Posted By John Sears on July 10, 2010

Hello Zombie Rights fans! We’re here at Famous Monsters of Filmland’s first annual convention in Indianapolis, IN. We’ve had a great first couple of days, and I haven’t had much time to get away to post online.

I know, it’s the 21st century, but you wouldn’t know it from the hotel’s wifi.

Still, The Cause has been getting a lot of traction here. We’ve sold a bunch of merch, including lots of shirts to benefit the Lurch for the Cure, and we sold some stuff in our first day of the live auction. We’ve decided, after receiving several last minute donations, including some here at the convention itself, to stretch it over to Sunday.

This morning we had an interesting experience; we took an oversized version of our Zombies Forever print to the ‘Hall of the Undead’ signature room here and got it signed for the Lurch. Only one zombie movie personality turned us down, which meant we had over a dozen names on the poster, and it got snatched up in the first day of the auction.

Good job on your end of the Amnesty, zombie moviemakers/actors. Good job.

I’ll be uploading lots of pictures from the con soon, but to be honest, folks, it’ll be from my parent’s wifi tomorrow evening before we head back to Madison. If I tried to upload the pictures from the ZRC’s state of the art activism ready 14 megapixel camera, let alone the HD video… well, it’d be time for the NEXT Famous Monsters con before you got to see the video, let’s put it that way.

We were also interviewed for a podcast from Mail Order Zombie this afternoon, so we’ll have to post a link to that when it goes up. It was a productive conversation and we think it went very well indeed.

That’s about it for now, Z-Fans. We’ll be back tomorrow with a convention wrapup, then lots of pictures, video and other impressions. Next week we’ll get you reviews of I, Zombie 2, a couple of Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth issues, Marvel Zombies 5, maybe a couple of movies; we got a considerable backlog running up to the con.

Also noteworthy, we may be making some important site annoucements soon, including a new member of the ZRC staff who will be your go-to man on all aspects of classic Zombie lore, cinema and history. (Negotiations are still under way for this highly prized staff acquisition.)

Stay tuned folks; it’s a busy time for Zombie Rights.

Category: Lurch for the Cure, Zombie Media, ZRC News | 2 Comments »
Tags: Charity Auction, Public Appearance, Social Justice

Posted By John Sears on July 10, 2010

Sparkly Vampires.

You’re probably well aware of their presence in our society. A new movie glorifying their lifestyle has just come out in American theatres, to the acclaim of millions of underage girls.

Who are their primary targets.

You see, Sparkly Vampires aren’t like other Undead. They don’t just try to get by, live and let Unlive. No. Sparkly Vampires are *celebrities*, and they feel like they don’t have to follow the rules. They can do whatever they like.

And apparently, ‘whatever they like’ is brooding, midnight baseball games, glitter and chasing your underage daughter. Thanks to a relentless commercial propaganda machine, these Sparkly menaces are adored for their antisocial behavior!

Check out this wikipedia blurb about the first book in their PR push, ‘Twilight’:

It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella “Bella” Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen.

That was just the beginning. Since then there have been three sequels and a film series, and they’ve grossed hundreds of millions of dollars.

And for what? Do people really adore emo skirt-chasing Undead prettyboys covered in glitter more than the noble, hardworking, team-oriented Zombie?

We think it must be the result of that slick propaganda, combined with some teenage gullibility. So the ZRC has decided to stop it cold.

With this:

This is our newest product, available in free desktop form here and at the FM con in person today for only 5 dollars. Two dollars of every copy sold at the con goes to the Lynn Sage Cancer Research people, and you can take pride in displaying that you are aware of the con these Glowy Grabasses are pulling and won’t put up with it, no sir!

Zombies Forever

Sparkly Vampires NEVER

Category: Zombie Media, ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags: Charity Auction, Social Justice, Zombie Products

Posted By John Sears on July 10, 2010

This is going to have to be a fast post, as I’m here on the hotel wifi waiting to meet up with people for breakfast.

(I apologize for the lack of images, they will be added later in this space)

So, ZRC fans, we have a couple more items for the Silent Auction, which we’re going to run today from Noon to 6 pm at Famous Monsters of Filmland’s convention here at the Wyndham West in Indianapolis.

First up is a signed first-edition copy of a new novel by Bloomington writer and all around Zombie Rights supporter Michelle Hartz. Very swanky.

Here, have some info off the back cover:

After a car accident lands them in the field of a wind farm, 6 strangers split up to look for help. More than willing to help, what the Helper is offering is not the type of help they are looking for.

I’ll be writing a review of Helpless from a Zombie perspective shortly, but I’m told that it is Zom-friendly. From a purely materialistic perspective it’s a very nice book, better printed than a lot of the stuff I’ve gotten from Amazon, actually.

From a purely *mercenary* perspective, a signed first edition of a book by an up and coming author could double as a trust-fund in future years. If you had a signed first edition of some of Stephen King’s early work, you could probably retire to a tropical island.

BUY THE BOOK

Now, the second item for today is a ZRC original, and very limited edition. At this auction we are selling a print dealing with a very serious issue that I’ll get into more later: Sparkly Vampires.

Sparkly Vampires suck. They’re jerks, and they’re after your underage daughters. Zombies get villified while these glittery jailbait-chasers get a movie series and thousands of squealing fangirls?

Not on our watch, not without protest!

Hence, Zombies Forever.

You can see the print and download a handy desktop wallpaper here.

The regular prints, which are very nice fyi, are only 5 dollars at the con, with 2 of those dollars going to the Lynn Sage fundraiser. But this auction print is even more special; it’s a super limited edition of 1 copy, and we’re going to try to get as many Zombie-related people as possible here at the con to sign it.

Sweet.

Well, that’s it for now, Zombie fans.

Category: Lurch for the Cure, ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags: Charity Auction, Public Appearance

Posted By John Sears on July 7, 2010

The big auction is in two days, and the convention starts in a little over one. So why am I typing here and not working on the auction page for the site, or getting sleep, or packing?

Well, because the art director’s computer came down with a trojan this evening and it’s put a bit of a spanner in the works.

Not to worry; we’ll still do everything we were going to do. We’ll be at the convention all weekend, and the auction is definitely a go. It just means the snazzy new site features won’t be done until Thursday sometime.

In site-related news, we finally got around to setting up Akismet to filter spam comments. As a result, we’re not being inundated with porn spam and weird Russian gibberish, so we can open up the comments system a bit. I’m testing removing the ‘admin must approve a comment at least once before you can comment’ feature. If the spambots don’t find a way around it, we can all have a more pleasant Z-rights experience here online.

Category: ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By John Sears on July 6, 2010

These next two items are from a very big name in the horror world, and we’re extremely happy to bring them to our sale in Indianapolis in a few scant days.

A little backstory: after hearing from some friends that did an auction at Horrorhound that they got a particularly impressive donation from Tweeting a certain famous author about their event, the ZRC decided that it could try leveraging its Twitter account, normally used for updates on Zombie Rights topics and news stories, to get some swag to sell for charity.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to lingering prejudice against the Differently Animated, only one person we contacted via Twitter responded with a generous donation to the auction. That paragon of virtue was none other than Lloyd Kaufman, famed director of The Toxic Avenger, co-founder of Troma Studios and all-around larger than life personality. (For the Troma perspective on Mr. Kaufman’s career, see this entertaining bio piece).

Mr. Kaufman responded immediately with a kind offer of help for our cause, and this week a small but impressive package arrived in the mail, directly from Troma. Inside were two items that I hope you’ll empty your savings a bit to obtain:

First, an autographed copy of the Unrated Director’s Cut of none other than The Toxic Avenger. In addition to being signed by Mr. Kaufman this DVD is packed with extras and lost footage. If you’re a fan of independent horror, you need this. It’s better than crack. If you’re on crack right now, put down the pipe and save your money, then come to the Famous Monsters of Filmland convention on Saturday to bid on the DVD.

It’s cheaper than rehab.

Check out this autograph:

Now that’s a John Hancock.

How can we top that? Well, the next item should be near and dear to any aspiring independent filmmaker’s wallet/heart: the DVD box set of Direct Your Own Damn Movie, Lloyd’s feature length documentary on the ins-and-outs of directing and producing an independent movie. I mean, come on. If you want to make your own movie, who better to teach you how to do it and not go bankrupt or further insane?

This is a 4 DVD set, full of interviews, tips and sage advice, and you can get an autographed copy at the Lurch for the Cure Auction being held this upcoming Saturday in the Famous Monsters of Filmland Convention, with all proceeds going to cancer research.

See? Autographed.

Now you know you want it. Bring lots of money.

Category: Lurch for the Cure | No Comments »
Tags: Charity Auction, Movies, Public Appearance, Social Justice

Posted By John Sears on July 5, 2010

Warning: Raven’s Dojo is often not safe for Zombies OR for work

So the ZRC advertised on Raven’s Dojo a while back. Nothing huge, just a little button ad, but we liked the comic and hoped to attract some eyeballs from a random, zany corner of the internet.

Little did we know that the comic would soon descend into Zombie-hatred.

Yes, in the last few updates, Raven’s Dojo has become a Zompocalypse scenario, set naturally enough in a mall, as the Undead version of a former supervillain unleashes a zombie pandemic to create chaos and death.

Admittedly, he did it with an Undeath ray, so it’s not nearly as cliche as it sounds. In truth, Raven’s Dojo is wildly inventive, and even the approach to mindless Zombie killing is done with style and innovation, as devoted fans and commenters can get themselves rendered into zombies, then slaughtered in the comic. (See the post below the undeath ray comic at this address)

All we can say is: for shame, Raven’s Dojo. You just lost an advertiser, and perhaps.. a friend.

*sniffle*

It always hurts when the anti-Zombie bigotry comes from someone you thought was cool.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Comics

Posted By John Sears on July 5, 2010

Anime News Network helpfully runs a seasonal preview feature highlighting the newest shows from Japan, and their summer previews have just kicked off.

The good news? This provides some valuable intel on how soon-to-be-imported, likely-megahit zombie-bashing anime High School of the Dead is doing in the establishment press.

The bad news? Sometimes the establishment press is even more anti-Zombie than the horror community, as Zac Bertschy illustrates:

…the fact is, zombies themselves are fanservice now. They’re such a nerd meme cliché that putting them in anything immediately turns whatever the project is into pandery geekbait. Which doesn’t mean the show isn’t fun to watch, but if you’re over the whole LOL ZOMBIES thing, this show is gonna seem pretty tiresome.

…

All that and my zombie fatigue aside, this show is going to be huge and it’s a licensing no-brainer (oh ho!) for Section23, and nerds everywhere will love the crap out of it. It’s decently animated, appropriately nasty and has pretty much everything your average zombie (and/or boobs) enthusiast is looking for. It just could’ve easily been written by a script generator or a horror fan with 19 minutes to kill.

Zombies are ‘fanservice’? You have ‘zombie fatigue’? Oh, I’m sorry Zac, that our underrepresented and brutally oppressed minority is getting in the way of you watching anime. I guess they should just sit down, preferably somewhere in the back, and let the Living people attend to their important business.

Honestly… Zombie fatigue? Really? What’s next, ‘Asian fatigue’, or ‘Hispanic fatigue’? If you get tired of Hispanics, does that mean that you can dismiss all forms of entertainment involving their community? Carlos Mencia aside, that would be totally unjust!

Clearly, the ZRC is needed for our overseas Undead brethren too, as prejudice knows no bounds. Fortunately, High School of the Dead is now showing on the Anime News Network media player, so we can get a review of the action, which is probably defamatory anyway, and get back to you shortly.

For now, I think I have Bertschy fatigue, so I’m taking a break.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Anime or Manga, Social Justice

Posted By John Sears on July 4, 2010

Well, we have the information on where our booth will be located at the Famous Monsters of Filmland Convention this Friday-Sunday. The Zombie Rights Campaign’s booth is located in the ‘Hall of Champions’, right by an entrance so that you can stop by our place both first and last to spend your lucre for charity.

For more information, you can see a map of all the booth and guest locations at this address. We’re table 55.

Whee. Now, back to work!

Category: Lurch for the Cure, ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags: Charity Auction, Public Appearance, Social Justice

Posted By John Sears on July 3, 2010

So our friends across the Pacific have hopped onto the Romero bandwagon with an anime adaptation of the aptly named ‘Highschool of the Dead’ manga, whose story and content are clearly inspired by the grandmaster of Living Supremacist film.

I had seen this news before, and wondered what the chances of the anime adaptation being brought to America were… little did I know that it would be picked up for a full dubbed release before it’s even aired in Japan!

LOS ANGELES (Anime Expo), July 2, 2010—Sentai Filmworks today announced its acquisition of the new hit anime series HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD. Based on the ultra-violent manga by Daisuke Satō, directed by Tetsuro Araki (Deathnote, Black Lagoon) and produced by the internationally famed studio MADHOUSE (Deathnote, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D-Bloodlust, Wicked City) HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD combines hordes of flesh-eating zombies with state of the art animation for one of the most action packed anime series ever!

Sentai Filmworks will be releasing HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD in both English dubbed and subtitled versions throughout North America.

Just look at this. Ultra-violent? ‘Hordes’ of flesh-eating zombies?

Why aren’t the Living ever described that way? How come we don’t see people talk about the ‘hordes of flesh-eating humans’ at your local Burger King?

Prejudice, that’s why. Ugly, ugly prejudice.

A prejudice that has spread around the globe thanks in no small part to George Romero and his lifetime of anti-Zombie filmmaking, which culminates in this latest assault on the decency of two nations. For shame, Madhouse, Sentai Filmworks, Daisuke Satō, and of course, for shame on the public for their unquenchable thirst for this sort of ‘entertainment.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Anime or Manga, Romero

Posted By John Sears on July 1, 2010

I apologize for not getting these up sooner, but… well, the why isn’t important. I have been negligent in my duties as a Zombie Rights advocate and I apologize.

The next two items come to us from the very personable, and apparently somewhat repentant Mr. Fred Van Lente, who was kind enough to donate a signed copy of both Marvel Zombies 3 and Marvel Zombies 4 in trade paperback form to the auction.

As we get these comics issue-by-issue from Heavy Ink to keep abreast of the latest developments in Zombie Comics, I was pleasantly surprised to see some additional materials packaged in the trades that may require the ZRC to pick up our own copies for future evaluation. We don’t want to break-in these books for fear of losing that new-car smell, or whatever the equivalent for a comic is.

At any rate, here are some pictures to whet the appetite before the auction.

First, the two books together:

The signed interior of Marvel Zombies 3:

Then the signed page for Marvel Zombies 4:

The ZRC wants to publicly thank Mr. Van Lente for his contribution to our upcoming auction, now roughly 8 days away, and for helping to open a dialogue with the Zombie Rights Community. It was an important first step toward a better future.

Category: Lurch for the Cure | No Comments »
Tags: Charity Auction, Comics, Social Justice