British British anthropologist Roland Littlewood and Haitian doctor Chavannes Douyon have done case studies on three people who have returned from the dead.

All three individuals had the following zombie identifiers:

• inability to lift the head
• nasal intonation (imagine: BRAAAAINZZZ)
• fixed staring expression
• tendency to carry on a series of meaningless, repetitive actions

Well, that sounds like a lot of my friends.

You can read about the study here.

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

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Art courtesy of Bart Frescura, copyright Bart Frescura

Wow! Oh, yeah, I am definitly one of the Walken Dead.

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

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I don’t care who tells you it isn’t political; it is hijo. So no surprise that the undead turn up in Cuba in Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead) or that the living swarm the cinemas for a look at ‘em. Who in Havana wouldn’t identify with the flick’s hero, Juan, and his sidekick, Lazaro, a Quixotic duo who are swatting zombies as the world falls to pieces around them?

Hmmmm,  this reminds me of the classic closing scene in George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead when the hero, a black man, having survived the zombie onslaught, is killed by the police. If you haven’t seen this you are missing one of the great political comments of the 20th Century. If you have, watch it again.

And … if and when Juan of the Dead, writer-director Alejandro Brugues smashing new addition to the genre, makes it out of Cuba, be sure to check it out.

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

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Zombie image ©Bart Frescura, courtesy of Bart Frescura

Just need to find the right guy … er … I mean, ghoul to ask me to go. He’ll have to be able to get me there, though, and that will involve some serious travel as I’m here on the left coast and this prom is way the heck in Pennsylvania which is kind of the American Zombie Transylvania—think: famous zombie malls—or maybe that’s somewhere in Michigan.

This one is going to take place on February 18th, a little after Valentine’s Day, so all the dearly disappointed should be celebrating Dead Love in various ways. I’m determined to go and get bloody glamourous. Fashionistas, I’m thinking a bruise-green gown with a great gored skirt. Killer, right?

So here are the details: Zombie Prom!

If I don’t make it, my proxy will be a limited edition hard cover copy of Dead Love, given away to some delightfully dastardly deadling.

Stagger on PA!

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

Dead Love

For those of you who don’t know abut the Carl Brandon Society, it’s an organization founded by people who felt that there should be a greater awareness and representation of people of color in speculative fiction and related fields. The idea grew out of the 1999 feminist science fiction convention, WisCon,  that took place in Madison, Wisconsin. African American SF legend Samuel R. Delany had recently published an article titled “Racism and Science Fiction” in the New York Review of Science Fiction (August 1998, volume 10 issue 12).

Well, as you can imagine the zombie message (think George Romero’s not-so-slant commentary on racism in Night of the Living Dead) is definitely in keeping with this mission. So, shall we hope for a win? We’ll see. Whatever happens, it’s a win for all if the hungry are fed.

Our ghoulish gang is thrilled about the award and the nomination. Go zombies!

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

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He reached into his pocket for his cell phone. “We shouldn’t touch anything,” he cautioned needlessly. “We should wait for the police.”

I did not wait for the police. While he was calling I slipped out the door, down the elevator and out into the street—confused, three-days-dead, just getting away from it all.

—DEAD LOVE/Chapter 14.4/Three-days-dead

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I will hum this tune all morning. It’s particularly alluring when matched with nostalgic images of Cuba from Wim Wenders’s Buena Vista Social Club.

Ai, que precioso!

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

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Mi nombre es Erin y no soy un zombie,
aunque mi novio, el gángster Ryu, y
el engendro de Clément,
trataron de convertirme en uno.

Así comienza esta novela de suspenso ambientada en Japón, en donde conviven humanos con seres de otro mundo.

La protagonista conoce de hechizos malignos que la hacen vivir una travesía en donde su padre parece ser el principal enemigo. No siempre el amor hace que la persona amada se sienta feliz, a veces es terrorífico que alguien nos ame. Los muertos que nos buscan desean poseernos, zombificarnos.

¡Apostar la vida con seres de otro mundo es paligroso! En cada página de Dead Love el lectro hará una apuesta al suspenso, al thriller, al amor…al mismo tiempo que conocerá la verdad sobre los zombis.

Dead love fue finalista como mejor novela en el Premio Bram Stoker a las más importarntes obras literarias de terror.

Acerca del autor:Es poeta, escritora de viajes, novelista y profesora de Escritura Creativa. Colabora con diversos diarios, revistas, antologías y publicaciones en línea como el New York Times, el Washington Post y la Revista de Crónica de San Francisco. Su novela Namako: sea Cucumber Fue nombrada por la Biblioteca Pública de New York como el mejor libro para adolescentes. Dead Love fue Finalista al Premio Bram Stoker de Literatura, como una de las mejores novelas de horror-ficción publicadas en lengua inglesa. Reconocimiento que otorga la Asociación de Escritores de Horror (HWA. Horror Writers Association).

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

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Little Gloomy lives in Frightsylvania with pals and enemies Larry the Werewolf, Frank, Mummy, Carl Cthulhu, Simon Von Simon(her ex-boyfriend), Evey (her ex-BFF), Lily and Shelly.

Sometimes I feel like I live in Frightsylvania, a town inhabited by monsters; but no, it’s just my regular old zombie world. Antidote: a spot of Dead Love.

Of course, there ARE zombies in Frightsylvania.

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

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It’s happening this year mid-August, though there’s always a question about the date, since it is supposed to take place in the 7th month of the year by the lunar calendar and we use a solar calendar.

So some celebrate it in July … but my first Obon was in Tokyo in August.

Spooky obake (Japanese ghosts) hung in the windows of all the little shops for kids. It’s a great time to revisit some of the scariest old kabuki dramas, like the story of Oiwa. Dead relatives come back for a quick visit, too, so it’s a real zombie holiday.

Maybe that’s why so many of the zombie walks naturally fall around this time of year.

—Erin Orison, DEAD LOVE/the Daily Slice

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