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.