The Zombie Survival Guide

I LOVE any and all things ZOMBIE!
I love the campiness, the impending apocalyptic doom, the sucker-punch scares, the mythology, the volumes upon volumes of crappy and cheaply indie made "B" films.
I love all the spin-offs of George A. Romero's films. I love the makeup and gore effects. I love the twisted visual gages and jokes. I love the badly-written story lines and the over-blown special effects budgets. I love everything from 28 Days Later to Shaun of the Dead and Bubba Ho-Tep (what's better than a geriatric Elvis in a nursing home battling an Egyptian Mummy) and everything in between. I love other people who love the Zombie stuff. There is an affinity for the undead floating amongst people that crosses gender and cultural lines. Like Trekkies only it's a little more underground and less organized. For me there is a sense of a guilty pleasure in my affection to the Zombie world. It's fun to come across other fans. You either love it or you don't get it. You can rent the cheesiest titled B-rated Zombie flick with a super over the top cover and you wonder what kind of reaction you are going to get from the person at the counter. Are they some teenager who looks at you weird as they read the title and tell you when it's due back? Or are they the kind of person who says "I've seen this five times and if you like this you should check out..." There seems to be an instant camaraderie that springs up in meeting a fellow Zombie lover. The Zombie world is huge from Zombie related television shows, to Zombie films, to Zombie comics, to Zombie books, to Zombie art, to Zombie video games, to my personal favorite the Zombie Pub Crawl (playing a show that is apart of that is a goal of mine) and then there's even Rob Zombie.

I think I'd be equally excited and scared to meet him.

So all of that is an intro to The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, son of the comedy genius Mel Brooks, a Saturday Night Live alumni writer, and fellow Zombie enthusiast. This book is great! I will say that I think you have to have some interest in the Zombie world to get this book. It is brilliantly read, strait and dead pan. No pun intended. Ironically this book could be useful if the world was faced with a real world-wide pandemic.

Below is a description of the book.
The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand Zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack:
1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don't need reloading.
5. Ideal protection: tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The Zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Don't be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset: life. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is an audiobook that can save your life.

I'm excited to listen to and review World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.