In this day and age, just about anyone can self publish a book. Many artists have taken up the title of authorship and have released their own books featuring sketchbooks, instructional guides, and an array of comic books. One of my favorite character designers, Ben Balistreri, recently finished up work on his comic book, “Seaweed”. According to Ben, it took him nearly six years to accomplish the task as he single handedly produced all the artwork found in this over-sized book. It measures a good 12×15 and all 64 pages are in glorious color.

The story is about a pirate, Seaweed, and his first mate, Poisson, who have a chance meeting with a bat named Mildew who is looking for The Devil’s Cookbook which can grant anyone who has it practically enternal life. As you can see, everyone here is an animal or fish of some sort. It reminds me a lot of the early Disney shorts where everyone is an animal, or like how in the Goofy shorts there’s an entire hockey rink of Goofies. There’s not a human in sight in Seaweed’s world and I think its all for the better.

I like stuff about zombies. Sure, vampires are cool and I guess werewolves have their moments (few and far between). There’s just something about zombies that gets me where it counts. I mean, is it so unthinkable that a virus exists that could turn humans into mindless, flesh-eating monsters? I’m sure there’s some military research program out there devoted to creating a biological “zombie bomb”, I mean look at all the other weird shit they come up with.

Anyway, since Halloween is right around the corner, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite zombie related movies, books and video games. I hope you enjoy it and maybe discover something new. In no particular order…

If you’re like me, you have probably found yourself scowling at your back door around 2 AM, realizing that it would be very easy for a zombie to gain entry to your home. Maybe you’ve already spent sleepless nights lying in bed pondering how you could close your attic door from the inside, and figured out a method to survive up there over a long period of time. If you sleep with a Katana less than 5 feet away from you at all times, then “The Zombie Survival Guide” by Max Brooks is probably the book for you.

The title pretty much sums up exactly what this book is all about. Written in an instructional guide format it provides you with everything you need to know in the event of an outbreak of the undead. Ranging from practical knowledge about Zombie physiology and proper corpse disposal methods to weapons and home fortification, this book is an absolute asset. You may be saying to yourself “But Steve, a Zombie invasion? Ludicrous!”. Well… that’s the exact kind of mentality that gets motherfuckers killed. Worse than killed actually, you will become one of them: a mindless, automation bent only on the consumption of human flesh. Me? I’m not taking any chances for the well being of my family.