A year ago, publisher James Roy Daley of Books of the Dead Press sent out a questionnaire to all the authors who’d contributed to his anthology series The Best New Zombie Tales; I was included in the mailing because my story “Laundry Day” had appeared in the second volume. Unfortunately, Roy used only the responses to the first question when he blogged this past summer about the questionnaire; the rest of our responses went unprinted.

And so, with tomorrow ushering in the dreaded Mayan Apocalypse—the one that not even John Cusack could prevent in the movie 2012…or Nicholas Cage in Knowing—I figured, what better time to post an updated version of the full interview? One apocalypse is as good as the next, after all…or is it? Read on!

Why did you decide to write about zombies?

The zombie apocalypse was a genre I hadn’t played with yet, and I’d had an idea for something involving people trapped in a Laundromat when literally all hell breaks loose, so I combined the two; the result was “Laundry Day” in Best New Zombie Tales 2. Since my work tends to be heavily character driven, I focused the story on an average loser so readers would see the end of the world coming through his eyes—and then things get really weird…

The twist ending (readers will have to find that out for themselves) came about early in the writing process. Since the story was going to be included in an anthology of zombie stories, I figured there’d be no surprise in, And then he became a zombie, too! I needed something that would completely throw readers for a loop and, from what folks have told me, I succeeded.

Are you sick of zombies yet, and do you think it would be better if they just went away?

My problem with the genre isn’t so much with the shambling corpses—everybody loves a good post-apocalyptic tale—as with the fact that the still-human characters are usually presented in four extremely limited categories: really annoying whiners; complete pricks; power-mad authority figures; or people who make stupid decisions solely so the plot can progress. (See the movie 28 Weeks Later as an example of all those character types in one setting—plus the added bonus of insufferable children who continually put everyone at risk.)

And yes, there are traces of the whiners and pricks in “Laundry Day,” but it’s not like you’re sitting through an hour-and-a-half movie constantly yelling, “Oh, for fuck’s sake! Really?” The short form allows the writer to get to the point and move on—which usually means the pricks and whiners get on the lunch menu all the quicker. Then you can focus on the important characters.

Do you think the zombie industry will continue to grow, or will it begin to fade? Why?

I think with the arrival of the Walking Dead TV series we may have reached the oversaturation point—the minute something once considered cutting edge has entered the mainstream it starts to lose its appeal. Hell, even the U.S.’s Centers for Disease Control set up a Web site and downloadable comic book for dealing with the zombie apocalypse—you can’t get much more mainstream than by having a government agency ride a trend’s coattails! (Not to mention the scientists at CERN, the Large Hadron Collider facility, recently made their own zombie movie!)

Like all trends, this one will start to cycle down but not go away entirely. Vampires have been in and out of vogue since Bram Stoker wrote Dracula; zombies will eventually follow suit.

What’s your favorite zombie book and film?

The first half of 28 Days Later would be my favorite zombie movie. It’s a great setup, with more than a touch of John Wyndham’s sci-fi novel The Day of the Triffids, with a hospital patient waking up to find the world’s gone to hell, and then wandering the post-apocalyptic streets of London in search of answers. Sure, 28 Days doesn’t involve “real” zombies—but close enough, right? Unfortunately, the second half of the movie becomes cliché-ridden, with its power-mad military leader (played by the ninth Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston!) and rape-focused soldiers.

I guess the Resident Evil movies would count as a guilty pleasure, although they seem to involve the zombie element less and less as the series progresses. Hey, but it’s Milla Jovavich, man!  😉

I don’t have a favorite zombie book—or at least I haven’t found one that really impressed me. I’d heard great things about them, but Brian Keene’s The Rising and City of the Dead were filled with clichéd characters and situations (the crazed military leader, the hooker with a heart of gold, the father who makes stupid choices in his reckless quest to rescue his son, the child who puts everyone at risk), so that was a major turnoff.

An even bigger disappointment was Stephen King’s Cell. I mean, Stephen King writing the zombie apocalypse—how could that ever go wrong? But it was just a completely lame novel—started out strong, then degenerated into a low-budget version of The Stand mixed with third-rate science fiction bullshit. It’s like he was afraid to make a full-on zombie horror novel—and yet one of his closest friends is George Romero, who created the zombie apocalypse genre!

(Oh, wait—was I supposed to say my favorite zombie book is Best New Zombie Tales 2, from Books of the Dead Press, because my story “Laundry Day” appears in it? Damn it! Is it too late to change my answer?)  😀

Best New Zombie Tales 2 is available from Amazon.com here.

Posted in Interviews Tagged best new zombie tales, books of the dead press