Here we have, not strictly in order, our Top 10 favorite moments from 2010′s campaign for Zombie Rights.

10) Annoying a bunch of sad, self-important nerd-fans of Mega64

It all started with a terse critique I made of a silly internet video, and turned into a feud between the ZRC and dozens of poorly socialized, often semi-literate haters of all things Zombie. I put this on the list because it helps to show the pitfalls, as well as the hidden joys, that can come from online advocacy work.

Plus it just might agitate them again, and these people are hilarious.

9) Resident Evil Afterlife Premiere Protest

So far, getting hassled by a mall security cop for our picket signage is the closest the ZRC has come to spending a night in the slammer on behalf of the cause.

So far. But when you’re working against the interests of The Man, it’s only a matter of time before you get oppressed, and we’re not backing down from our work on behalf of the Differently Animated just because of a little intimidation.

(A scene from our protest, sadly cut short by agents of conformity)

8) Debunking NPR’s Anti-Zombie Propaganda

Another in the Internet is Wacky category, a fact-check on an NPR piece/hatchet job on all of Zombiekind turns into a protracted discussion of the Differently Animated with GMU faculty and students. We clearly have a long way to go in advancing the cause of Undead Equality in the Academy, as this discussion made clear, but we’re in it for the long haul.

7) Going to Geek.kon and Seeing a Zombie Ska Band

I wasn’t at all sure this anime-centered Madison mainstay was a good venue for the ZRC at first, but we had so many great discussions there, and sold quite a bit of Zombie Friendly merch as it turns out, raising even more money for the Lurch for the Cure. Then to top all that great public interaction off, we got to see Dr. Cancer and the SKAmbies live and in concert toward the end of the convention, and even talked Zombie Rights with the band before the show. What a great weekend it turned out to be for The Cause.

(Zombies can be musicians because they’re people too)

6) Hanging out with The Horror Society

It just wouldn’t have been the same year in Zombie Advocacy without the good folks at The Horror Society. Thanks to them we got to see several independent Zombie movies for the first time, and attended a premiere or two (more on that below) as well. The ZRC has had booth space at a couple of their events and it’s always fun to chat with people and try to promote Zombie Awareness in the city of Chicago. In addition to events in-person, their website and Twitter feed have proven invaluable in gathering intelligence on up and coming Zombie media, both Friendly and Anti-Zombie alike. Obtaining the early information makes all the difference in this line of work, and we get to stay on the cutting edge of American Zombie film thanks to the Horror Society doing so much of the heavy lifting.

(Dr. Calamari outside the Portage on the night we saw Slices of Life and A Serbian Film at The Horror Society’s film festival)

5) Seeing Atomic Age TV 2: Electric Boogaloo, and being mentioned in the film

You know you’re making an impact when you become a household name. We’re not there yet, but seeing this hilarious and thoughtful satire of the Zombie Apocalypse genre, then being name-checked at the finale? Amazing and inspiring. See this movie and you’ll never think about Zombie movies the quite the same way again.

(Perhaps the all-time greatest satire of the Romero-Russo school of Anti-Zombie film)

4) Giving out the Zombie of the Year 2010 Award

We can’t forget that this is the year that saw another very worthy slate of candidates for Zombie of the Year, and we were overjoyed to award it to someone the ZRC has been discussing Zombie Rights with for years, Baron Mardi of Atomic Age Cinema and The Dark Carnival, who is, himself, a Zombie.

Congratulations, Baron Mardi. You earned it.

3) Attending the World Premiere of Slices of Life

Although the ZRC continues to find the W.O.R.M./Work Life segment from Slices of Life troublesome, The Zombie Rights Campaign is particularly proud that we got to attend the world premiere of one of the most influential horror movies of 2010. In years to come, when many of the cast and crew of this movie have gone on to make (hopefully) Zombie Friendly masterpieces, we can look back and say we played a small but pivotal role in raising awareness at this critical early stage, and have been following them from the beginning. It’s nice to be there to watch history unfold.

(A picture from the Q&A after the premiere)

2) Going to The Dark Carnival Film Festival

At the Dark Carnival the ZRC got to spread its message even further, both by sponsoring two awards and by doing what we do best: constructive, engaging dialogue. While at the DC we:

-Hung out with Baron Mardi, our 2010 Zombie of the Year winner and gave him his prestigious award

-Talked with Anthony Sumner, Deneen Melody and the Slices cast in general about Zombie Rights, striking up some friendships for The Cause in the process, even if we did apply a bit of a guilt trip over W.O.R.M. (they were very understanding)

-Protested Cabine of the Dead, exasperating Dr. Calamari just a little bit, but he came around eventually

-Saw Closure and Rise of the Living Corpse, expanding our view of independent Zombie moviemaking from around the world

-Spent an evening watching raunchy and bizarre films with ZRC pal Michelle Hartz, and many other fine memories.

All in all, it was a once in a lifetime event, but we’ll be back next year, sponsor more awards and protest anything Anti-Zombie with even more vigor, so Cabine of the Dead had better think twice about a sequel if it knows what’s coming to it.

(The lovely Buskirk-Chumley theatre is a great venue and hosts The Dark Carnival every year)

(Some of the usual gang of miscreants hosting the festival)

1) The Lurch for the Cure Auction at Famous Monsters

This was a big one for us. We reached out to a lot of the biggest names in Zombie related entertainment, both in person at Famous Monsters and online in the weeks before, and got some amazing results. In the end our FM auction raised over 300 dollars for The Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation, which just goes to show that Zombies aren’t just people too, they’re also good for the fight against Cancer. Along the way we got to talk and correspond with many of our counterparts on the, err, other side of this issue, including John Russo, Fred Van Lente, David Wellington, Judith O’Dea, Tom Savini and many other kind folks, who were happy to set aside our mutual enmity for a weekend to help out a good cause.

(The pride and joy of the Lurch Auction, our poster signed by a ton of the most famous (infamous) individuals in Zombie filmmaking.)

(On any other day, we’d probably be enemies with most of these people, but credit is due for being good sports and helping out a great cause)

Our heartfelt thanks go out to all our allies, collaborators and correspondents for the year 2010, without whom this amazing year working for Undead Equality and raising awareness of the Differently Animated would not have been possible. The ZRC couldn’t have done it without you, though we’d still have tried out best.

Let’s hope (and work) for an even better year in 2011!

Tags: Horror Society, Public Appearance, Social Justice, The Dark Carnival, Zombie of the Year 2010

This entry was posted by John Sears on Friday, December 31st, 2010 at 6:23 pm and is filed under The Dark Carnival, Zombie Media, ZRC News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.