ZOMBIEPALOOZA!

After days, weeks, nearly a fortnight, of planning, Zombiepalooza is finally upon us, and I can't tell you how excited I am.

As you may or may not know, Zombiepalooza is an event running from October 1st until October 31st here at my blog. It's going to be filled with guest blogs, short stories and flash fiction from thoughts of amazing authors, and tons of giveaways. Okay, the weight of the prizes won't literally equal a ton, but there are a lot of giveaways. (I'm even kicking off this post with a signed paperback giveaway, but I'll talk more about that in a minute.)

For the full calender of events, please check out the Zombiepalooza tab at the top, or click: here. (It's too much to post. Because it's a LOT of things.)

Here's is one treat you'll find under the Zombiepalooza tab from Bards and Sages Publishing:  Everything from angels to zombies since 2002

Take 50% off both the print and digital version of one of our bestsellers, Dead Men and Women Walking.  Zombies, vampires, undead things that should not be.  Dozens of short stories featuring the walking dead.  Visit our website at www.bardsandsages.com to find other books, and learn how to enter our annual charity writing contest and see your work in print.

Zombies. Vampires. Undead things that should not be. Now the dead share their tales, with over two dozen tales of brain-feasting, blood-drinking, revenge-seeking horror. Follow the walking dead through playgrounds, shopping centers, deserted towns, and corporate complexes as they continue their relentless quests.

To get 50% off an ebook of Dead Men and Women Walking, go: here and enter this discount code VB43U. To get 50% off a paperback, go: here and enter this discount code WLJKS8U8 

Zombiepalooza is celebration of all things zombie and Halloween (but mostly zombie.) To start of the month, I tried to come up with a recommended reading/viewing list of all things zombie for those that may not be familiar with zombies, or even with those that are but forgot about certain awesome zombie things.

If you're wondering how I contabulated the lists, it was by a highly scientific system called "my own personal preference" and "Google." So it's very accurate that these are THE best.

Recommended Viewing

1.  Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Probably one of the greatest remakes of all time. I laughed, I cried, I got seriously grossed out. Plus the guy who plays Phil on Modern Family is a total trip. 
2. Shaun of the Dead
Somehow this movies manages to be both hilarious and downright tense and frightening. It's a hard combo, but Simon Pegg is a genius. 
3. 28 Days Later
Right before, as in like 20 minutes, I saw this movie in theaters, I got my rook pierced and a tattoo, and this became my most intense movie viewing experience of all time. But even when I'm not in crazy pain, I still love this movie.
4. Army of Darkness
Too, too much fun.
5. Dawn of the Dead (1979)
Some people think this is better than the remake. Those people are wrong. But this is a good movie.
6. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The one that started it all. Kinda. Okay, so George Romero didn't invent the zombie, but he did make a classic film that really invented the genre as we know it today.
7. Dead Alive
The cover alone creeps me out.
8. Plan 9 From Outer Space
Maybe not so much a "zombie" movie or even a "movie" as a hilarious travesty of film by the "brilliant" Ed Wood.
9. Planet Terror
Robert Rodriquez knows how to make an awesome zombie flick.
10. Zombieland* 
*I haven't actually seen Zombieland because of my current issues with Jesse Eisenberg (he knows what he did), but I want to see it, and generally consesus via the internet is that if you like zombies, you should see Zombieland

Recommended Reading

1. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
Hands down, the best zombie book ever.
2. The Zombie Survival Guide  by Max Brooks
3. Monster Island by David Wellington
4. Marvel Zombies: Graphic Novel by Robert Kirkman and Sean Phillips
I'm not a huge fan of Marvel Comics, but any series that has Peter Parker eating Mary Jane is pretty awesome. Plus, it has an Army of Darkness  cross over.
5. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen... and some other guy
1. I don't know if  I approve of mash ups in general, but this one, I kinda dug.
   
6. Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by S. G. Browne
7. Unicorns vs. Zombies by Holly Black*
*I haven't read this yet. ($9.99 on Kindle? Yeah, right). But I keep imagining how awesome it is. 
8. Hollowland by Amanda Hocking **
**I wrote this. So my opinion is biased. But I do recommend that you read it :)

 You may be asking yourself, "What if I'm not a zombie fan? What are recommendations for some good clean, horror fun for the month of October?"

Well, I'm glad you asked. Here are my general recommendations for all things scary.

1. Pan's Labyrinth 
No movie has ever freaked me out more as an adult. Because of this: 

 
2. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
I saw this movie twice in theaters. I never do that. But I loved this movie. It has Ted Levine! And really, really horrible creatures! But the sequel might be the worst movie ever made.
3. The Lost Boys 
Not scary at all. But awesome.
4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The original or the remake. Doesn't matter. I love them both.
5. Nightmare on Elmstreet (1984)
I didn't appreciate Freddy's genius until a few years ago. Now I imagine that if Michael Ian Black were a pedophile that got burned alive, this is what he'd be like. He's very funny. 
6. Friday the 13th (1980)
Yeah, it's horrible. That's why its awesome.
7. An American Werewolf in London
This movie really grossed me out as a kid. The werewolf transformation... is disturbing. But I love this movie anyway. And fun fact: I don't even like werewolves. And it has the Dr. Pepper guy.
8. Ernest Scared Stupid
No movie has ever given me more nightmares this one. It's supposedly a film for "children" but I saw this when I was 10 and it still terrified me. It could be because of massive fear of trolls (truth), but that troll was really scary. Really.
9. The Exorcist
Classic terror.
10. Anything by David Lynch. Eraserhead and Blue Velvet are my top picks. His movies make my skin crawl and I get nauseous. That man is the true master of horror.

I tried to think of books that scared me.  I've read all of Stephen King, and while I recommend it, none of it ever scared me. I could only come with one book that actually freaked me out and gave me nightmares.

Grubs by David McAfee. I'll admit that it didn't help that I'm predispositioned to hating maggots more than anything (except trolls), but the book is still subversively creepy. It's got a lot of camp, but it's still good. It's sorta like Slither, only better because it doesn't have Elizabeth Banks.

But my lists of scary aren't definitive, of course and I'd love to hear what everybody's favorite scary movies are. That's what the comments section is for. ;)

On that note, David McAfee is generously giving away a signed copy of his hit book 33 A. D. For more information about David or his books, please visit: mcafeeland.wordpress.com

Jerusalem, 33 A.D. The vampires of the era have long sought to gain a foothold into Israel, but the faith of the local Jewish population has held them in check for centuries.


When one of their own betrays them to follow a strange young rabbi from Galilee, the elders of the vampire race dispatch Theron, a nine hundred year old assassin, to kill them both.


The rabbi's name is Jesus. Killing him should be easy.


"33 A.D. by David McAfee is a wildly original, non-stop pulse pounder that tells the story of a vampire assassin whose mission is to kill Jesus of Nazareth. In a genre mired by cliché stories, this stands out as something bold and new."

- Jeremy Robinson, author of Pulse and Instinct

The giveaway for the paperback of 33 A.D. has the same rules as the other Zombiepalooza giveaways -

1. To enter to win, comment on this blog, leaving an email address to contact you in case you win.

2. The giveaway runs from now until October 28th at midnight. On October 29th, winners will be chosen by random.org and contacted. They have 72 hours to reply before the prize defaults to the runner-up.

3. Only one entry per giveaway. (But you can enter as many different Zombiepalooza giveaways as you want.)

4. US only. Sorry to our international friends. :(