Recreational drugs are bad but if you use them please don't participate on a panel for The Walking Dead. The Talking Dead cluster f*ck examined.

Last night's episode of Talking Dead, the talk show hosted by the Nerdist's own Chris Hardwick, had a panel of guests that included Marilyn Manson. This was a HUGE mistake. Within about five minutes, it was painfully obvious that Marilyn Manson was completely high on something. It was difficult to understand anything that came out of his mouth or to follow his logic which at times completely failed to connect with anything relevant to the show or just seemed so insane and discombobulated, you wondered where it was coming from. He'd say something that took two to three minutes to explain and the entire time you're trying to see the connection between Native Americans and colonization, World War Z, and the supposed role reversal of characters in the movie Training Day. Like seriously...it made NO SENSE AT ALL.

Here, you try to make sense of these comments:
Marilyn Manson: "The Governor had strict rules, whether they were good or not. You know, it's our opinion morally or just questionably. Just Rick didn't have any hardcore rules, until now he's started with those three questions. So Rick is kind of realizing politics need to be involved. it's almost starting a new world. It's like when people came to American and killed all the Indians. It's the zombies."
Chris Hardwick in response: "No, it's not like that at all."

Marilyn Manson regarding Carol killing Karen and David: "I think she's trying to be judge and jury, while Rick is trying to be civil. And he's more let's all decide, but he fell apart. And so you've got someone like her, and she's burning those bodies. She's suddenly like a feminist Suffragette City burning bras. I don't think it was personal."
Chris Hardwick in response: "I don't know if burning bras is the same as burning human beings alive."
Marilyn Manson in response to Chris: "No, but I think the recklessness of it. She was just making decisions on her own emotions. She's mad about all the things in her life. Maybe she hasn't gotten laid in awhile. She's like menstruating. Who knows what's going on?"
Chris Hardwick in response: "I'm not sure if I support those last two theories."

Because it's a live show, they obviously couldn't get rid of him. And Chris Hardwick tried his best to mitigate the damage by talking over him and keeping the questions aimed at Jack Osbourne and Gale Anne Hurd. However, it made me think of how incredibly selfish "being high" and then participating on a panel happens to be. You've got legions of fans who watch this show and want to discuss topics like 1) what the hell is going on with Carol and why has she become a psychopath? and 2) who is the voice on the radio and does that mean there's another camp out there that's managed to not only hold off the zombies but has the ability to broadcast over the radio, and 3) do you think Carol would go all psychopathic on Daryl (given that she has love for Daryl) if he came down with everyone else's plague?

If I had paid money to see this panel (like at a Comic Con) I would seriously be pissed off.

Now, I don't think that a public appearance by a stoned Marilyn Manson on any show or in any place could possibly damage his music sales or his reputation. On the contrary, it might actually grow as groupies of his would flock to one of his interests, zombies, even if they already weren't fans of the show. However, how can you possibly have any kind of intelligent discussion on any topic, let alone zombie fiction, when one person is continuously interrupting with nothing relevant to say because their mind is basically shot?

I guess this is one thing I never thought about regarding drug use. Yeah, recreational drugs are bad, and I choose not to use them. But people that do use recreational drugs should also choose not to be dicks and try to carry on conversations with sober people.

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The Walking Dead Sing-Along of The Monster Mash is proof that zombies rule

Halloween's definitely getting closer, so here's more fun for you via "the editing room floor" from the first four seasons of The Walking Dead. Anyway, this Walking Dead Sing-Along of The Monster Mash is proof that zombies rule (and that whoever put this together is f'ing brilliant and may have some time on their hands). I showed it to a couple of friends already, and their consensus is that it's rather "juicy." So, if you don't like gore, it may not be something you want to watch. But what is Halloween without buckets of fake blood?

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This season on the Walking Dead being stupid is the biggest challenge to overcome

Famous comics have long ripped horror movies for the stupid things that people do. In fact, being stupid got made fun of in Scream to great effect. Now, up until this point, the survivors on the Walking Dead have managed to keep "stupid" in check. That all changed once they assimilated the refugees from Woodbury, and it's driving me nuts.

Don't go off by yourself in the dark. When you hear a noise, tell others.

What follows is my list of "stupid" that I end up screaming at the television in disbelief, hoping that somehow Carol, Rick, Darryl, Michonne, or Hershel will hear me. Just like (in a horror movie) you don't wander off by yourself into the darkness with no weapon, there are things that people shouldn't be doing in this world if they want to survive.

1) In the first episode of season 4, Carol is teaching kids how to use weapons during story time without telling their parents. This is wrong and stupid of Carol. She shouldn't be doing this without letting everyone at the prison know. Additionally, when a child tells you he's sick and going to puke, you go and find the person that has the most medical knowledge to see if it's something serious. You don't just let them go off and "sleep off the sickness" in the hopes that it gets better especially in tight quarters.

2) Staying in a prison and not using the doors to your cell to keep you safe at night is just dumb. Lock yourself in at night. Also, don't sleep with anyone else. If they die in the middle of the night from natural causes, they could start gnawing on your leg.

3) Going anywhere without a weapon. Tyrese's girlfriend went into the latrine area with only her flashlight at night. That's really stupid. Everyone should have at least a knife on them at all times. And if you hear a noise, you alert everyone and not just go off to investigate it by yourself.

4) When the pig died why didn't you have the veterinarian, Hershel, figure out why? He's a vet for Pete's sake. Use your resources. Not doing so is just stupid. And then killing the little pigs you were raising because you fear they might have some sickness that spread to humans without proof is also stupid.

Cull the zombies at the fences. Do it eight hours a day if you need to.

5) Why on earth are they not actively culling the zombies? In season three we had a whole episode where Morgan showed how it was done. Barricades, trenches filled with spikes, barbed wire and boobie traps...all of these things should be set up outside the line of prison walls to help cull the zombies.

6) Zombies shouldn't be allowed to press on any portion of the fence. The survivors and everyone inside should work eight hour shifts at the gate killing the zombies that press up against the chain link fence.

7) They should be actively washing clothes, maintaining levels of hygiene, and going on runs into town to find anti-bacterial soaps, cleaners, and anything that will keep diseases in check. Water should all be treated with chlorine pills, etc.

8) Stop lighting fires with gasoline. It's a precious resource. Rick started to burn the pig pen down with gas when there was straw right there! Why didn't he grab the straw, use that to start a fire, and then burn the pig pen down? It's stupid!

It's very frustrating watching season 4. Don't get me wrong, two episodes in I'm still a huge fan. I'm just frustrated at how this season, "stupid" seems to be the most dangerous challenge in the world, and it will probably lead to their undoing. Ay carajo.

***** 

Today is Writers 4 Writers. Please visit Alex Cavanaugh and Isis Rushdan and send out a tweet to help them promote their novels!

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Rick Grimes says Come With Me and Walk the Longest Mile

In this painting by MiseryCannotBeDead Rick Grimes is saying "Come with me and walk the longest mile." It gives me chills, but huzzah, The Walking Dead is back! After last night's episode, something tells me the survivors are in for their worst year yet. Life is hard. In the apocalypse, life appears to be impossible. A reminder to you that the season 4 webisodes are online, and I have to say they are creeptacular.

The Colt Python totally makes this picture.

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All the wonderful television shows I plan to watch this autumn listed in one place

This Fall, there are a lot of shows I want to watch on television. People have been asking me for my recommendations so I've compiled a list of television shows (and when they air) to keep you apprised of what's on night to night. Maybe from this list, you can determine if there's anything there that piques your interest too.

Mondays:
Sleepy Hollow on Fox (second episode is tonight). Anachronism at its best! Ichabod Crane rises from the dead in 2013 to join forces with a cop to stop the Headless Horseman who just happens to be one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. I'm guessing that the first season is going to be all about getting the other three Horseman of the Apocalypse to join him.

Almost Human (November 4th on Fox) An action-packed police procedural set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids. It has Karl Urban in it and is being funded by J.J. Abrams. That's good enough for me.

Tuesdays:
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (premiere is this week) -- You all should know what this show is. If you don't, then consider nerd card suspended.

Supernatural (October 15th on the CW). Last season ended with angels being thrown out of heaven by the scribe of god. This season should be a war between demons and angels on earth. It sounds like the Winchesters will have their work cut out for them.

Wednesdays:

Arrow on the CW (second season premiere is October 9th) -- I love this show. Aside from gratuitous muscle shots, the acting is great and the storyline is awesome.

The Tomorrow People on the CW (season pilot airs October 9th) -- this looks like a spin on the whole Heroes thing using the Smallville formula: great looking actors and actresses mixed in with pop music and great special effects. I love the CW. Greatest line in the trailer: "What else can you do 'cept...STOP TIME?" <== That's f'ing awesome. I'm probably MOST excited for this series.

Revolution (second season starts this week) -- The first season almost lost me with all the weird directions it went in. However, I'm willing to see what they've got cooked up for season two. It seemed like the show likes getting me to be remotely invested in a character just to have it killed off or relegated to a minor role.

Modern Family (new season starts this week on ABC)

American Horror Story: Coven (October 9th on FX) -- Kathy Bates is enough reason to watch this season. That, and I like stories that have to do with witchcraft.

Thursdays:
The Big Bang Theory (new season starts on CBS this week
Elementary (second season starts this week)
Dragons: Defenders of Berk (second season started last week)
Once Upon A Time in Wonderland (October 10th on ABC)

Fridays:
Dracula (Pilot is October 25th on NBC) It's the late 19th century, and the mysterious Dracula has arrived in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. He's especially interested in the new technology of electricity, which promises to brighten the night - useful for someone who avoids the sun. But he has another reason for his travels: he hopes to take revenge on those who cursed him with immortality centuries earlier. Everything seems to be going according to plan... until he becomes infatuated with a woman who appears to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

Saturdays:
Dr. Who (50th anniversary on BBC America November 23rd and then a Christmas special. Goodbye Matt Smith)
Atlantis (starts on BBC America on November 23rd)
Beware the Batman (has been running for a while now-Cartoon Network)

Sundays:
The Walking Dead (season premiere on AMC October 13th)
Masters of Sex (season premiere on Showtime this Sunday) -- Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan portray the real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality, William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The series chronicles the unusual lives, romance, and pop culture trajectory of Masters and Johnson. Their research touched off the sexual revolution and took them from a mid-western teaching hospital in St. Louis to the cover of Time magazine and nearly a dozen appearances on Johnny Carson's couch.
Talking Dead (season premiere on AMC October 13th)
Once Upon A Time (new season airs this week on ABC)

So that's everything. See anything you like?

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BBC America's 'In the Flesh' gives us the warm fuzzy zombies we want to hug instead of shoot in the head

Kieran has PDS. He's a Partially Deceased Syndrome Sufferer. He gets
medicated with a drug that regenerates living brain tissue. However,
what he really needs is a hug from the humans he used to think of as food.

Last night I watched the first of three episodes in the BBC America mini-series "In the Flesh." First a disclaimer: those of you who follow my blog know that I'm absolutely in love with zombie apocalypse stuff. After all, I talk about "The Walking Dead" all the time (at least when it's in season). So this review of the show may just be a little biased.

I LOVED "In the Flesh." The main character is Kieran, a Brit and he's a "Partially Deceased Syndrome Sufferer," and the BBC couldn't pick a more adorable protagonist (well maybe "R" from "Warm Bodies" would be a good substitute). I could feel his emotional pain, his longing to just be embraced by other humans, and it tore at my heart strings. "In the Flesh" took my emotions, grabbed them by the jugular, and body slammed them. I can't wait for part two tonight. Yes, I'm begging to be body-slammed yet again.

And I just want to say, that when his parents picked Kieran up at the PDS facility, they didn't hug him. I kept waiting for the hug to happen, and it never did. Why for crying out loud won't anyone hug him? He's just come back from the dead...he's got memories of eating people and is really broken up about it, and no one in Britain has the compassion to give him a hug? Embedded below is a three minute sneak peak of this series. I totally dare you to watch it. Oh and if you missed the first episode, don't worry. They're airing them again on Sunday.

BBC America has been knocking it out of the park for years now. We've got the reboot of Sherlock Holmes, we have the new Dr. Who Series, we had Merlin, Torchwood, and now I have "In the Flesh." PLEASE BBC, you need to make "In the Flesh" a full blown series. IT IS AWESOME! Thank you for giving us the warm fuzzy zombies that we really wanted to just hug instead of shoot in the head. How absolutely brilliant of you.

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Remembering Season 3 of The Walking Dead with five awesome zombie kills

1) Death by silly string zombie. Okay, it's not silly string. But it's just as entertaining to watch Michonne kill this walker with some wire.

2) Death by Subaru hatchback zombie. Seriously, this is the BEST. PRODUCT. PLACEMENT. EVER. I'm sure Crocodile Dundee would agree.

3) Crush zombie head into a pile of goo death. Glen you are #AWESOME!

4) Rick Grimes going all "HULK SMASH" on a zombie.

5) Who can forget face peel zombie?! Whoever thought this up is seriously a genius.

So yeah, season 3 has been over for a month now, and season 4 just started filming in Georgia. Oh what a long summer this is gonna be. But for you ladies out there, I leave you with this thought:

Have a great Thursday :)

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Five reasons supporting the idea to create an interesting character give them a hat

Is there an unwritten rule of genre fiction? Sure. Good thing I'm a writer too because if I didn't write it down and just...I dunno...told you about it, chances are it would remain unwritten. Life has little ironies like that. So, I've been thinking. At first, I sat in front of my word processor working on my paranormal masterpiece that P.T. Dilloway says has an unpronounceable name (I dunno what he's talking about because Caledfwlch is as easy to pronounce and spell as "Bob") and started to wonder, how DO you create holy water exactly? and realized that you can't just boil the hell out of it. Get it...boil the "hell" out of it? Disclaimer: if you don't find that last line funny, then this next question totally applies to you:

But I digress, and I have some more completely random points to make before I'm through with you. So more to the point, what (you may ask) is my epiphany for the writing world? It is this oh beautiful people:

To create an interesting character give them a hat.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!?! I mean IT'S SO SIMPLE WHY DIDN'T YOU THINK ABOUT THIS?!? Allow me to explain in a way that will poignantly illustrate why I am me and you are you.

First, this is totally THE REASON why I have Jordan wear a sports cap on his head all throughout Slipstream and Oculus. SERIOUSLY. And for anyone that's read my books, he'd so be less cool without a hat. And second...well there really is no second. So let's just go with "first" and examine how I arrived at this conclusion? Easy...by paying attention to books, movies, comics, and video games in the last 30 years. It sure as heck wasn't doing anything constructive with my life.

1) The Sorting Hat. Everyone's read the Harry Potter books. If you haven't, you should just go out and punch a bunny right now because you are a mean person. Now, for those readers of my blog who are not out and punching bunnies, admit this one truth: the story really takes off post "Sorting hat." It's kind of the defining moment marking a change of direction from "I have no idea where this story is headed" to "oooh, now everyone has a motive behind all their mean-ness."

Harry  looks constipated in this picture. I hope everything
comes out all right. :/

2) OddJob. The huge mute Korean from the James Bond 007 film, "Goldfinger" is remarkably uninteresting unless you like huge Korean men who can crush golf balls into dust.  But wait, there's a scene where he throws his bowler hat and lops off the head of a stone statue. At that point, you realized, "Hey, this is an Asian stereotype with flare. He may only drive the white guy around and probably still do his laundry, but at least he has an accessory with a deadly razor blade ring of metal in it." I guess given the time, it was difficult to entrust a gun with a Korean. You can bet that we won't see this again anywhere.

I get no speaking lines. I just crush golf balls into powder and wear this
completely innocuous hat that really sets off my eyes. No, it doesn't have
a deadly blade in the rim that I can direct better than a Frisbee.

3) Kung Lao.  This guy  is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat series, introduced as a player character in Mortal Kombat II in 1993. He's a former Shaolin monk, and a close friend of the series' protagonist Liu Kang. Kung Lao gained considerable popularity and favorable critical reception, in large part due to his famous weapon resembling Oddjob's hat (ZOMGAH I JUST SAID IN #2 THAT WE WOULD NEVER SEE THIS AGAIN).

Kung Lao is only cooler than Oddjob because he's drawn that way.

I didn't think Oddjob's hat was all that cool, but there was the time he lopped off the head of that statue. Can Midway top that? I mean come on...what could you possibly do with a hat and a razor blade? It's not like you could slam it into the ground and make a makeshift table saw. *SNORT That would totally be unbelievable and no one would buy that.

WHOAH WHOAH WHOAH! This is a VIDEO GAME THAT YOUR
KIDS ARE PLAYING?!

Okay i have to admit...that's cooler than Oddjob's hat. I especially like how
the words flash "Kung Lao Wins" as if that weren't obvious. I guess we
have to be told everything nowadays.

Okay...maybe there are a few people who would buy that. But is it gross? Or is it just really the coolest thing you've ever seen? I sense a disturbance in the force: like maybe there's going to be a sharp divide on the "perceived coolness" of this graphic based on whether you are a boy or a girl.  I don't know what testosterone has to do with it, but the Magic 8 Ball says "Yes."

4) Big Trouble In Little China. This little gem from the eighties deserves its own blog post because it's just that cool. But there's no dispute that hats are the accessory that make or break the on-screen mojo of every character present.  Just look at Jack Burton with the hat and without the hat.

Can you feel the coolness radiating from Kurt Russell? Yeah...now YOU know the reason
why Jordan wears a hat in my books. 

Yeah. If you'd kept your hat on, you wouldn't have gotten your ass kicked.

And don't even get me started on the Three Storms.  The only reason the lightning guy lived to the very end was because he kept his hat on.

5) Rick Grimes ala "The Walking Dead." Rick Grimes BEFORE he gave his hat to Carl is a complete badass. After he gave his hat away, he's basically lost his mind. So my premise is that the hat is what kept him from going insane, not the zombie apocalypse and all the emotional baggage that comes with that.

Before he gave his hat away, Rick is clearly in charge.

Rick gave his hat away. Now he's all crying and blubbering and has totally lost it. But his
son is now the calm and cool and  totally wooden psychopath that we can really get behind.

So there you have it, my friends. Are you now convinced that in your own writing, you need to give your characters a hat to make them interesting?

Have a great Tuesday :)

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Rick Grimes is the paladin in hell only instead of a sword, he's got a colt python baby

The Walking Dead will be aired by AMC in black and white. I talk
about this below. Not only is it a tribute to the comic book by
Robert Kirkman, but it is also an homage to George A. Romero who
essentially invented the genre with a black and white zombie film
called "Night of the Living Dead."

In a kind of chilling delivery, Carl tells his dad in one of the many season 3 promos for the episode "Suicide Kings" (which airs this Sunday), "I think you should stop being leader." Why is it chilling? Because it shows just how much Rick Grimes has lost it, and it's maybe a turning point in the sense that his own son thinks someone else could do better. But the question is: who could lead better than Rick? I know I'd trust him with my life.

For me, there's only one other person that might be suited to leadership in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse and that's Michonne. We also have yet to see if Tyrese (who was introduced prior to the show going on hiatus last fall) will prove to be the kind of life injection that's needed for Rick to be able to be the force for good that he truly is in a world awash with evil.

Have you read The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor yet? My post on it is HERE. I want to warn you, that I want to talk about a major spoiler that's in the book that's probably still true of the television show.

>>>SPOILER ALERT<<<

Philip is not the guy you think he is. His zombie daughter "Penny" that Michonne killed was in fact his niece. The guy pretending to be Philip is actually Philip's brother. The real Philip is dead (he went crazy) and in order to survive, the brother took on Philip's personality and kind of "became" his dead brother. Is that f*cked up or what?

Anyway, in the trailer for "Suicide Kings," it's pretty much stated that Philip has lost his mind. Well, unfortunately, "The Governor" lost his mind quite a while ago when he adopted zombie Penny as his own spawn. Michonne killing Penny disintegrated whatever sanity that remained (if you can even call it that). Basically, I don't think the Governor has any reason to live and is going to be absolutely consumed with hatred and revenge. It's not much of a stretch to say the worst kind of villain is someone who has nothing to lose.

As bad as the first half of the season was (and let's face it, a kid shot his own mother so it was pretty bad), I think from this point on, it's going to be filled with nail-biting scenes and all things grotesque. I really feel bad for Rick at times. It reminds me of a drawing I once saw done by a Dungeons and Dragons artist called "A Paladin in Hell." I don't know the story behind this drawing, but you know that the knight in shiny armor is outnumbered. And it can't end well.

Rick is totally this paladin in shiny armor besieged by evil on all sides. That's basically the
world of The Walking Dead

This old black and white picture also reminds me to tell you that AMC is retrofitting all of the episodes of "The Walking Dead" into black and white to honor the black and white comic book and zombie craze inventor George A. Romero. They will begin airing them starting with the pilot on February 14th (yes AMC is showing Robert Kirkman some love). Will you be watching "The Walking Dead" in black and white? How do you think it will affect the horror?

And for you gun enthusiasts, here's an infographic that tells you all you'd want to know about Rick Grimes' gun courtesy of my new friend, Anthony Welsch, at the Lucky Gunner. Check out Lucky Gunner if you want to see more :).

More from LuckyGunner.com

Are you excited to see "Suicide Kings" this Sunday? Have a great Thursday :)

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Four ways to totally satisfy your Walking Dead withdrawal

So we are a little over a month away before AMC's epic "The Walking Dead" starts up again, hopefully with a high body count and much samurai sword wielding goin' down in the zombie apocalypse. We can blame the Nielsen sweeps for such lulls put upon us by the holidays, but the fact is, if you're like me, blame only goes so far. So what can we do in the meantime?

1) My first suggestion is to read The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor.

Seriously. This novel had me on the edge of my seat for two nights as I consumed page after page following the first days of the outbreak. The Governor (known as Philip) and his brother (plus a couple of friends and his daughter Penny) are just like everyone else: caught unawares when the world "mysteriously shifts" and the dead rise up to eat the living.

This book is dripping with gore. My favorite scene is when this small group commandeers a luxurious Cadillac Escalade and try to make their way into downtown Atlanta where there's supposedly, a government refugee camp where they can get supplies, help, medical attention, military protection, and perhaps an explanation as to what the hell is going on.

As a little background, in the early days of the outbreak, power is still available in many areas. There are still television broadcasts going on along with updated news programs. But as the hours march on, more television stations drop off the air, and broadcasters turn to previously recorded shows. The way the author writes it, it's eerie in a very normal way. So really, there's no reason for our group to know that Atlanta has been overrun. Just that it seems suspicious that the television stations are all so quiet.

Well this Cadillac Escalade is essentially a rolling tank. And Phillip gets caught downtown watching zombies come out of skyscrapers like clowns coming out of a clown car. There's literally thousands of them, and they get cut off on all sides. So he slams his Escalade into four wheel drive, revs it up to sixty miles an hour, and just cuts a swath through the walking dead, blowing them up, running them down, and creating so much "zombie grease" under the tires and carriage that it hydroplanes through a building and gets wrapped around a concrete pillar. And behind them, the zombies are roaring, relentless, and hungry.

2) You should watch all of the episodes of High School of the Dead on Hulu. You don't have to have a Hulu Plus membership. It's totally free. You just have to sign in using Facebook to show that you're old enough to be watching anime with such "adult/gory" content.

High School of the Dead is exactly how I would picture The Walking Dead in Japan. Only here we have young adults being eaten alive. The outbreak starts simple enough at a school with a zombie being mistaken by the principle as a trouble maker trying to break into the school's secure grounds. When confronted, the principle gets bit and quickly spreads the contagion. So the faculty ends up eating young adults. A particularly chilling part of the anime is when the voice of someone in the office is shouting "Stop! It hurts! It hurts! Stop!" and then screams when the mic goes dead. After that, there's a stampede as kids try to get out of the high school. A pair of girls (vowing to protect each other) gets separated, and the one stands over the other horrified, watching her friend get torn to pieces by zombies. It's great! And yes, for guys out there who like to see Japanese school girls in their school uniforms, there's lots of that going on.

3) Watch 13-year-old Nick Mastrangelo's animated video of The Walking Dead's Daryl Dixon in action. It involves machine guns, a magic crossbow, and even robots. You should watch this and then ask yourself what you were capable of doing with a computer in the 8th-grade.

4) Watch the new "Evil Dead" trailer which is being billed as the scariest movie of 2013. This trailer is Not Suitable for Work. It is for mature audiences and features gore, swearing, and a disturbing scene where a woman cuts her tongue in half. But for the "Evil Dead" purists out there, it should be quite satisfying. It looks less campy than the Bruce Campbell/Sam Raimi version, and the Necronomicon looks pretty convincing. In case you don't know, the Necronomicon is an H.P. Lovecraft prop used in most of his Cthulhu mythos stories. It's not something you'd ever want to read from. In the least it rouses the dead, and that's never a good thing.

Housekeeping:

Next week I shall be attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I decided that I am going to take a laptop so I will strive to blog about C.E.S. And yes, I am going to grab as much free stuff as I can possibly get. I'm going to point out to every vendor that I work for the State of Utah and we do demonstrations for people all of the time SO HOOK ME UP homey! :) Mostly I will be going to the Silvers Summit and taking a look at Smart Home Technologies and basically anything that "differently-abled" people could use to make their lives more independent. That's my career (using assistive technology to provide independence and a more meaningful life to those who could use some help). I install cameras and environmental controls that are voice-operated, I install voice-operated computers in people's homes, and strive to stay on the cutting edge of technology.

Anyway, I hope my laptop doesn't get stolen in the airport. I think I've taken every precaution.

If you have time today, please visit Laura Eno's blog as it's a stop on my book tour. You can find her HERE.

Additionally, on Saturday I will be at the Indie Book Blog. I think Oculus is getting a review. You'll find that blog HERE. Oh well, I guess that's the chance we authors take, right?

FREE MONEY>>>Also, the $50.00 Amazon Gift Card promotion is still going on. Go HERE for the daily tweet which has been updated. The gift card giveaway ends this Monday.

Have a great weekend. Monday, I shall be doing a cover reveal for Ellie Garratt's new book.

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Analysis of The Walking Dead Season 3 Thus Far

"The Walking Dead" continuously surprises me. I used to think that any story in a zombie apocalypse could never be extended into a series because the monsters are one-dimensional. Boy was I wrong. The way in which Kirkman and his team of writers have developed this world for AMC is nothing short of genius. With the mid-season finale looming just a week away, season 3 has made me understand through subtlety so many things about a zombie apocalypse that truly make it an "end of the world" scenario.  Here's my analysis of high points we have witnessed thus far and what they mean to me:

In "When The Dead Come Knocking", Michonne finally meets Rick because she walks
up to the chain link gate carrying baby formula in a shopping basket in the midst of a
herd of zombies who can't see her because she is dressed in zombie blood and gore. It's
a chilling scene to see a woman so calmly approach the gate and to be so comfortable
around the reanimated dead. Verdict: Michonne may be the most insane person the zombie
apocalypse has ever produced and thus, the most suited to survive.

1) The introduction of Michonne and the Governor, Rick losing his mind, the psychopath Merle, and the sociopath in Carl (Rick's son). My analysis: If you are normal like you and me, you cannot survive the apocalypse. Only people who are insane survive the end of the world, because insanity is the only psychological trait that is capable of dealing with legions of the undead. If you live for any length of time...if you are not insane, you will become insane. You can't escape it.

2) The death of Lori in childbirth. This was more  horrific than T-Dog's death, and it showed how far society has fallen. Women have not had to worry about death from childbirth for nearly a century. But throughout human history, it was a problem. Well with the episode that featured Lori's death, it's back and it's here to stay. Welcome to the stone ages again. The message to all women in the zombie apocalypse: getting pregnant just may be a death sentence.

In season one, this group didn't handle zombies well at all. There was lots
of panicking, screaming, and running. Now they don't even kill zombies if
the zombies are moving too slow. They don't even bother. They're treated
with the same indifference as a fly buzzing around. The ability to see such
things as merely a part of the scenery is disturbing because it's like they
no longer care or are shocked by anything.

3) The reanimation. In season one, the CDC showed us through sophisticated computer technology that the reanimation occurred shortly after death, and that nothing of the former person remained. Yet, we also saw in season one that Morgan's wife turned the knob to their door as if she remembered her home even though she was one of the walking dead. Then in last night's episode, a scientist was trying to discover if a newly reanimated zombie would remember either its name or recall a picture of his family. These kinds of questions, though unanswered to this point, seem to beg of a greater existential one: why is this happening and what exactly is a zombie? Is it a new form of life? Or is it truly an undead creation with no memory of its past life? I also think it may have to do with religion. More appropriately...do humans have souls? And if they do and something is left behind, then what does that say about an afterlife? Maybe it says there is no afterlife at all for any of us and that a person's soul could remain earthbound in a rotting corpse forever.

It's been a fascinating series. I'll be sorry to see it go on hiatus for a few weeks until it starts up again in either January or February 2013.

In other news, did you purchase your PowerBall ticket? I happened to be in Idaho over Thanksgiving weekend and since they (unlike Utah) sell PowerBall, I bought a ticket. Biggest jackpot ever. May the best ticket win. Boy, would $425 million be a real life changer or what!

Have a great Monday.

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The politics of revenge in a zombie apocalypse

SPOILER ALERT -- This blog post discusses season 3, episode 4 entitled "The Killer Within" from "The Walking Dead."

In the image above is Andrew from Season 3 of The Walking Dead and from the comic book of the same name. Those of you who have followed my blog for some time know I periodically like to talk about story elements present within the shows that I watch. Aside from being another nail-biting episode, upon finishing, I had questions about the moral nature of man and the idea of screwing over your fellow man in a zombie apocalypse for no good reason.

Primarily...what I wanted to know is why?

Screwing over your fellow man has never really made sense to me in any science fiction drama that features terrible creatures that will eat you. Burke did it in the movie Aliens and when I watch the movie, I still wonder why. Was Burke insane? Did he not see what the alien xenomorph did to humans. It has got to be one of the most gruesome fates ever imagined.

A zombie apocalypse isn't much better.

With Andrew, he had to run for his life from Rick after his nefarious plot (along with inmate Tomas) was exposed and they tried to kill Rick. Rick chased him to a zombie infested yard where Rick slammed the door shut on Andrew. The last thing we heard were Andrew's chilling screams.

Well, we learned Sunday night that Andrew survived without getting bit and somehow made it to a safe place where the zombies couldn't get to him. Now, if that were me (and trust me...there'd be long odds that I could ever survive one day in a zombie apocalypse) I would count my lucky stars, use the skills that I have to obviously survive multiple zombies, and go into the wild and look for a place where I could find food and shelter away from people that want to kill me. Perhaps I could find another group of survivors that could take me in if I showed them that I could be a good person with valuable survival skills.

But this isn't what Andrew does. He gets back into the prison with the intent to screw over Rick and his crew. Doesn't he realize that each time he encounters the zombies that he is risking his life? Why would you ever do that given that the zombies could kill you and the people you are screwing over can kill you? I would be terrified of both. And he literally gets an entire herd of zombies all riled up by blasting the alarm at the prison. This can only end one way.

So why would a person do that? And does it seem just a little unbelievable? Like maybe they needed to establish that the character was a lunatic before going down this road? Or do you think it's perfectly reasonable that a man on his own (that should feel lucky just to be alive in such a cruel world) would turn from thoughts of survival and focus on those of revenge against people who failed to kill him?

I look forward to finding out what you think regarding revenge in settings where the stakes for your very survival are extremely high to begin with, much less inviting wrath from another front.

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The Walking Dead Season 3 Webisodes are here!

EDIT: Well all the YouTube videos got taken down because of a copyright complaint made by AMC. However, you can watch them on the AMC network's website located HERE.

Thanks, Andrew for the heads up.

Gotta love The Walking Dead Season 3 Webisodes. So what do you think?

I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL OCTOBER 14TH!!!!

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The Walking Dead Season 3 Four-Minute Trailer got my blood a pumping

Sunday night, AMC premiered the four-minute trailer to season 3 of the Walking Dead. It was previously shown at Comic Con in San Diego this weekend.

We see some Michonne action right off the bat using her katana to kill some zombies in a store. We also see the Governor in the town of Woodbury, Michonne asking for their weapons, and laying the foreshadowing that the Governor is evil by Michonne uttering the words, "I don't trust him."

And the clincher is seeing Merle with a knife wrapped to the stump of his right hand.

If you have the time, please watch the video. It's great.

Have a great Tuesday. #SoExcited for October. It's only twelve weeks away.

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Science-fiction news that caught my eye this week

Here's the Prometheus International poster.

I really liked this Prometheus featurette that came out on May 21st. It has Charlize Theron talking about her character Meredith Vickers, and how she's the one in charge of the doomed mission in the movie. It has some clips that I hadn't seen previously, including a part where she roasts some guy in his own space suit with a flame thrower saying, "I'm not letting him back on my ship." It's really intense.

In addition to Prometheus (which continues to enjoy viral marketing), the Walking Dead started filming season three. Of the choice words being said to the camera were "There are samurai sword wielding characters that are turning up..." I love the summer, but I can't wait for the Walking Dead to return in the fall. But before that happens, I'll be able to enjoy the last season of Breaking Bad which promises to be absolutely amazing.

And last but not least, if you are someone (like me) that enjoyed watching Falling Skies last year, it has been renewed and is returning to TNT this June. So in the movies we get Prometheus and Brave, and on television we get aliens from outer space conquering Earth. Summer is shaping up to be pretty hot. Anyone else seeing MIB 3 this weekend? I'll probably try to catch one showing tonight.

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Dr. Jenner's whisper to Rick on The Walking Dead

This week's Walking Dead had me thinking.

If you recall from season one, the group led by Rick went to the CDC in Atlanta for help. When they got there, they found Dr. Jenner. He was the only one left. And prior to committing suicide and blowing up the whole building, he whispered something into Rick's ear.

Dr. Jenner whispered something to Rick in last year's
season finale and I think they are going to finally reveal
it very soon.

Well I have an idea on just what that whisper might have been.

After a discussion with my friend James, I think that Dr. Jenner might have told Rick that everyone is infected with the zombie disease. That everyone that dies, becomes one, whether or not they are bit. Somehow...the world has changed.

The implications for Rick are profound. If something happens to his unborn baby in the womb and it dies, it will become a zombie and attack the mother from the inside.

That would be horrific. And this series does not pull any punches.

Additionally, it looks like Michonne will be showing up in the season finale in just three more episodes. If you don't know who Michonne is, you can look at my post that I did on her HERE.

Rutina Wesley as Michonne? We find out in 3 episodes

The woman who has been cast with no name attached because AMC is keeping it secret as to who she will play is Rutina Wesley. You may recognize her from playing Tara in the HBO series "True Blood." She's also going to be in Ridley Scott's Prometheus (I can see Grumpy rolling his eyes). Rutina Wesley IS confirmed as a permanent cast member and not a guest star appearance.

She has to be playing Michonne.

UPDATE as of 3/19/2012

I was wrong on the casting of Michonne. It turns out that Treme actress Danai Gurira has been cast in the role. I have to say that October 2012 seems like a long time to wait before seeing her in action. But if last night's season finale were any indication, the best things do indeed come to those who wait.

Danai Gurira as the most badass zombie fighter in the world

What do you think?

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Moral ambiguity in the zombie apocalypse

I'm really loving the second half of the second season of the Walking Dead and last night's show was no exception. One of the things that I like about the show was brought up in the talk show that airs late in the evening. One of the guests pointed out that the awful moral choices that characters are making in the name of love is fascinating. I agree with that and it's the hook that brings me back.

Okay...so here's the real reason for my post. Last night's "question" was about whether or not you would save someone from zombies if they had previously been trying to kill you.

Here's the situation. Guy was on a roof shooting at you with his rifle, he fell off the roof and got his leg impaled. Zombies are coming out of the woods everywhere, and you are low on ammunition. The guy that fell off the roof though is just a teenager. He could have been just doing what someone told him to do and his buddies left him to die. Do you shoot him to spare him the agony of being eaten alive? Do you try and save him by unimpaling his leg off of the fence that he fell on? Or do you not even shoot him but leave him to be eaten?

Myself...I would have tried to save him despite the fact that zombies are coming at me, and I have only like 30 seconds before they start munching on me. I just don't think I could leave a teenage boy to die to zombies...not when I could do something. In a zombie apocalypse, humans are almost extinct, and I would hold onto the hope that people could survive if they just chose to help one another. This attitude probably means I would not live very long in a zombie apocalypse. However, what is being human if we lose hold of our humanity?

What would your choice be?

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In a zombie apocalypse, I would want to live here

Just in time for The Walking Dead, the Zombie Apocalypse, and Halloween.

I assume it's affordable for any billionaire.

Don't forget...watch The Walking Dead on Sundays so that we can "squee" about it.

Have a great weekend.

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Why I Can't Wait For Michonne

This mysterious black woman on the above cover is Michonne (pronounced ME-SHAWN). Her weapon is a katana and she's an expert at using it. This is her grand entrance which doesn't show her wearing a hood.  All badass people wear hoods. She shows up with two shackled zombies that she pulls along with a chain, one of whom is her former boyfriend and the other was his best friend. She cut off their arms and lower jaws to make them docile and unable to harm her.

Frank Darabont has confirmed that Michonne will be in the series but perhaps not until season 3.  Stephen King has also been signed to write one episode.

I leave you with more shots of Michonne who is arguably going to be the most badass character in any television series presently showing on any network.

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