Zombie book - whattaya want?
04-10-05, 03:07 PM
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Zombie book - whattaya want?
I am working on a new book.
It's about zombies.
Yes, I am serious.
I have the main story laid out, the main characters are pretty much there, and I've begun writing. But before I get too far into this project, I'm curious to know what zombie fans have to say about zombie stories. So sound off!
If you were going to read a book about zombies, what would you want in it? What has been lacking in recent zombie fiction/film you want to see in the genre? What zombie fiction/film cliches do you absolutely hate? What is something you've always wanted to see in zombie fiction/flim?
Your thoughts are appreciated. I'm not looking to "steal" people's ideas, I just want to know what people want in a good zombie story - if it fits in mine, I'll put it in! Hooray for zombies!
It's about zombies.
Yes, I am serious.
I have the main story laid out, the main characters are pretty much there, and I've begun writing. But before I get too far into this project, I'm curious to know what zombie fans have to say about zombie stories. So sound off!
If you were going to read a book about zombies, what would you want in it? What has been lacking in recent zombie fiction/film you want to see in the genre? What zombie fiction/film cliches do you absolutely hate? What is something you've always wanted to see in zombie fiction/flim?
Your thoughts are appreciated. I'm not looking to "steal" people's ideas, I just want to know what people want in a good zombie story - if it fits in mine, I'll put it in! Hooray for zombies!
04-10-05, 03:35 PM
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Zombie stories are great, unfortantely it seems like they all want to focus on the gore/shock value aspect. The best zombie stories are more about the people and how they deal with the situation they find themselves in, Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead does this well as does the movie Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead (both versions).
A good explanation later on in the story as to why/how it happened wouldn't hurt either, even if it is just speculation on the part of the participants. Hope this helps.
A good explanation later on in the story as to why/how it happened wouldn't hurt either, even if it is just speculation on the part of the participants. Hope this helps.
04-12-05, 12:44 AM
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Nothing? Seriously, folks, nothing?!?! Well, thanks, Dave. I'm really surprised no one else has anything.
04-12-05, 09:30 AM
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First person zombies.
I think there was a short story in the anthology Book of the Dead told from the zombie point of view. His detached disgust with himself as he rotted away, the love he felt for his daughter, etc. There was a Britfilm in a similar vein, I, Zombie, that was morose and depressing, if a bit boring. Finally, Phil Nutman's novel Wet Work, based on his short story in the previous anthology also has fully aware zombies, one of which is the stories protagonist.
I think there was a short story in the anthology Book of the Dead told from the zombie point of view. His detached disgust with himself as he rotted away, the love he felt for his daughter, etc. There was a Britfilm in a similar vein, I, Zombie, that was morose and depressing, if a bit boring. Finally, Phil Nutman's novel Wet Work, based on his short story in the previous anthology also has fully aware zombies, one of which is the stories protagonist.
04-13-05, 01:04 AM
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Do zombies shit and piss? I mean they eat, but do their digestive systems still work? If it doesn't then do they stop eating when full? If so, do they still kill? Many animals won't kill if full of food.
Very few movies have dealt with the obvious odor issues. Actually, Brian Keene did in his book The Rishing. Anywa, unless the zombie is fresh, it would seem the rotting odor would be a good warning that you're about to be attacked.
edit to add:
And let's be honest, you just know that if this really happened their would be freaks having sex with fresh zombie females.
I mean what's she gonna do?
Very few movies have dealt with the obvious odor issues. Actually, Brian Keene did in his book The Rishing. Anywa, unless the zombie is fresh, it would seem the rotting odor would be a good warning that you're about to be attacked.
edit to add:
And let's be honest, you just know that if this really happened their would be freaks having sex with fresh zombie females.
I mean what's she gonna do?
Last edited by Giantrobo; 04-13-05 at 01:09 AM.
04-13-05, 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Giantrobo
And let's be honest, you just know that if this really happened their would be freaks having sex with fresh zombie females. I mean what's she gonna do?
I mean what's she gonna do?Spoiler
Spoiler:
04-13-05, 10:51 PM
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Wow...just wow.
04-18-05, 10:32 AM
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I'm a slow writer, but it's coming along pretty well. It sounds like a lot of folks are interested in discovering some of the science behind zombies, as well as er, um, zombie sex. I will say I'm exploring zombies and what it means in both science and religion, and it's interesting to see how the two opinions play off each other. Thanks for everyone's input - I'd love to hear more of what you have to say!
04-20-05, 01:36 AM
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You should address the issue of Human Zombies and animals.
For instance, in Night of the Living Dead 68 and the 90's Remake Zombies are shown eating animals. In the Dawn remake apparently dogs don't interest zombies. Either way in those movies animals weren't affected by whatever caused the zombies. In Brian Keene's book The Rising, animals were also zombies so that made animals just as dangerous if not more than people.
Something to think about....
For instance, in Night of the Living Dead 68 and the 90's Remake Zombies are shown eating animals. In the Dawn remake apparently dogs don't interest zombies. Either way in those movies animals weren't affected by whatever caused the zombies. In Brian Keene's book The Rising, animals were also zombies so that made animals just as dangerous if not more than people.
Something to think about....
04-20-05, 09:17 PM
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Don't forget the half of a dog that came to life in Return of the living Dead.
I have always wondered why the zombies didn't go after each other, after all meat is meat. I think the only ones that were particularly after brains were the RotLD zombies.
How long of a book are you planning? It would be interesting to see a community that has formed around a belief that the world is ending with a cult like figure leading them, and having them clash with other communities they believe are corrupt. Get the whole zombie vs human and human vs human thing going on.
I have always wondered why the zombies didn't go after each other, after all meat is meat. I think the only ones that were particularly after brains were the RotLD zombies.
How long of a book are you planning? It would be interesting to see a community that has formed around a belief that the world is ending with a cult like figure leading them, and having them clash with other communities they believe are corrupt. Get the whole zombie vs human and human vs human thing going on.
04-20-05, 11:04 PM
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Originally Posted by DaveCole
Don't forget the half of a dog that came to life in Return of the living Dead.
I have always wondered why the zombies didn't go after each other, after all meat is meat. I think the only ones that were particularly after brains were the RotLD zombies.
I have always wondered why the zombies didn't go after each other, after all meat is meat. I think the only ones that were particularly after brains were the RotLD zombies.
04-25-05, 11:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Giantrobo
And let's be honest, you just know that if this really happened their would be freaks having sex with fresh zombie females. I mean what's she gonna do?
I mean what's she gonna do?
I'm a pretty normal guy except for one thing: I'm sexually attracted to zombies. When I was a kid, I loved to watch horror films that featured them. Then as I became a teen, I started to masturbate watching zombie flicks. I fantasize about having sex with zombies while trying not to get bitten, but eventually I end up getting devoured. I also fantasize about a woman gangbanged by a group of zombies who then rip her apart and eat her. Is this a form of necrophilia? Are there any other people out there with the same fetish? When I was about 6, my best friend and I discovered the dead body of a drug addict in an abandoned house. Do you think that has something to do with my fetish?
Concentrating On Rotting People Sexually Exciting
...
Okay, CORPSE, you've got a zombie fetish. That's too bad. Though you're probably not alone, your fetish will complicate your love life. While GGG folks will cheerfully indulge their partners' kinks, there are limits to what a kinky boy can reasonably request. Naughty Catholic schoolgirl? Demanding Mistress? Secretary of State? Those are role-playing scenarios that any reasonably accommodating girlfriend would say yes to. But animated corpses, violent gangbangs, gruesome deaths, and cannibalism? The only women willing to go there will be the ones who share your fetish. (And if they're out there, they're online somewhere.) The sucks-to-be-you fact of the matter is that very few people find death attractive—look at how hard John Paul II clung to life. If a man who was convinced he was going to Heaven was that afraid of death, how do you think the average bar-slut will feel?
As to why you're a zombie fetishist, CORPSE, that's harder to say. Could it be all those movies you watched as a kid? Maybe, maybe not. Lots of kids watch zombie flicks, but only a few become zombie fetishists. Was it the dead body you discovered at age 6? Maybe, maybe not. Did the kid you were with grow up to be a zombie fetishist too? Probably not. I'm afraid there are no easy answers, CORPSE, no good explanations why one kid exposed to zombie flicks winds up with a zombie fetish, and another kid who watches the same zombie flicks does not. People are weird and sex is a fucking head-trip. What can you do?
Concentrating On Rotting People Sexually Exciting
...
Okay, CORPSE, you've got a zombie fetish. That's too bad. Though you're probably not alone, your fetish will complicate your love life. While GGG folks will cheerfully indulge their partners' kinks, there are limits to what a kinky boy can reasonably request. Naughty Catholic schoolgirl? Demanding Mistress? Secretary of State? Those are role-playing scenarios that any reasonably accommodating girlfriend would say yes to. But animated corpses, violent gangbangs, gruesome deaths, and cannibalism? The only women willing to go there will be the ones who share your fetish. (And if they're out there, they're online somewhere.) The sucks-to-be-you fact of the matter is that very few people find death attractive—look at how hard John Paul II clung to life. If a man who was convinced he was going to Heaven was that afraid of death, how do you think the average bar-slut will feel?
As to why you're a zombie fetishist, CORPSE, that's harder to say. Could it be all those movies you watched as a kid? Maybe, maybe not. Lots of kids watch zombie flicks, but only a few become zombie fetishists. Was it the dead body you discovered at age 6? Maybe, maybe not. Did the kid you were with grow up to be a zombie fetishist too? Probably not. I'm afraid there are no easy answers, CORPSE, no good explanations why one kid exposed to zombie flicks winds up with a zombie fetish, and another kid who watches the same zombie flicks does not. People are weird and sex is a fucking head-trip. What can you do?
Weirdo! As for suggestions for your book, I can't add anything that hasn't already been posted. Good luck!
04-26-05, 02:18 AM
#16
As a horror fan who like a good zombie story, my advice would be to bring something new to the table. A good zombie book is harder than a movie, because it's easy to get by in a movie with shock and gore. That won't cut it for a book -- at least for me. Good characterizations and plotting. Interesting twists for the location, origin and/or nature of the zombies. You need those things. Some specifics that would attract me to a book:
A unique location: like Joe Lansdale placing zombies in the old West in "Dead in the West". Zombies and german U-boats in Robert McCammon's "Night Boat". Zombies in space like in a recent comic series whose name escapes me now.
A different take on the zombie origin/nature: Brian Keene's "The Rising" (with its Babylonian demons). Peter Hamilton wrote a series of sci-fi books set in the far future about an intergalactic invasion of the living dead. Phil Nutman's "Wet Work" with intelligent, organized zombies (also done in Al Sarrantino's "Skeletons". Richard Calder wrote an interesting trilogy about a zombie/vampire plague, but done in a cyberpunk style (with a very technological basis for the monsters). But there's more that could be done with that general idea -- making zombies a result of technology (nano?), and creating a whole new zombie mythology for the future.
Something else that I'd like to see -- more of an idea of how the zombies take over. So many movies (because of budget concerns) zoom in on a small cast of characters, and takes place mostly when the zombies are already out of control. But we only get glimpses of how things get out of control. Especially with the slow Romero-style zombies -- things should happen slowly. We only got the tv reports and opening scenes of Dawn -- and I always found myself wishing to have seen more stuff like that. More scenes that take place between the initial zombie outbreak and the point when they've overrun everything, and how civilization responds to the zombie outbreak.
A unique location: like Joe Lansdale placing zombies in the old West in "Dead in the West". Zombies and german U-boats in Robert McCammon's "Night Boat". Zombies in space like in a recent comic series whose name escapes me now.
A different take on the zombie origin/nature: Brian Keene's "The Rising" (with its Babylonian demons). Peter Hamilton wrote a series of sci-fi books set in the far future about an intergalactic invasion of the living dead. Phil Nutman's "Wet Work" with intelligent, organized zombies (also done in Al Sarrantino's "Skeletons". Richard Calder wrote an interesting trilogy about a zombie/vampire plague, but done in a cyberpunk style (with a very technological basis for the monsters). But there's more that could be done with that general idea -- making zombies a result of technology (nano?), and creating a whole new zombie mythology for the future.
Something else that I'd like to see -- more of an idea of how the zombies take over. So many movies (because of budget concerns) zoom in on a small cast of characters, and takes place mostly when the zombies are already out of control. But we only get glimpses of how things get out of control. Especially with the slow Romero-style zombies -- things should happen slowly. We only got the tv reports and opening scenes of Dawn -- and I always found myself wishing to have seen more stuff like that. More scenes that take place between the initial zombie outbreak and the point when they've overrun everything, and how civilization responds to the zombie outbreak.
