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

Doomed to Drama: Or, Why I Write About Zombies

Buy ProjectZ HERE

By Rusty Fischer, author of the Reanimated Readz Series

There’s that scene in almost every zombie movie/book. You know the one I’m talking about: where one of the good guys, the stragglers, the survivors gets bitten and you know, everyone knows, that’s it; he or she is done for.

There’s no cure, chopping the arm or the leg off never works, that’s it: he or she is a dead thing walking. It may take a day, a week, an hour, but soon enough they’ll start to look… different. Eyes glazed over, skin a different color, they’ll stop remembering the name of the current president, or what year it is, or who went home last night on Dancing with the Stars.

And that’s that; human no more. Welcome to the Afterlife.

That’s the beauty of zombies: they’re doomed. Either to rot and fall to pieces, like in some books, or to walk the earth eternally, dead but living, like in mine. And there’s something sad but brave about that. That they just keep going and going and going, making an afterlife for themselves despite all the odds.

And in that doom, there is drama. Who will get it next? Who will the director or the screenwriter or the author decide to go “the zombie way” with? Isn’t that why we turn into the Walking Dead season after season: to see who’s going to survive? To see who’s going to get it?

And with zombies, it’s all still relatively new. Vampires, their rules have been established for hundreds of years. Even werewolves have a lot of literary baggage. But it’s only in the last few years or so that zombie books have taken off to this degree, and that still gives zombie writers like me a little creative freedom to turn that doom into new kinds of drama.

When I wrote Zombies Don’t Cry, I tried to create a world where zombies could be the main characters of a new book series. When I wrote Ushers, Inc., I wanted to create a world where vampires, zombies and werewolves could not only co-exist but, more importantly, play on a level playing field. When I wrote Panty Raid at Zombie High, I wanted grosser zombies than I’d ever written about before to still be the “good” guys.

What’s more, that “doom as drama” presents almost unlimited possibilities. Like today, my latest story in the Reanimated Readz series comes out. ProjectZ is about still being more zombie than human, but being just human enough to know what your fate is; to feel your dream, recognize it and have to deal with it. Other stories in the series talk about what it’s like to lose a brother to being a zombie, or when your ex turns against you because you’re a zombie.

All these 99-cent shorts are a great way to explore the endless possibilities of making zombies the good guys, or humans the bad guys, or vice versa – or a little bit of both. 

And that’s why I’m a zombie writer. So, what makes you a zombie reader?!? Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of ProjectZ. Don't forget to leave your email address in your response!