Top Ten Zombies
Thanks for
welcoming me to your blog.
Everyone’s top 10 list is different, of
course. For variety, I decided to do a list with favorites in different
categories. Here are a few of tm books, movies and TV shows I like, in no
particular order.
I like classic
horror films, so I’d have to list:
1. Boris Karloff as Frankenstein (1931)
Well, technically, Frankenstein’s monster. Is
he a zombie? No, not in the traditional or 21st century sense of how we define zombies.
But he was one of the first undead characters to haunt our nightmares. The
movie is still fascinating.
2. Bela Lugosi in White Zombie (1932). I’ve always liked Bela Lugosi. Odd story, odd
characters, odd zombie and so creepy. What more could you ask for?
Modern movies:
3. George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968). Grossed me out when I first saw it
as a teenager years ago, but in watching it in later years, I can appreciate
the nuances and the subtle horrors. It’s actually a sad movie.
4. Zombieland
– I liked the humor of it. Just kind of fun. They’re doing a sequel,
supposedly, though I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not. Sequels are
either hit or miss.
5. World
War Z – Some criticized the movie but I liked it. I thought the sheer
amount of zombies piling on each other was pretty incredible.
TV:
6. The
Walking Dead, of course. Got me totally hooked via the characters and what
happens to them, despite some really gross zombies at times. But the makeup and
effects are superb.
7. iZombie – it’s fun and quirky. I don’t
watch it all the time, but I do enjoy it.
In books:
8. Jonathan Maberry, Dead of Night. It’s one of the first zombie books I read and I was
entranced by the story of bringing this serial killer back to life.
9. Daryl Gregory, Raising Stony Mayhall, a completely different take on the idea of
zombies with the story of what happens to a little boy who’s found and is
undead. But I wasn’t too fond of the ending.
10. There are so many other books that
offer such different premises. To name a few: a Zombie who loves Taco Bell in The Misadventures of Bob the Zombie by
Jaime Johnesee; Dinos meet zombies in the new Zombie World by Mark Cusco Ailes; and more zombie humor in the Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator series
by Karina Fabian, plus a kick-butt heroine in Dana Fredsti’s Ashley Park
series, including Plague World.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my own
book, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter. I
liked writing Lizzie and I liked thinking up different zombies for her changed
world. It was great fun to do.
That’s all I can
think of for now. Hopefully I came up with a few of someone else’s favorites or
maybe some they not have heard of.
Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter
C.A. Verstraete
Genre: Horror/Dark Fantasy
Paranormal/ Zombie/Mystery
Publisher: Imajin Books
Date of Publication: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77223-273-8
ASIN: B01KISRS80
Number of pages: 232
Word Count: 74,000 +
Cover Artist: Ryan Doan
Book Description:
Every family has its secrets…
One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become zombies?
Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.
Chapter One
Q. You saw
his
face covered with blood?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Did
you see
his eyeball hanging
out?
A. No sir.
Q. Did you see the gashes where his face was laid open?
A. No sir.
—Lizzie Borden at inquest, August 9-11,
1892, Fall River Courtroom
August 4,
1892
Lizzie Borden drained
the rest of her
tea, set down
her cup, and listened
to the sound of furniture moving upstairs. My, my,
for
only ten o’clock in the morning my stepmother is certainly energetic.
Housecleaning, already?
THUMP.
For a moment, Lizzie forgot her plans to go shopping downtown. THUMP. There it
went again. It sounded like her
stepmother was
rearranging the whole room. She paused at the bottom stair, her concern
growing, when she heard another thump and then, the
oddest
of sounds—a moan. Uh-oh. What was that? Did she hurt herself?
“Mrs. Borden?” Lizzie called. “Are you all right?”
No
answer.
She wondered if her stepmother had taken ill,
yet the shuffling, moving, and other unusual noises continued. Lizzie hurried up the stairs
and paused outside the partially opened
door. The strange moans coming from the room sent a shiver up her
back.
Lizzie pushed the door open wider and stared. Mrs. Abby Durfee Borden stood in front of the bureau mirror, clawing at
her reflected
image. And
what a horrid image
it was. The
sixty-seven-year-old woman’s hair looked like it had never been combed
and stuck out like porcupine
quills. Her usually
spotless housedress
appeared wrinkled and
torn.
Yet,
that wasn’t the
worst. Dark red
spots—Blood, Lizzie’s mind whispered—dotted
the
floor and streaked the sides of
the older woman’s
dress and sleeves.
Lizzie gazed about the room
in alarm. The tips of Father’s slippers
peeking out from beneath the bed also glistened with the same viscous red liquid. All that blood! What happened here?
What
happened?
She gasped, which got the
attention of Mrs. Borden, who
jerked her head and growled. Lizzie choked back
a cry
of alarm. Abby’s square,
plain face now
appeared twisted and ashen gray. Her eyes, once bright with interest, stared from
under a milky covering as if she had cataracts.
She resembled a female version
of The Portrait of Dorian Gray. Another
growl and a moan, and the
older woman lunged, arms rigid, her stubby
hands held out like claws.
“Mrs. Borden,
Abby!” Lizzie yelled and stumbled backward as fast as she could.
“Abby, do you
hear
me?”
Her stepmother shuffled forward, her steps slow but steady. She
showed no emotion or sense of recognition. The only utterances she made were those strange low moans.
Lizzie moved back even further,
trying to keep some distance
between her and Mrs. Borden’s grasping fingers.
Then her foot hit something. Lizzie quickly glanced down at the silver hairbrush that had
fallen to the floor. Too
late, she realized her error.
“No!” Lizzie cried out at the strange feeling of her stepmother’s
clammy, cold hand around her wrist. “Abby, what happened? What’s wrong with
you?”
Mrs. Borden said nothing and moved in closer. Her mouth opened
and closed,
revealing bloodstained teeth.
“No! Stay away!” Lizzie yelled.
“Stop!”
She didn’t. Instead, Mrs.
Borden
scratched and
clawed at her. Lizzie leaned back, barely escaping the snap of the madwoman’s teeth
at her
neck.
“Mrs. Bor—Abby! No, no!
Stop!”
Lizzie’s slight advantage of a few
inches in height offered no protection against her shorter stepmother’s almost demonic and inhuman strength. The older woman bit and snapped like a rabid dog. Lizzie
struggled to
fight her off, and shoved her away, yet Mrs. Borden attacked again and again, her hands grabbing, her
teeth seeking
the
tender flesh
covered by Lizzie’s long,
full sleeves.
The two of them grappled and wrestled, bumping
into the bedposts
and banging into furniture. Lizzie yelped each time her soft flesh hit something
hard. She felt her
strength
wane as the crazed woman’s gnarled hands clawed at her. Lizzie wondered how
much more she could
endure.
Lizzie’s
cries for help came out hoarse and
weak.
“Em-Emma!”
She tried again. “Help! Help me!” She knew Emma had come in late last night from her trip out of town. But if Emma already woke and went
downstairs, will she even
hear
me?
Lizzie reeled back, her panic growing as her spine pressed against the fireplace. She pushed and fought in an attempt to keep this monster away, yet Mrs. Borden’s ugly face and snapping teeth edged closer and closer.
Then Lizzie spotted it: the worn hatchet Father had left behind after he’d
last brought in
the
newly chopped wood. No, no! Her mind filled with horror,
but when
her stepmother
came
at her again, Lizzie whispered a prayer for forgiveness and
grabbed the
handle. She lifted the
hatchet high overhead and swung as
hard as she could. It hit her
stepmother’s skull with a sickening thud.
As impossible as it seemed, Mrs. Borden snarled and
continued her attack.
Lizzie hit her again, and again, and again. The blows raked her stepmother’s face and scraped deep furrows into
tender flesh. The metal hatchet head pounded her stepmother’s shoulders and arms, the bones
giving
way
with
sickening crunches.
Mrs. Borden’s
broken
arms dangled, hanging
limp and ugly
at her sides… and yet, dear God, yet she
continued her attack.
With the last bit of her strength, Lizzie raised the hatchet again and brought it down on Mrs. Borden’s head. Only then did her stepmother crumple and fall into a pile at Lizzie’s feet.
It took
a few minutes for Lizzie to comprehend the horrible scene. It didn’t seem
real, but it was. With a cry, she threw the bloodied hatchet
aside. She gagged as the weapon caught in the braided artificial hairpiece hanging from the back of Mrs. Borden’s gore-encrusted scalp.
Retching, Lizzie ran to the other side of the bed, bent over, and vomited into the chamber pot. She crossed the room and leaned against the wall, her shoulders shaking with each heart-rending sob.
Her hands trembled so hard she could barely hold them still, but she
managed to cover her eyes in a feeble attempt to block out the carnage. It didn’t
stop the horrific images that flashed in her mind, or the many
questions. And it certainly did nothing
for the soul-crushing guilt that filled her.
Why? she
cried. Why? Dear God, what have I done? What have I
done?
Christine (C.A.) Verstraete enjoys putting a bit of a “scare” in her writing. He stories have appeared in various anthologies and publications including Mystery Weekly, Happy Homicides 3: Summertime Crime, Siren’s Call Magazine, and more. She also is the author of books on dollhouses and a YA novel, GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie.
Her latest novel is Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter.
Learn more at her website, http://cverstraete.com and her blog, http://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com
Twitter: @caverstraete https://twitter.com/caverstraete
Goodreads:
No comments:
Post a Comment