[...]

[It's Zombie girrrl]

Stock up on canned goods, or just give in?

Cracked.com has posted 5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen, and it ain't lookin' pretty, folks.  The creepiest one for me?  Nanobots.  Didn't see that coming.

#1 Nanobots

As seen in...
Michael Crichton's novel Prey, The PS2 game Nano Breaker
What are they?
Nanobots are a technology that science apparently engineered to make you terrified of the future. We're talking about microscopic, self-replicating robots that can invisbily build--or destroy--anything. Vast sums of money are being poured into nanotechnology. Sure, at some level scientists know nanobots will destroy mankind. They just can't resist seeing how it happens.
How it can result in zombies:
Scientists have already created a nano-cyborg, by fusing a tiny silicone chip to a virus. The first thing they found out is these cyborgs can still operate for up to a month after the death of the host. Notice how nano scientists went right for zombification, even at this early stage. They know where the horror is.
According to studies, within a decade they'll have nanobots that can crawl inside your brain and set up neural connections to replace damaged ones. That's right; the nanobots will be able to rewire your thoughts. What could possibly go wrong?
Chances this could cause a zombie apocalypse:
Do the math, people.
Some day there will be nanobots in your brain. Those nanobots will be programmed to keep functioning after you die. They can form their own neural pathways, meaning they can use your brain to keep operating your limbs after you've deceased and, presumably, right up until you rot to pieces in mid-stride.

The nanobots will be programmed to self-replicate, and the death of the host will mean the end of the nanobots. To preserve themselves, they'd need to transfer to a new host. Therefore, the last act of the nanobot zombie would be to bite a hole in a healthy victim, letting the nanobots steam in and set up camp in the new host. Once in, they can shut down the part of the brain that resists (the cortex) and leave the brain stem intact. They will have added a new member to the unholy army of the undead.

Now, it should be more than clear by this point that our goal is to be responsible researchers. We don't want to create a panic here. All we're saying is that on an actual day on the actual calendar in the future, runaway microscopic nanobots will end civilization by flooding the planet with the cannabalistic undead.

Science has proven it.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_15643_5-scientific-reasons-zombie-apocalypse-could-actually-happen_p5.html#ixzz112HtuZQ2

Big Brat...

I really wanted to share the full zombie version with you, but it is not embedable (word? is now.), so I had to settle with giving you Phantom Planet's behind the scenes version.  I would highly suggest watching both, though.

Epic.

Zombie Harmony

And why wouldn't I find a date through Zombie Harmony?  Just look at these testimonials:

Disclaimer: ZombieHarmony is for zombies only. We advise signing up for ZombieHarmony only if you lack a pulse, have limited motor skills, or feel an intense desire to feast on human beings. We are not responsible for lost or ingested loved ones. If you go on a date with a zombie, we cannot be held liable for contributing to the apocalypse.

Please date responsibly: bring a baseball bat or crowbar.

September Zombies Wrap-up

Well folks, it's been a good month for zombies.  Bad one for humans, obviously, but the cooler weather is slowing them down, and soon we'll be back to feigning blissful ignorance when the occasional undead is spotted.  Hopefully soon, with the help of the mighty Unicorn (perhaps even the serenading unicorn), we can vanquish this messy and tactless foe once and for all.*

*But then what will we do with all the unicorns?

I hope you've learned a bit about this dangerous enemy; I know us zombiettes have done our best to prepare you for what is to come.  But just in case you haven't learned enough, or are afraid you're going to fall victim to the zombocalypse, I'm going to leave you with a little zombie blitz, showing the softer side of zombies -- and then snapping you back to reality with the ick factor again.
So enjoy that, the blitz will directly follow this post.

But before I leave you to move on to things no less scary and gross, I know you all want to hear the winner of the Zombie Grab Bag, yeah?
I suppose I can obli--

Hey.  What's that noise?
Do any of you hear a scraping, sort of shuffling noise?
Is that moaning?
It can't be!  I've zombie-proofed this house, I swear it!  I--

Gah!
gaaargrrrr
baaaahh!
baaaahhrrrr
baaaahhrrraaaaiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnsssssssssss

The Final Unicorn Moment: Serenading Unicorn

I think I saved the best for last here, folks.  Possibly my favorite unicorn ever, certainly the most talented -- I give you:
The Serenading Unicorn!!!

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (Culture Club)

On Bended Knee (Boyz II Men)

How Am I Supposed to Live Without You (Michael Bolton)

Let's here it one more time:
TEAM UNICORN FOR THE WIN!!!

Speak: A Reading (Banned Books Week + Bloggers Speak Out)

Alrighty, I wanted to read you guys a nice chunk from the beginning of Speak, but I had to make some concessions, since Youtube has a 10 min. limit.  I cut my little intro and a small section of the book (a list, which you can find under the video), but I kept the heart of the story intact.

So settle in and get ready to Speak Out.

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Here is the little piece I cut from the reading:

THE FIRST TEN LIES THEY TELL YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL:

1. We are here to help you.
2. You will have enough time to get to your class before the bell rings.
3. The dress code will be enforced.
4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds.
5. Our fottball team will win the championship this year.
6. We expect more of you here.
7. Guidance counselors are always available to listen.
8. Your schedule was created with you in mind.
9. Your locker combination is private.
10. These will be the years you look back on fondly.

Make sure to go enter my international giveaway for a copy of Speak

And Speak Out!!!

Waaaaaaaaaant!!

More than Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaainssssss!!!!!!!

Zombie at Tiffany's from Threadless T-shirts

GIVEAWAY: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (BBW: Bloggers SPEAK Out)

I had intended to have this up a few days ago, along with a litany of other Banned Books Week posts, but I had some issues, which I detailed here, on top of two others I didn't mention: I've been sick for over a week now, and am just plain worn down, and have had a death in the (rattie) family, and am a little bummed.  More on that later, but for now, let's have a little pick me up, shall we?

I'm sure you've heard about Dimwit Scroggins, but if you haven't, check out this post.  In a show of free-thought solidarity, a gazillion bloggers have banded together for Banned Books Week to bring you Bloggers Speak Out (also check out Speak Loudly, which got the ball rolling).  Natalie of Mindful Musings says:
  Bloggers Speak Out is a movement sparked by the recent article, "Filthy Books Demeaning to Republic Education" by Dr. Wesley Scroggins that was published in the Springfield, MO News-Leader on September 18th. In this article, Scroggins vehemently advocates the censorship of books in schools, and specifically requests that the following books be removed from the Republic school system: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. To show our support of these authors and to fight against book banning and censorship, we have decided to take action and speak out.  

So here's where I come in:

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...



I had the pleasure of meeting LHA at ALA this year, and getting a signed copy of her Printz honor + National Book Award finalist of a first novel (among others), so I wasn't sure what to do with my old beat up copy.  I mean, I didn't want to foist it off on you -- it has seen better days, after all.  But then this fuckhole decided that no one should read it, beat up copy or spanking new, and I thought, screw that, I'm foisting.  Someone will want to read my a little too well-loved, controversial award-winning piece of filth, right?


Yeah, I thought so.  ;p

 To enter, fill out this form.

International.

Ends 10/3

If you want to join Bloggers Speak Out or find out more about the fantastic posts and giveaways inspired by Fuckface Scroggins, go to http://themindfulmusingsbookblog.blogspot.com/


Check back through out the week for more on BBW, including readings from Speak and Slaughterhouse Five (<--- love that, btw.  Take that, Scrog)

Zombie Teaser: Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by S.G. Browne + upcoming appearance by the author!

Meet Andy Warner, a recently deceased everyman and newly minted zombie. Resented by his parents, abandoned by his friends, and reviled by a society that no longer considers him human, Andy is having a bit of trouble adjusting to his new existence. But all that changes when he goes to an Undead Anonymous meeting and finds kindred souls in Rita, an impossibly sexy recent suicide with a taste for the formaldehyde in cosmetic products, and Jerry, a twenty-one-year-old car-crash victim with an exposed brain and a penchant for Renaissance pornography. When the group meets a rogue zombie who teaches them the joys of human flesh, things start to get messy, and Andy embarks on a journey of self-discovery that will take him from his casket to the SPCA to a media-driven class-action lawsuit on behalf of the rights of zombies everywhere.

Want a little more of this rom-zom-com (romantic zombie comedy) in your life?  Helluva Halloween is creeping up, and it comes bearing gifts: an interview with, and guest post from, author S.G. Browne!


Not enough for ya?  Well maybe, just maybe, there will be, oh, I dunno, signed copies of Breathers and the upcoming Fated up for grabs...


Guess you'll have to come back and check...

A quick note

This is just a quick note to say a few things.

1. I am behind.  There's no reason for this, I'm just being a slacker.  Case in point: Coulda got caught up a bit today -- having an end of summer cookout with my besties instead.  Sorry
2. I have some cool things coming up for you, and I can't wait to share them.  But if you get a sec, could you help me with a couple of them?  1 -- I would really like your help with some questions for these guys, because they are awesome, and they deserve great questions + I want to know what you want to know; 2 -- you could also enter the zombie craft challenge.  Just for shits and giggles, if nothing else.  I know you guys are full of awesome and I want to see it, plus if enough people do it, I have a plan that could be awwwwesome, but I can't tell you about it until things pick up.
3. I might have to do a little posty overload to catch up about mid week, plus there's a lot I want to share with you, so ... sorry for flooding your inboxes and Googlereaders.  Quick teaser: naughty zombies, gender-bending books of weirdly awesome, halloween gametime, Dr Seuss, hockeypuck-rattlesnake-monkey-monkey-underpants*.
4. You guys are great.
5. That is all.

You'll be hearing (a lot) from me soon.  Have a great day, y'all!

*Bonus points if you know what that's from.

Short Story Saturday: "Children of the Revolution" by Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson's "Children of the Revolution" follows Sofie, an American college student working on a miserable English farm for the summer.  When she gets the opportunity to leave the godforsaken farm and become a babysitter for a celebrity instead, she jumps at the chance.  Anything to make enough money to get back home.  Even if things are a bit strange at the celebrity's house...
Out of the frying pan, into the fire...


I've only ever read Devilish by Maureen Johnson, but I liked it enough that a) I singled this out as one of the first stories from the anthology that I wanted to read, and b) I bought a sh*tload of other books by Johnson.

It was interesting reading this one for a couple of reasons. First, it came shortly after the story The Perfects (review here) in the Stine anthology, Fear.  The Perfects is also a story about a babysitter who stumbles on unsavoriness and beyond the norm in the category of badly behaved children; I couldn't help but compare the two at first.  Second, this story isn't really anything like any of the other zombie stories I've read up until this point.  It's very funny in an fml way, and it sort of skewers celebrities, religions and religious fads, stereotypes -- any number of things I wasn't expecting to find in a zombie story.  But in a way that makes perfect sense.

Sofie just keeps taking hits, and things just keep getting worse and worse.  When she comes to the unnamed flighty celebrity's house to babysit, things go from bad to just plain strange, and the already funny story became really enjoyable in a quirky, weird way.  I don't want to give anything crucial away, but I do want to give quick props to Johnson for creating the world the celebrity's children live in.  The description and the thought behind it is just spot on.  It's weird and larger than life, and logical for the purpose -- and the Farmer in the Dell conveyor belt is BRILLIANT.  I mean, really.  How disturbing and eerie and genius an addition to their world.

Maureen has a messed up little mind, and I like it.

And I hope that has your interest piqued, because you should go out and grab a copy of Zombie vs. Unicorns so you can read warped little gems like this.

O_o



Each of these stories is found in the anthology Zombies vs. Unicorns --->

Friday Face Off: Zombies vs. Unicorns -- last chance to weigh in!

Alrighty, folks.  September Zombies is almost over (I know, I know.  Stop crying.  I mean it, stop -- you're attracting zombies.)  There's less than a week left to get in on the epic battle, so I thought I'd use this final zombie FFO to give you one last chance to state your case, cast your die, choose your side -- gallop into the sunset or run screaming into the gloaming?  Who wins the epic smackdown?  Tell us what you think in the comments.  You can answer however you see fit, who's your fave?  Which do you like to read about?  Who's coolest/weirdest/badassiest/etc?  Who would you rather come face to face with?  Speak now, or forever be on the run from zombicorns.

vs.

And if you really want to get crazy, stop by this post from Velvet and see how you can make your opinion win you things, or make an awesometastic zombie or unicorn for me and win some more

Notice (More ways to get your daily awesome)

By popular request (ie. Velvet wanted it), I have added the little widget in my sidebar that allows you to get Book Rat directly in your email inbox, like a straight shot to your veins.  Check it out --->


(it's under the "friendconnect thingy)

"Bougainvillea" and "Hare Moon" by Carrie Ryan

In place of The Dead Tossed Waves (which has still not come in at the library for me), today's review is going to be a multi-parter.
Part I = a couple of Carrie Ryan short stories to substitute for TDTW.
Part II = a few more shorts from Zombies vs. Unicorns.

This is Part I.


" Bougainvillea"

In "Bougainvillea" Carrie Ryan expands on the world she has created in The Forest of Hands and Teeth and TDTW (I presume), but this time, she takes of near to the beginning of the Return, when humans inexplicably began rising from the dead.  The heroine, Iza, is only in her mid-teens in the story, living on the island of Curaçao, but grew up in the states and can remember life from before the Return.  This means more "normal" things provide a frame of reference and also act as a means of showing how quickly the circumstances -- and the people in them -- devolve into chaos and bad, bad deeds.

What can I say?  Things are perhaps a little far-fetched, but I loved being back in Carrie Ryan's capable hands.  But just as I said in my review of TFOHAT, she definitely has her naysayers.  If you didn't like that, chances are you may not like this, though I would give it a try.  It's a new perspective, and it's in a different setting and time, so things are certainly different.  This one, to me, is even more about humanity than Forest was, and Ryan is very talented at showing the good right alongside the bad (well, more a little bit of good in all the bad.  She's very good at getting to the heart of the dark part of the human psyche, and pitting it against the mindless bad of zombiehood). 

Iza became real to me in a very short time, which is crucial to the enjoyment of a short story (for me, at least), and no easy feat.  Even many of the side characters felt real and made me care, good or bad.    There's something, too, which really was driven home to me in this story, and I think is part of why I like Ryan's writing so much: she is sentimental, that element is there -- but she kills it ruthlessly.  There is love and sap and things that make the world go round, but rose-colored glasses are soon tossed aside.  She's just as much a realist as a romantic, but the realist generally wins.  I relate to this, and it makes me connect to her stories.  But I also think that maybe this is what bothers people about her.  They fall into these love stories and want their happy ever after, and when realism intrudes, they get angry.


But wherever you fall on the spectrum, I'd say to give this one a try.  I doubt you'll be disappointed.

"Bougainvillea" is found in the anthology Zombies vs. Unicorns --->

"Hare Moon"
The second story I read by Ryan is called "Hare Moon" and it also takes place in the world she created in Forest.  This is more closely a companion piece to Forest, and -- without giving anything away -- the events in this story have an effect on those of TFOHAT.

Tabitha is a teen girl who feels increasingly stifled in the confines of the village.  She dreams of getting away to somewhere -- anywhere -- else, and even dares to sneak down the closed-off path on a routine basis.  One day on the path, she meets Patrick, a boy roughly her age, and from another village.  Suddenly, Tabitha's world opens up to be much bigger than she ever knew, bigger than the Sisterhood has led her village to believe.  Tabitha dreams of running away with Patrick and finding somewhere they can be together.  But when she's caught by a guard sneaking onto the path and sent to live with the Sisterhood, Tabitha learns that there is a reason for everything.  And when Patrick comes to her for help, Tabitha is forced to make the toughest decisions of her life -- with far-reaching consequences.

Story sound familiar?  A girl who doesn't follow the rules and dreams of risking everything for love and something greater -- the wide world she discovers when she learns her village is not the only one ... yeah, that's the plot of The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

I was almost prepared to be really mad at this, and think it was just a thinly veiled rewrite of her debut.  But the fact is, Ryan's actually done something really interesting with this story.  She gives us a character very similar to Mary -- and this will surprise you to know end as you go along -- and she's faced with similar choices and similar desires.  But what she does with them, and the results of her longing and selfishness are very, very different.  As I said, the events of this story have an impact on TFOHAT, so watching it unfold and realizing the implications is very fascinating.  But not having read TFOHAT doesn't mean you can't read this.  Because they are so similar, you can consider it a trial run.

Though this is a slower paced story than Bougainvillea, more akin to the pacing in TFOHAT, Ryan's writing is just as atmospheric and evocative, and it was enjoyable to read.  It also raised some interesting questions for me that I hadn't considered before*, which I find myself pondering now.  There is -- not a link, really, but some connection, at least between the zombies and sexuality.  If I get a free sec, I'll write up a post about it, but I just wanted to mention that it was subtle but sort of fascinating what Ryan does with that aspect in this story.

And no, if you didn't like Forest, I don't think you're going to like this.  Though you may appreciate how the two stories expand understanding of each other.

And I just have to add, as I said in Bougainvillea, Ryan is merciless.  I thought for a minute in this I was going to have to eat my words; it was bordering on pure saccharine at a certain point.  By I stand by what I said.  Merciless.
And I love it.

<--- "Hare Moon" is found in the anthology Kiss Me Deadly.

*This also crops up in my review of Scott Westerfeld's "Inoculata" and Garth Nix's "The Highest Justice".  It was interesting, because I read the three back to back, and the wheels started turning.

[Um, also...this should have been posted yesterday (and according to the date, it was), but I got to playing with my cricut (new! shiny!) and that didn't happen.  Sorry.]

A Taste of Zombies vs. Unicorns: "The Highest Justice" and "Inoculata"

As I said in Not The Dead Tossed Waves: pt I I've decided to review some more short stories for you today, in place of TDTW, which never came.  Earlier I gave you 2 substitute stories from Carrie Ryan, and for Part II I am giving you 2 more from the anthology Zombies vs. Unicorns: "The Highest Justice" by Garth Nix  and "Inoculata" by Scott Westerfeld.  (I'm not going to lie, I cherry-picked. I really like these two authors (and Maureen Johnson, whose story I will review for Short Story Saturday), so I read these first.  I don't know that I've ever read a short story collection in the order presented.  Hmm...)

"The Highest Justice"
I absolutely love Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, so when I saw he kicked the book off, I was quite pleased.  Holly Black, one of the editors (the Team U side), reveals before the story that Nix was supposed to write a zombie-slash-unicorn (but not zombicorn) story, but that he was so overwhelmed by the power of the unicorn that the story took a decided turn. [Points: Team Unicorn]
Though there may not be as much 'zombie' in the story as intended, what resulted was a really interesting mix of the two that saw each acting ... a little out of character in the best ways.

When the queen is poisoned, Princess Jess calls on the help of a mysterious and elusive legendary unicorn (Elibet) to help her.  Elibet complies, reviving the Queen so that Jess can complete the task of getting her mother to her father, the philandering King -- before her mother completely decomposes or eats somebody.  That's right, folks, a unicorn-created zombie Queen.  What more could you ask for?

Alright, now I'm in a really weird position her because this story, in some respects, has some strong similarities to a short story I wrote a couple of years ago.  And no, it wasn't about zombies or unicorns. But I feel weird for praising it for choices I made in my own story.  So we're just going to set that aside.

The Highest Power is interesting because it's a really great mixture of things.  It's an almost epic story on a small scale -- I can fully see this being novel-length, all of the elements are there.  Elibet, the unicorn, and the zombie Queen are interesting twists on what we think of for each.  Yes, Elibet is beautiful and horse-like, with a massive, blood-tipped horn -- but she is that way in part because that is how Jess chooses to see her.  She is also "a fiercer thing, of less familiar shape, made of storm clouds and darkness."  She's strong and intelligent, and metes out justice impartially and mercilessly.  Yes, the Queen is rotting and flesh-hungry, but she's also in love with her horrible husband and still human somehow.  She doesn't moan for brains, she moans for him.*

I don't want to give anything away, but I have to say, I really, really liked this story and what Nix did with his zombie Queen.  It gave me a new perspective on the nature of zombie, and new and fresh is hard to come by in the zombie world.  If you've been a doubter or a naysayer of either side, I'd say, pick up this story.  It's simple yet complex (I know, but really, it is), and dark and beautiful.  A great way to kick off the book.

"Inoculata"

I love Scott Westerfeld.  There's just no denying that.  I like the way his brain works, I like the characters he creates, and I like the spin he puts on things.o
Inoculata was no different.

In it, Allison lives in a very confined world.  She is one of a short list of survivors of the zombie plagued that has swept the earth, and 1 of only 4 young people in her community.  Her life consists of hard work, canned food and daily zombie drills.  That is until the girl she has a crush on, Kalyn, reveals a secret to her that changes her world forever -- and maybe not just her world, but the world.

I can't go into a ton of detail in this one without giving something crucial away, so I'm going to have to be brief.  Within a matter of minutes, Westerfeld pulled me in and made it clear that this wasn't going to be  completely typical zombie fare.  There are more to his zombies than mindlessness, but the story is open ended, just as their story is.    Allison is engaging and relatable, and the storytelling is smooth and humorous.  As he did in Peeps, Westerfeld introduces the idea of viruses, germs and plagues in an interesting way.  This is something I find fascinating anyway, but applied as he does, it just really works.
"Inoculata" is really just the beginning, something new and unheard of, and I would love, LOVE to see more.
And I'm sorry I can't tell you more than that.


Each of these stories is found in the anthology Zombies vs. Unicorns --->

And now for [yet another] Unicorn Moment...

Wishlist Wednesday: Zombie Edition pt 3

This version is, I suppose, the high school version.  Behold:

Quiet, unpopular,non-cheerleading Mia is blissfully happy. She is dating super hot football god Rob, and he actually likes her and asked her to prom! Enter Samantha--cheerleading goddess and miss popularity--who starts making a move for Rob. With prom in a few days, Mia needs to act fast. So she turns to her best friend, Candice, and decides to do a love spell on Rob. Unfortunately, she ends up inflicting a zombie virus onto her whole class, making herself their leader! At first she is flattered that everyone is treating her like a queen. But then zombie hunter hottie Chase explains they are actually fattening her up, because in a few days, Mia will be the first course in their new diet. She's sure she and Chase can figure something out, but she suggests that no one wear white to prom, because things could get very messy.
What I want more the book is that sweet corsage.  For reals.

 Algonquin “Alley” Rhodes, the high school newspaper’s music critic, meets an intriguing singer, Doug, while reviewing a gig. He’s a weird-looking guy—goth, but he seems sincere about it, like maybe he was into it back before it was cool. She introduces herself after the set, asking if he lives in Cornersville, and he replies, in his slow, quiet murmur, “Well, I don’t really live there, exactly. . . .”
When Alley and Doug start dating, Alley is falling so hard she doesn’t notice a few odd signs: he never changes clothes, his head is a funny shape, and he says practically nothing out loud. Finally Marie, the school paper’s fashion editor, points out the obvious: Doug isn’t just a really sincere goth. He’s a zombie. Horrified that her feelings could have allowed her to overlook such a flaw, Alley breaks up with Doug, but learns that zombies are awfully hard to get rid of—at the same time she learns that vampires, a group as tightly-knit as the mafia, don’t think much of music critics who make fun of vampires in reviews. . . .

Principal Taft's 3 Simple Rules for Surviving a Zombie Uprising:
Rule #1: While in the halls, walk slowly and wear a vacant expression on your face. Zombies won't attack other zombies.
Rule #2: Never travel alone. Move in packs. Follow the crowd. Zombies detest blatant displays of individuality.
Rule #3: If a zombie should attack, do not run. Instead, throw raw steak at to him. Zombies love raw meat. This display of kindness will go a long way.
On the night of her middle school graduation, Margot Jean Johnson wrote a high school manifesto detailing her goals for what she was sure would be a most excellent high school career. She and her best friend, Sybil, would be popular and, most important, have boyfriends. Three years later, they haven't accomplished a thing!
Then Margot and Sybil arrive at school one day to find that most of the student body has been turned into flesh-eating zombies. When kooky Principal Taft asks the girls to coexist with the zombies until the end of the semester, they realize that this is the perfect opportunity to live out their high school dreams. All they have to do is stay alive....

 All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occuring. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. Termed "living impaired" or "differently biotic," they are doing their best to fit into a society that doesn't want them.
Fitting in is hard enough when you don't have the look or attitude, but when almost everyone else is alive and you're not, it's close to impossible. The kids at Oakdale High don't want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn't breathing. And there are no laws to protect the differently biotic from the people who want them to disappear - for good.
With her pale skin and goth wardrobe, Phoebe has never run with the popular crowd. But on one can believe it when she falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids. Not her best friend, Margi, whose fear of the differently biotic is deeply rooted in guilt over the past. And especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Recently, Adam has realized that his feelings for Phoebe run much deeper than just friendship. He would do anything for her; but what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?

 Fifteen-year-old Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she's part-time shrink to a bunch of dead people with a whole lot of issues.
All Megan wants is to be normal and go to homecoming, of course. Unfortunately, it's a little difficult when your dates keep getting interrupted by a bunch of slobbering Undead.
Things are about to get even more complicated for Megan. Someone in school is using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into flesh-eating Zombies, and it's looking like homecoming will turn out to be a very different kind of party the bloody kind.
Megan must stop the Zombie apocalypse descending on Carol, Arkansas. Her life and more importantly, homecoming depends on it.

What's on your zombie wishlist?

Zombie Teaser: Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum + upcoming author appearance!

Perfect for zombiephiles, video game addicts, grindhouse nostalgists, and horror movie fanatics, Zombie Haiku is the touching story of a zombie's gradual decay told through the intimate poetry of haiku. From infection to demise, readers will accompany the narrator on a zen journey through deserted streets and barricaded doors for every eye-popping, gut-wrenching, flesh-eating moment right up until the inevitable bullet to the brain. Plus the book is illustrated with over 50 photos from the zombie's eye and designed with extra blood, guts and pus!

Zombie Haiku, good for your...braaains!  

Wanna know what else is good for your delicious, delicious braaains?  The guest post Ryan Mecum's got cooked up for ya for Helluva Halloween.

Tasty.

Kids (Craft) Corner: Zombie Sheep

Found this abosultely fantastic zombie sheep tutorial on squidoo.  It was put together by the fab Stuwaha.
Check it out:

Of course, this is just a snippet of the tutorial, just to give you an idea.
Definitely giving this one a try!  I had intended to start it today, actually, but of course, I forgot black clay.
For step by step directions, head over to Stuwaha's squidoo page and learn how to raise a flock of your own zombie sheep.
But why stop there?  Create your own zombie animals -- farm or otherwise -- and enter them in the zombie craft challenge!

<--- Herbert says DOOO ITTT!

There's Upcoming AWESOME -- but I need your help!

Kittens, I have a mess of awesome planned for you for Helluva Halloween -- but I need a little something from you; I am going to be conducting some very exciting interviews, and though I have my questions, I want to know what you want to know.    Below you'll find the authors and their exciting books -- leave your questions for them in the comments.  And spread the word!  The more participation we have for Helluva Halloween, the more compelled I feel to make it ... worth your while...
;p

S.G. BROWNE, author of BREATHERS: A ZOMBIE LAMENT

ANDREA CREMER, author of NIGHTSHADE

ANASTASIA HOPPCUS, author of SHADOW HILLS

REBECCA MAIZEL, author of INFINITE DAYS

RYAN MECUM, author of ZOMBIE HAIKU

DAVID MOODY, author of HATER

And make sure you come back for Helluva Halloween for all of the interviews, plus special appearances by Artist Arthur (Manifest), Brian James (Zombie Blondes), Brenna Yovanoff (The Replacement) and more!

Want in on the action?  You can contribute a guest post, giveaway, or any number of other things!  See this post for details!