A Special ZSC Birthday Surprise

From the very cluttered desk of Commander-in-Chief Juliette Terzieff

The big man in red and his minions up in the North Pole have nothing on the Zombie Survival Crew commanders this December. As part of our second birthday celebrations, we’ve been preparing a huge surprise for all of you.

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since the ZSC opened its virtual doors and began recruiting the best crew of survivors in the verse! It’s been an amazing journey that would not have been possible without each and every one of our commanders and the legions of loyal brigadiers, and we thank you!!!

We know you’re tough. We know you’re battle ready. We know you’ve got a stocked go bag, a weapon of choice and a plan for what to do when the worst happens.

But are you ready for this?

Nah, I don’t think you are. What? Okay, okay, no more teasing. . .

We here at ZSC command are excited to announce a host of new products over the coming months, including the latest gear featuring our Blue Brigade Commander. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates in the coming weeks — we’ve got some cool stuff planned as we head into our third year!

There’s a ton of ZSC and Reedus t-shirts, tanks tops, hats, and more.
Pre-orders are open today and can be found HERE and will leave the Command Center to your front steps around January 20.

Best part? A portion of the proceeds from the ZSC Reedus line will be put in a fund to support Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders, and other development/disaster response organizations as event need dictates.

So grab your gear ZSC loyalists and wear it with pride if you’re able to get out to a 2013 event! And when you do? We would love to see some pictures!


Bewitching Book Tours: Perseverance by James Lacey

The Zombie Survival Crew is happy to welcome James Lacey, author of Perseverance: A Zombie Tale today. First we’ll start of with a little bit about the book, and then we’ll get some insight from James on the pending zombiepocalypse.

Perseverance: A Zombie Tale
James Lacey

Publisher: 23 House Publishing
Pages: 324

Description:

It didn’t happen the way it was supposed to …

I am a teacher. At least, I was before it all happened, before I was forced to survive. I taught social studies at the high school. I was also the coach of the school’s successful debate team. It was a cold Saturday in January when I heard the first rumor of trouble …

You know, pop culture had defined the zombie apocalypse time and time again, all coming from the minds of horror writers, film producers, and video game designers. Who knew that when it really happened, it wouldn’t be anything like they all predicted. Oh sure, the dead reanimated, and they were certainly hungry for living flesh…but what were the mysterious red-eyes, zombies that moved faster than their stumbling counterparts and seemed to not only communicate, but to exert some kind of control over the others.

The Oracle managed to catch up with James on his blog tour and was able to get some valuable insights from someone forecasting about the zombieapocalypse. And you’ll definitely want to check out the video at the bottom of this post.

  1. When did you first begin writing, and what inspired you to write your first book?
    • I began writing when I was very young. I remember handwriting little stories while other kids would color. I remember being really excited when we got our first family computer and I could type them out in a text file and print them on our old dot matrix printer. Writing my first full-length novel was just the natural progression of a life-long passion.
  2. What books and authors have most influenced your life?
    • I was a huge fan of classical literature. Still am. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is by far my favorite literary character. As far as the zombie lore goes, I have to give a lot of influential credit to Max Brooks, who I think redefined what the genre means by going so in-depth with the individual character stories and different perspectives in World War Z.
  3. Tell us a little about your main character. How does a social studies teacher develop the necessary skills to survive a zombie apocalypse?
    • When the apocalypse comes, you do what you have to do. He adapts quickly and lives in a somewhat rural area at the beginning of the story. People in areas like that have this ingrained rustic quality that will go a long way in the apocalypse. But most importantly, as much as possible, he thinks before he does anything. You have to keep a level head if you want to survive, even if a zombie is about to bite your face off.
  4. Faced with a world infested with flesh-eating biters, what would be your go-to method of defense and why?
    • Right away I’m grabbing my own leather jacket, like the main character wears, and a good sturdy knife. Wearing a leather jacket in the story wasn’t an accident and is something I thought about hard when outfitting my character. Leather is lightweight, usually somewhat waterproof and very tough to bite through. That’s why dog-training gloves are made of leather. You’ll certainly feel pain and a pinch of something biting you, but it takes a lot to gnaw through it. And, leather is easy to find if you don’t have it already. Most people I know have a leather jacket (and some have leather pants, but I won’t judge). Tell me how many people you know own lightweight Kevlar you could take after they turn?
  5. In this ever-changing world, it behooves us to be prepared for disaster to happen at any moment. The Zombie Survival Crew members have a “go-bag” filled with items essential for their survival should disaster strike and they must flee to survive. What are the most essential items for your go-bag and why?
    • My go bag has the following: a clean pair of socks to alternate with the ones I’ll be wearing when it’s time to go. You can’t flee zombies if you develop a nasty fungus infection on your feet. Flint and tinder and dryer lint to start a fire when it’s safe or necessary (I picked that up in the scouts when I was younger). A good multi-tool or swiss army knife probably doesn’t need an explanation. At least six feet of parachute cord can be used for a multitude of things. And lastly, my pistol, because if I have it I’ll use it, but that doesn’t mean I need it.
  6. How did you come up with the premise for Perseverance? And what do you feel makes your book stand out in the zombie lit world?
    • When I sat down a few years ago to write Perseverance I had no intention of writing a full-length novel. It started as a short-story that I was writing one night when I was bored. Just a few pages about the beginning of the apocalypse from a regular guy’s perspective. And then I gave it to a friend who thought it was really good and asked what would happen next, so I wrote the next part. From there it just kept growing and growing and about eight months later the first draft was done. I think it stands out because of the twists to the lore that are in there, and because you never really know what’s going to happen next. Oh and the ending. Everyone tells me the ending is really good and I’ve been getting demands for a sequel already.
  7. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in writing for a horror audience?
    • Real horror fans are not scared by what they are reading. They are curious. Think about it like watching a horror movie, you keep watching because you need to know what’s going to happen next. Horror book fans are the same way, just with a different medium; they want to know just how far a character or antagonist will go to push the human condition. I tried to do that in my book. Yeah, the action is there along with the blood, guts and gore, but they’re never the focus in a really good horror story.
  8. Tell us a little bit about your work with disabled adults and children.
    • My other passion when I’m not writing. My “9 to 5” job is working with disabled adults and trying to teach them job skills to use when they graduate high school. Outside of work I’m a Special Olympic coach for track and field events, as well as basketball. My basketball team has won the county competition 3 years in a row and many of my athletes have come back with medals after the Pennsylvania State Special Olympic Competition at Penn State University. And anyone who has ever seen these competitions know that it is no joke, the athletes are incredibly talented. Two years ago our county program named me “Coach of the Year” and it’s one of the biggest honors I’ve ever received. Working with these individuals has been a huge influence on my life, so much so that I’ve made a pledge on my blog to donate a percentage of my personal royalties from Perseverance back to the program.
  9. What are you working on now? Can you tell us your latest news?
    • A few things, actually. If you’ve been to my website you’ve seen the zombie-themed “Call Me, Maybe” parody that I shot with my friends to help promote the book. We’re working on another one now (Zombie-themed Christmas…all I’m going to say), which should be a lot of fun. Also, I’m writing a new short story that features a special needs individual during the zombie apocalypse because I don’t think that’s been done before. And I have some long-term plans to expand the website and the content there, but that’s a little ways done the road.
  10. Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?
    • Thanks so much for the opportunity to talk to you today. I hope that you check out the website and, if you haven’t already, pick up a copy of Perseverance. Oh, and remember to aim for the head.

About the Author:

James Lacey lives in the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania. When not writing, he works with disabled adults and children as a paraprofessional and Special Olympics coach. James also enjoys hiking, camping and watching football.

Endorsement: “James Lacey takes the classic zombie story that we all know and love, and then twists it off into the new directions and unexplored territory. Perseverance is fresh, exciting, and edge-of-the-seat spell-binding.”

– Samantha Murphy, 13 Nights of Blood: Legends of the Vampire

Website | Twitter | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

 

Check out the video spoof James did called It’s a Zombie, Baby!


T-Dog’s Next Line contest – Country Winners!

We here at Zombie Survival Crew Command are just now managing to crawl out from under the horde of zombies unleashed by The Walking Dead season premiere Sunday night!!! Wow, what an adrenaline rush! By the time the premiere ended the Command Center was littered with ice cream wrappers, handfuls of tossed popcorn and a pile of bloody machetes!

 

Our Commander in Chief Juliette Terzieff managed to make it through the premiere without biting any holes in her fingers (as she’s been known to do during Walking Dead episodes…twice), but both she and Yellow Brigade Commander Jinxie G managed to scream themselves hoarse. Orange Brigade Commander R.C. Murphy ended up inside the zombie bunneh cages attempting to cuddle the vicious creatures.

 

Only Green Brigade Commander IronE Singleton and Special Forces Commander Michael Rooker were left standing….armed and ready for more hand-to-hand combat.

 

We were scheduled to announce the country winners for the T-Dog’s Next Line contest right after the premiere aired –and we do apologize for the delay. Those popcorn kernals were really hard to get out of the Command computer keyboard!!!

 

So now, without any further ado, here are the medal-winning countries in the in T-Dog’s Next Line contest!!!

 

Gold – U.S.A.

Silver – Ireland

Bronze – France

 

Congratulations!!!

 

There were entries that made us laugh, cry…cringe. The Walking Dead fans are definitely a creative bunch! And we’re now continuing to sift through all the entries and will post individual category winners on October 28!

 

Until then, stay tuned to The Walking Dead Sunday nights on AMC…if you dare!


Myth Bashing – Heads Up!

From under the desk of RC Murphy

It’s time for another round of myth bashing with your Zombie Survival Crew commanders. We do all of the research on the myths you guys send our way to be sure none of us end up chow during the Zombiepocalypse.

Myth: Cutting off a zombie’s head is just as good as destroying their brain.

Fact: Taking shortcuts will get you killed.

Did you know that the human brain can survive up to two minutes without blood being actively pumped to it from the heart? That is a normal brain in a normal body, without any zombie funny business mucking things up. Neat, huh?

Now we have to mix in the various definitions of zombies—all of whom in fact have no heartbeat to drive their bodily systems. Zombies undergo a reversal of sorts from how we are hardwired to function. The animalistic portion of the brain drives them and that’s it. The nervous system, which regulates heartbeat and lung function as well as pain receptors, doesn’t come back on line. Essentially a switch is flipped and they become eating machines without the ability to step away from the meal and say, “I’m full” because that portion of their body just doesn’t function.

What does that have to do with decapitation? Everything.

Zombies do not need their bodies to be attached to their heads in order to “live”. Everything is contained within their grey matter. So even if you send their head flying a good fifty feet away from the rest of their body, the zombie will still attempt to sate the unrelenting hunger propelling them through the world. This doesn’t pose much of a threat unless you leave the head lying somewhere without destroying the brain. Someone could walk past unawares and get within biting range. Ankles biters are still fully capable of infecting someone. That infection will be brought back to your base camp.

Boom. Outbreak amongst the survivors.

Not to mention, leaving a zombie’s head to lie there snapping at passing squirrels and hikers is simply inhumane. The ZSC has always taken the stance that if you must kill an infected human or dispatch a zombie, do it as humanely as possible. If you were in their shoes would you want to become a potential soccer ball for the undead? I think not. So yes, decapitation works, but only to neutralize the threat. After that, you must destroy the zombie’s brain so there are no accidental attacks.

What zombie myths have you heard? Submit your myths in the comments below and we’ll do our best to prove if they are fact or just plain nonsense.

Check out more of the Myth Bashing series


Trouble Brewing?

From the bunny cage of RC Murphy

Photographer: Fernando Rodrigues

Since the mishap in Florida, we’ve been closely monitoring communication lines between UGA (Unnamed Government Agency) agents and their superior commanders. Things have been quiet on that front for the most part, until this past week. Below is the decoded message we intercepted from Agents Smith and Wiggins to the field office in northern Utah.

We are declaring a state of emergency for the South East quadrant. The serum released in May as an in-field study of our ZSF program has mutated and spread beyond what the lab techs predicted. Attempts to keep the attacks have been mostly successful, but we cannot contain this on our own.

Send assistance ASAP.

The field office sent the following reply:

In an effort to remain under the radar, we cannot at the present send additional forces to the South East quadrant without alerting the ZSC to our plans. Dispose of the infected and maintain efforts to keep the media silenced.

Further orders will be sent via usual channels.

We were correct to assume UGA interference in the current rash of strange news hitting the airwaves. What is project ZSF? How far has this serum of theirs spread? Rest assured that your ZSC commanders are looking into this current problem.

Again, we ask that if you witness unusual behavior, please contact local authorities. Double check your weapons and go bags, brigadiers. Plans have been put into motion to counteract the UGA threat. Remain vigilant and hopeful. We will get to the bottom of this.


Myth Bashing – Space Case

From under the desk of RC Murphy

We are back for another installment of myth bashing with your Zombie Survival Crew commanders. This series strives to separate fact from fiction so that you all have a snowball’s chance in Hades of surviving the Zombiepocalypse.

Myth: Save the space program! We can use the space shuttles to haul all of the zombies out into space and watch them blow up.

Fact: You’ve been watching one too many Sci-Fi movies.

A few facts about space: First, space is a vacuum. It is devoid of air pressure. In contrast, Earth has approximately fourteen pounds of pressure weighing us down. To counteract, our bodies push back against this pressure with equal force. When exposed to a vacuum, the pressure inside the human body doesn’t magically turn off to balance things out. Instead the unchecked pressure builds, creating tiny gas bubbles in bodily fluids that expand, testing the elasticity of human skin and the capacity of our chest/stomach cavity. (Imagine a marshmallow in the microwave here.) It doesn’t take very long for swelling from the gasses to cut off blood and oxygen, leading to brain death.

Got all of that? Good.

Now we need to look at physical characteristics of a zombie. They don’t breathe, so they wouldn’t asphyxiate when dumped into space, which is what generally kills humans first. Almost all zombies have wounds deep enough to pierce the dermis, if not rupture the body cavity, so in theory it would take longer for the pressure to build in a reasonably fresh body. (I say in theory because, lets be honest, it would take years of studying to know all the facts on this stuff.) But once the pressure did build, brain damage would be severe enough to dispatch the zombie permanently. That and they’d be a deadcicle from the water vaporizing out of their body and freezing as gasses expand.

“What if space aliens find the zombies?”

Really? Okay, fine. We’ll go there.

As I’ve stated, the undead would be frozen. Freezing does preserve certain bacteria, but it could also destroy the microbes. It is impossible for us to know if the temperature would drop low enough to destroy whatever it is that reanimates the corpses. Barring any cellular changes from the radiation found naturally in space, it could be possible if an alien species found the Earth’s dirty laundry floating in space for them to be exposed to it once the zombies defrost.

That doesn’t mean there would be alien zombies navigating through space, though. If the species is, say, reptilian in nature, they likely won’t have enough in common genetically for the zombie virus to jump over to them. That isn’t to say that they wouldn’t be infected by it. It just wouldn’t affect them as it affects humans. The virus may even begin to mutate through the generations to eventually turn this alien species into zombies. That would be far off from the discovery of Earth’s undead, however.

(Of course, seeing as we have no proof of alien species existing, that whole explanation was simply to appease Sci-Fi fanboys. We live to serve.)

What zombie myths have you heard? Submit your myths in the comments below and we’ll do our best to prove if they are fact or just plain nonsense.

Check out more of the Myth Bashing series


The Walking Dead at SDCC 2012

From Walker Murphy as she’s chained to Michonne, along with her furry friend

On July 13th, a large portion of The Walking Dead’s cast and executive producers braved the insane crowds at San Diego Comic-Con. They started the day with a signing in the TWD booth (complete with life-like Michonne and walker mannequins). A horde of fans crowded around to get a peek. Yours truly was nearly trampled by some of the fans on the outskirts of the crowd.

In the afternoon, the cast and producers hit the stage in Hall H, SDCC’s largest meeting hall. Even with the upgrade to the larger room, they still could not fit all of the fans inside. People were lining up at 4 AM just to catch a glimpse of our favorite crew of survivors and hopefully hear some good news about season 3.

I won’t keep you guys waiting any longer; here are the important parts from the TWD panel at SDCC.

First off, The Walking Dead will return to our televisions on Sunday, October 14th at 9:00 PM. International fans will be able to watch starting the day after and throughout the following week.

Secondly, they confirmed the first-person-shooter The Walking Dead game from Activision, starring our favorite pair of redneck brothers, Merle and Daryl Dixon. This is our only chance to get more background on the pair. Robert Kirkman said they prefer to not utilize flashbacks to develop character story arcs on the show.

Lastly, this wasn’t announced on the panel, but we just got word that Universal Studios is producing a Walking Dead maze during their gigantic Halloween Horror Nights extravaganza in October at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando. They plan to drop brave souls smack-dab in the middle of some of the iconic and downright terrifying moments from the show, including Rick’s long, lonely walk down the halls of the hospital and the front window display of the department store where walkers broke through to get to the crew in season 1.

Now for some fun tidbits gleaned from the hour-long panel before we share the 4-minute trailer for season 3.

Executive producer, Greg Nicotero says that, this season the zombies will be even more detailed. They’re decaying as time progresses, hungrier than ever, and gathering in droves to go after Rick and his crew. Nicotero also directed an episode (maybe another this season?) of the show, which they finished filming before taking a few days off for SDCC.

May we ever see a musical episode of The Walking Dead? It is highly unlikely. However Laurie Holden and Danai Gurira have taken to mini-musical sessions between scenes on set. Laurie sings and they both dance and laugh. A lot of that chemistry promises to translate to the screen as Andrea and Michonne are separated from the main cast and struggle to keep going in the rough post-apocalyptic word.

Steven Yeun and Lauren Cohan are very excited for everyone to see where their characters’ relationship goes. That is, if Glenn can accept that Maggie loves him no matter what. She will do anything necessary to protect the family she has left and the man she loves. He is finally growing into the man he wants to be, but does that leave room for a love life? And can we say, thank goodness that we’re not in a real Zombiepocalypse? Steven told fans at the panel that he’d only fight to survive if attractive women surrounded him. “If it’s all bros, maybe I’ll lay down and let [the zombies] bite me.”

New cast member, David Morrissey, is excited to join the cast of TWD. He’s a huge fan of the show and jumped at the chance to be involved. David found his home with the cast and crew since they began filming in May and has been pinching himself since then…even if the heat and humidity in Georgia make filming somewhat uncomfortable.

Andrew Lincoln sang the praises of their youngest (and absent) cast member, Chandler Riggs. He says that Chandler, both in and out of character makes decisions far beyond his years and gets to go on this incredible journey. If Andrew could play another character on the show, he’d choose to be Carl so he could go through the experiences that Chandler is. Not to say that Rick’s experiences aren’t thrilling. But Andrew admits that where Rick is mentally is, “driving me bananas.”

There were a lot of fun moments in the SDCC panel discussion for The Walking Dead, but the best moment has to be the amazing 4-minute trailer they played before introducing the cast. Check it out below and let us know which moment you’re looking forward to seeing once The Walking Dead returns on October 14th.


Talking About The Dead

The Walking Dead season 3 preview

From the undisclosed location of RC Murphy – find her if you can

On the weekend after the Fourth of July, AMC ran a two-day marathon of The Walking Dead, starting with season one and going all the way through season two. The marathon was capped off by a live one-hour edition of Talking Dead, hosted by uber geek, Chris Hardwick. He interviewed cast and crew from TWD while they were out in Atlanta, Georgia filming season three.

Executive producers Glenn Mazzara and Gale Anne Hurd were the first TWD guests. Along with Drew Carey, who is a huge fan of the show and very into survival stuff. (Hey, Juliette, I think we need to go on a new mission for the ZSC…)

Glenn stated that the “Ricktatorship”, which we saw at the end of season two, is just beginning. It won’t be an easy road for Rick. He’s lost his best friend and second in command. His people are tired. Their loyalties are torn after discovering he kept a huge secret from them since leaving the CDC. He has to push the group to keep going, but if he pushes too far, he’ll lose them. The big question is, how will he deal with not having Shane around? Can Daryl step into that position and help out?

Gale adds in that Rick’s personal life isn’t peachy keen at the moment. Lori thought that Shane would be her savior, that he could be a father to Carl. A father that’d stay put because Rick is too keen to run off and save the world. She’s very much feeling Shane’s blood on her hands after pushing Rick to take care of things. But worst of all, she’s completely torn up over Carl’s involvement in the whole ordeal.

For the first time, they’ve announced ahead of time what the interactive fan treat for San Diego Comic-Con will be. Greg Nicotero, co-executive producer and SFX makeup wizard, walked us through the process of recreating Michonne and her pet zombies. They did lifecasts of Danai Gurira and the one of the walkers. Actual wardrobe pieces from the set will be worn by the statues to achieve a very unique interactive experience. Fans of the show that attend SDCC will be able to strap on a collar and take the place of Michonne’s second walker.

Laurie Holden, who plays Andrea, said that her time with Michonne will be spent kicking zombie butt and taking names. She forms a friendship with the other woman after being saved from the horde out in the forest at the end of season two. Laurie went on to talk about David Morrissey, who will play the Governor, saying he is perfect for the role—sexy, charismatic, evil, yet very sweet when not in character.

Glen Mazzara added that the Governor “is a guy that thinks the zombie apocalypse is all about him.” He fully believes that people will look back at this point in history and see him as the light that kept humanity going. The Governor thinks he is the messiah and will do anything to prolong the existence of humans.

Chandler Riggs called in to the show and was very adamant that Carl would not be going into the house any more. He is growing up. Carl wants to pull his weight. He feels it is his responsibility to be a soldier, to protect the group. His experience with Shane is taking him a little towards the dark side. Not quite sure what that means, but it will be interesting to see how being surrounded by death affects a child of that age.

Steven Yeun took Chris Hardwick through a tour of the prison set. Everything was built specifically for the show. It’s all fake, but looks so incredibly real because of the great attention to detail. The prison is dirty, dank, and uncomfortable. The actors aren’t being spoiled between shots, either. They get dirt caught in their throat. It coats their sinuses. All in all, the set makes for very true performances from everyone.

Executive producers David Alpert and Robert Kirkman came on and teased fans mercilessly. It was hard to tell what information they gave was for giggles and what fans can look forward to. David admitted that there will be a lot of death in season three—zombie deaths, human deaths, the deaths of characters we love. Basically he warned fans to watch the next season with a box of tissues in hand.

They confirmed, for the umpteenth time, that Merle Dixon will indeed be back for season three of TWD. Merle is a character that you never know what to expect from him—other than racism and hatred. Maybe this season Merle will adopt a stray kitten or something likewise fluffy and cute to redeem himself.

In other Dixon news, it was announced that in 2013, Activision will release a first-person-shooter The Walking Dead video game. The game will allow players to go through the first stages of the zombie apocalypse as Daryl Dixon, with his brother Merle at his side.

We will have more information about season three of The Walking Dead after San Diego Comic-Con.


Myth Bashing – The Taller The Better

From under the desk of RC Murphy

Welcome back to another round of myth bashing, Zombie Survival Crew style. This series is dedicated to uncovering the truth behind the tales one might hear while preparing for the Zombiepocalypse. We’re here to make sure you don’t end up digesting in a zombie’s stomach early on because you followed bad advice.

Myth: When being chased by zombies, the only safe place is to climb up a tree.

Fact: There may actually be some truth to this one.

It takes a good amount of coordination to be able to climb a tree. Most adults loose the flexibility (and lack of sense) necessary to traverse the tricky feat of making it more than one or two branches off the ground. Zombies are often encumbered by broken or missing limbs and severe muscle damage resulting from decomposition. They can hardly walk in a straight line, let alone direct their bodies to accomplish the difficult task of climbing.

But that isn’t to say they cannot make it up the tree somehow.

What the undead lack in motor skills, they make up for in sheer numbers. So sure, you think you’re fine and dandy sitting up in the branches of a tall tree, carefully picking off the zombies clawing uselessly at the trunk, but they’re drawn to the noise of the gun and the fuss their cohorts are making. Bodies pile up quickly. It is a lot easier to scramble on a writhing pile of moving corpses that don’t get upset when you step on their faces—there’s more horizontal surface to work with, therefore requiring less muscle. It wouldn’t take a large horde very long to build up enough for one zombie to body surf up and cling to a branch.

The question is, how dangerous would a treed zombie be?

Probably not very dangerous. What would kill you is dehydration, starvation, and exposure to the elements. Even if you make it up the tree with your heavy go bag in tow, it won’t have enough in it to tide you over until the horde disperses. They have one focus—food. And guess what? You’re the only item on their menu once they catch your scent.

However, we are not opposed to camping out in a sturdy and well-secured tree house. First of all, the idea just sounds cool. Secondly, if you use a rope ladder that can be pulled up and a very tall tree, there is very little chance of a zombie making it all the way up to your safe haven. This idea only works for individual survivors and not on a permanent basis. Hauling enough supplies to live on up a rope ladder would be backbreaking work, even if you pre-stored most of your items before the attacks began. We suggest using a tree house as an initial “get out of Dodge” location before moving on to a ZSC resupply station in your sector. But make sure you aren’t followed. Once a group of zombies surrounds your tree, getting back down to the ground to move on to a safer location will be very dangerous.

What zombie myths have you heard? Submit your myths in the comments below and we’ll do our best to prove if they are fact or just plain nonsense.

Check out more of the Myth Bashing series


Survival by Elantra?

From the undisclosed location of LK Gardner-Griffie

Your Zombie Survival Crew TM commanders are always on the lookout for not only stories of potential zombie uprisings, but ways to improve survivability come the apocalypse. So we were intrigued to learn from Motortrend’s Wide Open Throttle that Robert Kirkman of The Walking Dead fame has collaborated with Hyundai to create the Zombie Survival Machine. Check this bad boy out:

Just imagine plowing through a horde of zombies with that sweet spiked cow-catcher. Wouldn’t you like to get up close and personal with this car? Well, you can. The 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe Zombie Survival Machine will be on display at Comic-Con, which runs from July 12-15 in San Diego at the Future US booth, along with a limited-run illustrated owner’s manual. This beauty will be unveiled as a part of a four-episode behind the scenes series on HyundaiUndead.com on July 11th.

If that weren’t enough…a 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT hatchback will be wrapped in the 100th cover of The Walking Dead issue and will be given away on July 31st.

The word on the street is that our Orange Brigade commander, RC Murphy, may be among the merrymakers at San Diego Comic-Con in stealth mode. And I’m sure she’ll be taking the opportunity to size up this newest possibility to keep us safe from the shambling hordes.

Check out what Robert Kirkman has to say below: