ZombieMall.com Blog

After getting a signed CD from Karen Stever, I decided that I had to get to know her a bit more…
When I listen to Playground Isolator, it’s sound(s) remind me of music that I would listen to late at night back in the ’80′s. That is, not the average Top 40 that everyone pretended to be into, but the hardcore
music that was made for the fans of music. Stuff like Pixies, Concrete Blonde, Bad Brains, and Black Flag. Music that had a REAL sound to it, not today’s resampled unoriginal crap.
Recently I had the opportunity to ask Karen Stever, the talent of this album, some questions. And to be honest, I could not pass up getting to know her a little better.

I’ve listened to this CD more times than I can count! In my opinion one of the best features of the CD is that the CD cover also has the lyrics printed inside. Often I’ll take the lyrics (not just with this CD but with any one that I purchase) and read them like poetry. Then I’ll go back and read them as I listen.
It gives me a few different ways to interpret what my ears listen to.

Karen, when I listen to these songs I cannot help but feel you poured a lot of soul and emotion into them. I want to thank you for sharing that personal connection with us.

Karen: I don’t necessarily remember most of the emotion poured into it, a lot of it was from a place of blur. I actually wasn’t going to share it with anyone. I wrote it so coded because I didn’t even want some people to see it. It was a really big step to be able to share it after all.

(more…)

It’s taken about 5 years to get listed, but I am now officially listed on IMDB (that’s Internet Movie Data Base for those of you not in the know).  The movie (actually a short that runs about 12 minutes long) A Bad Day was something I wrote as a short story many years ago, I think in the mid 1980′s.

I found that when I adapted it as a shooting script that a few elements had to be changed, but the majority of the story is there.  Basically I thought, what would happen if a guy woke up and everything in his life that could go wrong, went wrong?  Where would his breaking point be?  What would happen if he hit that breaking point?  And the story was formed.  I recall it took about a week to write it.  It took about three weeks to adapt it over to a screenplay.

A few years ago I hooked up with Director, Paul Marquis, and the rest is as they say.. History.

You can visit the IMDB page by going here:  A Bad Day

You can also check out the movie for free online at Paul Marquis’ site:

Director’s Myspace Video Page for A Bad Day

Dr. Wooly Rhodes, former human turned zombie and professor at Zombie University, was arrested outside his home after it was reported that a neighbor saw someone in the upper-class, predominantly living area pushing against the front door and side window.

“I studied the history of zombies. I know every incident in the history of zombies from voodoo to the most recent breakout in South Georgia,” Dr. Rhodes stated. “I have never been arrested or even shot at.  I am an upstanding part of this community.  I do not understand the actions of the officer that arrested me.  I don’t even keep flesh in the house!  I always eat on campus at ZU or in designated flesh-spots.  I never would have thought I would have been part of zombie profiling.”

The charge against him was dropped, but Dr. Rhodes says he plans to use the attention and turn his intellectual heft and stature to the issue of zombie profiling.  He is wanting to start a documentary next spring at Zombie University going point by point with other zombies who have been victims of zombie profiling.

Here is Dr. Rhodes account of what happened:

After returning from a week in Arkansas researching the degredation of cell-structure in backwoods zombies, Dr. Rhodes found himself locked out of his house, and he began pushing against the front door and side window. The sight of a zombie forcing open a door prompted an emergency call to police.

The officer who arrived found Dr. Rhodes in the house and asked him to step outside.  Dr. Rhodes refused, and the officer followed him in. Dr. Rhodes showed him his ID, which included his address, then demanded that the officer identify himself. The officer did not comply, Dr. Rhodes said. He then followed the officer outside, saying repeatedly, “Is this how you treat zombies in America?”

The police report said that Dr. Rhodes was “exhibiting moans and mouth chomping behaviour” and that the officer, Sgt. Roy Tucker, identified himself. “We stand by whatever the officer said in his report,” said Sgt. Peter DeMarco, a spokesman for the Police Department. He would not comment on Dr. Rhodes’ version of his arrest.

I had one HELL of a good time at my local Barnes and Noble tonight. Got some writing done, drank some fine iced coffee from the Starbucks and had a super conversation with a couple of different people. Picked up a book too.

Tonight I came to a conclusion. I may not like the direction that Stephenie Meyer took Vampires in her Twilight books (I still maintain that vampires do not sparkle), but she did do one thing that I really have to admire. She has gotten (yeah that’s a Southern word) many a teen to pick up a book and read. J.K Rowling did that with Harry Potter. But tonight when I walked into Barnes and Noble I noticed that most of the front tables at the entrance had books on them devoted to teen reading (well and a couple of the tables had books about Michael Jackson on them – I still find it sad that he is gone, but maybe he’ll be back in a remake of the Thriller video).

That really got me to thinking.. Any author that can draw people in, regardless of content, regardless of age, has to be respected. I know Stephen King has gone on the record to say he does not care for her writing, but I cannot condem her for that (Sorry Steven, I love ya man, but she is getting kids in to read books).

Anyways, that was my revelation.  I’ve come to the conclusion that she is helping the industry by helping to drive young readers into the world of books.

On a side note, I had a terrific conversation with the Assistant Manager there, Leo.  Let me tell ya, he has some fun stuff in the works for his location.  I don’t want to go into too much detail, don’t wanna (yeah another Southern word) jinx it, but I will say this…   How cool would it be to meet several authors at once, and have a work-shop of sorts?  Cool Indeed!

If you ever happen to be in the North Little Rock area, in The Other Center, stop in at Barnes and Noble and tell him ”Hi!”, that Brian, the guy from ZombieMall.com sent ya.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy reading horror and dark fiction. I’ve been a fan of the genre since before high-school, reading works by Stephen King, Clive Barker, and others. Recently I’ve been on a short story and flash fiction kick. Flash Fiction is something of a new concept for me, but I’m really digging it.

I recently did a review of Shroud Magazine and while in their forums I ran across a post raving about an online magazine called Necrotic Tissue. I found it quickly enough and found myself in a trance for the better part of about 3 days. They had on their site Issues 1 through 6. Up to Issue 6 everything was done in a digital format. Beginning with Issue 7, however, that all changed.

R. Scott McCoy, the Editor and Publisher of this magazine brought it to print and I am pleased as punch to say I have a copy in my hand. NT is a magazine for horror writers. It is issued out every two months, and a year’s subscription is merely $20.00. This puppy comes in at just over 100 pages, and like Shroud Magazine, you can read the spine!

This magazine has certainly fed my appetite for short horror fiction, but it has far from filled me. I hunger for more and anxiously await Issue 8. Yes, I subscribed, and yes, I submitted my own piece of flash fiction to the magazine (it is due to be in the January 2010 issue). Keep your eyes out for a piece called “Five or Six Feet Away…”

Aside from being the Editor and Publisher of Necrotic Tissue, R. Scott McCoy is also a writer and has been featured in Shroud Magazine’s most recent issue (Issue 6) and has also been a guest on ChoatRoad.com’s radio show, The Funky Werepig. He has done much more, but for me to tell you about that you would have to join our secret society.

Words are a wonderful thing. They can be descriptive, they can tickle us and make us laugh, they can prick us and make us bleed, they can take us to far off lands, and ever so much more. I first discovered Shroud Publishing about 6 months ago when I was looking for a good horror magazine. Yeah, there are some good ones out there; Fangoria comes to mind, as does Horror Film Magazine, Rue Morgue is another. Don’t misunderstand me, these magazines are great in their own right, but I was looking for something a little different.

As I was searching Google I came across a publication called Shroud Magazine. I checked out their site, joined up in the forums, and started to fully explore what Shroud was all about. Tim Deal, the head guru (editor and publisher) over there is a super nice guy, and you can tell by talking to him he is in this for the passion of the genre. Horror is something many bookstores and other main-stream media houses don’t like to talk about. If it’s not Stephen King or Clive Barker, it’s not kept in stock.

What is Shroud Magazine?

Simply put, Shroud Magazine is a publication for horror writers. They accept submissions to be published in their magazine. It is published every two months, and they are currently on Issue 6.

Issue 6 is also something to be celebrated by Tim. It marks the first issue to be picked up by “Ingram Periodicals for North American retail distribution through the Barnes & Noble retail chain.” It can also be found in Hastings.

I began an avid search of both bookstores in my area to find this magazine, and soon thereafter I signed up for a subscription. It was EXACTLY what I was looking for.

When I say this is a magazine, well, technically it is. But it’s more of a book. It comes in at a whopping 152 pages, contains over 20 stories, is full of book reviews and so much more. I mean seriously, I’ve read books that contain less content that this, and the cool part, when it’s on the book shelf, you can actually read the spine (this sucker is over a 1/4 inch thick! Not even the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue can boast that)!

Shroud Magainze is certainly something that was created for the fans of horror (Shroud broadens that by calling it ‘Dark Fiction’). I can honestly say that this is the first magazine that I have ever held in my hands in which I have read every page (and yes that also includes the ads within – even my ad for ZombieMall is in it woohoo!), and I am already thirsting for Shroud Magazine Issue 7.

If you are into horror and dark fiction, which if you are on this site there is a good chance you are, I highly recommend this magazine. It’s got tons of fiction, loads of book reviews, it talks a bit about film, has great interviews, and some very inspiring artwork to boot! Rush out to your local bookstore and ask them to stock Shroud Magazine. Feel free to subscribe, I did and I’m certainly happy because of it.

Stay Scary!

-Brian Hardin II