PBS Zombie Article

I was interviewed by Mike Rosen-Molina, along with several others, for a PBS article about Zombie Bloggers. Check it out:

Zombie Bloggers Create Communal Horror Stories

The article features several other zombie bloggers and zombie websites, and is definitely worth checking out.

Responses to Zombie Practice

Regarding the comments on my previous post...

Hyrion, I would have to agree that working at a butcher's or in a slaughter house would desensitize you to violence, blood, guts, and perhaps even familiarize you with anatomy. However, I can't help but feel that there one may lose something even more precious by the regular slaughter of (non-zombie) animals. Most non-sociopaths will feel some recoil by the taking of lives. I believe that one can respectfully take an animal's life in order to receive sustenance. However, I also believe this is much different than fighting for your life against zombies. Maybe I'm just being overly sensitive, but I would worry that I might lose some of my humanity by the callous taking of lives as is required by employment in a slaughterhouse. Perhaps more practically speaking, I would also worry about sustaining a serious injury, as slaughterhouses are one of the most dangerous fields of employment.

This is not to say that there is no value in understanding the connection between your food and the animal it comes from. So often, in the grocery store, we purchase meat without a thought as to the fact that it came from a living creature. When the necropalypse occurs, I believe that we are going to have to all become intimately aware of this connection in order to survive.

I'm going to end this tangent by saying that I recently acquired my Wisconsin fishing license, and am going to start procuring my own food in a legal manner.

Returning to the concept of working in a horrific and startling workplace (like a haunted house, or Graveyard Records), I think the idea I was trying to get at was trying to find a way to overcome being startled and reacting out of fear, instead of being startled and having a rational defensive response. Obviously, the worst thing you could do in the event of the necropalypse is panic. Finding ways to overcome that "panic response" in favor of a rational response is crucial in these non-apocalyptic times.

Zombie Practice?

I recently went to a local store in Cudahy called Graveyard Records. I was impressed with their macabre window display and hearse parked out front.

When I walked in the store the only thing I could say was a breathless, "wow". Horror-based action figures floor-to-ceiling, countless replicas of movie props, all topped by a shrine to Rob Zombie's (appropriate, no?) Halloween, featuring many of the costumes used in the film.

What struck me as most interesting, given my constant search for ways to train for the zombie threat, was the almost haunted-house-like set-up of the store. The aisles are tiny and you are forced through a set passageway, which has many twists and turns. At nearly every turn you are greeted with a full-sized mannequin decked out in full horror regalia. By the time I left the store, my nerves were exhausted from constantly reacting to my paranoid sense that there was someone behind me.

This made me think, would being constantly subjected to such an environment (like the employees most certainly are) cause you to be desensitized to the upcoming constant horror of the necropalypse? Such a thing could be useful. Conversely, one could get so used to having monsters and zombies constantly looming around you that you are no longer have the correct response to an actual zombie. To become too casual around the threat is a weakness.

The Authorities

Thank you to everyone who was prepared to hunt down the zombie version of me, should that be the cause of my previous absence. That certainly would have been a ironic twist (or perhaps not so ironic since I expect that my training will eventually put me in contact with the undead threat, perhaps before the general public). I am glad so many people are willing to step up to their responsibility of insuring the survival of the human race.

Christopher sent me this link during my absence, sorry for the delay in mentioning it, but I think it is really noteworthy:
Boston PD acknowledges zombie threat

My first reaction was one of relief. Finally, the authorities are recognizing that civilians have deep seated concerns about the impending zombie menace. My second reaction was one of paranoia. What if the Boston PD is trying to lure the public into a false sense of security? What if this is part of an overall conspiracy to make the public complacent and less likely to react to a zombie threat when it actually does happen?

Regardless of my unbridled paranoia, I truly hope that this story represents a turning point in the public understanding of the zombie threat.

Reporting to duty

"There comes a time in every man's life when decisions have to be made.
Whether to toil, to labor, or just plain piss your days away"

As every pre-apolcalyptic zombie hunter discovers, there are times when your secular life overwhelms your higher calling. My absence is inexcusable. I am not going to try to explain it away, other than to say that my attentions were needed elsewhere. I apologize for neglecting my duties; I will attempt to resume a regular posting schedule.

Thank you to everyone who has wished me well, and inquired as to my well-being. I am happy to say that I am nearly recovered from my shoulder surgery (being able to lift my arm over my head is a wonderful ability). While I continue training on my own, I have changed my routine to accommodate my healing and reduce the likelihood of future injuries. The fragility of the human body has been made abundantly clear to me.