Zombies! discussion

My friend and I are currently writing/designing a graphic novel about the lovely walking dead. I'm the scribe and have recently finished the first draft of the plot but I was just wondering what you guys expected from a zombie book/graphic novel?

Something unique... I'd personally like to see something different, either in their behavior or the plot line. A re-hash of certain elemental zombie behaviors, etc. is fine, but I always enjoy something creative and unique.

Good luck with your project!

-Vincent

I quite like the stories that are set long after to first wave of zombies...every one has stories of the day the zombies came. but i find it more interesting to learn what happens 10 ,20 years later, how are people living with the zombie..ect.

melanie

I agree with Melanie. Always thought the post-apocalyptic zombie idea was by far more interesting as well. Good point and I agree.

I agree with Vincent. Originality is key to success in zombie literatrure today. Best of luck.

Yeah, exactly... a unique voice, a unique perspective, is what you need...

Armand Rosamilia
Dying Days

I really enjoy how people interact with each other. How humane do people remain in the face of dwindling resources and ammunition? And it is alway interesting to read about some new way of taking care of a problem like food production or processing water to drink.

Brandy Hunt

Good point, Brandy. Usually zombie stories only focus on the carnage, but it's the human interaction that matters...and the details.

Thank you all very much for your comments. We've tried to be unique, sometimes perhaps a little controversial, and for me the focus is on human interaction and how different people react to the crisis.
I hope to share the project with you all soon!!
Thanks again

Tom,

Good luck with this.

A couple of things I think are important:

1. Try to stay away from what you've seen before. Know Romero, know Fulci, know Max Brooks, read and watch all of The Walking Dead, and try to stay away from what they've done. If you cover some of the same ground...

2. At least let your characters admit to it. After more than 40 years of Romero-type zombie, characters almost never call them zombies. I never really got that.

Those are my thoughts.

Tom, good point...

If it looks like a zombie, smells like a zombie and chews like a zombie, call the damn thing a zombie in your tale already!

Armand Rosamilia
Dying Days

Tom wrote: "My friend and I are currently writing/designing a graphic novel about the lovely walking dead. I'm the scribe and have recently finished the first draft of the plot but I was just wondering what yo..."

If you draw well and write well (skillful plot, meaty characters, new perspectives on a well-trod subject), everything else will fall into place.

There is no RIGHT way to write zombies or any other monster, meme, or theme.

Tom wrote: "Thank you all very much for your comments. We've tried to be unique, sometimes perhaps a little controversial, and for me the focus is on human interaction and how different people react to the cri..."

That sound exactly like what hundreds of other writers have already done. That's OK. Just put your personal stamp on it and, as some said here already, avoid cliches and repeating scenes and experiences verbatim or beat-for-beat from other works about the undead.

Thanks again guys.

The thing is I'm the only zombie enthusiast I know so I wanted to get some other views. My friends think that this genre is all about the gore!! I know what i've said is obvious, it's just that when I read books I really hate too much back story, too much focus on the zombies and things like them evolving. And i really like the initial apocalypse and human reaction. I was just intrigued as to what other fans enjoyed/hated.

All your comments are appreciated, thanks

I've read a lot of zombie books that cover the same basic ground, but if the characters are interesting and sympathetic, and the narrative voice good, I'm gonna read it and enjoy it. There are a ton of vampire books out there with slightly different takes on the whole vampire mythos. Some are good, some (sorry) suck, all depending on the skill of the writer.

Oh...and something that I have to say is a personal 'stop it!' for me is naming characters Romero, Fulci, Savini, etc... Which isn't to say I won't read the book anyway, but it makes me cringe.

My advice is similar to everyone else that posted with one more addition. The best advice I ever received is to "write what you know". Do you have a particular area of interest (not zombies) that you can interject into the storyline? Study the people that you have regular interactions with. How do they respond to certain situations? Is there something that someone said that could be easily quoted to fit the story? For me, law enforcement is a big part of my life and it reflects in my stories. I am also a people observer. Try just watching every nuance that a person does with their gestures and facial expressions for about an hour. You can learn a lot about them without even talking to them.

I find a good Zombie Book is not awesome due to necessarily the care constructing the Zombies themselves... I am currently reading Boneshaker and there they hardly describe the zombies spare a few pages. what makes a good Zombie story really is a good description of the setting/world that is containing this plague and how it has been affected, and the character themselves that are living in this world and living around this unstopable force of madness and hunger. That is what made Day By Day so great, not necessarily the description of the fights or the near escapes (even though I will say Bourne did a AWESOME job with those too), but it was the description of the fall of society and the slow devolving of society into pure survival mode from a society based around creature comforts and prosperity, and how the main characters changed along with the world around them to survive.

Tyler is right, the best part of a Zombie tale is the interaction between human characters in their new environment. The best stories use the Zombies as a catalyst for human emotion, both good and bad.

I prefer zombie novels with a serious tone. It doesn't hurt though if there is comic relief that is well placed. After reading Zombie Survival Guide, I'm pretty biased to anything that deviates from the concept of Zombie Survival Guides guidelines for Zombie Survival.

The most important thing for a 'good' zombie story are the characters. If you don't care about them as people you won't care about their fate. You also might not want to overcrowd your story, at least not initially. Robert Kirkman's WALKING DEAD being a good example of beginning with a small group and gradually expanding.

I agree with Melanie that you might want to set your story a few months or even years after the Undead have risen. If you do open with those first days, consider jumping forward to a time when survivors have begun to deal with a rebuilding process and not just surviving day-to-day. Good luck!

By the way, if folks haven't read it yet, let me recommend SEX IN THE TIME OF ZOMBIES by William Todd Rose. It's a collection of short stories that goes chronologically from the first attacks to daily life in a town years after. Despite the title, the main focus is not sex, but how that element acts as a catalyst to the actions of the characters.

A good example of how to use the zombies, but keeping the focus on the survivors.

human character development. if no one cares about the characters, no one will care if they survive or not

I'm gunna have to agree with Megster. Character development is key. I think it's key in most books though, if there isn't any, it's totally a bore.

What would make a good ending to a zombie book?

Matt, I think a good ending would be every body dies. lol It seems like a bad ending but that could be a good ending, because then life starts something fresh. Just humans die but not the animals and stuff.

I guess I'd like to see some of the characters I had been following survive, although I expect it wouldn't be a completely happy ending. Unless, of course, all the zombies had been dispatched and the survivors able to rebuild.

It is a new world rising from the carcass of this world, have fun with it.

I'll echo some of the other comments that stories revolving around the "start" of zombies are a little tired to me.

Another theme that is tiring, to me at least, is the theme of "humans are just as terrible as the zombies". This is a theme Romero included in every one of this movies. I understand we need an antagonist, but I would think zombies and a dying world could serve as a villain just as well as a human.

I think the film ZOMBIELAND was a good example of it being the Undead that were the threat. While there was some mistrust among the central characters, they were not bad people.

A good writer can use either the zombies or other survivors and even a combination of the two to make a solid novel.

Man Zombieland was the worst zombie movie of all time. They broke every zombie attack rule. For instance, don't go somewhere and make a lot of noise, cus duh, zombies are gunna come after the noise. That's why the girls got nearly pwnt at the amusement park. Problem is. If a real zombie attack happened, they would have been zombie food.

This question and its ensuing discussion increasingly annoy me. If you're writing or creating something and it's not commissioned by someone, don't ask what other people want out of it before you've even started. You're an artist, not a marketer. Make what YOU want, see if other people like it, go back to the drawing board. That's art.

Lyla: If you think Zombieland was the worst zombie movie of all time, you haven't seen enough zombie movies. Also, there ARE NO ZOMBIE ATTACK RULES. Zombies aren't REAL, thus filmmakers, authors, and artists can make of the idea of the flesh-eating undead what they will.

Brendan - Zombies are real kind of...LOL Toxoplasmosa Gondii look it up.

They are making a sequel to Zombieland.

Pick up something from JOE McKinney - Can't go wrong.

Matt wrote: "They are making a sequel to Zombieland."

Not sure how I feel about that, although there are lots of possiblities given the 'world' as created in that film. Love to have Bill Murray do a return, obviously.

A sequel to Zombieland? I admit, I will see it as soon as it comes out.

i have to say my FAVORITE funny zombie books with a scary side would have to be "married with zombies" #1 and "flip this zombie" #2 , i cant wait for the third one "eat, slay ,love"

I was just thinking it would be cool to see a zombie book follow one family through the ordeal. Maybe they begin all dysfunctional: mom and dad on the rocks, teenage kids that are getting in increasing degrees of trouble, plus younger kids that are just trying to get through their family falling apart innocence intact. Then BOOM! zombie apocalypse along with the nasty side of humanity that tends to come out in these anarchic situations. Our family must unite to protect each other, and they learn the values of togetherness, trust and all that shit. Cliche idea, but not too thouroughly explored in the zombie genre.

That does sound promising plot, Megster. Any body else here know of something like that?

I'll echo many sentiments here, and that is every memorable zombie story I've ever read shares one thing: rich, memorable characters. It's easy to write a story where people survive one wave after another of zombies, but the ones that stick with you are those that include protagonists (and antagonists) who are human, real, and memorable. Good luck and I look forward to reading what you come up with!

MikeKo wrote: "Pick up something from JOE McKinney - Can't go wrong."

Absolutely agree... I just finished The Gathering Dead by Stephen Knight and liked the characterization in the story... there are some great authors out there...

Now, for my own shameless plug... Rymfire eBooks just released a nine story zombie anthology called Undead of Winter with one of my stories, my main character I used in my Dying Days extreme zombie novella...

I will ALSO have a story in an upcoming zombie anthology featuring such notables as Joe McKinney, Eric S. Brown, WD Gagliano, JD Gillam, Scott Nicholson, Ian DG Sandusky, Mark Tufo and many more...

What I would like in a zombie book is something different...a twist, something not done yet. I loved World War Z but it's been done. I am anxiously awaiting the release of this book and went ahead and actually pre-ordered it, release date I believe is June 28. I'm thinking it has that little something different.

Raising Stony Mayhall

I recommend Max Brallier's "Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse" if you haven't discovered it yet. An actual 'choose your own adventure' book that an adult would not feel embarrassed to read. Some adult language and illustrations showing partial nudity, but overall just fun, zombie action. Try to 'escape from New York City' without being turned.

My favorite zombie stories have had really strong character development and dialog. Readers have to be able to relate to the characters and feel their stress and pain which is why I think The Walking Dead show hits so hard. I don't want to ruin anything for anyone but my wife actually had tears in her eyes at the end of one episode. Who would think a zombie show could do that to their audience right but it did and that shows some amazing story telling. Zombie stories definitely need some great gory/action scenes too but those scenes don't need to over crowd the story.

If you like feeling the stress and pain of the characters, try the Very Good Man series. There is so much angst there, it oozes out of the books. :)

I will check those out...oozes out huh :o) Thanks for the recommendation.

The Very Good Man series, is it the one by Brian Kennedy? If so I might even have that on my Kindle already :o)

Brian Kennedy, or P.S. Power, depending on which source you use. I almost quit about 2/3rds of the way through the first book, because there is a WTF genre-crossing moment. But I've read the first three books several times now.

I picked up the first two books free, but paid for the third. And, now, awaiting the fourth.

Oh, wow. I just noticed the fourth has been available since mid-September. But, looking at the reviews, I'm a little bummed that it appears to be the end of the series.

zombie stories...eventually there would be an ending to the feast...unless one of the zombies burped and made more room :o)
Have you read any of the Zombie Star Wars books yet. I know of 2 Death Troopers and Dark Harvest. Death Troopers was fun but I haven't picked up Dark Harvest yet. The opening chapter was interesting though...zombies with dark jedi powers :o)