Midget Zombie Takeover

At this point, the zombie genre has seen it all. Fast zombies. Slow zombies. Smart zombies and stupid zombies. Zombie love stories. Animated zombies. Hell, there's even a zombie musical or two. But just when you think there's nothing new under the undead sun, someone finds a fresh twist on the tried and true walking dead. Like, say, little people.

That's right. It's time for the Midget Zombie Takeover.

See also:
- Five ways to fill The Walking Dead-shaped hole in your heart
- Horror auteur Don Coscarelli on meat monsters, Paul Giamatti and getting typecast
- Atom the Amazing Zombie Killer: Boobs, blood and bowling

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In just a few days, The Walking Dead will close up shop for another season. The finale airs March 31, and whether you're watching at home alone or attending one of the watching parties (like Not Quite Dead Sundays at Jake's Food and Spirits), it will be the last last time zombies will invade your home via AMC's hit until next October. That means a lot of newly minted zombie fans are going to be left without their undead fix for the next six months, which is a shame given how much great zombie entertainment is out there. Of course, there's even more incredibly shitty zombie content out there, so to help the uninitiated find their way in this brave new undead world, we've compiled a list of five ways to fill the Walking Dead-sized hole in your heart. Everything on this list has been recognized by our staff of zombie experts (i.e. me) as being among the very best the genre has to offer, so no matter where you start, you can't go wrong.

See also:
- Event: Not So Dead Sundays: Walking Dead watch party
- Denver's five best zombie moments of 2012
- Local filmmakers tackle zombie culture with Doc of the Dead

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Aaron Thackeray

Every year, there are more and more zombie events in Denver. Zombie crawls, zombie balls, zombie burlesque, zombie proms, zombie car washes... it never stops. For those of us who can't get enough zombie action, it's like Christmas came early and often, only with more flesh-eating and less tinsel. For the rest of you, who are sick to death of zombies... well, we've got nothing for you. Maybe you'd like some werewolves better? In any case, as the year is coming to a close, we thought it was high time to look back at some of the year's best zombie moments.

See also:
- Five zombie movies that will prepare you for Run For Your Lives
- "To the hot zombie with a dead baby": The ten best Halloween Missed Connections on Craigslist
- Corporate America meets the undead in Dave Flomberg's Management for Zombies

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Zombie lit has exploded in the past decade, with the undead menace making its way into everything from award-winning graphic novels (The Walking Dead) to mash-ups with the classics (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). It's only natural, then, that the zombie is making its way into the corporate world through local author Dave Flomberg's Management for Zombies. Described in press materials as "Who Moved My Cheese if it was written by George Romero and Bill Simmons," the book is a humorous skewering of the corporate world, set in a post-apocalyptic world where the workforce has graduated from metaphorical zombies to the literal kind. Before the book officially releases at a free launch party -- 7 p.m. Thursday, November 29, at the Thin Man/St. Mark's Coffeehouse -- we talked to Flomberg about his zombie influences, his background and what experiences drove him to cast corporate leadership as masters of the undead.

See also:
- Event: Management for Zombies launch party
- George Romero and me: Zombie dreams do come true
- Local filmmakers tackle zombie culture with Doc of the Dead

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The father of the modern zombie, George A. Romero, came to town Wednesday night, and I was there. Not there in the audience -- there, on stage, introducing one of my heroes, a man I consider to be one of the most important and influential filmmakers of our era. And not just Romero, either: Max Brooks, the author of the bestselling books The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z was in the lineup, as was Steven Schlozman, author of The Zombie Autopsies and a doctor who is probably the foremost authority on the biology of zombies. And there I was, introducing them all and leading them through a discussion on zombies and zombie culture.

As a zombie fanatic, this made me pretty happy.

See also:
- George Romero heads up all-star zombie town hall meeting
- Local Filmmakers tackle Doc of the Dead
- Thirty days of zombie movies

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nicolas genin

Ever wonder why zombies are so popular? Or why you have to destroy their brains to kill them? Or even what modifications your trusty Subaru might require in order to become an effective zombie apocalypse escape vehicle? All these questions and more will be addressed tomorrow, November 7, at the Zombie Town Hall at the Starz Denver Film Fest. (Disclosure: As Denver's resident zombie expert, I will be moderating this panel.)

The father of the modern zombie, George Romero himself, will lead up the all-star panel of undead experts. Joining him is Max Brooks, author of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide, and Steven Schlozman, author of The Zombie Autopsies. It's the first time ever that all of these zombie masters have appeared together on stage, making it a special occasion for fans of the walking dead. Where else will you get a chance to see George Romero argue about the feasibility of the zombie apocalypse with Max Brooks?

See also:
- Event: Starz Denver Film Fest
- Local filmmakers tackle zombie culture with Doc of the Dead
- Horror docs will highlight this year's Watching Hour program at SDFF

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Denver has zombie walks, zombie proms, zombie races, zombie car washes and zombie fashion shows, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that a pair of Denver filmmakers have launched an ambitious zombie documentary. Alexandre O. Philippe and Robert Muratore, the pair behind the Star Wars doc The People Vs. George Lucas (disclosure: I briefly appeared, without compensation, in PvGL in my capacity as a pop-culture critic) and The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus (about the octopus who predicted the winners of the 2010 World Cup, and showing at this month's Starz Denver Film Festival) are turning their cameras on the walking dead, aiming to figure out exactly what it is about shambling, flesh-hungry corpses that has so captivated popular culture.

The film, which will be called Doc of the Dead, is currently in production and raising funds via Kickstarter. Denver residents will also get to participate in the documentary during next week's zombie town hall at the Starz Denver Film Festival, which features zombie legend George A. Romero alongside notable authors Max Brooks (World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide) and Steven Schlozman (The Zombie Autopsies). We sat down with Philippe and Muratore to find out exactly what they had planned for their epic undead documentary. (Disclosure: I will be moderating the SDFF zombie panel, and appearing in the film -- both for no compensation -- in my capacity as a zombie expert.)

See also:
- Event: Starz Denver Film Festival
- Q&A: Atom the Amazing Zombie Killer - Blood, boobs and bowling
- Horror docs will highlight this year's Watching Hour program at SDFF

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All photos by Aaron Thackeray.

Anyone who didn't already know about Denver's ghoulish annual tradition might have been tempted to run for their lives on Saturday. During Denver Zombie Crawl 2012, thousands of people dressed up as the walking dead and converged on the 16th Street Mall for what might be the creepiest crawl in memory. Continue reading for our favorite photos of the gnarliest zombies in Denver.

See also:
- Slide show: Denver Zombie Crawl 2012
- Denver Zombie Crawl 2011
- 2010 Denver Zombie Crawl on 16th Street Mall

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Moggs Oceanlane

On her way to zombie prom

When you see the walking dead clogging the streets this weekend, don't grab your bug-out bag and head for your zombie-proof cabin in the woods. This is not the start of the undead apocalypse we've all been waiting for -- just a dress rehearsal of sorts. Apparently, someone declared Saturday, October 20 as Denver Does Zombies day, because Denver is doing zombies all day and in every way. If you want to make sure you maximize your ghoulish fun, you're going to have to plan your festivities carefully. To help you craft that plan, we've put together this guide to this special day of the undead.

See also:
- Event: Zombie Crawl & Zombie Prom
- Q&A: Co-director Richard Taylor talks Atom the Amazing Zombie Killer's blood, boobs and bowling
- 5 zombie movies to prepare you for Run for Your Lives

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Remember this dude? You may see him again at 13th Floor.

I hit the 13th Floor over the weekend, and I can sum up the experience with this: I came, I saw, I almost whizzed my drawers. I've trotted through miles of haunted houses over the years, but this one is by far the scariest, trippy-est, most off-the-chain that I've ever been to.

I don't want to spoil the experience for anyone who hasn't seen this creepshow, but I do wantto share five tips for visiting 13th Floor haunted house. And here's a sixth: If Ghostbusters-style demon dogs are on your phobia list, then be on red alert.

See also:
-How to get my job: Haunted house actor
-Ed Edmunds on electric chairs, haunted houses and the Travel Channel's Making Monsters
-Zombies! The Asylum and 13th Floor dare you to nut up or shut up

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