The Z-Realm Podcast

30 - Transformations

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:18:00 +0000

We are back to AMC's The Walking Dead again for this episode of the Z-Realm podcast. We look at one of the strongest episodes so far from season 2 of this very popular show. The characters were each shown to be at different steps along the path of The Hero's Journey. Rick continues to become more and more of a take-charge guy, Shane slips deeper into the darkness, Glenn questions himself almost existentially, Lori finds her power in the manipulation of others and Daryl and Carol continue to battle with the demons of their pasts. This was a strong, character-driven episode but it also had some spectacularly violent gore scenes. This episode was a total winner. Come listen to us ramble about the show's strengths and let us know what you thought of it by writing to us at mail@z-realm.com or by leaving a message over on the Facebook page.

Episode 29 - The Voice of Reason

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:46:00 +0000

Now that the zeitgeist whale of the NFL has left the scene, there is room for the smaller creatures in the sea of culture, like the second half of the second season of AMC’s The Walking Dead, to come out and play. In this episode, most of the characters are floundering in the aftermath of shattered delusions, and some of them finally tune in to the voice of reason. All of Rick’s band confront the fact that their weeks-long search for the missing Sophia was a deluded folly, and Hershel turns to the bottle in the face of the realization that the “walkers” really are dead and that his wife and son will not be getting better. The episode returns us to some exhausted conversations that stand in for the rare and elusive zombies in this zombie apocalypse, and just when it seems like AMC is putting back on the same, way-too-familiar treadmill, new characters show up and give us hope for the series. Did I say, “hope?” We don’t need hope. We need frakking ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES, AMC! We need zombies in our zombie TV show.

Max Brooks Fresh from WWZ Filming Location

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:45:00 +0000

Normally I would link to an article like this rather than cut and paste the whole thing to this blog, but I didn't see a way to link to a particular item on the source website:

http://www.maxbrookszombieworld.com/

-----------------------

A CONVERSATION WITH MAX BROOKS
AUTHOR OF THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE
AND WORLD WAR Z

Q: You just returned from the set of Paramount’s World War Z adaptation starring Brad Pitt. What can you tell us about the movie?

I didn’t get a chance to see much. The scene I witnessed was immense and complicated and there was a lot of prep time between shots. I can say that this movie is truly massive. I witnessed hundreds of extras, civilians, police, and soldiers. As epic as it looked, I was told that similar scenes were already shot in different locations like Cornwall and Malta. I hear they will be shooting more outside of London and somewhere in Eastern Europe. So far it seems to be as large and global as my book.

Q: World War Z is one of the biggest selling original zombie novels of all time. Talk about its genesis, including your discussions with the publisher over the title.

I wanted to call it Zombie War. It was a simple title that I thought described the story quite well. I’d written a book on how to survive zombies that I called The Zombie Survival Guide, so when writing a book about a worldwide war against zombies, why not call it Zombie War. The publisher was against the title because, at the time, zombies were seen as too niche and they thought some people might be turned off by that word. My agent, Ed Victor, had once jokingly called it “World War Z” so I thought that might be a good compromise.

Q: This October a $7.99 mass-market edition of World War Z is being released. To date, there are almost 1 million copies in print of it. How has the reaction differed since the novel first came out in September 2006?

I never, EVER expected this book to do remotely as well as it has. I mean, c’mon! A book about zombies told as a Studs Terkelesque oral history? I’m still convinced that most of the sold copies were bought by my dad.

Q: There is also a new chapter to your #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel, The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks. The new chapter is called “Downtown L.A.” Describe what fans can expect here.

The story comes right out of the back of The Zombie Survival Guide. It was supposed to be in the original recorded attacks, but wasn’t finished in time for the release of the comic. It essentially covers a zombie outbreak right in the heart of downtown L.A. in the early 1990s. Two rival street gangs have to unite against the living dead. In one sense, it’s a microcosm of World War Z.

Q: Why have zombies become so mainstream? They used to have a slightly strange cult following. Now they’re everywhere in all aspects of pop culture.

I think they reflect our very real anxieties of these crazy scary times. A zombie story gives people a fictional lens to see the real problems of the world. You can deal with societal breakdown, famine, disease, chaos in the streets, but as long as the catalyst for all of them is zombies, you can still sleep.

Cell

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:15:00 +0000

A Z-Realm listener set me up with an audio book version of Stephen King's 2006 novel, Cell. I'm not a huge Stephen King fan. I have nothing against his work, but I don't seek it out either. I read Firestarter in high school, and I listened to the audio book versions of the first two novels in the Dark Tower series.

Of course, I was interested in Cell because it is a sort of zombie apocalypse story. Here the zombies are not walking corpses. Rather, they are the sort of "zombies" that we see in movies like 28 Days Later, which is to say that they are living human beings who have been driven into a homicidal berserker rage. In 28 Days Later, it was a virus that turned people into rage monsters. In Cell, there is an event that people call the Pulse which has the same effect on anybody who makes or receives a cell phone call. I haven't read much about the book, as I'm looking to avoid spoilers, but what little I have read describes it as deeply technophobic. Certainly Stephen King uses the setup as a tool to skewer the obnoxious behavior which cell phones seem to prompt people to engage in, but I don't get the impression that this is Stephen King's only, or even primary, objective.

What the cell-phone-as-madness-vector does for the story is set up an inventive but plausibly frightening positive feedback loop. At first, when the Pulse turns people who are on their phones into rabid monsters, the effects are obvious and immediate but not all-encompassing. Once the chaos of the zombie apocalypse begins to unfold, however, it picks up speed as people respond to the crisis by pulling out their phones and either calling for help or using their phones to try to find out what's going on. By the time enough people identify their cell phones as the means of infection the chaos has progressed beyond anyone's ability to bring the situation back under control. I don't know if there is any other way by which the infection spreads in the novel. So far, I've seen no indication that zombies can infect their victims with a bite, as is the norm in Romero-style zombie tales.

The novel really delivers in the area in which many zombie apocalypse tales fall short; namely in depicting the actual moment of apocalypse. In 28 Days Later, as well as in The Walking Dead, the main character wakes up to the aftermath of the apocalypse. For me the most fascinating aspect of the zombie apocalypse narrative is the one that, for filmmakers, is the most expensive and difficult to portray. I'm talking about the chaos that ensues in densely populated areas after the spreading panic passes a critical threshold. Regardless of how far it deviates from its source material, I hope that the big-budget Brad Pitt version of World War Z is able to deliver in this respect. From what I've seen of leaked footage on the Internet, I think I have reasons for hope. In the meantime however, it is mainly on the page that this moment of spreading panic and breakdown finds its fullest expression.

I don't know what Stephen King's attitude is toward cell phones (the novel is not such a screed that the author's actual opinions leap off the page), but I do wonder if he realized just how quickly his novel would become a period piece. The novel was published in 2006, and so there are no smart phones. Early in the novel a teenage girl takes her phone off of a belt clip, which struck me as pretty unlikely even for 2006. I remember at that time I was using a Nokia bar phone which I kept in a holster on my belt. I remember a checkout clerk at a nearby grocery store commenting to a coworker about how only middle-aged men wore such things. Wired magazine advised would-be techno-hipsters to ditch the Batman-style utility belt and keep their phones in their pockets. One of Cell's trio of protagonists, a 15-year-old girl, explained that her father was a successful businessman and gadget head, and that he had a super deluxe cell phone that included a camera and Internet access. How quaint this seems in 2012.

-KMO

Episode 28 - KC and Z-Realm Gang

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:50:00 +0000

The Z-Realm is thrilled this week to welcome Kc Wayland, one of the creators of the fantastic Radio Drama Podcast "We're Alive", to the show to discuss this incredible piece of zombie-filled goodness.
If you have not heard of "We're Alive" then we urge you to hurry over and start listening as soon as you are all caught up on every last episode of the Z-Realm. It is a rich, and nuanced story of a band of survivors, making their way in in modern Los Angeles after a zombie outbreak. This may sound like a standard setup, and in some ways it may be, but Mr. Wayland and the rest of his incredible partners have transcended what you may expect from a simple "zombie story" and bring us fully formed characters and some of the most impressive production values that can be found anywhere. This is NOT to be missed.
The podcast opens with a great clip from Adult Swim's series Squidbillies. We round the podcast out by touching on a few non zombie issues and things take a decidedly ribald turn towards the end.
One bit of news that may be of interest to the loyal z-realmers out there, we now have a new email address. You can now email all three hosts by writing to mail@z-realm.com
Please keep the feedback coming in at that address or by leaving a message on our facebook page.
Aim for the Head!

Episode 27 - The Hulking Dead

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:26:00 +0000

Your inveterate hosts, Marty, KMO and Olga, traverse a myriad zombie media trails to bring you a zombie cavalcade. We continue to beat the undead horse of the dearth of zombies in the AMC show, The Walking Dead, still on mid-season hiatus until February 12th. We are helped out by KMO's interview with author Paul Gude, who has written a zombie-themed novel called Love in a Time of Zombies. We talk dramatic character development, our appreciation for whatever ethnic diversity AMC deigns to throw our way, the continuing conflict between zombie survival hell and daily banal human interaction and even manage to squeeze in a Star Wars reference from Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Taking another tributary along the zombie genre, we begin to dip our toes into the purely addictive joy that is We're Alive, A Story of Survival, The Zombie Survival Podcast, the wonderful audio drama that a Z-Realm Podcast fan tipped us off to (thank you!) We delve into the realm of hulking, super-powerful, unkillable, conniving zombies. This line of inquiry takes us back to re-watch the first 2002 Resident Evil movie and to discuss the Resident Evil video games and subsequent movies in that massively popular franchise. We compare and contrast the shifting zombie memesphere and the tasty melted cheese sauce that makes it so delicious. KMO and Marty provide a delectable historical garnish. We also briefly discuss the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Next episode will include discussions of We're Alive, American Zombie, the new South African flick, The Dead, and anything else that shambles across our path.

Please send us email, follow us on our Facebook page and keep on staying alive in the free world!

The Masses are Fantasizing about Death on a Massive Scale

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:28:00 +0000

"The thing that's got me thinking hard about vampires and zombies is that they're both ways of romanticizing death, and it's a very curious thing that so many people should be pursuing that right now."

-John Michael Greer

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2012/01/blood-of-earth-or-pulp-nonfiction.html

Zombies and Debt

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 20:50:00 +0000

I was just reading aloud to Olga from Debt: The First Five Thousand Years by David Graeber when I came across this sentence:

Horror stories, whether about vampires, ghouls, or flesh-eating zombies, always seem to reflect some aspect of the tellers’ own social lives, some terrifying potential, in the way they are accustomed to interact with each other, that they do not wish to acknowledge or confront, but also cannot help but talk about.

What aspects of our contemporary culture and social lives does the zombie apocalypse narrative allow us to talk about without actually acknowledging the concern explicitly?

Zombie Attack on Star Wars: The Clone Wars

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:18:00 +0000

It looks like the entire episode is available on YouTube. Grab it fast before Lucas makes them take it down. -KMO

26 - Pretty Much Mid Season Already

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 03:11:00 +0000

Episode 26 focuses on the "Mid-Season Finale" of season 2 of AMC's The Walking Dead. This longer-than-average conversation features KMO, Olga and Marty covering the entire episode but focusing heavily on the conclusion. Suffice it to say that, if you have not watched this amazing episode, do NOT listen to the podcast until after you've seen it. This episode shook some of us up and reinvigorated our enthusiasm for the rest of season two which will be resuming in February of 2012. Please listen to the show and let us know what you think by emailing us at zrealmcast@yahoo.com or by posting a message on our Facebook page.

Black Friday Berserkers and OWS Zombies

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:38:00 +0000

Hi KMO,

I actually have been thinking about the concept of zombies in relationship to the mindless way people seemed to line up to get into stores on 'Black Friday'. By contrast I have heard some in the media imply that they thought the use of the 'human microphone' was zombie-like. Yet I've heard very little from same media about some of the antics people pulled last Friday aside from it being 'unfortunate'. How would you argue that it is the shoppers who are more zombie-like?

Have some in the mainstream media been infected?

Love to you and the lovely Olga!

Lauren

---------------------------
Hi Lauren.

Thank you for your question. You've struck a bit of a nerve for me when it comes to zombies. I remember I was telling somebody here on the Farm about my enthusiasm for the zombie genre of media, and this old hippie asked me if all zombies were Republicans. I gave a wan smile and said nothing. I hope I didn't actually roll my eyes, but it certainly occurred to me to do so. Using zombies as a way to insinuate that one's perceived opponents in the culture war are mindless followers is, to me, the least interesting and imaginative application of the zombie meme. Zombies are more interesting than that.

Pundits for Empire in the corporate media have been grasping and struggling in their attempts to ridicule the Occupy Wall Street movement. So far the only trope that has found any traction whatsoever relates to hygiene. "Dirty hippies" is certainly a much hotter search engine term now than it was six months ago. In late October, Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield (Republican), in oposing an ad hoc curfew intended to squelch protest, told the media, "While I am no fan of the flea baggers' Occupy Nashville protest, I do not think they should be banned from protesting at the capitol." While this rhetorical tactic didn't give me any respect for this particular politician, I did see a bit of poetic justice in his choice of invective, as the term "flea baggers" is a play on "tea baggers," a term of ridicule that liberals use to belittle to Tea Party activists.

Right-wing blowhards who try to denigrate the OWS movement by calling its members zombies have a particularly uphill slog because some of the OWS protesters actually dress up as zombies and do the zombie shuffle through the streets as a form of protest. Do these pundits expect us to imagine that the protesters accidentally fell into a vat of white powder makeup and fake blood and that they don't realize that they're dressed as zombies? So in that sense, I will concede that the zombie label adheres more readily to Black Friday shopping berserkers than it does to people who camp out on high-rent real estate in order to confront the affluent with the reality that a shrinking class of haves enrich themselves at the expense of the growing class of have-nots.

Just last night I followed a link from the Friends of the C-Realm group on Facebook to a fatuous editorial in the Washington Post by Ed Rogers which opens with, "I think it’s safe to say the Occupy Wall Street experiment as a political force is over. Sorry, Carter, it was born a political zombie, and it only became more rancid over time." Rogers did not follow-up this comment with any explanation of how the Occupy movement is anything like a zombie other than that it smells bad, so I give Rogers an F for effort and and a D for insightful analysis. But even if he'd written something clever, calling members of a despised outgroup "zombies" exhibits a shallow appreciation for the zombie archetype.

Yes, we do have a consumer culture which fuels a consumption-based economy, and the corporate media relentlessly reinforces the ideological programming that legitimizes our absurd predicament, and certainly the zombie as insatiable consumer offers itself up as a weapon in the arsenals of "progressive" culture warriors. In George Romero's 1978 masterpiece Dawn of the Dead, zombies did return to a shopping mall and mill about aimlessly, and in that respect, so long as there was no living human flesh nearby to tempt them into a feeding frenzy, the zombie mall walkers behaved almost identically to living mall walkers. And yet I think Romero's true damning criticism of consumer (un-)consciousness manifests not in re-animated corpses doing laps around the food court but in the living human survivors who took refuge in the mall and attempted to isolate themselves from the decay of their own society by reveling in a practically unlimited stockpile of luxury goodies.

Nearly three decades later, in his 2005 zombie flick Land of the Dead, George Romero went a step further in dramatizing this theme. Other than the film's protagonist, the characters in Land of the Dead fall into three categories. At the top are the uber-wealthy who take refuge in a luxury high-rise and ignore the suffering of those who can't afford to join them. In the city streets below them, living in squalor, are their minions who carry out the will of the elites under the delusion that if they work hard enough they will rise to that privileged social strata. The remaining group, the vast majority of moving bodies in this world, are the zombies, who in spite of the depravity and predation of the elites, do what they can to preserve some shred of the normality of their former lives. Clearly, Romero's sympathies lie with the zombies.

Personally, I see the use of pepper spray against one's fellow shoppers as an example of the madness of crowds. It is a madness which the corporate media stokes, and the ever-versatile zombie meme encompasses this as well. Within the larger zombie genre, there is a sub-genre which depicts the zombies not as walking corpses but as living humans who have been driven mad by disease or exposure to toxic chemicals, and the Black Friday violence at Walmart and other temples of consumption does resonate with this particular sub-genre. I'm talking about films like The Crazies and 28 Days Later, although true zombie aficionados will tell you that the humans driven to pathological violence depicted in these films are not true zombies in the Romero sense.

Sure, the zombie is an avatar for a person who has abdicated his individuality, or as C-Realm guest Neil Kramer has put it, the de-spiritualized man; the empty shell of appetites and conditioned responses, devoid of understanding or higher purpose. It's much easier to label somebody who commits violence in his programmed role as consumer a zombie than it is to pin that same label on somebody who uses costumes, makeup and street theater as a form of protest. So, yes, I take your point that Black Friday maniacs certainly wear the zombie label more readily than do OWS protesters, but what this use of the zombie concept completely leaves out is the critical detail that humans are more dangerous than zombies.

Amost inevitably, in any zombie apocalypse tale, the zombies are not the ultimate threat to the living human protagonists. The zombies behave predictably. They are frequently slow in their movements and completely lacking in ingenuity. Once the human survivors establish their stronghold against the zombies then the real danger which emerges is their inability to tolerate each other's differences; differences in ethnicity, differences in political orientation, differences in social class. Time and again we have seen fictional characters sabotage their own safe haven and elevate their petty cultural squabbles above their own safety.

Think of Patrick, the fictional producer of the Big Brother TV show in the 2008 BBC miniseries Dead Set. His identity is so wrapped up in his disdain for the people who work for him that when he finds himself safely ensconced in the fortified Big Brother set with a handful of surviving contestants and one of his employees, he is unable to accept that he has found an ideal hideout in which to ride out the zombie apocalypse. Here he has access to food, electricity, fresh water, a rooftop greenhouse, and the company of a group of people who have proven themselves resilient and resourceful. But Patrick cannot accept them as equals, and any situation in which he is not giving orders is repellent to him. He conceives an absurd plan of escape, a plan which only the one outcast member of the group agrees to. His escape plan has no coherent destination, and succeed or fail, it will allow the zombie horde into the fortified compound and destroy the sanctuary for everyone.

Think of Daryl, in The Walking Dead. While he exhibits extraodinary competence in his ability to track, find food, and most importantly, dispatch zombies, he is completely dependent for his survival on Rick, Lori, Glen and the rest of his group. Even so, a niggling voice, in the form of his missing brother Merle, an avatar for everything city-dwelling liberals encourage each other to despise in so-called rednecks, urges Daryl to sabotage the social structure which is his best hope for existence as anything other than a mere "survival animal."

As Daryl lies injured and bleeding, a spectral Merle hovers over him and taunts him for following Rick, the sheriff's deputy who is the group's defacto leader. “You his bitch now? You a joke, that’s what you are. Playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy asses, niggers, and Democrats. You’re nothing but a freak to them.”

There is one sense though in which the OWS protesters are like zombies. Zombies, particularly in George Romero's movies, are not very threatening as individuals. Part of what makes the zombie apocalypse an attractive backdrop against which otherwise unremarkable people manifest extraordinary competence is that a normal person with a baseball bat or machete is more than a match for most any single zombie. What makes the zombies a credible threat is their numbers. We are the 99.9%.

KMO is the co-host of the Z-Realm Podcast.

This commentary is available as an audio recording here:
http://www.archive.org/details/BerserkerShoppersAndOwsZombies

25 - Everything is Food for Something Else

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 04:25:00 +0000

Episode 25 returns to AMC's Walking Dead and focuses on the 6th episode of the 2nd Season. KMO and Marty are joined by Mike from the Flickers from the Cave Podcast on this episode. We talk about the revelations of the episode and touch on the role that each of the characters play as a representative avatar for their own specific race/gender/etc.
The episode is titled "Secrets" for a reason, many things were exposed to the hard light of day. Listen in and see if you agree with our opinions and let us know what you think by writing to us at zrealmcast@yahoo.com or by posting on our Facebook page.
At the end of the podcast you can hear a snippet from the wonderful "The Zombie Song" please follow the link to hear the whole thing and spread the word on this great little song.

24 - People In Hell Want Slurpees

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 02:41:00 +0000

The Z-Realm lurches back on to the internet with episode 24. We return in time for episode 5 of AMC's The Walking Dead and to reflect upon the previous episode that we were unable to record an episode specifically for. Gauging by the opinions of KMO and Olga, it was probably a good episode to miss, though Marty felt like the sight of a huge, water-logged zombie bursting in two was worth the price of admission. There is much reverie in episode 24 and the conversation rambles from beginning to end. Pour yourself an adult beverage and join us as we look at our favorite TV show.

23 - Survival Animals

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 02:40:00 +0000

Episode 23 has Marty, KMO and Olga talking about the third episode of season 2 of AMC's The Walking Dead. We spoil the episode completely, so avoid the podcast until you have seen the episode. Lots of surprises greeted us in this episode of our favorite TV show and we talk about them all. Please let us know what your thoughts are on the Walking Dead, our podcast and zombies in general by emailing us at zrealmcast@yahoo.com or by leaving a message on our Facebook page.

22 - Down on the Farm

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 03:52:00 +0000

Episode 22 returns to the second season of AMC's Walking Dead and picks up with the band of survivors as they find themselves split into two groups, one struggling for the life of one person while the other group continues to search for one who has gone missing.
KMO and Marty are once again joined by Olga but we also add Lorin to the group to hash out the goings-on and make some predictions for what might come down the pike.
There was a significant problem with the audio in this episode so we had to cut it short. If you stay to the end though, you will hear a great segment from Prairie Home Companion that features our favorite undead beasties.
Join us next time when we will have the technical issues ironed out and let us know what you think of our efforts by writing to us at zrealmcast@yahoo.com or by posting a message on our Facebook page.

21 - The OZ - Original Zombie

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:48:00 +0000

Episode 21 focuses on the 1st episode of the second season of AMC's The Walking Dead. The second season picks up exactly where the first one left off with the band of survivors leaving the remnants of the CDC building in Atlanta on their way to Fort Benning in Georgia. Relationships continue to be stressed as the internal dynamics of the group are further explored.
We spoil the entirety of the episode, so do not listen until you have seen the premiere. Trust us, you'll be glad you watched it.
Stick around until the end to hear a little bit of the late, great, Sam Kinison.
We would love to hear your ideas for an alternate term for a roving group of zombies. The term "herd" leaves us cold and we fell certain that a better term is out there. Let us know your ideas by emailing us at zrealmcast@yahoo.com or by posting your idea on the Facebook page.

Episode 20 - Yin and Yang

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 03:07:00 +0000

In episode 20 of the Z-Realm Podcast, KMO and Marty are once again joined, face to face, across the couch from the lovely Olga K. to discuss two significant entries in the zombie canon. We talk about Lucio Fulci's infamous Zombie from 1979 and Zack Snyder's outstanding reworking of Dawn of the Dead from 2004. The talk compares and contrasts the two and they pull no punches with either.
Please let us know what you think of the show and let us know if there are any other zombie-related materials that deserve some attention. Contact us on Facebook or email us directly at zrealmcast@yahoo.com
For a more in-depth focus on Mr. Fulci and his landmark zombie film, please have a listen to episode 7 of the Flickers From the Cave podcast by clicking here.

Episode 19 - Where is My Mind?

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:25:00 +0000

In Episode 19, KMO and Marty are joined by Olga K for a bit of the old "face-to-face, old-timey, in the flesh" podcastinig. The beginning sound-bite is from a great YouTube video called "What To Do In A Zombie Attack". This episode features a wide-ranging conversation between KMO and the wonderful Dopefiend. Topics covered include numerous films, tv shows and comic books. One of the main films that they speak about is Lucio Fulci's classic "Zombie" or "Zombie Flesheaters" or "Zombi 2". If you want more info on that one, check out episode 7 of Flickers from the Cave.
We return to familiar ground after that and have a three-way discussion of the recent Zack Snyder film Sucker Punch. We wrap up our talk with Lady Rizzo performing her version of the song "Where is My Life" which, if you think about it, would be the ultimate question on every zombie's mind.
Please let us know what you think of the show by writing to us at "zrealmcast@yahoo.com" or by messaging us on our Facebook page.

World War Z part 4 - Islands in the Sea of Zack

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:34:00 +0000

In episode 18 of the Z-Realm we are continuing to discuss the amazing audiobook of Max Brooks' World War Z. KMO and Marty are joined by Olga K from New York City, home of countless zombie outbreaks ( or so Hollywood would have us believe ). The conversation ranges far and wide, from the folly of an armchair survivalist to a blind man alone in a forest who finds the strength of 10,000 years.
As the podcast concludes, the conversation turns to other media that we are interested in, and, as usual, things end with a bang.
Keep the comments coming in on Facebook or you can write to us directly at zrealmcast@yahoo.com.

World War Z part 3 - Tools and Talents

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:01:00 +0000

Episode 17 of the Z-Realm is the third part of our ongoing series on the audiobook of Max Brooks' World War Z. The story continues with the world looking towards a dark and sinister figure for help in dealing with the zombie pandemic and then looks towards the rebuilding phase with the need for reorganizing and reconstruction. We also feature a clip from Carl who has now appeared on the C-Realm, ETC Voices and the Z-Realm podcasts! This episode is bookended by clips from FOXs animated series Bob's Burgers which, if you have not seen it, you should. Enjoy the episode and let us know what you think by writing to us at zrealmcast@yahoo.com or by posting a message on our Facebook page.

World War Z - Part 2 - When the Poo Hits the Fan

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sat, 14 May 2011 13:14:00 +0000

Episode 16 of the Z-Realm podcast sees us return again to the audiobook version of Max Brooks' novel World War Z. This second section looks more into what happens in the novel when the world realizes that the dead ARE actually rising and hungering for living flesh. We also touch briefly on some recent topics like the new film Thor, 1973's cult film The Holy Mountain, the legendary Loc-Nar and other topics as well.
We hope you enjoy the show and that you'll continue to send us feedback at
zrealmcast@yahoo.com

World War Z - Part 1 - Warnings

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 20:52:00 +0000

Episode 15 of the Z-Realm podcast focuses primarily on the audiobook version of Max Brooks' novel World War Z. It is a fantastic presentation of top-notch material, with an incredible array of elite actors providing voices to the characters. We wish everyone could experience this story and try repeatedly to convince you to do so. This is just the first of what will surely be several episodes dealing with World War Z. We also talk briefly about the 1932 classic White Zombie which stars the legendary Bela Lugosi. At the conclusion of the podcast we talk for a bit about Zack Snyder's newest film Sucker Punch. We hope you enjoy the show and that you'll continue to send us feedback at
zrealmcast@yahoo.com

Episode 14 - Not the Teeth, Tammy

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:58:00 +0000

Episode 14 of the Z-Realm focuses mostly on 2006's Fido which tells a very distinctive and wonderfully nuanced tale of a boy and his zombie. Taking all the traditional trappings of 1950's America, the filmmakers add zombies to the mix and end up with an allegory-rich world that rivals the best of the genre. Featuring wonderful performances, a lyrical score, and spot-on art direction, Fido is an incredible treat.
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Episode 13 - Bowling for Zombies

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:13:00 +0000

In episode 13 of the podcast, KMO and Marty talk about 2007's Wasting Away. This is low-budget zombie film-making at it's best. The filmmakers have a great idea and they execute it to perfection.
Listen in to the conversation and then do whatever it takes to find this gem and watch it yourself!
Contact us at zrealmcast@yahoo.com with any ideas for subjects for future shows.

Episode 12 - Daria's Adventure in Zombieland

zrealmcast@yahoo.com (KMO and Marty) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:45:00 +0000

KMO and Marty follow a listeners advice and watch the incredible 2009 film Zombieland. The next 30 minutes or so are heaped high with praise for one of our favorite zombie films of all time. Contact us at zrealmcast@yahoo.com or on our Facebook page and tell us about your own favorite zombie film, book, or whatever so that we can add it to our lexicon.