In preparation for the interview, The Authors Speak is hosting a Zombie Haiku Contest, where you can win a signed copy of Breathers and some Zombies Are People Too swag.

For those who are unfamiliar with haiku, or what it has to do with Breathers, haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that consists of 17 syllables or, apparently, moras, which are units of sound that determine syllable weight. And I’m getting this off of Wikipedia, so don’t yell at me if I’m wrong. Yell at somebody else.

Why is this relevant to zombies? In Breathers, Andy writes haiku that are zombie related, such as this one:

shattered life dangles
a severed voice screams in grief
I’m rotting inside

He also wrote several other haiku that didn’t make it into the final version:

Pine-Sol bubble baths
mask the stench of rotting flesh
I smell like Christmas

Of course, your haiku doesn’t have to be about sentient zombies. It can be from the stereotypical viewpoint with zombies as relentless, flesh eating monsters:

eaten by zombies
last thought is wondering if
I taste like chicken

Or take another perspective. Have fun with it. Just follow the directions on the web site and good luck!

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
The first exposure I had to zombies was through George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. I loved the film, still love it today and watch it at least once a month.

What’s your favorite zombie film?
While my first love was Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, I have to say that the sequel, Dawn of the Dead, is my all-time favorite zombie flick.

Other than a reliable weapon, what one item would be on your Must Have List for the zombie apocalypse?
Some form of deodorant spray. Zombies are attracted to the scent of humans. If I smell like AXE, maybe they won’t be as likely to come for me.

If you could have a pet zombie, what would you name it and who would you feed it?
Duncan, I like the name Duncan. I’m still trying to convince my wife to let me get one of those mini-great white sharks just so I can call him Duncan. So if I had a pet zombie (which my wife would NEVER allow in the house), I’d call him Duncan. I’d probably feed him all the people who said I could never be a writer. That would keep him busy for a while.

What’s the first thing you remember reading that inspired you to want to become a writer?
My very first influences were JAWS by Peter Benchley, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty and Swan Song by Robert McCammon. Those three books made me want to be a writer.

Who’s your favorite author?
Stephen King. Cliche, I know, but that’s all I got.

What’s your favorite word?
Fuck. It has so may uses.

What’s your favorite non-zombie film?
Braveheart.

If you weren’t writing about zombies, what would you write about?
Well since I don’t plan to write about zombies forever, I’m gonna say anything with a supernatural/thriller element to it. I love the genre and it’s something I’ll be doing for the rest of my life. Hopefully.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
Probably the Spongebob Squarepants theme.

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
Right now I’m working on CTHULHU THIS! which is a mix of crime noir, EC comics and Lovecraft mythos. It’s a free web series that I’m doing over at www.jamesmelzer.net. I’m still currently working on the second novel in The Zombie Chronicles, called Invasion. After that I’ll be working my third full-length novel called Hull’s Landing. I’m also gearing up for the release of my first novel, The Zombie Chronicles: Escape, which is coming in March, 2011, from Simon and Schuster.

You can keep up with James and all of his zombie goodness by following him on Twitter or friending him on Facebook. Or visit him on the web where you can still listen to The Zombie Chronicles for free at www.jamesmelzer.net.

As The World Dies:The First Days, the first in her zombie trilogy and her first zombie novel, won the 2008 Dead Letter Award for Best Novel.

I met Rhiannon last September in South Pittsburgh at the Horror Realm Convention, where I had the pleasure of listening to her do a reading. She was kind enough to share her thoughts on some zombie and writing related questions.

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
I saw Night of the Living Dead as a child and it scared me to death. Vampires remained the main boogeymen of my nightmares for a long time, but then I saw Day of the Dead and that pretty much sealed the deal. Zombies haunt my nightmares! That is why I write about them. To wrangle them under control. Which isn’t easy!

What’s your favorite zombie film?
Night of the Living Dead remains my favorite. There is just something about the black and white imagery that terrifies me. The original Dawn of the Dead is also a favorite. Of the recent films, REC and Shaun of the Dead are at the top of the list.

Other than a reliable weapon, what one item would be on your Must Have List for the zombie apocalypse?
A big huge truck with a deer guard and gun rack. And there are a ton of those around here. I do live in Texas.

If you could have a pet zombie, what would you name it and who would you feed it?
I would name it Harvey and make it wear bunny ears. I would feed it boy bands and annoying celebrities who are famous for being a celebrity.

What’s the first thing you remember reading that inspired you to want to become a writer?
From the moment I started talking, I was telling stories. I was inspired to write the first time I understood the concept of a book. I was annoyed with having to wait to go into school to learn to read and write. I wanted to get going! So it wasn’t any particular book, just the fact books exist.

Who’s your favorite author?
Neil Gaimen. He is just a master at using words to paint vivid landscapes and characters that pull me into the canvass. But I’m discovering really great authors all the time like some guy named S. G. Browne that I met at Horror Realm in Pittsburgh.

What’s your favorite word?
Fuck. It’s just way too much fun to say.

What’s your favorite non-zombie film?
Pan’s Labyrinth is a masterpiece and it inspires me every time I watch it. It is so perfect in its storytelling.

If you weren’t writing about zombies, what would you write about?
I also write about vampires (non-sparkly, of course), witches, werewolves, dhamphirs, fallen angels…basically, whatever inspires me.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
“Transylvanian Concubine” by Rasputina sounds good.

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
Presently, my literary agent is pitching As The World Dies:The First Days to the big NYC publishers and it seems to be going very well. What happens with that will have a big impact on what comes next for me. I will be writing Living Dead Boy for the Library of the Living Dead Press very soon for a spring release, but other than that, I’m not really sure.

Isn’t life fun?

If you’d like to keep up with Rhiannon’s writing, you can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, her As the World Dies Fan Page, or on her blog, Zombies, Vampires, and Texans! Oh my!

World War of the Dead, his first solo zombie novel, came out in 2009 while The War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies, a zombie mash-up of the H.G. Wells classic, finished as #8 in the Preditors & Editors readers’ poll for the Best Horror Novel of 2009.

His short fiction has been published hundreds of times, in places such as Dead Worlds 5, Dead History, The Zombist, and Gentlemen of Horror, among others.

When he’s not writing about the living dead, Eric also writes an ongoing column on the world of comic books for Abandoned Towers magazine.

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
My family had just gotten a VCR. Yes, I am that old. I saw Night of the Living Dead on a discount rack of VHS stuff and snagged it because I thought it looked cool. After watching it, I had nightmares for two weeks and fell in love. I raced out and rented a copy of Dawn of the Dead. From that moment on, I was a zombie junkie for life.

What’s your favorite zombie film?
Both Dawn of the Dead films. Though completely different, I love them both. The first is the perfect thinking person’s Z film and the remake is a masterpiece of zombie action.

Other than a reliable weapon, what one item would be on your Must Have List for the zombie apocalypse?
That is a tough one. How about a solar powered laptop with the complete DC and Marvel libraries of everything the two companies have ever published on it? That would help keep me sane and give me something to do when not running for my life.

If you could have a pet zombie, what would you name it and who would you feed it?
Howard, after my beloved cat that passed away a few years back. As to who I would feed it, just annoying people in general. That way I can pick as I go.

What’s the first thing you remember reading that inspired you to want to become a writer?
The Green Lantern comic series from DC. We had career day at school and I went as a GL but they told me I couldn’t be an interstellar cop with a power ring so I looked back down at my shirt and said, “Okay, I’ll be a writer then.” Seriously, I cut my teeth on comics. Series like Green Lantern and the Fantastic Four taught me SF and series like The Legion of Superheroes taught me character development and plot structure. I wanted to create worlds and characters like DC was doing.

Who’s your favorite author?
Of all time? Only one? That’s insane mate. I love David Drake for his action and military SF. I love Lovecraft because he was so ahead of his time and a lot like me on the social level. I really enjoy Dan Simmons’ work and F. Paul Wilson’s. The Keep is one of the greatest books ever. How about a favorite book instead? My favorite, most read book of my life is the first Book of the Dead anthology (this is of course excluding comics).

What’s your favorite word?
Legion.

What’s your favorite non-zombie film?
Ghostbusters! There’s NO question there. It’s the greatest SF/comedy ever made. I couldn’t begin to tell you how times I have watched it. It has some of the best lines ever like, “Back off man, I’m a scientist!” and “Remember that time you tried to drill a hole in your head?” I spent my whole fifth grade year of school decked out in Ghostbusters clothing and today at 35, I can almost quote the entire movie, line for line, from beginning to end.

If you weren’t writing about zombies, what would you write about?
This year, I’ll be trying my hand at two of my other loves: Bigfoot and Superheroes. Bigfoot has terrified me since I was a young child in rural North Carolina. Coscom Entertainment will be releasing my book, Bigfoot War, very shortly, which is my answer to all those annoying Bigfoot movies that only have one monster. Bigfoot War has a whole freaking tribe of ticked off Sasquatchs taking on a southern town and is very true to the Eric S Brown style of gut spilling action that readers saw in Season of Rot.

Also this year, Altered Dimensions Press and The Library of Science Fiction Press will be releasing superhero books from me featuring my own original character, Agent Robert Death. Death is a really screwed up guy with as many issues as he has powers. He leads a rotating team (due to the high mortality rate) of super-powered operatives against both science based and supernatural forces that threaten our plane of existence. Writing superheroes was a scary thing for me because I have been in love with that genre since I was four years old and with comics being such a HUGE part of my life, I had a lot to live up to in my mind. Hopefully, I pulled it off and The Human Experiment and Anti-Heroes (co-written by David Dunwoody) will rock pretty hardcore this coming fall.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
“The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash or the theme from Greatest American Hero. I can be the most depressing person in the room without trying but I also tend to shock fans with how “geeky” I am in person.

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
Bigfoot War is coming very soon from Coscom Entertainment. It’s my own personal most looked forward to book of the year from me. I also have the superhero books I mentioned above coming later this year and a new collection called Tandems of Terror (with John Grover) that’s being released. However, I would like to say if you haven’t read World War of the Dead or The War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies yet, you should really check those out.

If you’re interested in following Eric’s writing endeavors, you can find him on his Facebook profile page.

Although I didn’t contribute a story to the anthology, the editors were kind enough to invite me to write the introduction.

The event kicks off at 5:00PM on Saturday, February 27, at the St. Pete Pier and will include signings by yours truly and the contributors to the anthology, readings from selected stories, live music, and Thrill St. Pete’s reinterpretation of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” It should be a zombie good time. So if you’re in the area and can’t get enough zombies, come on by and join the fun.

In addition to the release party, I’ll be in Florida a few days before appearing at bookstores in Orlando, Sarasota, and St. Petersburg. You can see the details and schedule of the release party and my signings on the Events page or to the right of this post under Upcoming Events.

Hope to see you in Florida!

Even as a young adult, I didn’t tend to read any YA novels. I don’t even know if Young Adult novels existed when I was part of the demographic. But having read a number of them this year, most of them admittedly either about zombies or vampires, I have to say I found Carrie’s debut effort a transcendent read.

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
I’d sworn off all scary movies ever since I was five years old and my babysitter talked me into watching Poltergeist by telling me how much I was like the little girl in the movie (same name, same blond hair, same closet full of stuffed animals). Of course, my parents came home and I never saw the ending and spent the next month unable to sleep with the lights off. Naturally, I wasn’t a fan of scary movies from that point on.

And yet, somehow during my second year of law school my fiancé talked me into going to the opening night of the Dawn of the Dead remake (I can only assume his argument went something along the lines of “It’s Durham NC, what else is there to do?”). I was terrified during the movie and yet so totally pumped up afterward. I couldn’t stop imagining what I’d do if the zombie apocalypse hit.

My fiancé fed my growing addiction with a steady diet of zombie movies and books — he even read The Zombie Survival Guide out loud to me (you can see why my first book is dedicated to him).

What’s your favorite zombie film?
That’s really an unfair question! I actually hated Night of the Living Dead when I first saw it because I was so frustrated the characters couldn’t get their stupid acts together. Then I found out that was the point of the film which I thought was brilliant. I also love Shawn of the Dead because it’s both so crazy hilarious and terribly sad and frightening — they were really able to tease out so many emotions with that film. And of course Dawn of the Dead because it started it all.

It’s the zombie apocalypse. Do you use a gun, a machete, or a Louisville slugger?
Machete. A gun’s only so good as the number of bullets you have and the slugger can (a) get slippery and (b) break.

If you were a zombie, who would you eat first?
The person standing closest to me. I’m lazy and I’m sure that quality will still remain after I’m dead.

What’s the first thing you ever had published?
Other than a few short stories in my college literary magazine, the first work I had published were two essays I wrote to get into law school. One of them was called “Torts vs. Tarts” and was all about how writing romance novels was going to help me be a better lawyer. Must have convinced the admissions office because I was accepted.

Who’s your favorite author?
I can’t play favorites! Right now I’m chewing through all of Jen Lancaster’s backlist because they crack me up.

What’s your favorite book?
I always feel weird saying this, especially since I write young adult books, but my favorite book is Nabokov’s Lolita. I just love the way he plays with language — all the tricks and wordplay and flat out gorgeous language. I also love the idea of taking a hideous subject and making the telling of it beautiful – it really messes with the question of how we define art.

Name your favorite guilty pleasure.
I never feel guilty for pleasure. I do like to sometimes sleep late on work days just because I can and I also love sitting in the shower and going through all the hot water while I drink a really cold beer.

Other than your favorite author/book, name something that inspires your writing.
I get inspired by such random things: music, taking a walk, listening to people talk. I feel like if you relax you’ll find inspiration all over the place.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
Ugh, I have one song stuck in my head which I just can’t put down. Hmmm… I know there’s a perfect song and I just can’t think of it right now. Looking at what’s most played in my iTunes, you’d think it would be “Praan” (which is the music to the Where The Hell is Matt video with him dancing all over the world). But usually my theme song would be something that would make you dance — “Hey Ya” would be a good one or Ben Folds Five’s “There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You.” And now you see just how indecisive I can be in my life!

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
Next up is the paperback release of my debut, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, on February 8, 2010 and then The Dead-Tossed Waves, which is a companion to my debut, out March 9, 2010.

If you’d like to visit Carrie and learn more about her writing and her novels, you can find her at www.carrieryan.com. Or follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/carrieryan.

Although I haven’t had the chance to enjoy more than a few words with Mark, we have swapped meaningful glances on a couple of occasions. However, I have no doubts that most of the memorable comments from any conversation we might have would come from him.

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
Oddly enough, my own mother played a hand in my zombie deflowering. Let me take you back. It was 1978, and little I was an impressionable child—and by “impressionable” I mean “prematurely pervy”—on my birthday that year, my mother went down to our local lending library and checked out a God’s honest film projector and canisters of George Romero’s classic reinvention of the zombie mythos, Night of the Living Dead. She presented it like a gangsta on the wall of our 1960’s era rambler in full of view of a rather jittery gathering of pre-teens. I’m fairly certain young minds were traumatized that day, stunted even. But not mine, I…was in love.

What’s your favorite zombie film?
It really depends on the day, but today I’m feeling goofy, so I’ll go with Return of the Living Dead, that 80s classic of zombie comedy. And here’s why. One, Linnea Quigley dancing on graves topless with bleached out punker hair. Yes, please. Two, “Send more paramedics” is one of the funniest lines in the history of ever. Three, Braaaaiiinnnnnsssss! Before this ground breaker, zombies were content to just eat any old body part and be satisfied that there was no better flavor to be found in a squiggling panicked victim. Return gave them a flavor fave, and I’m all about the food obsessions, so thank you Dan O’Bannon. You’re okay in my book.

It’s the zombie apocalypse. Do you use a gun, a machete, or a Louisville slugger?
Gotta go with the machete. I’m a cook, so I’m most comfortable with a knife in my hand, if I can’t choose wiener, that is—of course, a penis is not a weapon, and if it’s being wielded as such ladies, please purchase a machete.

If you were a zombie, who would you eat first?
Because, above all else, I’m a loyal husband, I’d have to say…my wife! Plus, I can smell her spleen and I bet it’s as succulent as they come.

What’s the first thing you ever had published?
A short story called “An Acquired Taste.” It was actually the birth of Amanda and Wendy and not at all good. Not. At. All.

Who’s your favorite author?
That’s a tough one, because I love different authors for different reason. King, Barker, Rice. Hell, Sedaris and Burroughs are huge for me. I even love Alexander McCall Smith. I’m obsessed with some cozy mysteries. Now you have me all discombobulated. I guess I’ll go with Stephen King. He was my favorite as a kid and young adult and I still buy his stuff, though not this last one, Under the Dome. I didn’t buy that one. I got one of only 100 ARCs printed, bitches. Read it and weep!

What’s your favorite book?
Definitely The Stand by Stephen King. I’ve got a boner for apocalyptic epics that aren’t completely depressing **cough**The Road**cough**. Plus, I kind of have to say it because Randall Flagg is following me on Twitter. It’s safer that way. (If you want to follow me, I’m mark_henry, go to it!)

Name your favorite guilty pleasure.
God. I wish I felt guilt so this could be an easier question. I’ll tell you, I can’t resist the call of the Twitter. It’s so bad, I wouldn’t exactly call it a pleasure. Oh wait!!! I do have one. Gourmet Roach Coaches! There’s this one in Seattle that I’m obsessed with called Marination Mobile. It just won the Good Morning America best Food Truck in America and has the most awesome Hawaiian Spam sliders. Seriously, you’d sock your mom for these bad boys. Uhhhhhhh.

Other than your favorite author/book, name something that inspires your writing.
John Waters, the film director, is a huge influence. A bunch of my friends and I got into his early films in High School. Starting with the innocuous Polyester. I’m pretty sure that flick was my first exposure to 300 pound drag queens, but dammit, Divine was a lady and Waters crammed so much bizarre and irreverent imagery, characters and scenes into that one, I was hooked. Then of course we saw Pink Flamingos. What’s really funny is, I’ve been re-reading the third book in my series and was so proud that the dialogue read like a John Waters script. I almost wept.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
“Destroy Everything You Touch” by Ladytron. No question. If something can go wrong with me, it will. Every time. That’s no joke either. People in my life accuse me of being jinxed.

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
What’s next, thankfully, is the mass-market paperback reissue of Happy Hour of the Damned (Jan. 26, 2010), the first book in my Amanda Feral zombie comedy series. A trade paperback does not fare well in the urban fantasy genre, where readers are used to testing new authors for no more than $7.99. Add into that the fact that the publishing industry took some pretty big hits in the past couple of years and what I’m left with is a series in jeopardy. So I started this little campaign to promote the re-release. Learn more about Save Amanda Feral at www.markhenry.us.

A month later, Battle of the Network Zombies (Feb. 24 2010), my third Amanda book hits store shelves. In this one, Amanda’s hit the skids both financially and with new(ish) boyfriend, Scott. You know what could turn her shit around? A guest judging gig on a super seedy reality competition show! But when the star, an oversexed wood nymph, turns up charbroiled, Amanda must pull a Miss Marples (minus the fugly sweaters) and solve the crime with a film crew in tow. It’s, at least, 50 percent dirtier than anything I’ve ever written and I’m in love with it, hope everyone else will be.

You can visit Mark and learn more about Amanda Feral at www.markhenry.us. Or follow his musings on Twitter at mark_henry.

Although I have not had the pleasure of meeting Amanda in person, I’ve known her through e-mail and Twitter for more than a year. I hope one day to have the chance to buy her a cup of coffee. Or maybe some braaaaains.

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
Do we count Evil Dead as a zombie movie? I can never tell with these things but that was probably the first one I ever saw. Mind you, I was more concerned about the tree than anything else. Anyway, I went to see it with a group of friends at the drive-in back in the eighties! Does that date me?

What’s your favorite zombie film?
Shaun of the Dead closely followed by Fido and 28 Days Later.

It’s the zombie apocalypse. Do you use a gun, a machete, or a Louisville slugger?
Less known fact about zombies is that they really hate water so obviously I would go for my son’s turbo charged water gun (okay, and the machete because lets face it, purple and orange colored water guns don’t really look so tough).

If you were a zombie, who would you eat first?
Good question and considering that my motto is: you are what you eat, I think I would probably be ridiculously selective about what flesh passed my dainty little jaws, since no one wants to turn into a fat truck driver who has a builder’s bum. Or for that matter a school teacher with badly dyed hair. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think I’ll have to be a vegan zombie. I can do that, right?

What’s the first thing you ever had published?
You Had Me at Halo which was about a dead girl who got kicked out of heaven and sent back to earth in someone else’s body, in order to sort out her issues. Only problem is that they guy who owned the body hadn’t exactly vacated the premises so they are forced to do a bit of body sharing and soul searching all at the same time!

Who’s your favorite author?
Ack – this is an evil question. I seriously have so many favorite authors but Jane Austen is probably at the top of the list (and no, I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies yet but it’s on the list!)

What’s your favorite book?
Again an evil question and one that I refuse to partake in so the best I can do is narrow it down to my top five:

The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Arabella by Georgette Heyer
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Magician by Raymond E. Feist

Name your favorite guilty pleasure.
I save guilt for boring things like feeding my kids too many chicken nuggets and not enough broccoli but when it comes to my own pleasure I’m pretty guilt-free. Which is probably lucky because I do spend a lot of time watching television and DVDs!!!!!! Right now I’m making my husband re-watch every episode of Friends and Buffy with me!

Other than your favorite author/book, name something that inspires your writing.
Movies and television. I have no desire to write them myself but I get endlessly inspired by watching them.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
Obviously that would be “Eye of the Tiger!”

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
Fairy Bad Day is out in Spring 2011 and is about a teenage girl whose plans to follow in her mom’s illustrious footsteps as a dragon slayer are thrown into disarray when she suddenly begins to see fairies. Invisible, killer fairies…

Amanda Ashby is the author of You Had Me At Halo and Zombie Queen of Newbury High.

You can visit her at www.amandaashby.com and on Twitter at twitter.com/amandaashby.

I met Dan this past October at the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose over Halloween weekend. He was kind enough to take some time out of his busy holiday schedule to sit down and answer some questions about zombies and other non-living impaired subjects.

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
I’m thinking that it was probably viewing some vengeful muck-encrusted shambler from an E.C. comic reprint like Tales From the Crypt. All of the writers whose work I enjoyed at the time would wax rhapsodic about the old E.C. days in interviews, and their kid protagonists would always be reading and hoarding E.C. comics, hiding them from their parents, older brothers, and “the Man”, etc. The legends made me very zombie curious. I had to get some of those brain rotting texts.

I always liked this one, with the girl mourning the death of her poor boyfriend, Ralph, wishing he’d come back to her.

Be careful what you wish for, especially if it is for dead boyfriends or more wishes. Those wishes never turn out well. Play it safe and wish for a decent sandwich.

What’s your favorite zombie film?
Zombie Nightmare, starring my good friend Thor. I’m partial to the MST3K version.

It’s the zombie apocalypse. Do you use a gun, a machete, or a Louisville slugger?
Well, Thor was seen wielding a Louisville Slugger in Zombie Nightmare and Thor is never wrong. He doesn’t use it to crush the skulls of the undead, preferring to employ it in more mundane tasks, such as actually playing baseball. Going 4 for 5 with three runs batted in didn’t help him much when the Voodoo Queen zombified him, though, did it?

If you were a zombie, who would you eat first?
Scarlett Johansson. She seems really brainy.

What’s the first thing you ever had published?
The first thing that I had published for money was a short-lived (har har) music column I called Dead Beats, where I reviewed horror punk music like Dr. Chud’s X Ward and The Rosedales. Getting paid was nice, but the best part was that I conned some music labels to send me free CDs that I otherwise would have wasted my Dead Beats checks on anyway. BTW, horror punk music labels, I’d be glad to flog your tunes on my blog if you want to send more swag my way. I have to like it, though.

Who’s your favorite author?
Webb Glass

What’s your favorite book?
Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Name your favorite guilty pleasure.
Dinty Moore Beef Stew

Other than your favorite author/book, name something that inspires your writing.
My children, music, puppies, long walks on the beach, horseback riding.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
“Where Eagles Dare” by Iron Maiden or “Crushing Belial” by Shadow’s Fall.

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
The third volume in the Generation Dead series, entitled Passing Strange, will be out next June.

Dan Waters is the author of the Generation Dead series. He lives with his family in Connecticut.

You can visit him at www.danielwaters.com or www.gendead.com or visit Tommy and the gang at www.mysocalledundeath.com.

Have you always loved zombies?
Do you think you’ll survive the zombie apocalypse?
Is it necrophilia if you’re both dead?

In case you’re curious, the answers are:

Yes.
No.
Probably not.

Truth is, I’m not an authority on zombie sex. However, I do know a lot about sloughage, frothy purge, and cadaver impact testing.

For some reason, this troubles my parents.

But the one question that seems to come up most often is:

Why do you think zombies are so popular right now?

I hear a lot of people saying that the current mainstream popularity of zombies is a direct reflection of global fears regarding the economy and terrorism. Horror as catharsis for the fears and anxiety of a society making commentary on itself. They contend that zombies are the proletarians of the monster hierarchy and in troubled economic times, they become the poster child for the financial ills of a nation.  An allegory for the end of the world as we know it.

Me?  I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid.  I don’t believe the current surge in zombie popularity has anything to do with a reflection of global or economic fears.  And I sure as hell didn’t write Breathers because I was concerned about terrorists or my IRA.

Truth is, I think people have a tendency to apply social context where it doesn’t exist.

After all, where was the zombie mania during other major crises or catastrophes of the 20th century?  Like the Vietnam War? Or Watergate? How about the Iranian Hostage Crisis? The Stock Market crash of 1987? The Persian Gulf War? The election of George W. Bush?

It didn’t exist. Not on this scale.

So what happened to make them so popular today?  I’ll tell you what happened.  Zombies were taken out of their proverbial archetypal box.  No longer are they just the shambling, mindless, flesh-eating ghouls we’ve known and loved for most of the part four decades. They’ve expanded their range, become more versatile. More well-rounded. And who doesn’t enjoy a well-rounded zombie?

28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake made them faster.  Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland made them funnier. Fido made them domesticated.

Meanwhile, zombie fiction developed into a solid sub-genre, getting its start in 1990 with the publication of the John Skipp and Craig Spector anthology Book of the Dead.  Prior to that, zombie literature didn’t really exist and it didn’t really explode until this decade.

The new millennium brought with it a surge of zombie fiction, including, among others, The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z (Max Brooks), The Rising (Brian Keene),  Monster Island (David Wellington), Cell (Stephen King), Patient Zero (Jonathan Maberry), Day By Day Armageddon (J.L. Bourne), Happy Hour of the Damned (Mark Henry), Breathers, and of course, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith).

Not to mention all of the YA titles, like The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Carrie Ryan), Generation Dead (Daniel Waters), Zombie Queen of Newbury High (Amanda Ashby), and You Are So Undead To Me (Stacey Jay).

Young adult readers aren’t eating these up because they’re afraid of what’s happening to their 401k’s or if some terrorist is going to board their plane.  They’re reading about zombies because they’re fun and scary and entertaining.

Truth is, today’s zombies are faster.  Funnier.  Sentient.

In addition to running like Olympic sprinters, being domesticated as pets, and fighting for their civil rights, modern zombies write haiku, perform household chores, and are used as terrorist weapons. They can also be found on the Internet going to marriage counseling, falling in love, and singing to their former co-workers about how they want to eat their brains.

That’s why zombies are so popular today.  To misquote Bill Clinton, it’s not the economy, stupid.  It’s the fact that they’re branching out and discovering that undeath isn’t just about decomposing and eating brains anymore.