Sick Day, Bloody Sick Day

Last week I had the pleasure of my second summer cold of the season, and while lying around coughing uncontrollably I thought about good sick day movies.

For me, a good sick day film has to be relatively low on gore and surrealism. Even mild fevers mess with my head, I don’t need the film to add to it. So I tend towards older films that are creepy or fun in a spooky way. Even better if it’s something I’ve seen a billion times, so I won’t miss out if I drift in and out while sitting on what I have dubbed the Couch of Doom, due to its seemingly mystical ability to cause sleepiness even when one is perfectly healthy and alert.

So as my immune system waged a war so forceful that I hoped my respiratory system would remain in tact, I came up with three solid pre-1970’s films starring horror icons to help me pass the time.

Book & Brew: Zombies!

I've been on vacation for the past week or so, but before I took my time off I got to work on a fun project for a library display. I was pretty excited about the program lineup I'd worked on for Fall, which includes a lecture on home brewing called You Can Brew It! It gave me an idea to make a book display that would pair up books with craft beers, based around their theme. I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas- and I got plenty of help from my friends! On the display we'll have bookmarks I made that feature a book-beer pairing, or to suggest a list of books that matched a particular beer's theme. I've taken to calling them "brewmarks."

(See the end of the entry for thumbnails and links to the brewmarks!)

Book review: Warm Bodies

As I write this, the film version of WARM BODIES is burning a hole in my dining room table. After reading the book, I'm both dying to watch it, and a little nervous. I'm worried that it will pale in comparison to the novel. I'm worried it will turn into a completely different type of story just based on the trailer I saw a while back. I'm worried it will lose everything that I loved about it.

Boing Boing interviews Faith Erin Hicks

I may have hit on a sustainable theme through my Women in Horror Comics blog series, at least as long as I keep stumbling upon interesting information about the female comic creators I discovered during that process.

Keyboarding with Zombies

Friends, Library of the Dead users, confused yet intrigued first time visitors, let's venture back in time to the mid-90's. Way before THE WALKING DEAD was even a comic, let alone a TV show or a video game, before LEFT 4 DEAD, before DEAD RISING, a couple of major video game series were just beginning. It wasn't the first time some form of zombie would appear in a game (that's been going on for at least 30 years) but both RESIDENT EVIL and HOUSE OF THE DEAD would have a significant impact on horror video games featuring the undead.

The Unquiet Dead

While horror is my main passion, I have a lot of love for other genres like sci-fi and fantasy. It's not so far-fetched really, there's a lot of cross-over. Horror appeals much more to an emotional response, while the others focus on the characters, plot details or setting. But they share an interest in the fantastical or speculative.

Right now I'm allowing myself to get hooked on Doctor Who. I had never watched it before, but the only Doctor Who I've ever been familiar with was this guy:

A Recap and Look Forward

This has been one hell of a week for Women in Horror Month! If you haven’t been following all of the events and blog posts and links and everything over on Facebook or Twitter, then your head probably isn’t spinning as much as mine is.

Film review: The Revenant

I had heard some good things about THE REVENANT, enough to pursue a copy to watch myself. I love good horror-comedies when I can find them, like SHAUN OF THE DEAD, SLITHER, ZOMBIELAND and my most recent favorite TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL. I can't say that REVENANT knocks any of those four out of their prime positions in that sub-genre for me, but it's original, different and does have some truly funny moments that make it worth checking out.

The Last Man Among the Walking Dead

I had a recent moment of synchronicity in which I was working my way through a couple more hardcover collections of THE WALKING DEAD comics, and then had a hankering for an old black and white horror and/or sci-fi film. In retrospect I shouldn't be surprised, and to say that the comics, the craving and the movie that I chose weren't linked is an exaggeration. But I hadn't connected them in a conscious way, at least not until I discovered that THE LAST MAN ON EARTH was available to stream on Netflix. (Update 8/9/21: It is no longer available on Netflix. See end notes for other streaming options.)

Film review: Rec 3: Genesis

The first [REC] is one of the best horror films to come out in the past few years. I was completely unprepared the first time I watched it and, as a result, terrified. I couldn't look out my windows, I didn't want to sleep. It was so well done, so perfectly claustrophobic and realistic that I couldn't turn off that little panic switch in my head.

Before seeing it for myself, I had heard that REC 3 was not like the other two films that came before it, but wanted to give it a chance. Unfortunately the person who told me that was right, it's a different zombie movie altogether.

Horror Marathon: Snow Edition

Chicagoland gets its share of wintery weather, and then some. The icy winds, the lake effect snow, the inevitable Hoth jokes. The cold doesn't get to me, but I despise ice and snow unless I'm housebound. This year we've had an extremely mild winter so far which I am delighted about. But what I do love is the effect all that cold, wet, frozen stuff has in a horror movie. As part of my December vacation I decided to have a marathon of snowy terror in lieu of the real thing.

Zombie Statistics

Nothing punches up charts and graphs like a handful of the walking dead! Or in this case, hundreds of them. Canada's National Post has a lovely bunch of zombie statistics based on, well, The Walking Dead's two and half seasons worth of kills. Had to be fun being in the Post's art department the day they pitched this one.

And if you haven't already, check out The Talking Dead Podcast or Live Show with Chris Hardwick for more undead analysis and discussion!

That reminds me, I have mega-serious catching up to do on the Walking Dead comics!

Zombies on Ice!

If you live in the Chicago area and like more Halloween in your Christmas, you absolutely must check out Zombies on Ice 2012! It's happening Sunday, December 16th from 2:30-5:30 p.m. with more undead fun at the Christmas Market afterwards. They'll be skating at the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park, which is the rink under the Bean. 

Sadly, I will not be there. The Librarian of the Dead has to slave over her reference desk that Sunday. Always missing out on something the weekends I've gotta work! I'm not big into Christmas anyways, but this would definitely have been a sight for red-and-green sore eyes. Have a blast for me!

Zombies on Ice 2012 via ChicagoZombie.com