Reading Sanctum #17

One of the highlights of my year was reading The Harvesting series by Melanie Karsak. This series of novels was a truly unique reading experience that begins with a global pandemic and quickly turns into a zombie apocalypse, but incorporates elements usually found in urban fantasies. I considered it something akin to a kitchen sink […]

Reading Sanctum: Potpourri #5

Reading Sanctum: Potpourri is one of our continuing features of quick cut book reviews to help you find some otherwise innocuous books that might have escaped your attention. As a huge library/book reader geek, I love sharing stories about the books I am reading. So if you love books like I love books, then you […]

Geektoberfest Year 2: The Cinematic History of the Zombie (Part V)

Over the past four weeks, I have attempted to give a thorough study of the zombie sub-genre of horror that spans from the 1930s to the 1980s. Regrettably, the 90s were really bad years for horror. Much of that time was spent in trying to revive old tropes, some successfully (Scream reviving the slasher in […]

Geektoberfest Year 2: The Cinematic History of the Zombie (Part IV)

In the past three weeks, I have attempted to give an admittedly detailed answer to the question of why zombies have so long endured as a horror concept. The answer is steeped in our mythologies surrounding death, traceable to the ancient cultures of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Judeo-Christians (Part I). Cinematically, this is reflected in […]

Geektoberfest Year 2: Red Capers #47

Geektoberfest Year 2: The Cinematic History of the Zombie (Part III)

In the previous two weeks I have written about the movies I believe are the standouts of the zombie sub-genre. In the Cinematic History of the Zombie (Part I and Part II), I have indicated that White Zombie (although not a great movie) was the most influential movie, because it was the forerunner, and then […]

Geektoberfest Year 2: The Cinematic History of the Zombie (Part II)

In Part I of The Cinematic History of the Zombie, I explored the ancient roots of the lore and how that informed the Victor Halperin movie White Zombie, largely considered the first feature-length Zombie film. In this part, I will continue to investigate the movies that inform our modern understanding of the sub-genre and why […]

Geektoberfest Year 2: The Cinematic History of the Zombie (Part I)

Several months back, while the Beard talked to his daughters and granddaughter, they gave him a list of suggestions for the blog. I wasn’t present for the conversation, but the Beard said that his elder daughter suggested a “History of the Zombie” post. Because the Beard is a horror fan that prefers vampires, he conceded […]