Zombies in the Stacks: A Pathfinder

All of Zomtober leads up to the last day of the month - Zomtoberfest!  This Zomtoberfeat weekend, I participated in my local Zombie Awareness Walk as a Zombrarian, then went to see Shaun of the Dead with my fellow zombrarians and our significant others.  A fun, and educational, time was had by all.

I also sat down and watched one of my traditional Zomtoberfest television specials - The History Channel's The Real Story of Halloween.  First of all, you can never really go wrong with a short documentary on a holiday, and The History Channel is light and fluffy enough to not dissapoint.  But this year, they also aired Zombies: A Living History which I freaking adored.  They rounded up authors like Max Brooks, Jonathan Maberry, Dr. Steven Schlozman, Daniel Drezner, and others along with anthropologists and zombie enthusiasts to talk about the history of zombies in a variety of cultures as well as the threat of disease/disaster/pandemonium and our ability to cope and survive.  It was amazing.  So amazing that if you're reading this right now, you'd better already have it set to record on your DVR or else be moving to pick up your remote, or else I might just have to give you librarian eyes.  Don't make me say it twice.

On a lighter note, I owe you all your last three Zomtober presents! First we go to Thinkgeek and their Zombie Attack Hoodie. Looks fun, doesnt' it?  Great for reenactments and training sessions on a budget.  Plus I bet it's snuggly.

Next we have a zombie-themed headband from Etsy seller JanineBasil.  Delightful, isn't it? For those formal Zomtober occasions when you want to celebrate the spirit of the holiday without getting fake blood on your evening gown. Ingenious!

Last but not least, it's no secret that I'm a knitter.  I'm also super sad that these unique stitch markers have already sold.  Still, we can enjoy tdozieart's sculpting skills and stalk her Etsy shop until she makes more, right?

I hope you have had an enjoyable and educational Zomtober, and that your Zomtoberfest is the perfect culmination.  Be safe out there!

What's the best to prepare yourself for the trials that come when faced with a horde of the undead threatening to separate you from your limbs and other tasty bits? That's right - a board game!

I haven't played Oh No...Zombies! but I can't imagine it not being a hit whether at a Halloween party or a library Zomtober event. Let's face it, bobbing for apples is clearly focused on zombie-skills, not survivor skills.

Come to think of it, you could easily split your party/program attendees into zombies vs. humans and tally up "game points."  Maybe whichever team has the most game points gets some sort of advantage in the Nerf battle climax...

So back in the beginning of Zomtober, I made lots of girlish noise about a Brain Cupcake Mix.  Today was our staff dress up for Halloween, so I made some goodies to share with my coworkers.  I had planned to make graveyard cupcakes and the brain cupcakes.

I only brought the graveyards.

For something that comes in a box, you'd think it would be dummy proof.  So I'm going to give the cupcake mix the blame.  If I can make Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker without problems, there's no reason why a mix/icing mix like this should taste as bad as it did.  The cupcake tops fell off when I took them out of the pan, and my husband had nothing but foul descriptions for the icing's consistency.

So steer clear, or else you may contract a flesh eating virus that makes you want to eat human flesh rather than cupcakes.

I will post pictures of my graveyard cupcakes (devil's food with raspberry Milano gravestones, oreo dirt, and green icing grass) later, but for now, enjoy this cool neckwear!

Searching "blood choker" gives you lots of different options for this bloody style of accouterment in Etsy.  Wear it this Zomtober to remind your loved ones of the proper procedure for Zombie disposal. 

For the record, papercraft is pretty cool.  People who use their amazing spatial reasoning to create cool papercrafts? Even cooler.

You'll find this little guy here, on Jerome's Blog. I don't read French nor super-trust Google Translate, but I'm pretty sure Jerome is the designer. Rock on, French Jerome!

This weekend was full of homework, weaving, and Sims 3 Pets for me.  In the latter, I've accumulated at least five horse-gnomes on my lot.  It's kind of creepy and weird.

The only reason I mention these mystical lawn ornaments is due to today's (yesterday's?) link for Zomtober.

"Gnomes Bye Bye Birdie" is a sculpture by Etsy seller ChrisandJanesPlace.  It's apparently part of a series of Zombie Gnomes.

I have to admit - I'm kind of glad that my Sims 3 gnomes don't feast upon my other unsuspecting lawn ornaments.

Speaking of feasting, enjoy this Zombie Food Pyramid by DeviantArt's CaptainMyotis!

While White Zombie is the grandpappy of zombie movies, George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead is recognized as a  key part of the foundation of modern pop-culture zombiism.  "Romero zombies," slow moving, ravenous, pack-mentality beasts are seen as the classic undead terror.

Night of the Living Dead is the only one of Romero's zombie films that is in the public domain.  You can watch/download it via the Internet Archive.

This Zomtober, the Rapid City Public Library is going to showcase this film for our Zombie Movie Night.  This is our first year doing so, but we're expecting a great response - who doesn't love a classic horror movie right before the grandest of Zomtober-end festivities?

Want to raise your own army of the undead, able to cripple your foes with their zombie-adorableness?

I haven't made anything from Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skeate's book Zombie Felties: How to Raise 16 Gruesome Felt Creatures from the Undead, but they look fantastic.  

So who is going to make some and then reproduce Thriller using stop-motion animation? Or would it be reanimation?

I'm sure many of you are aware of the old anti-drug propaganda films, most importantly Reefer Madness.  It was turned into a musical in 1998, and then a film in 2005.  The modern version is (obviously) satirical as it bring the rationality and fears of 1936 into the 21th century.

One of my many favorite sequences from the film is the opening, where Alan Cumming's character begins his lecture on the dangers of marijuana to parents of high schoolers, only to be interrupted by the pot-crazed, zombie students.

It's hilarious.  But it also at least tickles at the Caribbean roots of the zombie.

So I don't know who it was that first decided that brainmeats were green.  Maybe it's a long-lost Zombie cullinary tradition that the most delectable of gray matter is, in fact, not gray.

Regardless, here is a gelatin brain mold you can use to make any colored brain you choose.

Earlier this Zomtober, someone on Google+ (sorry I don't remember who!) mentioned using this mold in a library program for kids and getting a good response. Here in Rapid City, they're having a brain eating contest after the Zombie Walk, and I wonder if they've got something similar in mind.

I'll keep you posted, for sure!

As the end of Zomtober approaches, we're all preparing ourselves for the festivities at the end of the month.  Zomtober is a great time of year to hold a Zombie Awareness Walk.  These demonstrations help prepare your community in the event of an undead uprising.

Participants in these walks vary - some disguise themselves as the undead while others pose as victims or exterminators.  If you are interested in taking the former role, check out this resource to put together convincing camouflage.

Just make sure it's not too well done or you might end up a foot shorter.