Monday, August 31, 2009

Day 3 - September Zombies Week 2009

Book of the day:

Kiss of Life
by Daniel Waters

Our review(s):
Velvet

More reviews:
Lexie
Movie of the day:


I Was A Teenage Zombie (1987)

Our review(s):

Velvet







Zombie history:
The Book Smugglers - they did a great zombie appreciation week in February 2009 and have an informative post on A Brief History of the Zombie

Zombie fun:


Velvet - The Zombie Bite Calculator

If bitten, how long before you become infected?

Take the test and win a prize.



Zombie comics, manga, graphic novels:
Velvet - The Living and The Dead review
Harry - Link Extravaganza - includes various comic book reviews

Zombie books:

Diana - Razor Girl review
Popin - Razor Girl review

titania86 - Patient Zero review

Cecilia - Zombie Blondes (teaser)

Zombie movies:

Diana - Planet Terror
Cecilia - Shaun Of The Dead (trailer)

Zombie music:

Zombie Girrrl - Zombie Tunage (part 2)
titania86 - Zombie songs

Zombie crowds:

titiania86 - Zombie Invasion at Comic Con
--check out the picture of the zombie impaled by an arm ;-D

E. Van Lowe - Zombie Walk at Comic Con

Zombie random:

Misty - Zombie Mayhem and Madness

Harry - Link Extravaganza

Giveaways:

Shaun of the Dead DVD here

World War Z book giveaway here

Check out more contest and giveaways here.

The full schedule of events for zombie week is here.


E. Van Lowe's Fun Facts

5 Fun Facts


1) When I wrote NSDWAZ I was in the early stages of writing something else—a story about a girl whose family was on the witness protection program. But this silly zombie story kept popping into my head. I never went back to that other book.


2) Margot’s manifesto is the result of something that happened to me. When I graduated from junior high school, I was very unhappy with my social standing. I promised myself that in high school I was going to be a totally different person. This is exactly how Margot felt. Unlike Margot, I was too chicken to write a manifesto.


3) Principal Taft’s daily sayings “Marvelous Monday” “Terrific Tuesday” are based on a guy I worked with several years ago. He was a bit older, and every morning he came into the office full of energy, and saying things like “What a wonderful Wednesday it is.” I thought the sayings were corny, but somehow cool. When I was looking for something to make Principal Taft sound unique, I thought of my old friend.


4) I am afraid of bridges. I know this has nothing to do with NSDWAZ, but this is something I never talk about, and so now you know something very personal about me. Every time I cross a bridge I get the feeling it’s going to fall down. It’s worse when I am driving. When I am in a car with others I pretend everything is okay, but on the inside I am screaming “The bridge is falling down! The bridge is falling down!”


5) Originally I called the book Getting By At Zombie High. I knew there was a better title. I worked on the title for quite a while, and after many, many months I came up with NSDWAZ. I’m glad I put the work in. I love the title—don’t you?

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Day 2 - September Zombies Week 2009

Book of the day:

Generation Dead
by Daniel Waters

Our reviews:
Jess
Velvet





Author interview:

More reviews
:
Celia
Eleni
Diana

Movie(s) of the day:


Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Our review(s):

Carrie - coming soon








Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Our review(s):

Carrie

Velvet

Jordan



Zombie art:

Zombie Girrrl - original zombie picture and explanation of my zombie infatuation
Zombie Girrrl - Zombie art - emo zombie hunters
Zombie Girrrl - Zombie art - the kiss

Zombie fun:

titania86 - Plants vs. Zombies (zombie games)

Zombie comics, manga, graphic novels:

titania86 - Walking Dead comic book series review

Zombie books:

Cecilia - Breathers by S.G. Browne review
titiania86 - Breathers by S.G. Browne review
Diana - Breathers (trailer)

Cecilia - Forest Of Hands And Feet (teaser)

Cecilia - Zombie Haiku (trailer)
Cecilia - interview with Ryan Mecum
Velvet - Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum review

Zombie movies:

Colette - John Carpenter's The Fog movie review

Steph - Wandering the streets and moaning "Brains...": Best & Worst Zombie Films Ever

Zombie music:

Zombie Girrrl - Zombie Tunage (part 1)

Zombie interviews:

Celia - zombie-licious survey

Zombie thoughts:

Celia - i'm afraid of the dark. and zombie movies.

Zombie survival:

Cecilia - What to do in a zombie attack

Giveaways:

Check out contest and giveaways here.

The full schedule of events for zombie week is here.

E. Van Lowe's Zombie Movie Pick

Welcome to day two of Zombie Week.   

Today I am going to review a movie.  Yes, Nancy, it’s a zombie flick.  Let me begin by saying I love zombie flicks.  Love, love, love them!  The remake of Night of The Living Dead and Twenty-Eight Days Later are among my all time favorites. 
 
Being a comedy writer, I also enjoy funny movies, so for me, a funny zombie movie is nirvana.  Movies like Fido and Shaun of The Dead—one of the funniest zombie movies ever made—are also on my list of favorites. 

Today I am going talk about a camp zombie flick.  Wikipedia defines camp as an aesthetic sensibility wherein something is appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value.   Bad taste and irony.  Yay!  To me there is nothing funnier than a campy movie, which brings me to Flight of The Living Dead: Outbreak On A Plane.  The name says it all, doesn't it?  This D-horror flick could have easily been called Zombies On A Plane, because that’s what it is.
 
Okay, here we go.  Mad scientist Leo Bennett, has discovered a way to alter humans so that when they die they come back to life--and he thought this was a good idea.  One of the other scientists’ wives is accidentally exposed to mad scientist Leo’s virus, so they put her in suspended animation until they can find a cure.  And then what do they do?  Why they take her on a 747 full of innocent people, of course.  Fortunately the people on the plane are not very likable, so we can't wait for them to die.  And die they do. 
 
Characters include: the aging flight captain who is on his last flight (And the minute he tells us this we know he’s dead);  two young couples we can't stand (We also can’t wait for them to become members of the living dead).  There’s even a plain clothes police officer with his sarcastic prisoner handcuffed to his wrist, and a few scantily clad flight attendants.  These characters may be cliched, but who cares.  They’re all going to die. 
 
Some of the dialogue in this movie is so bad it’s hysterically funny.  But the zombies are really SCARY, and there’s lots of action.  If you can put up with the dialogue and plot line, you are in for one heck of a thrill ride.  Once the action gets going it is pretty much non stop.  I'm not going to spill too much of the storyline because I don’t want to spoil the fun. 
 
My only warning is for those of you who like their movies to have something meaningful going on.   This movie is not very deep.  It isn’t going to win any awards, but I enjoyed it anyway.  It's perfect for those days when you want to watch something that doesn't require a lot of thought.  So, if you’re into campy movies, and love zombies and action, this movie is for you.  I rate it four brains.
 
E

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Day 1 - September Zombies Week 2009

Book of the day:

Never Slow Dance with a Zombie
by E. Van Lowe

Our reviews:
Carrie
Cecilia
Drea
Jess
Velvet

More reviews:
B.A.M. Reviews
Celia
{insert book title here}
Karin's Book Nook
Terra
Zombie Girrrl

Author interview(s):
PopinFresh

Movie of the day:


Dance of the Dead (2008)

Our review(s):

Velvet
titania86



Zombie author:

Amanda Ashby - September Zombie week announcement

Zombie history:

Heather - Zombie Origins
Heather - Zombie Origins II

Zombie Fun:

Nicole - Zombie Quiz

Zombie comics, manga, graphic novels:

Dannie - Marvel Zombies...Hell Yes
Harry - High School of the Dead manga review

Zombie books:

Cecilia - Jailbait Zombie (teaser)

Zombie movies:

titania86 - Pontypool Changes Everything
titiania86 - Pontypool movie review

Zombie interviews
:
Yan - An interview with the author pretending that she's a zombie
Yan - Q&A with a blogger about her being a zombie stripper

Zombie thoughts:

Zombie Girrrl - Zombies many uses
Wordvore - Zombie attack

Zombie random:

Velvet - Zombie Hip Hop

Today's Giveaways:

Cecilia
- Shaun Of The Dead (giveaway)
- Any Zombie Book Reviewed (giveaway)

More contests and giveaways here.

The full schedule of events is here.

September Zombies Week Welcome from E. Van Lowe

Hi Zombie Lovers. I'm E. Van Lowe and I'd like to welcome you to Zombie Week.  

One solid week devoted to zombiness... Yes, that's a word.  There will be book reviews, giveaways, contests and lot's of cool zombie related activity.  Oh, yes, and my first YA novel, Never Slow Dance With A Zombie, has just come out.  I will be talking about it later in the week.  I'm so excited I could suck somebody's brains right now--I know, gross.  But you get my point.   I am extremely excited about my new book and about Zombie Week.  So let the fun and games begin.  You'll be hearing from me again tomorrow.  Buahahahaaa!  That's my sinister laugh.  I know, zombies don't laugh.  At least not any that I have encountered.  Well guess what?  This week, zombies can laugh.  How cool is that?
 
Please check back tomorrow where I will be discussing my favorite recent zombie movie discovery -- Flight of The Living Dead.  You won't want to miss it.
 
All for now,
 
E