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Ever wanted to speak with a real-life vampire? How about a vampire court? They say truth is stranger than fiction. Move over Anne Rice, Mr. Deadman and Becky are going to chat with a real-life vampire king.
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Lia Scott Price is a comic book writer, artist, and the creator of Vampire Guardian AngelsTM, characters from her vampire comic book series “Vampire Guardian Angels”. She joins Mr. Deadman to talk about her comic book series, creative career, and vampires.
Catch the show this Saturday at 9pm CST
Mr. Deadman speaks with Clive Carpenter and Cain Miller about their stories, horror movies, inspiration, writing styles, and the cold feeling of rejection.
Clive Carpenter is the author of Confession, a dark and demented tale of a world’s cruelest mother ever.
Cain Miller is the author of Blithe Town, a horror short that serves as a reminder as to why you shouldn’t even dare drive through certain towns.
The live stream had many technical issues, but we were able to power through. I live in Houston and the heavens have unleashed gallons upon gallons of rain on us, which may explain how my already bad connection got worse.
It’s a rare occurrence that a zombie comedy manages to stagger into theaters. It’s even rarer for the zombie comedy to be of the romantic type, and even much more of an oddity for the film to take the perspective of a zombie.
Warm Bodies is a romantic zom-com from the perspective of a zombie. With that said, there are several liberties that occur to make the perspective possible and entertaining. If you are a stickler on zombie mythology and like it only when zombies walk at a slow pace and remain essentially brain-dead, then this is not for you. Secondly, if you are the type that actively defends modern zombie mythology then you should also take note on all the liberties George Ramiro took even in his first film. Afterall, zombie mythology is no more factual than vampires, and vampire mythology is saturated with fictitious hyperbole stemmed from non-sense folktales.
Warm Bodies follows a very typical romantic comedy story arch. Woman is saved, and brought into the man’s home where she is essentially a stranger in a new land. The man fails to keep her hidden, and his friends and family do not like her, but his perseverance eventually wins them over. Then the reversal occurs to where the man is now taken into the woman’s world… A very typical pattern observed in over dozens of romantic stories from Greek myths to Modern film. The story is so predictable that anyone familiar with romantic comedies will know how the next scene will play out. Is this bad? Yes, and no.
While Warm Bodies suffers from its predictable narration, it offers something different to the mix that still remains on the fringe. Zombies seem to only have one place in film, and that’s to die, even though their already dead. Because zombie traditional have very little screen time, and are rather brainless and one-dimensional, the film has to take several liberties to render a zombie from a reanimated corpse that just simply lumbers and rots, to a reanimated corpse that lumbers, sort of thinks, and tries to interact with the environment. I really do detest that fact that some people take zombie mythology all too seriously. To the very core, Warm Bodies is a comedy, a romantic comedy, and the zombie element is used in a way to make it possible for story telling. It would be impossible for a one-dimensional rotter to do anything other than die. Besides, we’re talking about fictitious creatures that are dead bodies that can lumber and mumble without a brain, heart, lungs, and blood flow.
The strengths for Warm Bodies are R’s quirky and funny narration, the interaction between R and his zombie friends, and the interaction between R and Julie. R’s narration provides witty commentary on how life could be as a zombie on an anecdotal basis, while the interaction bears the question if and how zombies would interact with one another over time. Then, of course, most of the film revolves around the interaction of R and Julie which is very similar to any romantic tale involving lovers from different and conflicting worlds. Julie, being a live and a survivor, was raised and trained to hate and kill zombies, and ironically, zombies apparently have just as much disdain for the living.
Like in any traditional romance involving mortal enemies, once Julie is introduced to R’s family and friends, a feud between the zombies and the even older zombies (bonies) begins, which serve as common enemy that forces the two conflicting sides (zombies and living) to unite. While a common goal is often a necessary component to have rival factions unite, the unification and alliance felt forced by the director and writers.
In summation, Warm Bodies is a light-hearted at life as a zombie spun for a romantic comedy that offers a little of both, but the clichéd and easily predictable narration hinders the experience, while making the absurd perspective easy to swallow for others. The movie is fun, as it is meant to be. Is it an oscar winner? No, of course not. Is it the best zom-com? No, but how many take the perspective of a reanimated corpse? Not a lot of competition there.
Final recommendation: Theaters if you like zom-com. Rent it if you don’t. It’s a fun and enjoyable flick, as it intended.
*For those zombie nerds that actively plan for a zombie apocalypse, if you can’t find empathy for zombies and aren’t flexible on how zombies are depicted (the make-up is really good), then don’t watch it. You’ll end up hating it as it deviates from typical zombie “mythology”.
Walls of cold, hardened flesh bound to bone, a core without the faintest glow of radiance for warmth, and a vast, ever-expansive darkness that permeates the internal decay. Yet, the corpse somehow manages to move. But it doesn’t move like that of a man, however. As if blessed by some unfathomable hellish fiend, it moves with more life than it ever had as a mortal. As if a secret dark oath was taken in exchange for a demonic reanimation, but with any oath their comes a price.
Deadman’s Tome announces a vampire themed writing contest that starts NOW and ends in August. Feel free to submit your dark, morbid, horrific vampire-themed tales for chance to win and be published in the yearly electronic magazine. We don’t want any mushy, teen-drama tales. Any and all submissions of those type will be burned. I’m serious.
What’s the prize? I don’t like this part because I feel that one shouldn’t write because of a prize, but because the craft is enjoyable. However, this is a contest, and every contest has a prize. First place will receive a $100 Amazon gift card, along with a signed copy of The Cradle of Ruin. Second place will receive $25 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the Cradle of Ruin. Third place will receive a signed copy of the Cradle of Ruin.
Read the SUBMISSIONS page for more details.
Winners and select runner-ups will be featured in the yearly Deadman’s Tome publication.
Send all submissions to Legato10@swbell.net
Journey into a world of dark, carnal horrors, a realm where sadistic torture is intertwined with pleasure. Brace yourself, for each story will take you further into a land of extreme perversion. Otherworldly horrors such as the provocative succubi will tempt poor unsuspecting saps so that they can feast upon their soul. Narcissistic Masters will inflict a lashing onto their slaves in the name of obedience. Heavenly beings that mirror that of ancient Greece will suffer the product of an incestuous lust. I feel compelled to warn you again, dear reader. The stories do not only increase with provocative images, they increase with deep and maddening tales of the consequence of falling for temptation.
Download the .PDF: DT2012
Check out the Kindle Version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JAHIH0/ref=cm_sw_su_dp
The creator and editor-in-chief of Deadman’s Tome regrets to inform you that the old Deadman’s Tome site (www.deadmanstome.com) will be shutting down due to financial reasons. Though funds are tight, the passion for the ideals and principles that allowed the site to exist is immense. Deadman’s Tome, instead of fading into the dark internet abyss, will transition to a new home.
With that said, we welcome you, members of the Deadman’s Tome family, authors, poets, friends, fans, and, of course, curious readers, to our new home.
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