Oct

9:57

Vincent, a Short by Tim Burton

Posted by Boo Scary, and filed under Culture, Media

Here’s a wonderful little short by Tim Burton and narrated by Vincent Price about a boy named Vincent, who sort of reminds me of myself.

Vincent Malloy is seven years old,
He’s always polite and does what he’s told.
For a boy his age he’s considerate and nice,
But he wants to be just like Vincent Price.
He doesn’t mind living with his sister, dog and cats,
Though he’d rather share a home with spiders and bats.
There he could reflect on the horrors he’s invented,
And wander dark hallways alone and tormented…

Thanks to Chuck G for pointing out this little gem again. An oldie but a goody.

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Oct

12:20

Zombie Mugs

Posted by Boo Scary, and filed under Culture, Zombies

Best mugs ever?

zombie-tiki

I just read a tweet from about these zombie mugs:

@VanTiki: Zombie Mugs are in the kiln. Will their undead flesh survive the firing? Fingers are crossed. http://yfrog.com/0rxjkp

I hope they turn out well!

Check out a higher res version of the photo and pop on over to vantiki.com and have a look at their fabulous wares.

Update:

@mikebrowne cracked open the kiln this morning and the zombies made it thru ok! Now I must mull over glaze options…
1:07 AM Oct 20th from Twitterrific

We can’t wait to see the finished product.

»» comments (2)

Oct

15:48

Happy Halloween 2008

Posted by Boo Scary, and filed under Culture, Events, Zombies

Halloween is the bst night of the year. It gives me an excuse to post something like Happy Tree Friends – Remains To Be Seen:

Wait a minute. I’d have posted it anyway. Regardless, have a happy and safe Halloween 2008.

Love,
The ZombieFreak

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Jan

9:04

Zombiemania: Tonight on Space!

Posted by Boo Scary, and filed under Culture, Zombies

If you’re Canadian, have digital cable and a love of zombies be sure to check out the world premiere of Zombiemania on Space tonight at 9:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm Pacific. Zombiemania is an hour-long documentary by Halifax based Sorcery Films that looks at cinematic zombies and why some folks, like me and you, are fascinated with them. Zombie culture notables George A. Romero, director of Night of the Living Dead, Tom Savini, actor and special effects make-up master, Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, as well as Wade Davis, the anthropologist, ethnobiologist and author of The Serpent and The Rainbow are just a few of those interviewed. As well as interviews we will see clips from the past 70 years of zombie movie history.

My PVR is set.

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Nov

22:20

Zombie Attack at Hierakonpolis

Posted by Boo Scary, and filed under Culture, Zombies

Weighing the evidence for and dating of Solanum virus outbreaks in early Egypt

Hierakonpolis is a site famous for its many “firsts,” so many, in fact, it is not easy to keep track of them all. So we are grateful(?) to Max Brooks for bringing to our attention that the site can also claim the title to the earliest recorded zombie attack in history. In his magisterial tome, The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), he informs us that in 1892, a British dig at Hierakonpolis unearthed a nondescript tomb containing a partially decomposed body, whose brain had been infected with the virus (Solanum) that turns people into zombies. In addition, thousands of scratch marks adorned every surface of the tomb, as if the corpse had tried to claw its way out! [Editor's note: click here for an interview with Max Brooks and a timeline of archaeologically documented zombie outbreaks.]

[Read the tire article at archaeology.org]

Proof that archaeologists can be zombie freaks too!

Here’s a cool pic form the site of the shovel technique for dispatching a zombie:

Cool!

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Apr

23:29

JS Online: Living dread

Posted by Boo Scary, and filed under Culture, Zombies

Living Dread
In times of uncertainty, film zombies feed on our anxieties
By DUANE DUDEK
Journal Sentinel film critic
Posted: April 20, 2007

When Marlon Brando roared into town in “The Wild One” in 1953, it was as the sneering postwar poster boy for the looming seismic spasm in generational priorities and aspirations.

“What’re ya rebellin’ against, Johnny?” a sweet young thing asked him.

“Whaddya got?” he snarled.

He was the fear of the new, in leather and jeans astride a chrome mushroom cloud of his own making. Change doesn’t always announce itself so clearly, but fear of it is a subconscious constant in our lives. It pads on cat’s paws into the collective cultural imagination, and bats intent and perception around like a stunned mouse.

If the marketplace is in any way responsive to fear itself, then death is on our minds. And one way this has manifested itself lately is in the rebirth of the undead.

Let’s face it: The zeitgeist is crawling with zombies, just in time to address our post-Sept. 11 anxieties.

What’re ya rebellin’ against?

How about terrorism, disease, war, illegal immigration, gun violence, fear of the other and the so-called clash of civilizations?

“Whenever there is a time of upheaval and uncertainty, we turn on the zombie tap,” said Max Brooks, creator of “The Zombie Survival Guide,” a scientifically rigorous parody (in which “everything is real, except the zombies,” he said), and “World War Z,” an oral history of a zombie war that was inspired by Studs Terkel’s World War II chronicle “The Good War.”

Zombies, Brooks said, “are a way to explore our apocalyptic fears in a safe way.”

“If you had a bunch of movies coming out about real plagues or terrorists nuking America, that’s pretty scary stuff. You wouldn’t sleep at night. But if you’re watching a zombie movie, you can exorcise your demons in a way,” Brooks said.

[more at source]

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Feb

22:32

Ancient Zombie Reference

Posted by Boo Scary, and filed under Culture, Zombies

[source University of Western Ontario]

I was reading the zombie entry at Wikipedia and noticed this:

The Epic of Gilgamesh of ancient Sumer includes a mention of zombies. Ishtar, in the fury of vengeance says:

Father give me the Bull of Heaven,
So he can kill Gilgamesh in his dwelling.
If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven,
I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld,
I will smash the doorposts, and leave the doors flat down,
and will let the dead go up to eat the living!
And the dead will outnumber the living!
It will be awful!

The Epic of Gilgamesh is believed to have been written between 2750 and 2500 BC! I didn’t realize the whole concept of zombies rising up to devour the living was as old as possibly the most ancient written text on Earth. The idea was chilling 4500 years ago and is no less disturbing today. If it was written then, it is most likely even older than that. One can only speculate.

What does this tell us? Zombies as a story device are not going away any time soon.

I can’t say I’m disappointed. This is zombiefreak.com after all.

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Displaying Category 'Culture'

Vincent, a Short by Tim Burton

Zombie Mugs

Happy Halloween 2008

Zombiemania: Tonight on Space!

Zombie Attack at Hierakonpolis

JS Online: Living dread

Ancient Zombie Reference

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