walking dead – Page 4 – Looking to God

The Walking Dead: Opinion

Posted on October 27, 2014October 29, 2014 by Jack Flacco

I’m dedicating this Monday Mayhem post to all the fans of The Walking Dead. There really is no two ways about it—the show is one of the best series on TV today. This is what I like about it.

AMC's The Walking Dead — AMC’s The Walking Dead

As many of you are familiar already, the show delves into the heart of humans, giving an often-frightening glimpse into the darkness that lays beneath the otherwise innocent exterior projected to others. The depths of depravity to which humans can reduce themselves to appears each week as one survivor offs another in a matter-of-fact way. This is not a show for juniors. There is a message there that we should soon not forget. If, and when, an apocalypse truly does hit the world, as foreseen by the prophets of old, humanity would benefit being prepared. Neighbor against neighbor will be the norm.

This is realistic, and as depicted in episode after episode, people will be ready to take others down if it guarantees their own survival.

I also appreciate the show’s intense value for resources. If someone comes upon a rare find—a satchel perhaps, a box or a jar—which by today’s standards means nothing, it’s as if the rare find is treasure. Money, jewels, precious ore mean nothing in the world of the apocalypse. For in that world, money, jewels and precious ore will not feed survivors. Neither will they clothe, bathe or shelter them. The value in today’s riches will mean nothing in the future end times. The Walking Dead does an incredible job demonstrating how futile a chase it is when money, jewels and precious ore makes an appearance into a story.

The absolute best part about The Walking Dead is the zombies. What will the world be like when friend turns against friend all because of a virus? What will it be like when that friend will not only turn away, but also deliver the fatal blow that will destroy what they perceive as the enemy? Remember now, zombies were once human who fell to the infection. What’s that to say about the human compulsion to destroy one another? There isn’t a doubt it exists, and the zombies attest to that. Every time a zombie appears in the show, a lesson speaks to the audience—no one is safe. The show’s zombies have a purpose, and with that purpose, it enlightens the viewer to a world that could be, a world filled with pain, and a world crippled by the destruction of morality.

I ask this—isn’t the show The Walking Dead fun?

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

What do you like about The Walking Dead? Is there someone who you can’t do without in the series?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Heather Donahue

Posted on October 22, 2014October 26, 2014 by Jack Flacco

“In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.”

This is how The Blair Witch Project begins.

I think enough time has passed for me to talk comfortably about this movie without feeling bad for dishing out spoilers. If you haven’t seen this movie, skip to the second-last paragraph because this Women Who Wow Wednesday post, which continues its month-long tribute to women who rock Horror, will center on Heather Donahue, one of the three students who disappeared in the woods in Maryland that year.

If you’re still with me, then you’ll know the whole movie really wasn’t more than a perfectly timed viral campaign to garner attention and load the theater seats with curious moviegoers. Three student filmmakers didn’t really disappear. In addition, what happened in the film didn’t really happen, except it was all part of the planned filming schedule scripted to provide a documentary-style backdrop to what would occur twenty years later.

What I’m referring to is today’s entertainment industry’s absolute quest to fill our minds with reality show madness. I’m positive I said that correctly without offending, don’t you think? Mind you, I have nothing against reality shows—I’m an avid fan of Hell’s Kitchen. But does every channel now have to have reality TV?

It all started with The Blair Witch Project. Thank goodness for The Walking Dead.

Nonetheless, when the movie came out, the producers made the film on a razor-thin budget of $60,000. That’s right, sixty grand. Peanuts. It went on to make $140 Million. Yes, you read that right. I’ll say it again—one-hundred-and-forty Million bucks. It was big. Some moviegoers had to leave the theater because they were getting sick from all the motion blur that was taking place.

Anyway, let’s get to the heart of this post, as you don’t need any more of my long-winded backstory.

Heather Donahue, along with Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams (their real names), travel to the woods to explore the legend of the Blair Witch. Leading the team with her straightforward attitude, Heather makes it clear she’s in charge, requesting of the makeshift crew not to produce a movie they’re shooting into a cheesy affair. As Josh fills in the first filming slate, he can’t help but ask if there should be an honorary opening of the veins to christen the first slate. Of course, he’s being facetious—little did he know what a foreshadowing his words would be.

There’s no simple way to say this. In the woods, they get lost. As time pushes forward to an inevitable conclusion, Heather attempts to keep the crew together by remaining positive in spite of the odd noises they hear each night just outside their tents.

The creepier things get, the more Heather tries to rally the guys to not lose faith. She holds on to the belief that things would eventually get better.

They don’t get better.

And as much as Heather tries to remain calm, she loses it, too, which isn’t much different than anyone else in that situation. However, she has the fortitude within herself to come back and lead the others—a trait all true great leaders possess, regardless if they win or lose in a battle.

That, in itself, is a perfect reason to study the character Heather in this film.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.

Have you watched The Blair Witch Project? What do you think of Heather?

Monday Mayhem

The Walking Dead Returns

Posted on October 13, 2014October 15, 2014 by Jack Flacco

Another year, another season of The Walking Dead returns to AMC. Am I excited? You’re kidding, right? Of course, I’m excited! What other show on TV features survivors of a post-apocalyptic nightmare battling zombies—oops, sorry, walkers—in an all-out quest for world supremacy? No, I’m not talking about Breaking Bad, although that’s a cool show, too. I wish it were still on.

For today’s Monday Mayhem, allow me the liberty to provide you with a synopsis of the past four seasons, spoiler-free. That’s right, spoiler-free. It’s the least I can do, considering how I enjoy talking about movies and TV shows, asking questions to my friends like, “Did you see the part where (name the scene)—oh, yeah, that was awesome. Its brains sprayed everywhere!”

Season 1—The end-of-days madness begins with Deputy Sheriff Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) awakening from a wound sustained in the line of duty to a world infested with walkers. In a quest to find out what happened, Grimes and a group of mismatched survivors travel to Atlanta, Georgia on a rumor the CDC has set up a safe zone for anyone looking for refuge.

Season 2—After their daring escape from the CDC, the survivors head to Fort Benning as their next stop. On their way, they meet walkers bent on killing anything resembling human, survivors with similar malevolent intentions, and a farm. The farm not only becomes their sanctuary away from the rotting world, but also a place where a semblance of society begins to spring forth. In the midst of the silent fields, a dark secret awaits the brave.

Season 3—From a farm to a prison, the survivors make a home out of a jail. But with their newest safe haven also comes the neighboring town of Woodbury, fully fortified and fully prepared to defend its territory at all costs. The survivors are not welcomed, and a battle of wills ensues. A new enemy appears—The Governor (David Morrissey). Who will win the final war?

Season 4—When Rick Grimes relinquishes his leadership role to the survivors, a council emerges dedicated to the well-being of the many. Fighting through an influenza outbreak, another attempt at a prison overthrow, and a division among the ranks, the survivors hear of Terminus, a sanctuary devoted to helping everyone. But not all is what it seems and Rick ends the season by saying, “They’re going to feel pretty stupid when they find out—they’re screwing with the wrong people.”

Now, with Season 5 in full swing and the seeds planted for Season 6, yes, the survivors will be back next season, who knows what awaits Rick and the gang. One thing’s for sure, whatever it is, I know I’ll be tuning in every week.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale October 21.

What did you think of last night’s episode?

Monday Mayhem

Zombie Questions

Posted on June 16, 2014June 18, 2014 by Jack Flacco

Today, for Monday Mayhem, I thought I’d try something different. As opposed to writing a post dedicated to zombies, I thought I’d write a post asking questions regarding the zombie genre instead. I’m hoping you can help me understand what you, the reader, like about zombies, as I know it will also provide me with some valuable information as to what kind of stories entertain you.

Are you ready for a heavy interrogation session? Good. I’ll ask the questions, then I’ll add a comment or two to get the discussion started. Let’s have some fun!

Do you consider zombies part of the Horror genre? Some folks think because zombies run, jump and attack like raptors they belong in a Steven Spielberg movie for kids. What do you think?

Should filmmakers and/or authors think about including gore in their stories? This is a straightforward question, but it depends if we’re talking about human or zombie gore. Big difference, I think.

What kind of zombie origin stories do you like? Remember, back a hundred years ago, zombies came from ancient voodoo practices while today’s zombie spawns from an outbreak of a deadly disease.

Do you like slow or fast zombies? Why? Everyone has an opinion these days about the type of undead knocking on the door. Which do you prefer?

Have you or are you planning to participate in a zombie run this year? Many folks enjoy the challenge of running in hopes of outwitting actors dressed in zombie costumes. Do you?

Have you or are you planning to dress as a zombie for this coming Halloween? I know a few of my friends who have participated in zombie birthday bashes. What about Halloween?

What are your favorite zombie movies? Zombies are hot, but it’s also nice to know what the viewing audience finds appealing with their choice of entertainment.

If you’ve read zombie novels this year, which ones have you read and why? This is one of those questions where personal preference goes a long way.

Do you like crossover stories such as Horror and Romance (i.e. Warm Bodies)? Many zombie fans like their undead without Romance or Science Fiction. What about you?

How much action in a zombie story is too much action? Many fans enjoy the idea of seeing how the survivors adapt to their new environment. But what if they’re under constant threat of the undead? Then what?

If you watch The Walking Dead, what do you like about it the most? When a major character dies on The Walking Dead, I bow my head in mourning. Does it affect you in the same way?

Are you a George A. Romero junkie? Many of today’s zombies possess traits that came from the mind of director George A. Romero. Have you seen any of his movies?

When watching a zombie movie, wouldn’t you like to have the characters refer to zombies as zombies? Many movies and TV shows don’t refer to zombies by their name. Instead, they choose other names to enhance the experience. What do you think about that?

That’s it for now. If I’ve missed anything, let me know.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale October 21.

What do you like about zombies the most?

Monday Mayhem

Zombies, Aliens & Vampires

Posted on May 5, 2014May 7, 2014 by Jack Flacco

Jack Flacco is proud to announce RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, the second book in the Ranger Martin series, will publish on October 21.

Men in Black is one of my most favorite Friday night fall movies. The other film I love, which has a similar theme is Mars Attacks. Yes, both are alien movies, and yes, both have a not-so-serious plot devoted to conspiracy. When these movies came out back in the late 90’s, The X-Files had a huge following. Talk about conspiracy theory. The X-Files took all that we knew back then about alien invasion and turned it on its head. Who can forget the tag line The truth is out there?

For today’s edition of Monday Mayhem, I would like to examine interesting fads that have taken over the media. In particular, I would like to look at the alien, vampire, and zombie fads of yesteryear and today. In the past, I’ve detailed how vampires and zombies throughout time have played a game of one-upmanship. Sometimes vampires are on top, and sometimes zombies. Today, zombies rule.

Where do aliens fit in all this?

As I’d mentioned, in its heyday The X-Files had garnered a massive following. Everyone wanted to know how the aliens fit in the whole humanity vs. alien universe. The show’s creator Chris Carter had a perfect formula where he’d trickle just enough information to the audience to keep them coming back for more. The X-Files had also some of the most interesting episodes on television for the time. I can never forget the episode where a cockroach appears to crawl on the screen. I screamed thinking the roach had somehow invaded my home. Through the wizardry of modern television effects, I became a sucker for the producers’ quaint, but hilarious practical joke.

Vampires didn’t become fashionable until the movie Twilight came out. I should rephrase that. Vampires didn’t become part of pop culture until the advent of Stephenie Meyer’s literary anvil hit the scene. Anne Rice, of course, influenced the genre years earlier with her book Interview with the Vampire, but teenage girls with Edward on their mind had more than blood coursing through their veins.

As with all fads, once Breaking Dawn’s star came and went zombies took over the reign as the pop culture phenomenon. With The Walking Dead in full swing and World War Z about to become a movie, is it a wonder zombies turned hot. Campuses across America played host to zombie runs while Halloween transformed from vampires only clubs to zombie apocalypse nightmares.

As for the aliens? They’re there. Listening and waiting until their time comes again. Only time will tell what pop culture has in mind once the reign of the zombies ends.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, now on sale.

What other movies have an alien theme associated with the zombie genre? What do you think of The Night of the Living Dead?

Monday Mayhem

Zombie Animals

Posted on March 3, 2014March 5, 2014 by Jack Flacco

Why aren’t there any zombie animals in The Walking Dead? I’ve wondered this since the first episode. I have yet to see a zombified dog, cat, horse or goat, let alone a zombified pig, donkey or squirrel. And as anyone who follows my Monday Mayhem series would know, I can’t let go of an idea until I’ve exhausted all possible solutions to the question.

During my first stop of the show’s folklore, I looked at the virus that’d infected the walkers. For those unfamiliar with the show, walkers are what become of humans who contract the deadly virus ending human life, spawning a zombie life—or rather an undead life, if that makes sense. I noticed those who’d fallen victim to the virus caught it from a bite delivered by the infected. The other form of transmission affects victims after they’re dead, lending credence that the virus always existed in humans but a condition occurred to awaken the dormant strain. The typical effects of the condition varies: Pale skin, fainting, dehydration, chills, soreness, loss of hair, portions of scalp missing, fever/hallucinations, dilated pupils and coughing blood.

Once I’d learned about the virus and its effects on humans, I next investigated its transmission to animals. Apparently, if a walker encounters an animal it will do what it can to eat it as the animal breathes its last. This rule of thumb goes for all living creatures a walker meets. The caveat to this scenario rests on the expected behavior of the animal bitten by the walker. Like humans, animals should rise from the dead after the bite. They don’t. Therefore, walkers can bite human and animal alike, but only humans will spawn as the undead.

This is where I tossed my preconceived notions and allowed myself the benefit to indulge in some interesting speculation.

To begin, the general makeup of a virus dictates its effectiveness on its target. It is common for a virus to affect only humans. However, when a virus hops from one species to another (eg. human-to-human, animal-to-human), this process goes by the name of zoonosis. The West Nile Virus falls into this category. Birds transmit to humans, but humans can’t transmit to dogs and cats since these animals possess the immunity to fight the bug. The opposite stands true when humans carry the virus spreading it to animals, called reverse zoonosis or anthroponosis. In The Walking Dead, the infection bounces from human to human making it a zoonosis-type virus. Therefore, the possibility we haven’t seen zombie animals on the show lies in the fact the infection itself cannot spread to animals.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? It’s a dry explanation, but good, nonetheless. Don’t you think? But what if science or medicine has nothing to do with the lack of zombie animals?

Another theory came to mind. Growing up I read the story about Noah’s Ark. I read how God became so angered with humanity’s penchant for sinning that he brought a flood upon the earth to wipe everyone out of existence. You might call it divine retribution. In the story, God commanded Noah to build him an ark to house all the animals of the world. Too bad mosquitos survived. At least we have our delicious turkey for Thanksgiving. Anyway, this demonstrates God’s love for animals. Perhaps we don’t see zombie animals in The Walking Dead because it’s God’s way of protecting them from his anger directed toward humanity due to the disobedience of his law, much like he had done during the time of Noah.

That makes sense, too. Right?

Wrong. It has nothing to do with zoonosis. It has nothing to do with God’s wrath. There is a reason, though. Avid fans of the series probably already know this. Some of you may have even skipped to the bottom of this post to read this final paragraph. Are you ready for it? Are you? Okay. The reason The Walking Dead does not feature zombie animals is that the original comic book illustrator Charlie Adlard “loves drawing people, loves drawing zombies, does not enjoy drawing animals so much,” Robert Kirkman, the creator of the series said on Conan, Mar. 7, 2013. That’s it. Nothing scientific. Nothing divine. It’s a personal preference. And here we’re thinking it has to do with some grand scheme.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, now on sale.

Did you think the answer would have been a complicated scientific explanation?

Monday Mayhem

Zombies & Aliens Too?

Posted on February 24, 2014February 26, 2014 by Jack Flacco

The movie Alien presented an interesting concept to the viewing audience when it first came out in theaters in 1979. The premise goes something like this—humans act as hosts to alien birthing eggs until such time they’re no longer needed and die a miserable death by chest explosion. Interesting, right? Since I’ve been on a zombie/alien kick lately, I thought I’d explore this idea further for Monday Mayhem.

If you’ve read my post Zombies & Aliens? last week, you would know I delved into the unsettling topic regarding a zombie apocalypse brought on by aliens as opposed to a virus. Seeing how many commenters liked the connection, let’s continue on that train of thought to see where it goes. M-kay?

In the 1956 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, aliens embark on an invasion of earth by replacing humans with exact duplicates, except the copies express zero emotion and individuality. Even though the film reflects a perfect commentary of communism in the 1950’s, it also goes on to explain what people would be like should they decide not to express their free will—in essence, the first inkling of a zombie apocalypse even before George A. Romero hit the scene. The only thing missing is the duplicates don’t eat people.

I know I’ve touched on this idea before by mentioning how zombie propagation changes with the times. For instance in the early 1900’s, zombies originated from supernatural practices in Haiti where voodoo doctors resurrected the dead to have them work on sugar plantations. In the late 1960’s the movie The Night of the Living Dead had fun with the notion zombies could originate from a radioactive satellite bursting in earth’s atmosphere rendering those caught in the debris undead. And just recently, The Walking Dead, although not based on an original concept, is burning the ratings by depicting a world gone crazy due to a virus turning people into walkers (a.k.a. eaters of the fleshly kind).

Having all these other interesting causes to choose from, why not entertain the thought that aliens could cause a zombie apocalypse?

For instance, a meteorite could scream to earth and crash in the middle of the woods somewhere in the United States. The Department of Defense sends in a team of scientists to survey the area to investigate if the meteor would present potential harm toward anyone approaching it. One by one, the scientists die by radiation exposure. From the belly of the meteor, an organism crawls its way to the bodies of the scientists, penetrating their mouths, making them their hosts. The bodies soon rise from the dead and moan their way to civilization, but not before attacking a multitude of campers in the area, spreading the organism from one host to the other with a simple bite.

It isn’t until half the country becomes hosts to the dreaded aliens that a nuclear solution gets a green light from the presidential office.

Wouldn’t that make for an awesome story?

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, now on sale.

What do you believe will cause the zombie apocalypse? Alien, virus or voodoo?

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