There’s plenty to do this weekend, from the zombie walk in Toronto being held in conjunction with the Toronto After Dark Film Festival to the Ottawa Zombie Walk. New York is holding there own today at ZombieCon, where the best and brightest will be munching on tourists in Midtown.

All horror and zombie enthusiasts are invited to join in on this ghoulish spree of shopping, bar-hopping, and street theatrics. Spectators will be eaten–all are encouraged to dress and make-up in their bloody, oozing, putrid, undead best.

The start location and time have been kept secret, but can be received via email at zombiecon@gmail.com. It may be too late by the time you read this, but if you’re wandering the streets be on the lookout for a very fasionable cannibalistic horde. And run. Run as long and hard as you possibly can.

I was lucky enough to snag a copy of Ascension of the Blind Dead when it was first released. Written by Tomb It May Concern’s David Z., Ascension is a continuation of the Blind Dead saga, with the undead Templars coming into conflict with a particularly nasty werewolf, and is a great little taste of irredeemable Euorsleaze goodness. Unfortunately, the chapbook the tale was originally presented in is nearly out-of-print. Happily, to celebrate Friday the 13th David has made a new version of the story, with introduction, available on his new blog, The Story Hole. So if you have a desire to press your luck on this doom-laden day, curl up with some cocoa, dig in and let David know what you think. But don’t get too scared. Remember, they can hear your heart beating.

In one of the strangest pieces of news I’ve come across while writing for this blog, it appears that a Swedish TV channel has placed a help wanted ad looking for zombie hunters.

“We’ve had over 200 applicants,” she told The Local.

The successful applicants will take part in an expedition in the north of the country before heading to Stockholm’s Stureplan on Friday, said Holmquist.

The strange part is that, while this is obviously some sort of publicity stunt, the article seems to have been provided by a regular newsite and shows no trace of satire or explanation as to what this prank is all about. This is especially disturbing considering when you consider that, as seen above, at least one person seems to be taking this seriously.

Watch this space for reports of dead Swedes mistook as zombies in the weeks to come.

One thing leads straight into another. A piece of news left unmentioned in the Kirkman interview is that he has finished writing a prequel to this year’s Marvel Zombies comic, in which the super-heroes of the Marvel Universe became flesh-eating ghouls. That series suggested, but didn’t show, various events that occured during the beginning of the plague. The prequel will address those incidents. For example, Marvel Zombies artist Sean Phillips describes one scene he is busy working on.

And yes, I will have to draw the Avengers eating Jarvis.

For more Marvel Zombie goodies like the picture above, make sure you check Sean Phillips’ blog.

Comic Book Resources has a brand-new Robert Kirkman interview up. Kirkman is the writer behind The Walking Dead, one of the few comics I still actively read, along with Conan and Little Lulu. Don’t laugh.

Comic Book Resources - Now, your zombie story has gone on longer than most attempts. What do you feel the trick is to maintaining a story for this long in the zombie genre?

Robert Kirkman - Not stopping after two hours? By design, the zombie story is geared toward longer stories that follow things to its logical conclusion, but it’s just never been done. I mean, think about how different the world would be after ten years. That’s what I’m working toward - reveal how we get there and show all the changes in people and society and civilization.

The Walking Dead is a comic that has actually caught me off guard and made me gasp in surprise with just the turn of a page. The latest trade paperback for The Walking Dead is out, and I plan on picking it up sometime this weekend.

Have you ever considered a career in horror journalism? If so, please reconsider. Believe me, it’s not worth the misery.

If you choose to ignore my advice, you may want to check out Moore and Reppion’s blog where they have the details on how you can become an intrepid correspondent for Revenant Magazine at Max Brooks’ Film Festival of the Living Dead.

FD and I will pick out the star candidate and he or she will be heading over to the film festival wearing a free Revenant t-shirt and with a free copy of World War Z (courtesy of Duckworth Publishers) under their arm. The tickets will also entitle the winner to attend a question and answer session with WWZ author Max Brooks, so you’d better think of some original questions to ask him too.

All entrants must be over 18 years of age, able to make their own way to and from the events in London, UK and must be prepared and have the necessary equipment to provide a full report on the event (including photographs, if possible).

So if you still insist on travelling down the lonely, drunken road of horror journalism, get cracking.

Pirate-hating he-man Louis Fowler has been steadily posting the various Dawn of the Dead cuts on his blog, including the U.S. version and Goblin’s contribution, with the promise of more to come. And while you’re at it, you may want to dig around for even more classic cult movie soundtracks.

One thing that definitely hurts my credibility as a horror blogger is my indifference to the original Dawn of the Dead (and the remake, for that matter). It’s not that I think it’s bad, or that it isn’t historically important, but I think Romero was just trying too hard, especially in comparison to the effortless beauty of Night of the Living Dead.

One-stop shopping; everything you need, right at your fingertips.

I went through a bubblegum card phase as a kid, and one of my most prized sets was a horror hodgepodge that included films like the remake of The Fly and Pumpkinhead, but I would have flipped if there had been a set of straight-up zombie cards. Answering my prayers, Bubblegumfink has cranked out yet another one of his spectacular faux-bubblegum card sets, this time setting his sights on the original Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero.

Dead Rising, Capcom’s latest zombie game, has proven to be incredibly successful in the first two weeks since it’s release. The game involves a photographer willingly entering a zombie-infested mall to get a scoop and using every possible item within to fight his way back out again. Since I don’t own an XBox 360, I can’t vouch for it’s quality, though I’ve had a number of people at work approach me with unsolicited praise which is always a good indicator. Capcom has released a faux-scientific report that details a possible reason for the zombie infection.

Additionally, rats who reached stage 4 were able to consume items that no rodent would normally consider to be appropriate food. We postulate that this mechanism is in place to guarantee a steady supply of nutrients for the parasite.

The entire thing is kind of dry in its presentation, which seems at odds with the kind of person you can imagine them marketing this to. Still, the explanation itself is interesting.

Via the always delightful Film Junk comes news of yet another campaign to bring director Fred Dekker’s Night of the Creeps and The Monster Squad to DVD. The person behind the drive to have the movies released has taken a page from Ain’t It Cool News book and created ads detailing where to write the owners of the properties through actual letters as opposed to email.

For the sake of your sanity, I will post the contact info below as the ads themselves are ginormous.

For Monster Squad:

Mr. Sumner M. Redstone
Viacom
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

For Night of the Creeps:

Mr. Michael Lynton
Mr. Bob Osher
Sony Pictures Entertainment
10202 West Washingtopn Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232

To be honest, I hope that the companies involved eventually lose interest and grant the rights to Anchor Bay, who has been chomping at the bit to get their hands on these movies and would probably do them right.

In other undead news, zombie criminal behaviour is spreading rapidly. First there were the suspected zombie terrorists, and now zombie protestors have descended upon Sheffield to rally against the transformation of a cemetary chapel into a private home.

The campaigners, carrying a coffin and a mock gravestone, walked from the chapel in Sharrow to the Town Hall where they presented a petition to Sheffield Council containing 3,000 signatures. It was the culmination of weeks of campaigning against the proposals, which included a benefit music event held in the cemetery.

All this recent zombified political action is making me rethink my prejudices toward the undead.

A few days ago, John Campea of the Movie Blog bemoaned the current plethora of zombie movies and asked how and why anyone could possibly enjoy them so much. I started to write out a response, but I couldn’t quite find the crux of my arguement. Then today, while perusing the news, I came upon it. Zombies love kitties (Scroll down).

Join us Saturday July 29th as zombies rise from the dead to raise awareness and funds for the Toronto Cat Rescue. We invite ghouls of all ages to participate in our undead horde as we swarm Queen Street West , followed by a twisted after party and screening of Intercessor.

Reason #3657 for moving to Toronto - Saving kitties and watching Thor as the mighty Intercessor!

Six zombies were arrested in Minneapolis on Saturday for alarming the public.

The six adults and a juvenile male were dressed as “zombies” in tattered clothes and ghoulish makeup when they were arrested in downtown Minneapolis. Police said they were carrying bags with wires sticking out, making the bags look like bombs. Officers said they were uncooperative and intimidated passers-by with their disturbing behavior.

No charges have been made as of yet. The zombies have since been released into the public. We will keep you updated on this situation for as long as the power holds out.

I didn’t realize just how much news comes flying out of the San Diego comic convention. It’s like having Halloween sneak up on you.

“We’re going to make two, sleazy grindhouse movies that will deliver on the posters… and beyond! This isn’t some Twilight Zone the Movie fucking thing. This is not a faux double feature. This is two fucking movies for the price of one! Your $10 will be well spent at the Grindhouse, baby!” - Quentin Tarantino

The most exciting news to come out of San Diego is a batch of Grindhouse announcements. Clips from Rodriguez’ zombie portion, Planet Terror, were shown, a description of which can be found here.

Tarantino’s segment, Death Proof, is not yet in production. He made up for a lack of clips by revealing the name of the actor playing the villain in his piece, previously believed to be Mickey Rourke. Instead, Kurt Russell will be taking the role. As ridiculous as that may seem to some, this is a man who actually kept his Snake Plissken costume for decades just so he could wear it in the sequel. In related news, Rodriguez is in talks with fellow director/composer John Carpenter about creating music for the film.

And with that piece of news my initial excitement is alternating with the fear that a heavily contrived faux-grindhouse flick just can’t match the sleazy intensity of the real thing. Only time will tell.

Poster courtesy of Bloody Disgusting’s excellent coverage of the convention.

Coming Soon.net is reporting that Wesley Snipes is heading back to Horror with the film Gallowwalker.

Snipes will play mysterious gunman Kaos, the son of a nun who breaks her covenant with God to ensure his survival. This act brings a curse upon Kaos - all those that die by his gun will return. Hunted by a gang of his undead former victims, led by the vicious Kansa, Kaos enlists Fabulos, a new young warrior to fight by his side.

I can see how everyone is going to assume this is nothing more than Blade 4, and for all we know that’s how it could end up. Still, in theory it seems likely that Snipes’ new character is going to be slightly more ruthless and amoral than Blade. This time he isn’t necessarily fighting selflessly to protect us, but to clean up a mess brought on by his own evil ways. Add to that a locale outside of the standard North American and Asian settings and maybe Snipes can shake off some of the supernatural hero typecasting that would come from this role.

Update - Official site-to-be?