Why Zombies Make Me Sad: Crying While I’m Cringing

Buy My Brother, My Zombie HERE

by Rusty Fischer

There is a moment in nearly every zombie movie, where the two heroes, or heroines, or hero + heroine, are almost out of the war zone, have just escaped the building, or crawled out of the tunnel and one of them gets bitten by a zombie.

You know the scene I’m talking about. And now the victim’s fate is sealed; depending on the mythology, in a couple of minutes, or a few hours, or maybe even a day or two, that’s it. They’re done; toast. Zombie toast.

And it makes me sad. Because they’ve always worked so hard to get to that point, and they’re just this side of free and, wham, instant living dead. Maybe that’s what’s so intriguing to me about zombies; maybe that’s why, after nearly 30 zombie stories, books and poems and counting, I’m still struggling to understand them, still coming up with new story lines to figure them out.

And, yes, I know they’re not real but… they’re the realest of the supernatural creatures to me. No superpowers, they don’t sparkle or fly or shape shift, they’re just there, looking like us, but not us.

That’s why my latest Reanimated ReadZ story, My Brother, My Zombie, holds a special place in my heart. It’s about a girl, who’s still human, and her brother; now a zombie. And it’s about their long trek together, their last walk as brother and sister, until he crosses over into what’s known as The Z-Zone, where only zombies fear to tread, and humans cannot go.

It’s a story of love, and loss, of regret and shame, of what was and what can never be. (Plus, it’s got a REALLY cool cover!) So, anyway, just a little rant for today about why zombies hold a special place in my heart, and why I keep writing about them, day after day, story after story, year after year.

So, my question for you: Why do you read about zombies? Do they make you sad, glad, mad or just plain scared? I’d love to hear your comments, and I hope you’ll enjoy My Brother, My Zombie and the rest of the Reanimated ReadZ series of 99-cent living dead shorts!

Yours in Zombie,

Rusty

Scenes from a Zombie Infestation: Or, What Kind of Zombie Reader Are You?

By Rusty Fischer

author of the Reanimated Readz Series

Buy Zombie Interrupted HERE

Last year I was fortunate enough to be on an author’s panel at a local horror convention. The topic was “How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse.”

I say “fortunate” because even though me and my little YA tales of friendly zombies and dating zombies and driving zombies and writing and reading zombies were WAY out of place on this panel of hardcore zombie authors, I got to see all the different kinds of zombie readers there are:

There are the diehard fans, who are purely out for blood. They like their zombie books hard and fast and full -- FULL -- of gore. The gorier, the better.

There are the lookie-loos, who have maybe seen a zombie movie or two and would like to know more about how an author makes zombies, you know, interesting. (I think this is my favorite type of zombie reader because they’re a blank slate and could go either way.)

Buy Project Z HERE

There are the 'fraidy cats, who don’t really like zombies but are curious as to what the fuss is all about and would like to get their feet wet by opening up their first zombie book and getting over that fear.

There are the serious zombie students, who take their zombies very, very seriously. They treat zombie books like nonfiction. Try telling them your YA zombie character became a zombie through lightning -- lightning! -- and they roll their eyes dismissively.

COMING SOON!

And finally there are folks like me, open-minded, curious, who don’t take ourselves too seriously. We like zombies the way we like vampires, werewolves and other paranormal creatures: dark and deadly but also with a few more dimensions than the ones who stumble around in the dark grumbling “Brains” all day long. We’re able to laugh at our zombies, feel for them and even sympathize with them.

Don’t get me wrong; all types are awesome in their own, unique way. I can totally get behind the serious, academic types and why they’re so “into it.” I just can’t really speak to them as well because my books are so non-academic, even non-scientific.

COMING SOON!

I can’t really relate as much to the 'fraidy-cats because my zombies aren’t that scary, but I know many, many books that have scared me and I dig those too.

Buy Private Eyes HERE

I think what was so encouraging about being on this panel was how diverse the (standing room only) audience was! Men, women, young, old, some were dressed up as zombies, some looked like businesspeople, some just wanted to know more and others thought they knew all there was to know.  

So, I have to ask, which type of zombie reader are YOU?

Yours in YA, 

Rusty