The top five zombie movies/TV shows/ Video games

If you've been following my blog, you know I have a thing for Zombies...the apocalypse...the end of times, so the only surprise should be that I've waited this long to create my top five list.

5

Zombieland

Believe it or not, the characters are intriguing in Zombieland.  Each has his or her own set or neuroses that help get them through the post-apocalyptic world in which they're trying to survive. The humorous take on what is often a serious and scary genre makes this movie one worth watching.

4.

Resident Evil -the video game

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I may be dating myself...but when the original Resident Evil game came out, it scared the crap out of me.  I love the premise of everything taking place inside a mansion -it keeps the action (and terror) close and intimate.  I remember the sound being awesome for this game.  You could hear everything -footsteps, spent bullet casings hitting the ground, the tearing of flesh.  I haven't played any of the more recent versions of RE but I have watched the movies, which just don't have the same impact as the game.  The only downside now would be, I'm sure, the graphics are most likely way behind the times. 

3. 

World War Z

World War Z was first a successful book by Max Brooks. The story goes, Brad Pitt fell in love with the story and single-handedly got the film produced.  I wasn't thrilled with the book to be honest.  The premise was great but I had a hard time identifying with the characters.  Some were interesting but others were rather bland.  What the writers, Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof (hey! he was a Lost writer) and J. Michael Straczynski did was narrow the focus to one man (Played by Pitt) giving the viewers a character they could identify with and follow throughout the story rather than jumping from perspective to perspective like the book. 

Yes, I'm saying it.  I LIKED A MOVIE BETTER THAN THE BOOK!

2.  

The Walking Dead

There is a reason why The Walking Dead is TV's top-rated show among adults 18-49 and averages 10.2 million viewers per episode.  IT ISN"T THE ZOMBIES!  It's the compelling characters.  Every great character has a great story.  The Walking Dead's large cast of characters is no exception.  Many people pass judgement far too quickly on a show thought to be nothing but gore and violence when, in reality, it is a character driven masterpiece.  I personally can't get enough of The Walking Dead and cannot wait until it starts up again.

For more stats on The Walking Dead ratings, check out THIS ARTICLE from The Hollywood Reporter.


1.

28 days later

Forget characterization.  This is the straight-up scariest zombie flick of all time.  It takes place in London after the zombie apocalypse.  Main character wakes up in a hospital (very similar to Rick from The Walking Dead) and everything has gone to hell.  The Zombies are scary -the run...no, they sprint and to top it all off, there is an element of human evil as well.  Turn off the lights for this one and keep an extra pair of underwear handy...it's that scary.


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Life changing books part 3

Desire for the apocalypse part 3

By J. R. Wagner

The apocalypse in literature.

As far as I'm concerned, the apocalypse made its way into mainstream literature via the writing of one man.

That man is, of course, Mr. Stephen King. If you're a King fan, you've read The Stand. An amazing creation about the post-apocalyptic world once the super-flu has wiped out the majority of the population.

He's written other post-apocalyptic novels.  The Dark Tower Series is set in a post-apocalyptic world. It starts with The Gunslinger and culminates in book seven The Dark Tower (although he recently released an eight book relating to the series called The Wind Through The Keyhole, which I haven't read yet. The Dark Tower (or characters from the series) even shows up in a few of King's short story collections.

King recently delved into the pre-apocalypse world with Cell, one of my favorite King novels where the world falls apart right before the main character's eyes in a beautifully written, less cumbersome than The Stand, action filled zombie-esque journey of Graphic artist Clay Riddell who was in the heart of Boston on that brilliant autumn afternoon when hell was unleashed before his eyes. (thank you Amazon).

After The Stand was published in 1978, the market was flooded with apocalyptic novels of all kinds.

I've stumbled upon several top 10 greatest Apocalyptic novels of all times lists.
Here is one
Here is another

I've read several on these lists.  One, Z for Zachariah, I haven't though of for years and could very well be the catalyst of my obsession for the apocalypse.

Ann Burden is sixteen years old and completely alone. The world as she once knew it is gone, ravaged by a nuclear war that has taken everyone from her. For the past year, she has lived in a remote valley with no evidence of any other survivors.

But the smoke from a distant campfire shatters Ann's solitude. Someone else is still alive and making his way toward the valley. Who is this man? What does he want? Can he be trusted? Both excited and terrified, Ann soon realizes there may be worse things than being the last person on Earth.

Another (since turned into a major motion picture) I am Legend, is very, very good.

 The others, many of which overlap from list to list, are being added to my Goodreads To-read list as we speak.

• Alas, Babylon
• The Wild Shore
• Eternity Road

• The Postman (I've never seen the Kevin Costner film based on this book and have a feeling I don't want to ...at least until I read it)

• A Canticle for Leibowitz
• Earth Abides
• On The Beach
• Lucifer's Hammer

• World War Z
• Blindness
• The Road
• Swan Song

Many of these were published before The Stand however in my small world, The Stand is king.

Some modern titles that may be more familiar...

• The Hunger Games

• The Maze Runner
• The Knife of Never Letting Go

And if you're looking to take the religious apocalypse route you can always try Left Behind

Desire for an apocalypse: a psychological analysis Part I

Part I

That's right, I said desire.  There are many, many people (mostly male) who have an innate desire for some world altering event that will ravage the population and leave them, in most cases, alone to battle the remnants of whatever caused this apocalypse or find other survivors and begin again.

The apocalypse,  the end of the world, the rapture -whatever you call it, the words bear the same meaning. Some event that violently and tragically alters the existence of humanity.

With December, 2012 right around the corner, what better time to delve into a topic that has captured the imaginations of readers, writers, filmmakers and fans for centuries.

There are loads of websites dedicated to the nonsensical notion that the world will end on December 21st of this year.  I've decided to delve into this subject from a more entertainment providing perspective so fear not, fun will be had by all!

Before the analysis of the mind that wishes for the end, lets take a look at some popular scenarios.

1. Meteor

2. Nuclear holocaust

3. The Rapture

4. A super-virus

5. Zombies

6. I'll throw in a geological disaster for S&G's

7. World War III

Desire for the apocalypse: a psychological analysis

Desire for the apocalypse: a psychological analysis

a series

-interviews
-analysis
-scenarios
-good ole fashion fun

coming soon!

If you'd like to be interviewed, please contact me!

josh@TheNeverChronicles.com

Speaking, books, writing and Zombies...

On Monday I spoke for my public speaking group (yep, if you didn't know, I am a member of Toastmasters International...you know, constant self-improvement)

Anyway, my topic was 'How to survive the zombie apocalypse'

I was excited about the topic but I think I got too consumed by being visually entertaining that I lost sight of what was important...the actual speech.

Admittedly, I didn't rehearse very much because I was planning on using the slides (I made a power point show) to guide me through.  Because I relied on the slides so much, I ended up reading from them far too often, which is a big no-no when presenting in public.  When you read from a slide, you turn your back and your attention away from the audience.

I did find the content quite entertaining (if I do say so myself) and could have hit it out of the park had I either gone with pictures only or just the topics rather than spelling out each bullet point on the slides.  I was too tempted to read each point -too bent on making sure I got everything just right and that became my undoing. So, lesson learned.  The feedback from the group reflected my own assessment of my presentation -look at the audience, the visual aids are there for THEM, not me!

The walking dead -Jumped the shark?

Ugh

That was my first reaction to Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead.

 Why, you ask?

SPOILER ALERT -if you haven't seen Sunday 3/11's episode, read no further!

Okay, stay with me.  In general, you don't want to kill off the most provocative character in a series unless you're close to ending the entire series, right? The guy you love to hate, the most conflicted character, the one that puts everyone else on edge...would you kill him off?

Regardless of whatever revelation will come of his death, I don't think killing him off as a way to reveal whatever it is -a way of spreading the zombie infection viewers and characters were yet unaware, will be worth the death of the most compelling actor on the show.

Happy Birthday to......me

In honor of my special day I've decided to celebrate by sharing some interesting facts about myself.


1. I've been a pain in the ass since birth. (see exhibit A)

Exhibit A




































2. I'm not very good with a lightsaber. (see exhibit B)


Exhibit B




3. I love a good zombie tale (see exhibit C)

Exhibit C (note Exhibit C is packed in my Zombie apocalypse emergency bag along with other contents I'd rather not discuss in case my wife reads this post.)

4.  My childhood modeling career (exhibit D) was thwarted by is over-active imagination, which kept me inside filming stop-motion movies with my Star Wars figures and writing Jaws 5(exhibit E).


Exhibit D

Armani wanted me, but I had other plans.










Exhibit E

Twas the night before christmas...with Zombies

Twas the night before Christmas….with zombies

A disturbing holiday poem by J. R. Wagner

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Many creatures were stirring, eating two dogs and a mouse

The stockings lay strewn and bloodied by the fire

A struggle had taken place, apparently dire

The children had woken to the screams by their beds

One single thought had entered their heads

…zombies

When Mama came limping and moaning down the hall

And Papa crawled toward them having no legs at all

Out on the lawn there arose such a clatter

Screams and smoke and gunfire did shatter

The window as Timmy ducked avoiding the glass

While Gina reached for her .9 allowing no dead to pass

The moon on the blood strewn across the white snow

Gave an ominous look to the situation below

When a sound cut through the eerily silent night

The thwack, thwack, thwack of chopper blades joining the fight

It landed out front raising snow like a storm

Timmy and Gina  an to the window to shout, to warn

One-by-one men ducked out beneath the deadly blades

M1’s tightly gripped as they looked through the haze

A few shots fired, several men down

the area called ‘clear’ then his foot touched the ground

The children both smiled as he lifted his hat to his head

Yes, you guessed it, Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead

As dry entrails took flight like birds fleeing from prey

The presence of Rick let the children know this would be a special day

Rather than through the front door, Grimes jumped to the roof

His .357 reporting as walkers fell with an ooph

Then, with a whoosh followed by a deafening blast

They knew Shane Walsh and his RPG had made it at last

Debris dropped down what remained of the flu

Followed by smashing and bashing from you know who

Snakeskin boots were the first to drop in

Followed by county issued pants, shirt and his gold star pin

A bundle of guns he had flung on his back

He looked like a dystopian peddler opening his pack

His eyes, dark and weary, his jaw set tight

His cheeks were striated always ready for a fight

His perfect white teeth smiled up at the kids

Unable to hide the guilt for the things that he did

He cocked his hat back revealing more of his face

Blood splatter and gore were all over the place

The children relaxed having seen it before

Grimes was a legend, a gift to help settle the score

The hilt of a dirk he held tight in his teeth

And the dust cloud from his entrance circled his head like a wreath

He was thin as a man, ever they had seen

Food can be scarce unless one is keen

He was formal and terse as he moved, shoulders set

Not believing the children already dispatched the threat

A wink of an eye and a twist of his head

Told the kids not all the walkers were dead

He spoke not a word but went right to his work

Removing the shotgun and ArmaLite AR-18 with a jerk

Cautiously stepping into sister Jennie’s small room

Then gunfire and screaming and boom, boom, boom

Rick stepped slowly back out from the fight

Clutching his side with one hand the .357 in the right

His face was pale, his eyes cold and distant

The problem, the kids knew exactly in an instant

Timmy and Gina, holding her .9

Made their way to the chopper –double time

Looking back at dust-off toward the house where Rick lay

He’d been bitten, you see, and needed to stay.

As the chopper lifted and rose past the trees

A bright star reminded the passengers, it’s Christmas eve

Merry Christmas, said Shane gripping the mesh

The kids gave an odd smile then feasted on his flesh

To my Walking Dead buddy: Iris. Merry Christmas,

Love always,

Daddy

Check out my website! www.TheNeverChronicles.com