via Blackguard on 5/13/10
[60 pages/56 pages, digest size, $3.00 (or 1 MRE) each --- Davida Gypsy Brier, PO Box 11064, Baltimore MD 21212, USA +++ zombie at leekinginc dot com +++ www.leekinginc.com +++ livingdeadzine.blogspot.com ]
Rigor Mortis #1 - Well it's about time somebody started a zine dedicated to our undead friends! In fact, Dread Sockett and DeadVida admit in their introduction that the idea for Rigor Mortis came about when they couldn't find any zombie zines.
This debut issue contains reviews of books, movies and graphic novels. Highlight for me was Dread Sockett's review of ZA Recht's Plague of the Dead, the first book in The Morningstar Strain Trilogy - I ordered that book and read it and it was excellent. So thanks for the tip, Dread!
There have been developments in the zombie world, for example sprinting zombies (or *turbo zombies*, an excellent description I read somewhere of 28 Days Later zombies) (and a development that I think was long overdue), but RM made me aware of other new types, like animal zombies and talking zombies. I've never come across those myself. They sound ridiculous, but I'd like to check them out so if you're reading this and know of a movie or book that features these, I'd be grateful for any leads.
Artist Bojan (Bojanthu Prual) contributed some awesome art which is scattered throughout the issue, another highlight. There's also a three-page section of zombie resources online.
Rigor Mortis #2 - This issue see a change in direction - less reviews and more features and columns. Also, DeadVida and Dread Sockett are widening the scope of the zine to include other horrors, for example vampires and remakes.
First up, an examination of Klaus Kinski's performance in Werner Herzog's 1979 remake of Nosferatu. I wasn't aware of this movie so it was a good tip (I'm a fan of Herzog's but only discovered him in 2005 when his awesome documentary Grizzly Man was released), and I'm looking forward to watching it.
Colin Cthulu contributes a terrific article in defense of zombie comedy (for example horror/comedy masterpieces Re-Animator and Shaun of the Dead).
Benn Ray contributes a short piece on the rise of Christian Horror, defined by Joshua Ellis of www.christian-fandom.org in this way: "Christian horror is 'safe' horror. If a book or DVD is going to be sold in a Christian retail outlet, it will generally follow a set of guidelines: no foul language or explicit sex; violence is implied, not shown; there is usually some sort of redemption story; and there is always an explicit gospel message." Horror without gore/violence? Sounds boring!
Dread Sockett takes on anti-remake Nazis with an excellent five-page article on Night of the Living Dead (1990) and how it improves upon the 1968 original.
DeadVida visits The Stanley Hotel in Colorado, the hotel that inspired Steven King to write The Shining. She joins a ghost tour and her experience is noteworthy considering for most of the tour she is extremely skeptical, until she catches something spooky on her camera!
There's also a look at current paranormal TV shows (like Ghost Hunters, A Haunting, and Psychic Kids) from a fan's perspective. A Haunting is the one that stands out for me so I'm gonna have to track down some episodes.
The zine winds up with some book reviews (Season of Rot by Eric S. Brown, The Estuary by Derek Gunn), DVD reviews (Days of Darkness and Zombie Diaries) a zine review (Brains) and a look back at John Carpenter's 1979 ghostly revenge tale, The Fog.
Rigor Mortis is a terrific new zine and I'm really looking forward to issue #3.
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