Top 5 Reasons I’m Looking Forward to the Zombie Apocalypse by J. Whitworth Hazzard

It’s a little weird to admit that I’m a fan of disaster. When you write a zombie apocalypse novel, like DEAD SEA GAMES (published by BHC Press), you have to be. But all that chaos and mayhem and death. How could you be so callous and cruel? Would it help if I told you that it’s not all bad? I’m a glass-half- full kind of guy. There’s a bit of upside and comedy to almost any situation if you look hard enough, and I’m betting I can get you to agree with me on at least a few good things to come out of the approaching apocalypse.

I think a proper, old-fashioned, burn civilization to the ground kind of reckoning might clear the air around here. To be clear, I’m specifically a fan of a zombie apocalypse. Oh, other apocalypses have their sexy bits sure, nuclear war mutants, asteroid craters, and alien battle cruisers, but zombies have heart. Zombies are us; humanity boiled down to its ugliest, ravenous essence. So when your neighbors turn and start knocking on your door looking for brains to devour, here are some things you can look forward to:

5. No more politics.

We get so angry over who voted for who and how they’re screwing up this country that watching the news or going on Twitter is likely to cause an aneurysm. I’ll tell you something even a reality-TV- star-made- President will recognize: once the zombies roam the streets there’s no politician in the world that’s going to come save your butt. Just imagine it, a world where there’s no left or right or Conservative or Liberal, or even those cheeky libertarians, just the living and the dead. Politics is going to get real personal in the aftermath, just you and whatever survivors you can round up will get to vote on all kinds of things a lot easier than tax code and deficits. Word of advice…don’t vote for the Cannibal party!

4. No more school or work.

This is probably the biggest upside for our protagonist, Jeremy, in DEAD SEA GAMES. Overactive teenage boys aren’t traditionally that fond of high school, so having school canceled…well, forever, is a pretty nice trade-off for fighting the undead. I know some of you out there get pretty pumped for second year Spanish and Pre-calculus, but there’s no translating zombie to English, my friends. And let’s face it, for us adults that permanent sick leave status is going to be a big load off our shoulders. And you won’t even have to fill out any FMLA paperwork. Suck it, HR.

3. No more commute.

If you’ve lived in the big city like I have, that daily commute can seem as bad as death. All right so work is canceled, but that still leaves the highways clogged and your attempt to get out of New York City in a car or subway is a suicide mission. Why bother? Just sit home and wait until all those juicy morsels sitting in their cars and trains are chomped into fresh zombie chow. Problem solved. Sure, there’s going to be thousands of derelict cars and trucks on the road hampering your style, but there’s nowhere safe to go anyway so you might as well skip the commute and ride your bike to the survival bunker.

2. No more Thanksgiving.

This one is especially sweet to all those fellow introverts out there. It’s not just the awkward Thanksgiving dinner with your racist uncle, it’s all the horrible work Christmas parties, mystery casserole church potlucks, and cringe-worthy wedding receptions for friends you stopped hanging out with a decade ago. All those social gatherings that are the underpinning of a polite society in which we pretend to like people that creep us out are all going away. Come to think of it, after the zombie apocalypse safely weeds out the unexpected dinner guests, you can safely shoot anyone (or anything) that darkens your doorstep while you’re sitting down to feast on a roast cat and stuffed pigeon.

1. No more f*#$ing bills.

I’m not going to lie. You’re really going to have to brush up on your bartering skills to get ahead, but if you can trade batteries for bullets with a straight face, then maybe the zombie apocalypse is for you. Sure, you’re going to have to brain a lot of disgusting deadheads who want to rip your face off with their teeth, but oh imagine the sweet, sweet freedom of no mortgage payments and no student loans and no insurance deductibles. The thought of burning those stuffed envelopes that never stop coming is almost worth encouraging a few meth heads to bite each other to get this thing started. Twenty-three percent interest? Usage fees? Convenience fees? College textbooks you never even open? What a bunch of bullshit. I’d trade blood-sucking corporate vampires for zombies any day.

Dark jokes and gallows humor may not be your style, but it’s a way for me to cope with the horrors just over the horizon. Just remember that even in the darkest times, we have the capacity to look for the silver lining. Humans are, at our core, creatures of hope. It is that spirit of resiliency you can see in the survivors I created in the world of DEAD SEA GAMES. The orphaned teenagers find a way to turn tragedy into adventure, and with a little bit of mystery, magic, and bravado their journey is nothing short of
heroic. Enjoy the apocalypse!

PRAISE FOR DEAD SEA GAMES

…a thrilling story, and a call to look beyond the simplistic, one that’s going to keep you reading and guessing the outcome.

~ Readers'  Favorite

ABOUT DEAD SEA GAMES

The only way to win...is to live

One year after the Emergency, the island of Manhattan has become a prison. The survivors of the Colony have carved out a living a few stories above the sea of millions of shambling corpses. With no escape and no hope for the future, the teenagers entertain themselves by participating in brutal gladiatorial games, betting the only thing they have left—their lives.

Jeremy Walters is among the best of the best, but his adrenalin-addicted recklessness has done more than earn him the nickname Deathwish; it’s gotten him noticed. Now the race is on to recruit Deathwish as opposing forces maneuver to take advantage of his zombie-killing gifts. If he somehow manages to navigate the maze of bribery, threats, extortion, and intimidation, and not get himself killed, he’ll still have to face every teenager’s greatest fear: an angry mother. 

AVAILABLE FORMATS:

Available in hardcover, trade softcover, and ebook at fine retailers everywhere, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a- Million, iTunes, Kobo, plus many more. Coming soon to audio!

Visit the publisher’s website for more information and purchasing options.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. Whitworth Hazzard lives in the vast cornfields of Illinois with his wife, and four nearly perfect children. Trained in science and critical thinking, J. Whitworth spends his leisure time writing fiction that would make his former professors cringe. Dr. Hazzard’s PhD in molecular biophysics is used to figure out how to scientifically justify the existence of mythical creatures. His dream of writing started in the 5th grade when his five-page story “The Blood and Guts 500” entranced and thrilled his classmates. His passionate prosody received a standing ovation and from that day forward he was hooked on the art of storytelling.

Classism in Vampire and Zombie Literature by Guest Blogger Damon Sutton

One thing to note about horror is that horror is almost always about one thing, anxiety. The Big Bad Wolf in grandma’s clothes? That’s the anxiety that the family members closest to you actually want to do you harm. The Headless Horseman who chases Ichabod Crane over every hill and valley? That’s the anxiety of time coming for you to take everything away from you and your utter powerlessness to stop it. This is why different cultures have such different flavors in their horror, because different cultures have different fundamental anxieties. Different cultures think about different things and as such they fear different things.

So, what anxieties are reflected in the classic horror mainstays of vampires and zombies?

For the purposes of this discussion, I’ll limit myself to the classic stories involving these scary elements. Once a classic story has taken root, other writers rewrite, reboot, deconstruct, and reconstruct creating countless cases of examples that prove the rule, so to keep things focused I’ll focus on the classic stories.

Which goes back to the mainstays discussed in this blog post, Vampires and Zombies. Vampires are not Zombies, but the two are actually very fascinating reflections of class anxiety.

The first thing to note about vampires is their aristocratic default. As much as later writers have tried to diffuse this, they have only been partially successful. The famous Dracula was an aristocrat and almost every other vampire story embraces this either literally, financially, or metaphorically. Vampires are defined by being in an elite, usually a financial elite, hidden among humans and feeding among them. Vampires are the fear the lower class of the upper class. Aristocratic, seductive, yet ultimately parasitic.They're in charge, people tell us it's because they're better than us... but that's so obviously untrue it's more likely to be dark forces and dark hungers... That "I'm losing my loved one to The vampires" that is endemic in vampire fiction is the anxiety of the lower classes that if they have children who are intelligent, and productive, that the upper class will 'seduce' them and they'll lose their children to it. It's working 3 jobs to send your daughter to Harvard... where she marries a rich boy and raises your grandkids in The Hamptons, having taken all your help but leaving you totally behind. One of my favorite elements is the horror of realization. The sexual nature of vampires underlies this, the rich always did desire the young and attractive members of the poor.

There is another layer here. Did the peasants under Dracula’s rule know he was a vampire? Of course they did, but they willfully pretended otherwise. This is a layer of this terror, that even putting words to it puts you in danger, an anxiety I think known all too well given current events among powerless actors and actresses and predatory Hollywood producers. 

Zombies are more subtle in their class consciousness, but equally as based in such anxiety. For starters, Zombies are almost never hidden, in fact they are defined in contrast by being everywhere and unable to avoid. Instead of intelligent and calculating, Zombies are crude and bestial. Zombies are the converse anxiety, the fear the upper class has of the lower. "They're everywhere, and they hunger!" is how the rich see the poor. Stupid, hungry, yet inexplicably everywhere 'why haven't they all died yet!?'. Even the bizarre 'how can our heroes end up so under threat by such basic beasts!?' suspension of disbelief is part of the genre. Zombies are without even the facade of legitimacy, little more than hungering animals, and yet contagious, reflecting how more often than many are comfortable with, upper class people get 'close' to the lower class and gain sympathy with them... oftentimes internalizing sympathy and more 'rough' cultural ideas, it's your daughter having a liking of rough men and falling into a poor and rough crowd, and now you can't invite her rough family over. Of course the rich talk endlessly about what to do with the poor, but despite gate guarded communities, armed guards, and private schools for some reason they can’t be avoided. I would argue this is an innate problem, for even the wealthiest financier of a Golf Club will need poor people to park the cars and he’ll be aware somewhere in the back of his head that his wealth would be scant protection if his valet simply decided to bean him with a golf club.

In both Vampires and Zombies is the anxiety that you will lose your identity to the other, and become a threat to those you love, so keep away, don't try to talk to them (they'll either beguile you or they'll just be too hungry to make any discussion fruitful) the only hope to save yourself is staying separate, stay out of biting distance. The anxieties monsterize the ‘other’, or simply convey that the difference in perspective just may make the other dangerous to talk to. Contagion is always a key marker in such anxieties. Vampires are contagious, as are Zombies. Werewolves are a similar anxiety, but instead of upper and lower class, Werewolves are the anxiety of the urban for the rural.

Keep these things in mind, in particularly as one watches modern and attempted explorations/deconstructions of the mythos. I’ve had fun with iZombie but have been struck as the more sophisticated it makes the Zombie genre, the more vampiric it becomes with factions, hiding in plain sight, and the seeking of power among the prey as a tool of self preservation. Conversely, the bestial and ubiquitous vampires of I am Legend are nothing more than fast moving zombies.

Modern interpretations are settling on what I would call the liberal supernatural horror hypothesis. Whether it’s The Walking Dead or True Blood, modern incarnations of this concept have an underlying theme that the real problem is people rather than the supernatural. You can now have good vampires (Twilight), good zombies (Warm Bodies), and the real threats are the human beings around which these things coalesce. Modern horror has a theme of “Undeads aren’t so bad once you get to know them, at least no better or worse than normal people and all you need to do is properly understand them.”. It’s there, it’s omnipresent, it makes for interesting TV… I also think it’s sadly and drastically incorrect.

Can't get enough zombies and vampires! Hungry for more? Start with this meaty reading list of zombie literature. If those selections don't wet your appetite, stay tuned for my vampire reading list. I'm sure there will be something you can sink your teeth into!

Tell us what you think. Do you agree with Damon's classism theory or do you have a theory of your own you'd like to share?

52 Weeks of Zombies: A Book List

A year of zombies just fell into your lap! It's zombie-a-go-go! Fifty-two weeks and fifty-two books to satisfy your craving for the infected, rotters, meat bags, the walking dead - any term you use, I've got 'em!

Books are listed in no particular order. Young adult fiction is included in the list. There are overwhelming amounts of great zombie reads. Obviously, I can't include everything. If you don't see a must-read book on my list, please share it with me and the community below in a comment. Thank you and happy reading!

1. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks: The recorded history of the survivors of the zombie epidemic.
2. Feed: Newsflesh #1 by Mira Grant: In 2014, cancer is cured, but a new disease emerges and the infected are walking the earth.
3. Rot and Ruin #1 by Jonathan Maberry: Follow Benny, a teenager learning to survive in a zombie apocalypse.
   
4. Warm Bodies #1 by Isaac Marion: R is a zombie with a problem. Zombies aren't supposed to fall in love, but he can't help being attracted to Julie.
5. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead by Max Brooks
6. Cell by Stephen King: There's a reason to hate technology and your cell phone.
   
7. The Walking Dead: Book One by Robert Kirkman: Unless, you've been living under a rock, you know about the cult classic show. ;)
   
8. The Rising #1 by Brian Keene: The dead are coming back from the grave and they're intelligent. Jim is on a cross-country mission to rescue his son. Will he make it?
9. Patient Zero: Joe Ledger #1 by Jonathan Maberry: A Baltimore detective leads a secret government task force to stop a terrorist group from using a biological weapon that turns the living into zombies.
10. My Life as a White Trash Zombie: White Trash Zombie #1 by Diana Rowland
11. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies #1 by Seth Grahame-Smith, Jane Austen: A classic with an undead twist!
12. Dead of Night #1 by Jonathan Maberry: What happens when you inject a serial killer with an experimental drug? Find out now!
13. Monster Island #1 by David Wellington: Gary, one of the undead, wakes up intelligent in a world of hungry zombies. Follow his story and a group of school girls turned soldiers.
14. Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by S.G. Browne: Great Rom-Com featuring a zombie support group. (I laughed out when I read this one.)
15. Alice in Zombieland: The White Rabbit Chronicles #1 by Gena Showalter
16. The Girl with All the Gifts #1 by M.R. Carey: Melanie is a very special girl.
17. Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson
    
18. Z-Boat by Suzanne Robb: There's nobody to rescue aboard The Peacemaker, but there is something waiting for the crew of The Betty Loo submarine.
19. Bunnypocalypse #1: Dead Reckoning by Cain S. Latrani: Bunny Beckman, a stripper, is now living during the apocalypse of the undead.
20. The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology by Christopher Golden
21. Dying Days by Armand Rosamilia: Darlene Bobich is fighting zombies in sunny Florida.
22. Dead Shambles by Chris Raven: A play in which seven survivors seek protection in their local police station.
23. Love & the Zombie Apocalypse: Zombie Apocalypse #1 by Chelsea Luna: Can Rachel and Cage, two teenagers, survive the trip to Ann Arbor Michigan?
24. Days with the Undead: Book One by Julianne Snow: Five people try to survive the undead.
25. Wither: The Chemical Garden #1 by Lauren DeStefano: Sixteen year old Rhine has only four years to live. Her father is looking for an antidote. What happens to the corpses in the basement?
26. Dying to Live #1 by Kim Paffenroth: Jonah Caine is the lone survivor of the apocalypse.
27. History is Dead by Kim Paffenroth: An anthology. The living dead have always walked among us. Follow them throughout different periods of history.
28. Ravage by Iain Rob Wright: Follow poor Nick as he tries to survive the zombie apocalypse at an amusement park. He's just a regular dude having a really bad day.
29. Hollowland: The Hollows #1 by Amanda Hocking: Nineteen year old Remy is crossing the country and no zombie will stand in her way.
30. Enclave: Razorland #1 by Ann Aguirre: Deuce and Fade are exiled from the protection of the underground in New York City during the zombie apocalypse. Will the two teens survive?
31. A Quick Bite of Flesh by Robert Helmbrecht: A zombie flash fiction collection. Perfect for those times when you want a bite to eat, but are in a rush. Hehehehe.
32. Ashes Trilogy Book #1 by Ilsa J. Bick: Who is left standing after an electromagnetic pulse takes out all of our technology and how will they survive during a zombie apocalypse?
33. Married with Zombies: Living With the Dead #1 by Jesse Petersen: A couple in counseling and on the verge of divorce must survive the zombie apocalypse.
34. Red Hill #1 by Jamie McGuire: Will they survive the zombie apocalypse at Red Hill Ranch?
35. Love and Decay #1 by Rachel Higginson: Zombies can ruin a teenage girl's happily ever after!
36. The Forest of Hands and Teeth #1 by Carrie Ryan: Mary must face the truth about The Forest of the Hands and Teeth and choose between her village or her own future.
37. Strange Angels #1 by Lili St. Crow: Dru must learn to live in the zombie apocalypse without her dad. Will she learn how to use her special gifts?
38. Soulless by Christopher Golden: A mass seance is being broadcast in Times Square. What happens next?
39. Zombie Blondes by Brian James: High school was never scarier.
40. Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez: Zombies might be dining there. You never know. Undead cattle? Are those a real worry? Read to find out.
41. Day By Day: Armageddon #1 by J.L. Bourne: One man's personal journal of the zombie apocalypse.
42. The Enemy #1 by Charlie Higson: Teens in London fight their way through the zombie apocalypse from a supermarket to Buckingham Palace. Will they make it? Will they be safe?
43. Dead Sea by Brian Keene: Will the survivors be able to escape from the old ship they've taken refuge in or will the zombies win?
44. Living Dead #1 by John Joseph Adams: A zombie shorts anthology.
45. Zombies Vs. Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier: Which do you think is better? Zombies or unicorns? An anthology.
46. Generation Dead #1 by Daniel Waters: The teenagers aren't staying dead!
47. This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers: Six students must survive the zombie apocalypse.
48. The Remaining #1 by D.J. Molles: The Captain waits in his bunker. He'll open the steel door soon. What will he find?
49. Sabriel: Abhorsen #1 by Garth Nix: Sabriel must enter the Old Kingdom to search for her father, Abhorsen. Sometimes the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear. Will she survive and find her father?
50. Working Stiff: Revivalist #1 by Rachel Caine: Bryn Davis discovers a drug that resurrects the dead while working at the mortuary. Now she's in a race to take down the pharmaceutical company that owns the drug patent before she becomes a zombie herself!
    
51. Dead in the West by Joe R. Lansdale: An Indian medicine man has put a curse on a Mud Creek, Texas and the preacher is the only one that can save them from turning into the undead!
52. Book of the Dead by John Skipp and Craig Spector: An anthology of shorts. What really happened on that first Night of the Living Dead in George Romero's cult classic?