Smorgasbord Fantasia

It's perhaps not a secret that I get drawn to zombie series or movies easily. There's something primal and raw about the notion that you don't really die - and are still stuck in that no-man's zone between death and life. Countless movies and books have done this right. And I think the trick to get it right, of course is the human elements that constitute the drama, with the zombies being another layer to the mounting levels of tension. Americans have made this a regular feature on their yearly movie-list. Hollywood searches for humour in this undead-genre. (Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, too many to name here!) On the grim-dark human drama side, there's The Walking Dead (This series is something I haven't yet watched, might get around to it later) or gritty action-packed Val Helsing. The Koreans, however, excel in this. ( like a lot of other genres I suppose!) - The Kingdom was such a treat, masterpiece. Or the Train to Busan - one of their best exports to...

Post Apocalyptic Zombie novels continue to fancy me. While there are just a handful out there that truly buck the trend (Of being the typical predictable zombie novels that read like one-dimensional companion reads for Walking Dead ) - Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff seemed intriguing. The Road set in Ireland? Ooh, count me in. The story is centred around Orpen, a young girl dragging her friend(sister?) Maeve in a barrow on a road through a densely wooded area, surrounded by rolling calm hills. It's gradually revealed that most of humanity is dead. In fact, in brief flashes of the past, we find out that Orpen has actually been living in an isolated island off the coast of Ireland, brought up by her mother, Mam and Maeve. The cause of the apocalypse is never revealed but there is the looming threat of creatures called Skrake ( good old walking dead zombies) whom she's been warned about. Early on on the mainland, she gets a feel of the grim reality that defines t...

Kingdom , a period zombie thriller set against the colourful backdrop of political intrigue and courtroom drama of a Korean kingdom, is all set to return to Netflix for a season 2. Yup - after that dramatic ending of Season 1 left us all on a cliffhanger, yearning for more as we struggle to piece together the narrative around what will happen to the heir to the throne, the prince who has fled the courts to the countryside, in search of the answer to what has assailed his kingdom. This was one of the favourite zombie thrillers I have watched on TV and I am super amped about its return for a glorious season-2. If the pics are anything to go by, then we have another intense, terrifying narrative ahead of us. All our favourite characters return even as the noose tightens around the Prince, the zombies are still out at large and the queen has just revealed a secret, devastating in nature that could set plans go awry and civil war looms right ahead. March 13th, cannot wait! ...

Confessions, I haven’t played the Deadlands RPG before nor did I have any clue as to what the game is about. So was a greenhorn thrust headlong into this fantastic world – a weird western landscape where the discovery of “ghost-rock” has accelerated technological innovations and at the same time, thinned the veil between worlds to allow for other-worldly ‘souls’ to invade the human realm. And man, did I love this pulpy adventure or what. This unlikely juxtaposition of two to three different genres makes for a crackling hotbed of stories and ideas ripe for more. And Jonathan Maberry , the best-selling author of the Joe Ledger series, digs right in and comes up with pure gold in this opener to this franchise-based novels. A highly entertaining story that is a mix of action, horror and comedy. This is not any high-brow literature but an all-out over-the-top mix of tropes done right, served as a heady concoction of blazing gun fights, zombies, necromancers, the untamed wei...

A weird western zombie? I was definitely intrigued when I heard about David Towsey 's daring debut, Your Brother's Blood that promised to be a fun mashup but what I wasn't expecting was the emotionally draining narrative and a deftly executed story that never loses its tight personal focus till the surprising climax. Yes - I'm late to this party and I discovered David Towsey's excellent debut pretty late ( this book was released in 2013 by Jo Fletcher Books ) but I'm glad I did and I really am jazzed up now that I've finished the intriguing story. Are there more books set in this universe? ( Edit: The trilogy is now complete - with Your Servants and Your People (2014) and Your Resting Place (2015) ) So at the heart of this story is unflinching faith - gone a bit too extreme in it's interpretation. The biblical references are very strong - be it the character names like Thomas, Mary, Sarah, Samuel or the very cool transcriptions from 'Counc...

The Remaining is a digital publishing sensation – another one of those run away hits on the internet propelling DJ Molles to be the poster-child of self-publishing. And it’s built up for a good reason: this book while still expounding on the well-trodden path of a zombie novel, still retains that sense of creeping horror and urgency characteristic of a well written and well researched novel. You’ve dozens of books on the post-apocalyptic theme where the world is over-run by infected diseased beings – more than a good share having executed this theme pretty well. So what makes The Remaining an internet phenomenon and now has got snapped up by the biggies as well being commissioned for a movie?  I haven’t cracked that question yet. But what I got when I read the book was a crackerjack of a zombie novel that never lets up on the pacing and action till the end and is a compelling read indeed. It’s a plot we’ve seen before – Captain Lee Hardin is sequestered wit...

An intelligently done zombie movie? I hear you scoff and hide that smirk behind your cough. Well believe it or not, Brad Pitt has backed this mega-scale epic zombie “war” movie through long tiresome years of rewrite and production delays and has come up trumps with a solid action-thriller that should feature on your must-view zombie movies.  Or must-view action-thriller movie… Take your pick but it does not deter the fact that World War Z is one hell of a well-made movie with its “scary” moment homages and stunningly epic action set-pieces. Brad Pitt of course makes it worth the tense journey starting in New York and traipsing through South Korea, Israel and coming to end in Cardiff, England. World War Z follows UN investigator Gerry Lane as he races against time and deranged zombie killer-mobs to find the cure for a deadly viral infection that turns the infected into the “undead” across the globe. The movie starts off in a fascinating manner – the directo...