The Dead Walk

The Soul Tangler by MIKE LACKEY

2010-10-31T20:16:00.000-07:00

It was 1987 and I was assisting a really great make-up artist on a really low budget stinker called SOUL TANGLER. Don’t even bother Googling this one, kids. To the best of my knowledge, the only video release this hunk’a shit ever saw was on Brazilian VHS some time around 1992.

Anyway, we needed an elaborate zombie make-up for the cinematic climax, and I volunteered to “go under the glop” as the make-up kids say. I was psyched. We built wrinkly appliances for my forehead and cheeks and topped things off with a big fake nose. We also built an enormous, empty chest piece with ribs that were stuffed with rubber guts. One bucket o’blood later I’m ready to make 16mm history.

We’re shooting in a dingy Long Island basement that’s crudely decorated like a mad scientist’s lab, where it’s humid, stinky and hot. There’ a half inch of fake blood on the floor and the crew, such as it is, are slipping & sliding on the linoleum. But my zombie make-up looks cool, and this is really gonna make this movie! The Director calls "Action!" The lead actor is pretending to look around the laboratory, and that’s when my zombie shuffles out of a meat locker, dripping goo and dragging fifteen foot long intestines.

I attack the hero, wrapping my intestines around his neck like a lasso and I begin choking the shit out him. The Director has an ear-to-ear grin, the other make-up guys are on the verge of ecstasy, but unfortunately, my co-star…The “Hero”…is completely no-selling my blood-dripping, offal-splattering assault! The fucking guy has an absolutely blank look on his face, like he’s waiting for a bus…A really, really boring bus! We somehow wrapped the scene, and piled back into the car for the long ride home, sticky with Karo syrup and disappointment with what was supposed to be the soul tangling showstopper.

About a year later, I got a VHS copy of the rough cut. I’ll be honest, I don’t even know what I did with it. I have no recollection of how my zombie met with his obligatory gory zombie end, and I’m still picking latex bits out of my beard.

If there ever really is a Zombie Apocalypse, I only hope that I can be half as calm, cool and collected as the hero of Soul Tangler.

Zombie Memories x3 by CHRISTINE HADDEN

2010-10-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

When I was asked to write something about my favorite zombie moment, it was kind of hard to decide what to write. Truth be told, I'm more versed in all things vampire, not so much with the living dead.

After all, even though I live quite close to the Monroeville Mall, I’ve never went to a zombie walk. I’ve never dressed up like a zombie, even at Halloween. I’ve never went to a zombie carnival, a zombie party, a zombie pageant, or a combination of any of those.

I have felt like a zombie, occasionally, but only after very little sleep and zero caffeine. And I’m sure I’ve looked like a zombie - maybe even quite frequently - but unintentionally.

That being said, I do very much like movies about zombies. So in lieu of writing about a zombie adventure, I’ve chosen to give a mention to my three favorite scenes from zombie movies.

1) Shaun of the Dead - I truly adore this film, it is just about perfect. Screw that, it IS perfect. There are so many hysterical moments in this movie that it is undeniably hard to pick just one. But the ‘girl in the garden’ bit is hilarious. When they clock the supermarket cashier zombie with a rock and yell ‘Oy!’, then laugh about how drunk she is - classic. Even better is when the struggle ensues between “Mary” and Shaun (Simon Pegg) and they pose for a picture Ed (Nick Frost) is snapping. Capping it off, Shaun gets a hole in one, so to speak, when he pushes Mary into the drain pipe sticking up out of the yard. You gotta love it.

2) Dawn of the Dead (2004) - I suppose some may say they were messing with perfection here, but that is not my feeling at all. I think this film is a very credible remake and prefer it to the original, sorry. But my favorite scene is when the survivor mall gang is on the roof, and Kenneth (Ving Rhames) is giving direction to Andy (Bruce Bohne) on who to shoot in the zombie crowd below by what celebrity they look like. The Jay Leno one gets me every time.

3) Night of the Living Dead (1968) - My favorite zombie movie by far, NOTLD is full of really great zombies and awesome moments. I love the stupidity of the still living when they toss a Molotov cocktail out a window and it drops on leaking gasoline at the pumps nearby. I’m not sure who’s dumber at that moment - the zombies or the humans. But it sure seems like the former when you soon witness the zombies having a BBQ with Tom and Judy as their guests of honor. Scary, yet amusing all at the same time…

- Christine Hadden

**
Christine Hadden has been an obsessed horror fan for longer than she'd like to admit here and is the creator/writer of the horror blog Fascination with Fear. She also is a contributing writer to The Blood Sprayer and Fangoria. She can overlook movie plot holes in exchange for style and atmosphere, rejects the 3D phenomenon, values high gore content, and has an undying love of vampires. She enjoys Jim Beam and red wine. But not together.

Night of the Living Beards by JOHN SQUIRES

2010-10-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

I am pretty fortunate in life to have found myself within a small closely knit group of friends, a motley crue of bearded individuals who love to gather together, drink beers, watch horror movies and have lengthy discussions about such important issues as the proper way to wipe ones ass - for the record, baby wipes are the way to go. Somehow a couple of us have even managed to bring beautiful girlfriends into this group who not only put up with our shit, but seem to enjoy it. God only knows...

In any event, it was with this group of friends that my girlfriend Jen and I were hanging out with one Saturday evening, as has been a tradition for us since the days of high school, when our faces were all a little less hairy. My friend Jon's parents were out of town and we were sitting around at his house drinking beers when Jen came up with the idea of turning all of us into zombies - we may have been watching a shitty zombie movie on the TV at the time. Off she went to pick up our trusty box of makeup supplies from my house, something we always keep at a close distance for times like these when we get an itch to slap cheapo cream makeups on each others faces - it happens more often than you'd think.

After an hour or so of applying liquid latex, tubed gelatenous blood and green, black and white paints on our faces, and throwing wigs on both herself and Jon's girlfriend Jackie, Jen's handiwork was complete and the bearded zombies were born, hungry not for flesh and brains but for cheap beer.

It was around this time that we remembered that a kid we went to high school with was having a party at his house, not far from where we were. We don't often go to these types of gatherings but we quickly decided that stumbling into a party chock full of former classmates in full zombie makeup was just too awesome an idea to pass up. Mind you, this was several weeks prior to Halloween - in fact, now that I look at the dates on the pictures, it was exactly two years ago from the time i'm writing up this post.

We soon found ourselves socializing with a drunken group of very confused people, wondering why the hell we showed up to their party in Halloween costumes. While most were bewildered, others got a kick out of it and still others were drunk enough to the point that i'm pretty sure they were oblivious to the fact that we were even wearing makeup. I think we may have even told some people that we all just got off our shifts at a local haunted house. Nevertheless we blended right in with the humans after a little while and ended up having a great time at the party, which concluded with zombie Jon serenading a small group of drunks on the guitar, an image that will likely always occupy a spot in my brain - until of course that little spot becomes fast food in the impending zombie apocalypse.

As a little endcap to the story, most of us ended up passing out drunk at our respective houses, too drunk and lazy to clean the makeup off our faces. Needless to say, a few pillow covers were ruined that night, all in the name of a hell of a fun and memorable night.

- John Squires

http://www.freddyinspace.com/

NotLD Meets Reign of the Dead by LEN BARNHART

2010-10-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I saw Night of the Living Dead. It was way back in the seventies. Back before video games, before the internet and iTunes, and before Paris Hilton.

I love old movies, especially old black and white horror movies. So when I saw this old horror movie on TV that night, I stopped using the antique remote control to flip through the channels.

“Hmmm, NIGHT of the LIVING DEAD? Never heard of it. What is it…an old vampire movie?” That’s cool because I like vampire movies. “Yep, it must be a vampire move. The car is entering a graveyard.”

30 Minutes Later….

Oh my God! What the hell is this? I know for a fact that I have never watched this damned movie. How did I miss this one? And what the hell is up with those TV reporters? Don’t they know that reporting the phenomenon in that way will only serve to further panic people?

“As unbelievable as it sounds these seem to be the facts. The bodies of the recently dead are returning to life and attacking the living. It has been confirmed that in all cases, the reanimated bodies of the dead are attacking the living and eating their victims!”

SHIT! That’s not good to hear. Not at all!

But, I think it was the ending that sealed this movie’s fate as one of the all-time best, horror pictures. It certainly sealed my fate as a life-long fan of the man who created the genre.

Two days later, I was reminded of that movie when I was on my way to a party with some friends of mine. I was driving down a winding, country road. It was close to midnight when a lone figure emerged from the woods and staggered into the rutted, dirt road in front of me. The lurching man made his way toward my moving vehicle in ungainly steps and fell face first into my windshield. His dirty hands groped the glass as he released a parched wail, his vacuous eyes fixed. He slid across to the side window as I drove past him, his hands still searching for a way inside the car as he fell behind.

The passengers in my car, (two girls and another guy) screamed out, not sure what was happening. For all they knew, I had just run over someone. Of course, I knew what was happening. The zombie apocalypse was upon us! I have to destroy the brain to kill the ghoul, and it must be done before he infects another!

I pulled over and stepped out of the car.

He moved in an unnatural way with one arm to his side like a broken wing. His head hung forward, as if it was too heavy to hold erect. But his eyes stared straight ahead and focused on me as I approached.

I said, “Hey buddy, are you okay? You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”

The man fell forward into me, his breath reeking of booze.

“Nah man. I’m fine. I was just pissin’ in the woods when you drove up on me.”

I laughed and patted him on the back.

“You must have been at the party we are on our way to now.”

He said, “Yeah, it’s a good one.”

“Cool. Have a good night and be careful. Are you sure you’re okay?

“I’m cool, Dude,” he told me.

I thought about how much I hate to be called Dude, and said… “Okay, don’t get run over again,”

“Nah…I just live around the corner,” he said.

He continued on hi.

s way, and I didn’t even have to destroy his brain. It looked like he was doing a pretty good job of that on his own

Value those brain cells is what I thought I should’ve shouted out to him as he staggered down the road.

About a month later I saw the first trailer for a new movie…NIGHT’S sequel: DAWN of the DEAD.

It looked interesting.

I made a point to go see it.

- Len Barnhart

Night of the Living Hinzman! by GREGORY LAMBERSON

2010-10-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I read FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILM LAND religiously. Not because I liked it (I hated the puns), but because it was more reliable, and had a longer life span, than THE MONSTER TIMES and CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN. The back pages of FM were filled with ads (has there ever been a bigger lie in print than that “Rush” order form?), and one of those ads was for John Russo’s novelization of his screenplay for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. That cheap paperback, with its cover image of undead green hands clawing through a boarded up window (the ad was in b&w of course; horror mags didn’t feature color until FANGORIA came along) terrified me so much that I knew I wasn’t emotionally equipped to actually see the movie.

Jump forward a few years. I was visiting my uncle in Washington, DC, and we’d see two movies every night. While he was at work, I looked through the newspaper and discovered a double feature of NOTLD and the original KING KONG playing at a revival theatre. I decided I was ready to see NIGHT and persuaded Uncle Bill to take me. The movie scared the hell out of me and possibly changed my life forever. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I saw my two favorite horror films – NOTLD and the original TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE – on a big screen and not on video/DVD/Blu Ray/VOD. The shared cinematic experience was a wonderful thing back when they made good movies.

NOTLD scared me out of my pants 5 about minutes in, when Bill Hinzman, now known as the “Cemetery Zombie” (even though Russo and George Romero originally conceived their creatures as ghouls, not zombies) seized an apologetic Barbara, who soon became apoplectic. For so called purists who decry the current fad of fast moving zombies, I point out that Hinzman’s ghoul moves pretty damned fast; there’s a reason why Barb spends several minutes sprinting through the woods. Whether by accident or design, Cemetery Zombie is the most recognizable ghoul in the film until Johnny returns for sister B at the end.

CZ suffered indignities over the years, of course. First he was colorized a god awful glowing shade of green for an abominable VHS release; then he was replaced by a more obvious, but less frightening, “dead thing” (as Tom Savini called them) in the NIGHT remake; and finally Hinzman reprised his signature role in those new scenes for Russo’s execrable NOTLD 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION. Regardless, Hinzman’s original portrayal earns him a well deserved spot in the Horror Hall of Fame of great monsters – nothing can touch that. And that’s why I choose Hinzman’s Cemetery Zombie as My Favorite Zombie, over Nun Zombie, Wedding Zombie, Machete Zombie, Hare Krishne Zombie, Helicopter Zombie and all the rest (even Howard Sherman’s excellent Bub).

A few weeks ago at Horror Realm in Pittsburgh, Hizman and several of his undead costars were on hand, but only Hinzman appeared in costume, in make-up, and in character, delightedly creeping up on unsuspecting conventioneers and snarling at them. You can’t keep a good ghoul down.
- Gregory Lamberson

Peter Bark...Beyond Oedipus by WES ALLEN

2010-10-29T15:08:00.001-07:00

I have yet to truly understand just what the hell the folks who made "Burial Ground" were thinking when the set out to make this trashy, Italian anti-epic. Was there some sort of socio-political message to perhaps be gained? Maybe it's hidden in the subtext of it all. Possibly a manifesto of sorts, comparing the zombies to the political climate of the time. But then again, there's also that whole aspect of porn-worthy nonsequitors...

When I chose to wax nostalgic on Burial Ground, I knew a few things would have to be made abundantly clear: Why and WHY?! Believe me, I know what you're thinking. Fulci, Romero, etc. So many genius zombie films out there, and I choose THIS one. There's a lot more cool involved with Burial Ground than what's seen on it's surface and I thought it to be a challenge to unearth this weirdness. First, you have to consider the fact that this film is literally a hodge podge of other people's "look". The zombies look an awful lot like those hooded doomriders in Tombs of the Blind Dead. All the usual fashions and set pieces of the era are there-you know, knit polyester pants, turtleneck sweaters, pubic hair, etc. Not much impressive stuff going on here, I know. Or at least nothing we haven't already seen. That's not what makes this film one of my favorites of the era. THAT belongs to one of the creepiest mother/son relationships in the history of cinema, performed by Peter Bark and Mariangela Giordano.

While Giordano was and is considered an Italian film sex symbol, her co-star was quite the opposite. Peter Bark (aka Pietro Barcella) has one credited film role to his name-yep, just

Burial Ground. One can only guess that the actor suffered from some sort of genetic deficiency that rendered him so tiny in stature and, for lack of a better term, old-looking. I've heard him described as looking like a miniature version of Dario Argento. All of this plays into the absurdity of the film's first act and a half. While Bark's character is meant to a "child", he clearly looks older than all of his cast mates. His toupee is second rate and the dubbed dialogue adds to the perversion of all of this. But this doesn't even explain the worst of it! NO, the worst of it is the sexual advances that this little freak makes toward his ow

n mother, followed by plaintive questions like "What's wrong? I'm your son!"-yeesh!

As storylines funnel together, Burial Ground truly comes into its own in terms of intensity. There's a lurking, slow quality to the violence. It's quite grimy/gory and has its own wealth of memorable gore kill scenes. But even still, mommy and Michael's relationship exceeds all expectations by being sexual and crass. As our finale builds and the group is cornered into this lovely villa by hordes of hungry zombies, the end inevitably begins to close in. Mommy is fighting to save her own life as well as her son, but baby boy has been turned. Now, there are two ways to view what happens next: One way to view it is as a parent who's unconditional love for her child won't allow her to view her son as just another undead monster. But the other way to v-

iew this (and probably the correct way to view it) is how I do-grossed out! As Michael approaches his mother, she embraces him with a panicked, broken heart. He lays his head on her breast as she caresses his tiny, freakish head. Michael's new found urges get the best of him and he has to feed. So, what's that mean? Well, it apparently means BITING OFF MOMMY'S FUCKING NIPPLE!!!!! GGGAAAAHHHHH!!!!! I won't even be in the same home as my mother if she's not wearing a bra, let alone the notion of putting her breast anywhere near my face. Not an issue for this family. Nope, it was already creepy, but capping it off with this classic scene brings Burial Ground to the forefront of my mind when I think of zombies.

I've seen far worse filth in terms of exploitative subject matter. Still, it's hard to forget the parallel being drawn between sex and death in Bianchi's own little classic. While his career was spent in the down and dirty film world, Burial Ground is a stand-out film. It's a great one to show friends who claim to "love" zombie flicks. See how much they really love them...and then lose that friend because they think you're a weirdo.

- Wes Allen

http://www.bloodsprayer.com/

Slo Frank by CHRISTOPHER INLOW

2010-10-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

On August 11, 2010 at exactly 11:03 am I was driving on Interstate 95, toward Washington DC. I received a text message from my brother. It was very clear what the message meant and its importants to the survival of mankind.. The text was...

"Get the damn screwdriver out of my head"

My brother and I have been watching horror movies since we were old enough to sneak tapes into the Betmax player. (For those unfamiliar with Betamax It was a smaller version of a VHS. For those of you unfamiliar with VHS- It's what we had before DVD players- For those of you unfamiliar with what a DVD player is- How exactly are you smart enough to read what i am typing. DO THESE WORDS MAKE ANY SENSE TO YOU! No, this is all scribble..anyways..

When I was asked to do the oddball character Frank,(Slo Frank)- on the show Monster Madhouse, I was extremely excited Slo. Frankly, being a Zombie can be a grand experience.

4 things I learned from being a Zombie / Zombi-ish

1- If you walk into a gas station in the middle of July after finishing a shoot... even the toughest people step aside... (maybe not because they are scared, they just think you're crazy.).

2- You may think it's funny to go into a drug store in character to see how people react... However, People think it's funnier when your truck doesn't start when you try to leave and you're in full face paint with dead people clothes on and the hood of your truck open while you try to figure out what the problem is... (I have not seen any of the 200 pictures that were taken during this session of embarrassment.. but I do know they exist)

3- If you stop at a gas station on your way to a Horror Convention and you are in full make up - and you race to the restroom in the back of the gas station...   YOU WILL SCARE THE POO out of the poor guy walking out of the bathroom.and HE WILL run back in and slam the door shut with wide open eyes and the worse look of fear you could imagine. In this guys brain- at that moment.. he was being chased.. by the living dead.

4- If you are asked to be a zombie film and there are nude zombie girls.... that's hot!

---------------
I asked my son Christopher (11 now, 9 at the time) about his zombie experience, he said:

"When I was a zombie I appeared on the TV show called Monster Madhouse.A funny part about me being a zombie was that the host of the show [Karlos Borloff] gave me keys to drive his van and I walked out there slowly.......haha"

This has been fun ... Happy Halloween... and remember Just because children shouldn't play with dead things... it's okay for Dead things to play with children.

- Christopher Sean Inlow
   Slo Frank on Monster Madhouse
   http://www.monstermadhouse.com/

Winter Dead by MARISA BRENIZER

2010-10-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

During my long career as a film student, I got the chance to try on a variety of hats - director, editor, producer, grip, and wallflower. Also, because the Film/TV department was ridiculously miniscule at my humble community college, nearly every film student was inevitably asked to act. Being one of the only females in film class, I was often begged to play the part of the love interest, the witty sidekick, or the bitch. Predictably, most of these student films were of the action/gangster/crime variety. Weary of being involved in another shoot 'em up, I was dying for something a little more...interesting.

Lo and behold, one cold winter's day, I got my wish. I happened upon a flyer posted by some of the more adventurous students (i.e. the advanced film class). They were shooting a piece called "School of the Dead" and desperately needed some extras. Not fully understanding what I was in for, I showed up to the shoot excitedly. In the wee hours of the morning, the campus was foggy and deserted. I soon spotted the film crew and the other extras. Suddenly very shy, I contemplated hightailing it to the nearest bathroom - once again, I was one of the only females in sight. I was spotted, however, and beckoned to the "makeup station" (which presumably consisted of two cosmetology majors who looked less than pleased to be slathering grey face paint on amateur actors in the cold of winter.)

When I finally looked (un)dead enough, I was instructed to join the other actors and was prompted to "act like a zombie." Mentally referencing every zombie movie I'd ever seen, I quickly assumed the stance; foot dragging limply behind me, a glassy (but hungry) gaze, and Thriller-inspired arm movements. Once I got more comfortable with the role, however, I shed the stereotypical elements and had fun with it. The best part was when the director asked me to pretend to have a conversation on my cell phone while in character. I looked at him blankly - how (and why) would a zombie hold a conversation? He instructed me to grunt into the phone as if I were arguing with a boyfriend. We were, after all, supposed to be "undead" students, and what do students do most? No, not that. Talk on the phone in between classes in order to avoid socially awkward situations, of course! I did my best impression of an angry (albeit very monotonous) girlfriend arguing with her deadbeat boyfriend.

After taking part in the inevitable "Oh look - they're alive! Let's go chase them!" scene with the regular human actors, I called it a day. At this point, the campus was quickly filling up with morning students, most of whom nearly spilled their macchiatos once they caught a glimpse of their anachronistic classmates. Although I didn't stay in character after we wrapped, I did keep the makeup on longer than I had to. It was fun walking into the Girl's restroom like nothing was amiss, ignoring the tentative stares. It was even more delicious to make the long drive home, shocking the general public with the sight of my ghoulish face, which stood out in odd contrast with my mundane sedan (which, coincidentally, often toed the line between the living and the dead).

- Marisa Brenizer

Zombie Frank N' Furter by SOPHOCLES GRAFAS

2010-10-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

My name is Sophocles Grafas aka "Eudora Sprinkles"

I am a part of a Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast called The Transylvanian Concubines and one night we had a Zombie Night.

I played Zombie Frank N Furter and took a little creative imagination on my costume along with the usual gore and death instead of wearing gloves I made it seem as though my hands had been severed off and new ones had been sewn on.

All the other characters were great and I would never forget the time I got to play an undead piece of cult movie phenomenon to a brain/blood thirsty audience. Fishnets, blood, stitches, guts and death all came to a rockin night.

- Sophocles Grafas

Evil Dead Olympics by RYAN LEACH

2010-10-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that I am a chicken when it comes to scary movies. Being that I am one of the co-founders of LostZombies, people always think I am joking when I tell them that. For me, one of the scariest moments while watching a movie was during Evil Dead 2. It wasn’t one scene in particular, but I was watching with my brother and friend upstairs at my aunt and uncle’s house. It was dark and we were in a huge loft-like room. The bathroom was at the back of the room which was right next to a window with no window covering and a closet with no door. I was about 12 at the time and willing to wet my pants instead of go to the bathroom.

After some ridicule from my brother, I eventually made the trek to the bathroom, peed as fast as possible and ran back to the comfort of people. As I turned the corner, my friend jumped out and I jumped. Not up, but out. It felt like I was a long jumper at the Olympics. I swear I must have flown about 15 feet in the air. To this day, that movie still takes me back to that loft and that night and still creeps me out.

- Ryan Leach

Attack of the Tarman!! by JES KARAKASHIAN

2010-10-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

Not surprisingly, after each viewing of Return of the Living Dead, this conversation would take place between my brother and I in our darkened house:

"You go up first."

"No, you!"

(repeat several times and add slapping and/or kicking)

"Ok, we'll go up together. GO!"

And we'd all but trample each other trying to get up the stairs to the hallway light switch, because, as any kid knows, once you turn on a light, the monsters can't get you.

And who were we frightened of? The formidable Tarman, of course. His bulging eyes, tendrils of goo dripping from his dessicated and gangrenous zombie body, and ridiculously pearly white toothy grin were enough to keep legions of kids from getting back to their bedrooms without some leakage of pee in their pajama bottoms.

Tarman terrified me to the nth degree as a kid. Before I saw ROTLD, there were few movies that made sleep nearly impossible. I saw ROTLD a few years after it came out, because we lived in a podunk town in Upstate New York where we didn't get first run movies at our one screen theater and they certainly didn't show a lot of horror unless it was Stephen King. In fact, we didn't know many movies existed until they hit the shelf at the local video store. At the time, I was really into Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy was both my hero and something to be feared, a twisted love-hate relationship of sorts. My dad took my brother and I down to the video store one day to pick out a few flicks to watch while he and my mom went out for a date night, and instead of making a beeline for the Freddy stuff, the cover of ROTLD caught my eye. Two punk zombies, skeletons, cool graphics...couldn't go wrong.

My brother and I always turned off all the lights and would hunker down in the living room armed with snacks and blankets before we'd settle in to watch scary stuff. It made the experience that much better. And so it went with our first viewing of Return. I remember being glad my dad hadn't been home watching it with us when Trash got nekkid, because frankly that would have been more than a lot uncomfortable, and he might have even shut it off. But the scenes that will always stick with me most are the ones starring Tarman.

When Tarman first shambles out of the darkness, that's classic. I remember I tensed up. After that, he was always lurking in the shadows, something to be feared in the darkened bedroom, the basement, or in the park behind the trees. Now I watch the movie and Tarman's somewhat goofy, he's almost laughable ("Brains!")...but the kid inside me still looks around the room for the closest exit. He was gross, he was freaky looking, he was GOOEY, and he wanted to eat our brains. There is no scarier creature than a zombie like that. One can't connect with him on a human to human level; although he can speak, he's barely humanlike in form. He's US, but he's NOT. There is no other zombie like him anywhere in the zombie universe, and that's what makes him special. (I refuse to acknowledge the existence of the second, subpar tarman from ROTLD Part 2. Oh wait, I just did.)

Tarman still manages to get my hackles up, and I'm WAY older than I was when I first had the pleasure of viewing ROTLD. That's impressive, since most of the horror greats I grew up with fail to affect me in the same manner they did back then (Freddy and Jason in particular). Long live Tarman, one of the great zombies of all time. I truly hope, one day quite a few years from now, he will also scare the bejesus out of my daughter.

- Jes Karakashian

The VideoGAME Dead by AMER SHIHAB

2010-10-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

My most cherished zombie moment is playing Resident Evil 2 on PlayStation in 1998. I was 10 years old and this game simply blew my mind. I had grown up on many horror classics like The Thing, Hellraiser, The Fly, Critters...the list can go on, but this was actually my first ever zombie experience, from what I can remember anyway.

During this time, I had unfortunately missed out on playing the first Resident Evil in 1996, but luckily RE2 doesn't really require you to play the original, as it explains all that you need to know during it's introduction.

I was simply in awe over everything about this game, the graphics, the story, the characters, the action and the violence, it had it all – it even began with a scene warning you that this game contains scenes of explicit violence and gore, how bad ass is that right?!

What really pulled me in about this game is that there are 2 lead characters, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, and each have their own playable sides of the story, extending the games lifespan and adding so much more depth into the game. It came on two disks, crammed with so much content.

When I first played the game, I chose to begin the game with Claire Redfield. Her introduction sequence has forever remained in my memories! She arrives at Racoon City on her motorbike, unknowingly during the aftermath of the virus outbreak, looking for her brother, Chris Redfield – who was the hero of the first game.

Claire arrives at a diner, and as she enters, there is no one to be seen in sight. She walks around the diner looking for someone to serve her, and she stumbles upon a corpse being devoured by a zombie. I remember well how the zombie slowly turned his head to face the screen, I was so excited!

He creeps towards Claire, as she slowly backs up toward the entrance. The windows are full of zombies trying to creep inside. She is unarmed and tries to convince him that she wants no trouble. As he gets closer to her, the entrance door bursts open, and Leon shouts 'Get Down!' and unleashes a bullet to the zombies head, immediately taking him down. He grabs her hand and they run out into the zombie infested streets.

They run towards Leon's police car, and get the hell out of there. As they exchange names and a few details, a zombie jumps out from the back and causes them to crash, which sends the zombie flying through the air, straight through the front window and into a post, almost bent backwards from impact, it's certainly a sight to see, so funny!

Just as they think the carnage is over, a truck with a recently infected driver comes plummeting towards the police car which results in them both leaping out each end of the car and each getting separated; planning to meet at the police station. This is where the game picks up, and it really is a hell of an experience to play through, one of the most influential games and living dead stories ever.

The diner scene is certainly my earliest, and most fondest memory of the living dead, and will always have a warm place in my heart no matter how dated it might appear these days!

- Amer Shihab

Amer_Shihab@Hotmail.co.uk

Choke on 'em! by TED "RITUALISTIC" BROWN

2010-10-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

When one of the future co-owners of The Liberal Dead, wandered into his small town mom and pop video store, on that cold winter afternoon, little did he know this would be the day he would stumble upon one of the most important zombie movies of his life. The cover stood out from all the others, mainly due to the fact that he had already watched almost the entire horror library from all the video stores that surrounded his home.

Day of The Dead. This would also lead to his discovery of just how important the names George A. Romero and Tom Savini were, as well as a big step towards hisobsession with the craft of makeup effects...thanks to the famous Rhodes rip apart scene, where as he's being torn to pieces by the horde he exclaims only "Choke on it". The beauty of the gore and the all out testosterone filled death that would be forever burnt into his memory.

- Ted "Ritualistic" Brown

http://www.liberaldead.com/

Victor Pascow Stole My Twinkie! by ELIO GALLARDO

2010-10-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

A few moments ago I woke up with that same fear that took over me then. That same cold that had once been in my body took over me once more. I sit in my bed. The night is cold and my room is dark. Everything about tonight reminds me of that night. I sit in loneliness and I begin to recall those scary moments once again because since they occurred I’ve not been able to set them aside. I will relive them once more.

The location was a town by the name of Carlsbad in the northern portion of San Diego. The day was Halloween 1991. I was only five years old. That night everything was cold. Darkness and a dense layer of fog made its way passed the lake and covered as far as the eye could see. I had just finished watching Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. It was midnight. I went to bed sure that I would be having a good night sleep. Not frightened by the movie I fixed my bed to tuck myself in. When I was in bed I heard a faint sound coming from inside of the closet. Fear began to take over me and I rushed under the sheets. I made a barrier of my sheets to feel protected. I was sure that nothing could break through it. Minutes later I began to hear the noise coming from the closet once again. The faint noise became a very noticeable laugh and my fear grew even more.

There were no adults around to help me forget the noises and fall to sleep. No scream could be heard either. Everyone was still hanging out in the front of the yard. It was too far for anything to be heard I was sure. My imagination started to let me know that the noises coming from closet were that of Victor Pascow, the zombie that comes back to life to warn the haunted family in Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.

I was stranded in my room. Then and there I decided that I needed to know what was on the other side of the closet. In the pitch-black room I made my way towards the closet. I inched towards it very slowly making sure that whatever was in it did not decide to eat me. I was trembling in fear as I put my ears up to the closet. I could hear the distinctly familiar laugh coming from the inside. I reached for the handle and slid the door open a bit…nothing. I slid it open some more and BAM!! There he was. Victor Pascow himself was staring straight into my eyes. I was paralyzed. I couldn’t move or look away. The hair on my skin was standing and my heart began pounding. Pascow’s bloody torn face stared at me and smiled. When I was able to catch my breath again I screamed and ran straight back to the sanctuary under my sheets.
I thought over and over that it was all in my head; even if it’s all too real it’s all in my head! None of it helped. I knew what I had seen and I was also sure that no one would ever believe me. That night Pascow's smile haunted me all through the night and also paid me a visit in my nightmares. I recall that night with great detail. I recall the fear that was in me at age five and the effect that such an amazing story had. I remember it all too well and sometimes I fail to conclude if it was all real or just a nightmare product of such a horror movie.

- Elio Gallardo

Children Shouldn't Listen to Zombie-Lovers! by MIKE SCHNEIDER

2010-10-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

Back in 2008, I had just graduated from college and was staying at my parents house. One of my sister's friends had 'adopted' my mother and was over their house regularly with her 3 year old daughter. From time to time, I would be asked if I could watch the kid while they went out shopping. I would teach her to draw, we'd play a game or I'd throw on a movie. Playing 'Zombies' quickly became our clumsy and horrific version of tag. After being 'bitten' you would get really sick, collapse and then get back up shuffling awkwardly either after someone else... or if everyone was already turned she would stumble around trying to 'eat' the dog.

In the spring, her mother brought her to this Christian bookstore to get her a book on Easter. ( Note: I was not there but I had to hear about this long enough that I know the story inside out. ) The clerk asked her, "little girl, do you know what this book is about?' to which she confidently replied, 'Easter.' He continued, '..And do you know what Easter is all about,' and she replied as she looked down at her feet, 'Yeah... Jesus died.' Happy to hear her response, he said, 'That's very good... and do you know what happens next..'

Her head and shoulders drooped. She went limp and slowly rolled her head up as she kept her jaw loose and in her most demonic voice shouted,' Jesus... ZOMBIED...' and lunged at the counter grabbing and chomping at the clerks hand. Her mother screamed, the clerk backed against the wall, and she continued, 'Repent and give me your brains!' then proceeded to lunch and snap at the clerk. Her mother, mortified, dragged her from the store and flew over to the house.

'What are you teaching my child!?!' she barked. I replied, ' I don't know, what did she do?' As she tells the story I had to sit down because I was laughing so hard. She finished her story and asked what I had to say for myself. I coughed my laughter to a stop. Rose from the couch, turned my foot in, loosened my jaw, lowered my brow, cocked my head and shout 'BRAAAAIIIIIINNNNNNSSSSS!'. I then lumbered after her. I chased her out of the house, across the lawn, and down the block... as her daughter laughed and cheered. After running around a bit, she gave in, became a zombie and we all went inside to eat some internal organs ( Strawberry Jell-O ).

- Mike Schneider

The Quick and The Dead by PARRISH RANDALL

2010-10-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

I have always been a fan of the horror genre, with "Night of the Living Dead" being one of my favorite zombie films. It is the film that made me realize great films could be made whether in Hollywood or not!!! After five years of "bit parts" and one liners for myself as an actor on many TV shows, my first principle lead came in the form of playing lead bad guy Blythe Remington in what else...a ZOMBIE film.

"The Quick and the Undead", released by Anchor Bay Entertainment, allowed me to play the guy responsible for starting the zombie "plague"...and within the film's final frames he dies and becomes a zombie. It was a super experience in that undergoing 4 to 5 hours in the make-up chair for me was truly a great time. Many actors hate the make-up applications...but for me seeing myself transformed from the human "Blythe" I had played throughout the movie into a "flesh eating zombie" was a dream come true! My face appeared ripped almost half away, one arm was shredded down to bone...and director Gerald Nott allowed me to utilize one of my favorite zombie character's of all time for the style of "zombie walk" that I portrayed on screen as the undead! I utilized "Flyboy's" walk from the original "Dawn Of The Dead" as my cold rotting version of Blythe crept through the darkness of "The Quick and the Undead" set! As well, earlier in the film, seeing over 100 people transformed into "zombies" for the massive zombie attack scenes and then being attacked by these zombies as part of the film was a genuine bloody treat! I had my entrails ripped from my gut as blood sprayed through F/X tubing while cameras rolled.

Understand, when making a film there are many set ups for a scene like that one, so I was eaten alive many times that shooting day while screaming bloody murder until I had no voice! I loved every gut munching moment of it though! So there you have it...how an actor who is a zombie fan truly got to live his dream of going from villain who starts the plague, to victim of his own handiwork to ravenous zombie himself! Bloody good memories from the land where if "you're not quick...you're undead"!
Thanks!

- Parrish Randall

Night of the Living "Pinko Commies"! by FRED ADELMAN

2010-10-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

***Let me preface this story by telling everyone that it was my mother (rest her soul) that gave me a keen interest in horror and genre films. Without her, I don’t know what my filmic preferences would be today. She made me realize that being scared was a thrill, not something to be taken so seriously and I’m proud to keep that tradition going up to this day.***

Now, on to the (true) story: It was the end of the 60’s and it was a weekly ritual in my family (my father, mother, sister and me) to go to the drive-in to see a double bill every Saturday night (Northern New Jersey had plenty of drive-in during this period in time. Now there are none.). The only problem was, only my father got to pick the movies we went to see as a family (this was the 60’s after all, because father knew best), which usually meant watching Westerns or war films. On this particular Saturday, one of the drive-ins was playing TRUE GRIT with an unknown film called NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Being a John Wayne fan, my father decided to take a chance and we went to see the films. TRUE GRIT played first (I was extremely bored watching it as a kid, but grew to love it as an adult) and everything was fine. After a pee break and a stop at the concession stand for more popcorn, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD came on the screen.

None of us would ever be the same and not for the reasons you would think. My father was never a fan of horror films and my sister was scared of her own shadow, so as soon as the first zombie attack scene came on screen (“They’re coming to get you, Barbara!”), my sister started crying and my father went into this rant that I will never forget until the day I die. He was so perturbed with this film; he nearly drove off with the speaker still attached to the window. He actually forbade me and my mother from ever seeing this film because it was “commie pinko bullshit that will rot your brains!” (Yeah, he actually talked like that!). Since we only got to see the first 15 minutes of the film, Mom and I made a secret promise to each other that we would one day see this film in its entirety. We both knew it was “special” from the first few minutes we saw of it. It would take nearly five years for us to fulfill that pact, since this was before “instant gratification” of VHS and, later, DVD and the Internet.

There was this movie theater spitting distance from our house called the Colonial Theater and in 1974 it was showing a double feature: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was playing on the lower half of a double bill with…THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE! Mom and I finally got to see the film in its entirety at a matinee (we loved it!) and also got to see one of the finest 70’s horror films ever made. Dad never found out that we went to see the film and Mom and I always had this little secret we could call our very own. Mom passed away in 1978 of liver cancer at the age of 42, but every time I see or hear a mention of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, my thoughts instantly take me back to the days when we would watch horror films together. She was the driving force in what I have become today and for that I will always be grateful. Thanks Mom!

The Zombie Crew by MAX WREM

2010-10-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

“The Zombie Crew”

It was around 1984 in San Francisco, in a dark, smoke-filled room, full of crashing, loud noises and random flashes of glaring light and video static. There was writing all over the walls, the smell of spilled beer in every corner, and the distant sound of sirens whenever the grinding industrial music stopped. In this gloomy chamber, a dive bar oddly called The Sound of Music, I met The Zombie Crew.

It was a black time in a normally bright, colorful city. The specter of death rode the night city’s streets, and the most ecstatic escapes of the previous decade turned out to bring horrible, lingering death in the new one.

There was a weekly open mike night which often featured a lady poet named Caffeine, who delivered frightening, blood-stained poems in a sing-song voice. Her best piece was “The Zombie Crew”, describing the nightly rituals of the junkies and meth-heads at her residential hotel. I always thought of the people I met at The Sound as my own Zombie Crew.

The men had parchment-white faces, black lipstick, and black fingernails. Their blue-black hair stood 15 inches off of their heads, banking off in crazy directions, responding to winds and waves unseen.

The women, too, had the blue-black hair, and the pale, powdered faces, but with blood red lips and arches of eye shadow and mascara outlining eyes made almost black by widely-dilated pupils.

They all wore Doc Martens and black leather. Their necks were hung with chrome, silver, and steel - crucifixes and razors, bike chains and bullets.

Sometimes, they moved like the lumbering antagonists of “Night of the Living Dead”, at other times they were more like the spastic, hyper zombies of “28 Days Later”. Some really were the walking dead, because of the threat encoded in the very blood of their lovers and needle-mates. The jaw-clenching drugs they favored made them capricious and impulsive, and their transgressive flouting of the rules of human society left them in a night-world far from Reagan’s “Morning in America”.

I remember one long night hanging out with a tall-haired guy named Dense and his girlfriend, after one night at The Sound. The music was excruciatingly loud, and there were two TVs on - one set to static and the other to a 1930s Charlie Chan movie. Dense and his girlfriend each had a fat magic marker, and they were writing on the walls of the old apartment. All the walls in the house (and the entire refrigerator) were already covered with scrawls, tags, and drawings.

They never tried to bite me or eat my flesh, and I survived the era with few scars. But I often wondered what secret rituals they might have gotten up to when I wasn’t around. And whenever I see a zombie movie, I always watch closely, trying to catch a glimpse of Dense, or Caffeine, or any of the other members of the old Zombie Crew, wandering around the movie dream world, searching for something warm and red to eat...

- Max Wrem

The Serpent and the Rainbow by J.M. STEWART

2010-10-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

The Serpent and the Rainbow: by J.M. Stewart

In the beginning Ghouls, there was the Zoumbie. The legendary flesh-and-blood inspiration for our modern cinematic motif , creeping through the jungles of Haiti and other Caribbean islands, bringing terror and destruction to those not wise enough to avoid the paths of voodoo. Then in 1932, Hollywood came a’ knocking and our beloved star left his sun kissed isle to star alongside Bela Lugosi in the black-and-white classic White Zombie. And for a while, our hero held sway in the imagination of filmmakers wanting to explore the exotic religious practices of Western and Central Africa. He had regular work in those days, showing up in such forgotten gems as Voodoo Man (1944) and the Plague of the Zombies (1966).

Then came George A. Romero. And like a lot things in the 60’s, there was a changing of the guard.

The Zombie (non-magical) became the king of the block and our hero was forced back into semi-obscurity, sitting around the house, downing bottle-after-bottle of Red Stripe, waiting for his next close up.

Thankfully for him, Wes Craven came along. And with him, a movie idea from a “real-life”1970’s novel called The Serpent and the Rainbow.

Set in 1980’s Haiti, our hero (played by Bill Pullman) is a biologist/ anthropologist /chemist (the script is never sure which) who comes to the island nation in order to find the ancient powder used by voodoo masters to put their victims into a state of living death. For Pullman’s trouble, he is kicked, beaten, buried alive and has a nail driven through his scrotum. But for his tribulations, he manages to do something thought impossible. Bring the undead back to life a second time.

Released in Feb. 1998, Serpent took advantage of Hollywood’s renewed interest in voodoo during the end of that decade. The previous year had seen modest hits for such voodoo themed movies as the Believers and Angel Heart. Craven, at the height of his powers and popularity, dove into the trend by giving us the most “naturalistic” zombie movie possible.

Shot on location around Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Serpent still stands as a glorious, although slower-paced, exploration of the Haitian “voodoo” culture. Freaky undead doings abound, making for some killer scenes. Zombie hands in pea soup, crazy chicks eating glass, a corpse-bride with a python tongue and the topper of an undead Paul Warfield pulling off his own head to throw it at a freshly risen Bill Pullman (one of my personal favorite horror moments of the 80’s). And while it wasn’t a big hit for Craven, it’s remembered fondly by many fans, despite its over-the-top ending.
So in this month we at The Dead Walk are devoting to the Zombie, let’s raise a toast to his old-school cousin and his momentary comeback. (That reminds me of a joke: How can you tell you’re being chased by a Caribbean Zombie? Easy! You’ll see his dead-locks! (Insert groan…))

Fini-JMS