul Leader of Necropolis, Fallout and Fallout 2.

Walking Dead Comics

For our one year anniversary, my husband bought me the first compendium of The Walking Dead, the first 48 comics. I was glued to it for about two days, and for those of you who haven't read it, let me be the first to tell you that even a silly little comic book can give you nightmares. I found the graphic novel more disturbing than any show or video game about zombies. If you watch AMC's Walking Dead, you have to know that it is a Disney movie compared to the comics.

I won't spoil it for you, because I'm hoping you will head to Barnes & Noble right now and pick it up. However, I will discuss some key differences between the show and the comic. First of all, and most importantly, my most beloved character from the show Daryl Dixon does not exist in the book. Apparently, Norman Reedus's character Daryl Dixon was never meant to be a main character, and yet he has become America's most beloved redneck. 

I come from an old Southern family, and girls like me know not to fall for po white trash like him, but the weakness is ingrained in my DNA. Now that Daryl is an American sex symbol, I realize that all women have a thing for troubled men with no prospects. He must have been the happy accident of a talented actor creating a character as complex and lovable as himself. Reedus says that he channels his own personality to create Daryl.

“I’m pretty damaged already I guess. He doesn’t know what to say and neither do I, as you can tell by this answer. I’m loyal to my friends and would do anything for them, but I’m kind of quiet. I believe in people and the cause, but I really don’t want to ever be the center of attention." – Norman Reedus, Comicbook.com

Without Daryl in the comics, the rest of the characters get involved in some very messy business. Characters you would never expect to hook up are hooking up. Michonne and the Governor do unspeakable things to one another that trust me, you do not want to know about and if you do, you wish you could forget. There are decapitations, rapes, mutilations, and even a momentary serial killer subplot! The comics are not for the faint of heart, but then again, the faint of heart generally steer clear of anything zombie.

Today's Survival Tip of the Day comes from AMC heartthrob Daryl Dixon.

Zombie Culture Here To Stay

When zombies start to gain popularity, it means that peoples' anxieties about the future are climbing. Fear overwhelms us with every news article and scientific prediction until we just want to grab an AK 47 and shoot our way out. Whether it's the economy or the sea levels, roving bands of displaced humans are inevitable.  Change is coming, and everyone wants to be prepared to defend themselves and their families. People are building their own produce gardens, stockpiling weapons and developing their own zombie apocalypse survival plans.  These plans are generally mentioned in jest, but the fact that we are thinking about them definitely exposes our fears. The future will be wrought with hardship.

There are so many zombie based masterpieces out there that I could dedicate my entire blog to it for a year. And I think I will. Each day, I will bring you the latest and greatest in zombie pop culture from around the world. The phenomenon deserves coverage, and what better way to conquer anxiety than to confront it head on with the living dead? Let me start you off with my current list of zombie favorites that came out relatively recently.

The Walking Dead - Playstation 3
This game takes place in the universe of the hit comic book series "Walking Dead" by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn. However, it has all new characters travelling through different parts of Georgia. The gameplay is not especially engaging as it mostly involves walking around, picking up items and talking to people, but the story is one that will keep you glued to the screen from start to finish.

Zombieland - Film
It was a while back, but this film exemplified good zombie comedy for me. If you can't stomach the scary movies, this is a much more enjoyable flick, and probably the best spoof since Shaun of the Dead.

Walking Dead - TV series
AMC brought us another high quality TV show in 2010 when Walking Dead premiered. I personally am not a fan of recent episodes, but as a devotee of the comics, I have continued to watch it. Season one is definitely a must-see. When you have great writing, acting and production value, you can't go wrong.

Les Revenants - TV series
This show is very spooky and very French. The creators aim to redefine the modern zombie. People come back from the dead, but they are more or less normal aside from an insatiable hunger for food, alcohol and sex. I plan to go into further detail in future posts.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
It's an expansion pack on a great game, but I was absolutely dazzled by the well-crafted story line. In addition to an original western tale about zombies, the expansion gives you the opportunity to catch and ride the four horses of the apocalypse (without the horsemen): Death, War, Pestilence and Famine. The entire original map of the world has a brand new zombie twist. I felt like a was playing a completely different game.

Survival Tip of the Day
"In those moments where you're not quite sure if the undead are really dead, dead, don't get all stingy with your bullets. I mean, one more clean shot to the head, and this lady could have avoided becoming a human Happy Meal." - Columbus, Zombieland.