New Zombie Release by Author Vincenzo Bilof

Gruesome author Vincenzo Bilof is back with the sequel to the wonderfully wicked Necropolis Now. His newest bloody entry in the Zombie Ascension series is The Queen of the Dead.

Summary
Blood runs through the streets of Detroit and into the gutters of nearby cities. Monsters, both human and zombie alike, have brought civil order to its knees. The haunted mercenary, Vega, must confront this apocalypse head-on with survivors who have their own versions of morality; she’s joined by Father Joe, a pious man who will do everything in his power to save a single life, no matter how many others have to die…

Jim Traverse, the sociopath who has decided the apocalypse will be “beautiful,” has nearly completed his genocidal masterpiece. Jim races against Vega’s company to reach Selfridge Air Base, where they’ll fight for control of the woman who has ascended over life and death, a woman whose relationship with an infernal intelligence gives her power over the walking dead.

One woman can save the world, or destroy it: The Queen of the Dead.

Dig into Vincenzo's books at Amazon.

Chase down Vincenzo at his blog, Goodreads, and Twitter.

Zombified Interview with Author R.J. Spears

R.J. Spears is the menacingly mangled mind behind the bloody book Sanctuary from the Dead and the ghoulish novella Forget the Alamo. He took time out of horrifying readers with his deadly delights so we might claw into his cranium...

Ang: When were you first bitten by the zombie affliction? Can you take us back to how the infection began? What’s the most difficult part about sharing this ghoulish love as an indie?

RJ: My first encounter with zombies was with George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. I was a teenager and I walked into the theater not knowing what to expect and was simply blown away. Nothing in my previous movie viewing experience prepared me for the mayhem that was this movie -- entrails ripped out, heads whacked off by helicopter blades, etc. I can say that it is a movie that I watch at least once a year.

Now, with the explosion of The Walking Dead into popular culture, I couldn’t be happier. The more the merrier when it comes to zombies is my philosophy.

As for the challenges of being an indie, they are many. I write everyday around a full-time job, but never feel like I’ve written enough. The most difficult part of being an indie writer is getting readers to discover my work.

Ang: If you had to dumb down the plot of your book so a zombie could understand, how would you explain it?

 

R.J.: Sanctuary from the Dead is about a group of people, holed up in a church, just struggling to survive the zombie apocalypse while also trying to maintain some semblance of their humanity. They deal with the loss of hope and wrestle with how to have a life that is more than just base survival. As the novel progresses, our survivors begin to realize that while the zombies are merciless, the other survivors pose just as deadly a threat.

 

Ang: Describe the lucky survivors who engage with the festering horde of the dead.

 

R.J.: The narrator for Sanctuary from the Dead is Joel. Prior to the zombie apocalypse, he was a 20-something slacker attempting to get by with as little effort as possible. While he still sees himself as somewhat incompetent, the book tells the story of his coming of age. There are some great supporting characters such as Kara, a twenty year old nursing student, Greg, the leader of the warriors in their clan, and Pastor Stevens, who tries to help people maintain their connection to things of a higher order.

 

Ang: What was the most important aspect when writing your non-zombie characters? Realism (losers, assholes, and cowards) or fantasy (Rambo or the guy/gal who has a Rambo hiding inside them)?

 

R.J.: I strive for realism with my characters. I’d like readers to feel like it could be one of them in the book. There are no superheroes in my book, but plenty of people who do heroic things.

 

Ang: Does your book begin just as the zombies start building their paradise or have zombies already gotten things rocking and rotting?

 

R.J.: Sanctuary from the Dead starts eight months after the outbreak. The people trapped in the church have learned how to survive, but they know that’s all they’re doing.

 

Ang: Zombies are people too. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and smarts. What types of the walking dead inhabit your novel (or series)?

 

R.J.: My deaders are just plain dumb shamblers. They aren’t all that dangerous as individuals, but if they group up, then they can be quite deadly.

 

Ang: Will your infection spread to more books and series? How many blood and guts offerings do you predict in your future? How soon can our zombie and human readers expect to see your next festering contribution?

 

R.J.: I already have a draft of a sequel to Sanctuary from the Dead, but I’m still fine tuning the plot. I have the outline for a third book, so look for more stories about my intrepid survivors.

 

I also am working on a series of novellas that I’m calling the “Forget the Zombie” series. It starts with Forget the Alamo and charts the tale of a group of people trapped inside the Alamo surrounded by a horde of undead. The inspiration for the first novella came from my wife when we visited the Alamo in 2012. It features a cameo from a very famous zombie novelist who happens to live and work in San Antonio.

 

Ang: What is your favorite way to kill a zombie? Shoot ‘em, hack ‘em, poke ‘em, burn ‘em, or something even more fiendish? ***Zombie readers please turn away to avoid having your putrefied feelings eviscerated.

 

R.J.: My characters prefer headshots, but they also know that gunshots are like the dinner bell for the hordes of the undead, so they have some more quiet techniques to dispatch the zombies, too. In fact, the characters in the book have a friendly debate in the book -- slicing or bludgeoning weapons. Joel, the main character, prefer his baseball bat.

 

Ang: Do you have a favorite cinematic zombie? Example: My co-blogger Zombie Earl is quite fond of Zombie Roger from the original Dawn of the Dead.

 

R.J.: I would have to say Bub from Day of the Dead. Day is definitely Romero’s most cerebral zombie film and the most thought provoking.

 

Ang: Who is your favorite character from The Walking Dead (comics or TV show)?

 

R.J.: This is a hard one. If pushed, I’d have to say Rick because he’s the leader. He has a great character evolution. If I had to say what character I relate to the most, it would be Glenn.

 

Ang: Finally, how prepared are you for the zombie apocalypse that we all know is just around the corner?

 

R.J.: I know I think about it a lot and that may give me a head start, but other than that, I’m woefully underprepared.


Chew into R.J.'s books at Amazon.

Hunt down R.J. at his website, Twitter, blog, and Goodreads.

Book Showcase: "Vermont Voodoo" by J. Powell

J. Powell clawed his way onto the zombie landscape with Vermont Voodoo. This twisty taste on the tantalizing brain eating story will horrify you in the best and bloodiest ways. Tear into your copy today at Amazon.

 

Summary

The pine-clad slopes of Vermont: winter's playground, a serene destination for breathtaking natural beauty and family-friendly amusement. Except when they're covered with zombies. Lots and lots of zombies. AJ is familiar with the voodoo of New Orleans, but what does voodoo have to do with Vermont? To appease an angry spirit, she is instructed to travel to the sleepy industrial city of Frostbite where she has to find a Bokor, or dark sorcerer, before time runs out. With her mentor mysteriously missing, she must team up with a reclusive scientist and a coffin-builder to piece together the secrets of Frostbite before time runs out. But AJ has a dark secret of her own. Can she be saved by stopping the zombie plague, or will she be cursed forever? Filled with suspense and cheeky humor, Vermont Voodoo is a great read for anyone who already loves artists such as Charlaine Harris or Joss Whedon. This story avoids the George Romero interpretation of zombies, and instead returns to the folklore of African-American voodoo - but with a modern interpretation.

Chase after Jake at Amazon, Twitter, his website, and Goodreads. 

Zombified Interview with J. Powell

J. Powell is the creatively creepy guy behind a clever new zombie novel. Vermont Voodoo turns the zombie craze on its rotting head.

Jake took time out of horrifying readers to let us dig around in his cranium...

Ang: When were you first bitten by the zombie affliction? Can you take us back to how the infection began? What’s the most difficult part about sharing this ghoulish love as an indie?

 

Jake: When I was a very small child, I imagined that Frankenstein was lurking in our family's spare bedroom, the Wicked Witch of the West was hiding in the maple tree over the driveway, and my younger brother's evil twin was living in our closet. I have always, always loved monsters in every shape and size. Pinpointing ground zero for the horde of zombies in my head is tricky - but it probably started when I picked up a set of 50 DVDs from Costco titled "Classic Movie Monsters." It had such amazing creatures! The Brain that Wouldn't Die, the Beast of Yucca Flats, the Killer Shrews... as well as the original Night of the Living Dead, White Zombie, King of the Zombies, and Revolt of the Zombies.

 

Bringing my beloved monsters to life and unleashing them on unsuspecting friends and family members has always been fun for me. I used to send my brother packages on Halloween with themed wrapping paper for monster movie nights. But as I enter the world as a novelist, I'm torn between the hokey-pokey, Halloween-y perspective I have on my monsters and my desire to be a "serious" horror writer. While Vermont Voodoo has plenty of gore and zombie kills, I still prefer "Things that go bump in the night" to an outright apocalypse. Which, I think, is why I wanted to go with the classic trope of Voodoo over a virus or plague.

 

Ang: If you had to dumb down the plot of your book so a zombie could understand, how would you explain it?

 

Jake: Mhrrrr. Sad Zombies. Sad zombie wants brains. BRAAAAAINS! New girl. Girl has secrets. Makes friends. Tasty friends. Oh no, friends kill zombies! What? Mind control? But zombie just wants to eat brains in peace. Voodoo sorcerer makes lots of zombies. Zombies chase girl and friends! In snowstorms! Flashback to New Orleans voodoo. Wait, zombie not in flashback? Zombie just eat more brains. Nom nom nom. Scientist lady very scary. Study zombie. Will girl and friends defeat voodoo sorcerer and zombie army? Zombie not know. Have to read to find out.

 

Ang: Describe the lucky survivors who engage with the festering horde of the dead.

 

Jake: AJ - Our main character. A girl from New Orleans with a troubled past and no clear direction of her future, fate sends her to the unfamiliar industrial city of Frostbite to figure out what's up with their zombie problem. She's plucky but has a lot to learn about believing in herself, especially since she carries a dark secret.

 

Derek - A totally introverted loner, he doesn't make many friends. Especially because his hobby of building coffins is a bit off color. He's got a few hidden talents that he's only just discovered, and they scare him. Really, he'd just like to be left in peace, but these pesky zombies keep popping up around him.

 

Leila - The bitter scientist, she's sarcastic, mean, and totally brilliant. She's devoted her whole life to studying paranormal creatures in the hopes of discovering the secrets of the human soul, but her research has led her to some less than savory decisions. Even though she has to keep her experiments secret, she hopes to someday receive some major hard earned dues.

 

Ang: What was the most important aspect when writing your non-zombie characters? Realism (losers, assholes, and cowards) or fantasy (Rambo or the guy/gal who has a Rambo hiding inside them)?

 

Jake: Oh, fantasy, always. Who likes the conventional characters? You always have to start out with a fun idea, and eventually the character starts to develop its own life, become layered and subtle. Besides, pretty much all my friends in real life are a little absurd, so I can't imagine writing any other way. My favorite characters are always crazy. Think Buffy, or Dr. Who, or Sherlock Holmes. Somehow I think that the larger-than-life characters always end up feeling more real than any other.

 

Ang: Does your book begin just as the zombies start building their paradise or have zombies already gotten things rocking and rotting?

 

Jake: Good question. That's one of the mysteries our Scoobies have to solve. The zombies have been around for a while, for sure, but something's happening to make them a little more active than before. In the beginning, though, the zombie sightings are rare and the creatures are little more than rumors.

 

Ang: Zombies are people too. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and smarts. What types of the walking dead inhabit your novel?

 

Jake: My poor zombies. They were inspired by growing up in a dying industrial city, the kind you see all over the Midwest and New England. Without industry the whole city goes into decline, and the people who live there are stuck without much room to grow or the resources to live out their dreams. Adventure and discovery are such an important part of life that just going through the motions is a kind of walking death. So my zombies start off as these empty people who eventually become possessed by an embittered spirit, and later influenced and controlled through voodoo magic. Not your typical zombies... but they still crave some tasty brains.

 

Ang: Will your infection spread to more books and series? How many blood and guts offerings do you predict in your future? How soon can our zombie and human readers expect to see your next festering contribution?

 

Jake: My favorite character in the book was Leila, the scientist, and I hope to eventually return with an anthology of short stories about her work studying the paranormal. There will be plenty of ghosts, zombies, vampires, poltergeists, demons, and demi-gods for her to experiment with, all while wearing her signature white heels and puffing a cigarette. Although I really hope she switches to nicotine patches or an e-cig soon because, you know, smoking kills.

 

But that won't come for a few more years. My next novel is a coming-of-age sci-fi thriller about a genetically engineered boy and his brothers titled The Geneticist's Son.

 

Ang: What is your favorite way to kill a zombie? Shoot ‘em, hack ‘em, poke ‘em, burn ‘em, or something even more fiendish? ***Zombie readers please turn away to avoid having your putrefied feelings eviscerated.

 

Jake: I prefer melee weapons, especially a baseball bat. Solid hardwood, none of that aluminum stuff. If you get a really ripe zombie you can smash its head like a melon. Of course, you have to keep a machete handy as well for the freshly undead. I leave the shotguns and sniper rifles for someone else on my team... I like to get a little dirty.

 

Ang: Do you have a favorite cinematic zombie? Example: My co-blogger Zombie Earl is quite fond of Zombie Roger from the original Dawn of the Dead.

 

Jake: Roger! Totally classic. For cinematic zombies I really like Zombie Cheryl from the original Evil Dead. The chilling image of her head popping up from the cellar is seared in my brain. And that movie was made for like, zero budget! Goes to show what a little love and a good fog machine can do.

 

Alternately, and it's not from cinema, but I love the first zombie in Plants vs. Zombies that appears with a traffic cone on his head. Seriously, the first time I saw that I balled up laughing. What a clever little monster.

 

Ang: Who is your favorite character from The Walking Dead (comics or TV show)?

 

Jake: Would you believe that I've never seen the show or read the comics? My boyfriend has the first comic compendium sitting on the bookshelf, and the show has been on my Netflix queue since it started. And I haven't touched them. I'm not sure why, other than the fact that I've been busy, you know, writing a novel. I allow myself one TV show per season, and the past couple years all my television time has been taken up by Game of Thrones, True Blood, and American Horror Story. I'll get to The Walking Dead... eventually.

Ang: Finally, how prepared are you for the zombie apocalypse that we all know is just around the corner?

Jake: I used to be so scared of monsters as a little kid. And then I learned that the best way to stop being afraid is to pretend that you're one of the monsters. So in the event of the zombie apocalypse my plan is... join them. I mean, we all know who wins in the end, right? I'll happily ooze and shamble and dance the Thriller. So next time you hear something go bump in the night... it might be me.

 

Dig into Jake's book at Amazon.

 

Chase after Jake at Amazon, Twitter, his website, and Goodreads. 

Run! Before It's Too Late!!!!

Bloody sad news, dead and living readers! The first book in the Grace series by M. Lauryl Lewis will only be .99 for a bit(e) longer! Get your copy before it's too late.

Why is this series so tasty?

Do you have a hankering for sexy spice with your tasty brains? Well, then shuffle over and dig into a copy of Grace Lost today. Be warned though. Once you get a taste, you won't be able to stop until you've devoured all three books in the series. Oh, it'll leave you hungry for more...

Summary
Twenty-year-old Zoe Kate is young and naïve, and quite frankly a loner. When her lifelong friend, Adam Boggs, comes home for the summer they find themselves thrust into the middle of a zombie plague. As they flee their hometown in hopes of finding safety, they come across two other survivors, Emilie and Gus. The group of four quickly form bonds and must make difficult choices at every turn in order to stay alive. They will witness unimaginable horrors and experience unthinkable losses as life and death mix together in ways that were never meant to be. Things aren't always as they seem when God's Grace has been lost to humanity.

Intended for mature audiences (language, graphic horror)
GRACE LOST is followed by TAINTED GRACE and DARK GRACE. Watch for FALLEN FROM GRACE (book four) - due out by early 2014, if not sooner!

Dig into all three Grace books at Amazon.

Chase M. Lauryl Lewis at her website, Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.

Zombified Interview with author Sam Campbell

Ben Dixon and Sam Campbell are the gruesome guys behind the Red Dust series. They've published two horrifying offerings so far - The Lost Party and Feud. While Ben was busy battling the undead, Sam allowed us to dig around in his head...


Ang: When were you first bitten by the zombie affliction? Can you take us back to how the infection began? What’s the most difficult part about sharing this ghoulish love as an indie?

Sam: I've always been a fan of the zombie genre but I love really grew when I took to reading the Walking Dead comic book series.

Ang: If you had to dumb down the plot of your series so a zombie could understand, how would you explain it?

Sam: The Old West is changed forever. Starting in 1846 zombies emerge in America affecting settlers, outlaws and the civil war.

Ang: Describe the lucky survivors who engage with the festering horde of the dead.

Sam:
George Masterson - A mountain man who hunts and is hunted.

Griffin - Ex-British soldier leaving his life in the British Empire to start fresh in America. Tough-Bastard.

I will leave the other characters as a surprise for any reader.

Ang: What was the most important aspect when writing your non-zombie characters? Realism (losers, assholes, and cowards) or fantasy (Rambo or the guy/gal who has a Rambo hiding inside them)?

Sam: Our series features different short stories so we vary characters but we really wanted to have "Good guys" who are close to bad and "Bad guys" who are likeable in a strange way.

Ang: Does your series begin just as the zombies start building their paradise or have zombies already gotten things rocking and rotting?

Sam: *Spoiler Alert*
Our series starts with The Lost Party, the story of a missing group of settlers in the mountains. This story slowly establishes the Rising dead.

Ang: Zombies are people too. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and smarts. What types of the walking dead inhabit your series?

Sam: Risers. Plaguers. That's their name because they come from the Rising Plague. They are everything from little girls to railway workers.

Ang: Will your infection spread to more books and series? How many blood and guts offerings do you predict in your future? How soon can our zombie and human readers expect to see your next festering contribution?

Sam: We currently have two short stories out for the series. The Lost Party & Feud. But we are still writing and are planning on realizing more very soon.

Ang: What is your favorite way to kill a zombie? Shoot ‘em, hack ‘em, poke ‘em, burn ‘em, or something even more fiendish? ***Zombie readers please turn away to avoid having your putrefied feelings eviscerated.

Sam: I love a bullet through the head. The kind of shot that spreads brains across the wall. Classic.

Ang: Do you have a favorite cinematic zombie? Example: My co-blogger Zombie Earl is quite fond of Zombie Roger from the original Dawn of the Dead.

Sam: In Shaun of the Dead, I like Mary the Asda (Wal-Mart) worker. As someone who has worked in retail it tickles me to see the name badge.

Ang: Who is your favorite character from The Walking Dead (comics or TV show)?

Sam: Tyreese from the comic. Daryl Dixon from the TV show.

Ang: Finally, how prepared are you for the zombie apocalypse that we all know is just around the corner?

Sam: Totally unprepared. Me and my co-writer Ben Dixon discuss what we would do but I fear I would freeze like a deer in headlights at the sight of the first zombie with flesh between it's teeth.

Gnaw into their books at Amazon.

Chase Ben and Sam down at Twitter and Goodreads.