No.70: Eye of Basir (2017) - Horror Video Game Review (PC)

Turkish made (and set) No.70: Eye of Basir is a horror game that is set out in the 'walking simulator' style much like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. As such this features no combat of any type, or even enemies for that matter as is the normal way with this type of game. What it does feature is lots of walking and the occasional puzzle solving over the course of the roughly two hour play through time. I played this using an X-Box 360 controller and should state that the game ran at a very low frame rate...but my PC is not designed to play video games and so that is most certainly the reason why!

I'm a bit lost as to the details of the story but basically you play as Aras whose brother Erhan has gone missing in mysterious circumstances. One day you awake to discover strange doorways in your house that never used to exist, it is while exploring these new rooms that you find a room containing the ancient device known as the Eye of Basir. Using its powers you decide to head to where you first saw it as a child; your grandmothers house at No.70.

Greener Pastures (2016) by Michael Wehunt - Horror eBook Review

Continuing my campaign to get through eBooks faster I have recently finished reading Greener Pastures by Michael Wehunt. This is an anthology of 11 short horror tales that share a similar feeling of loss and the passing of time. Initially I worried I would not enjoy this book at all, the style of writing was a bit off putting, not in that it was badly written, more that it was a bit too well written with Wehunt content to let his words dance around the page with a lot of what he writes suggestive of events rather than simple to decipher.

So starting off we have Beside Me Singing in the Wilderness and Onanon both share a kind of vampire type vibe and so I wondered if that meant the entire book was going to be a collection of those sort of stories. Both the stories were pretty obtuse in what they describe with work needed on the readers part to work out what they are really about, I just wasn't feeling either of those ones. Next came the title story Greener Pastures which is one I got on a lot better with, it shares kind of a H.P Lovecraft style tone to it, but lighter and less foreboding. The suggestions of other worldly beings, and the setting of a remote and isolated diner gave this a good atmosphere that brought to mind The Twilight Zone. A Discreet Music follows this and was probably my least favourite, as far as I can tell a man turns into a swan for some reason? While the thought of turning into a bird is a noble passion I just couldn't really get on with it.

The Wicked (2007) by James Newman - Horror eBook Review

The more I read horror novels the more I realise I haven't actually read many at all, with the exception of the zombie genre that is. For me stuff feels fresh and new when I sometimes wonder if that is just due to my limited knowledge of general horror books. The Wicked is a novel that was written by author James Newman as a throwback to the style of horror being written in the 1980's. It is about a small town being taken over by evil forces and as such drew heavy comparisons to Day Rusk's Barkerton I read earlier in the year, the similarities are so close at times that in my head I started linking it unofficially to that one.

David Little, his pregnant wife Kate and their young daughter Becca move from New York to the quiet town of Morganville to start over after a tragic incident Kate endured. The small town had never been the same since six months previously when a childrens home was burnt down killing sixty people and in the weeks following the Littles arrival things start to get worse. An ancient demonic evil known as Moloch is insidiously corrupting the minds of the town folk, at first the most vulnerable fall under his spell but as his power increases the number of people that can stand up to him reduce, these few include David, the local sheriff, and an ex-marine called George...

Geneshift (2017) - Zombie Action Video Game Review (PC)

Coming from Nik Nak Studios Geneshift is a top down shooter that was released on Steam Early Access on May 23rd this year. Its at first simple looking graphics belies the fact that this is a shooter that just becomes more and more addictive the longer you play. The game features 5v5 multiplayer combat, user generated maps, as well as a campaign that is playable with up to four friends. For this review I only played the campaign, and in single player as the other modes didn't appeal to me.

You play as a nameless scientist who has recently started working for HQ doing day to day science type stuff, a lot which is based around testing mutagens on zombie like clone test subjects. A large contingent of scientists rebel for reasons unknown and release the zombies from their cells and soon the undead are sweeping throughout the city. Teaming up with a partner named Knickers you must travel around the city to detonate bombs that destroy the machines that sustain the undead, and find a way to stop the rebellion and restore order to HQ. But everything may not be what it at first appears to be...

Karma. Incarnation 1 (2016) - Fantasy Video Game Review (PC)

So the award winning Karma. Incarnation 1 isn't a horror game but I did like the sound of it, and it is certainly a fantastical adventure that shares a lot of similarities with Botanicula, but also to my surprise some of the classic point and click adventures. Originally released in 2012 as an animation this then got made into a PC game that was released last year, and now has come to mobile platforms.

The entire story is played out via thought bubbles for the most part. There is no dialogue, more that you interact by your thoughts, and the thoughts of the person you are talking to appearing as little animations. This works surprisingly well, one quite epic moment showed how the removal of an energy source led to the downfall of a technological race, it was clever how this was played out with no explanation.  You play as a being who existed in the realm above a planet. A big evil creature abducts your one love and lands on this planet where he steals the protection of it. You get sent down to find a way to defeat him and restore balance. The issue of karma is prevalent throughout this game and it is such a big factor that it actually influences your actions and how the story plays out. It did seem like this is just the first part of a larger story as it finishes with the story seemingly only partly done.

Demon's Crystals (2017) - Fantasy Video Game Review (X-Box One)

Demon's Crystals is a low budget twin stick shooter that isn't too much of a burden on your wallet, though for that low price don't be expecting too much content or impressive graphics. The game can be played in single player (which I did) yet as I progressed I came to feel that certain elements really were reliant on a bigger team (this is up to 4 players).

A group of Astral demons named Oricans were at the top of the food chain on Earth, that is until three mysterious entities arrived and turned the population of the planet into flesh hungry zombies and other such foul beings. Now the Oricans must collect crystals (their source of energy) in order to defeat each of the three entities in turn, so that the natural balance is restored.

The Sexy Brutale (2017) - Adventure Video Game Review (PS4)

Time travel is such a cool concept in pop culture, the idea of being able to go back into the past and fix the wrongs there to make the future better is one that has been played out many times. With this game the inspiration seems to have been the classic movie Groundhog Day as the entire game takes place over 12 hours with the main lead repeatedly travelling back to the days start to try and save the guests of The Sexy Brutale.

You play as a priest named Lafcadio Boone who wakes up in the casino mansion of Lucas Bondes. A blood covered apparition informs him that she has broken him out of the loop him and the other guests of the yearly gathering taking place there have been trapped in. He is tasked with preventing the deaths of the other guests at the hands of the murderous staff. To do so he must sneak around the mansion spying on characters to work out first how they are killed, and then travelling back in time to try and find a way to prevent their deaths. The first murder for instance has Lafcadio needing to swap out a live bullet in a rifle for a blank, later on these murders get more convoluted involving a whole range of inventive deaths.

Echoplex (2017) - Horror Video Game Preview (PC)

Echoplex is an indie first person puzzle game that is currently on Steam Early Access for both Windows and Mac. Now originally I had planned to do a review of this, however the whole meaning of 'early access' was brought home to me when a big update that fundamentally changed how parts of the game worked wiped my save. You know what? That is perfectly fine with me, it is still being worked on and by all accounts the changes made are based on player feedback, so if it is going to make for a better experience then by all means wipe my 90 minutes worth of game time. This has meant though that my planned review shall now be a preview instead. The game was originally released in 2015 but this version is greatly expanded and polished.

Presentation is the best thing that Echoplex has going for it, I was immediately impressed by the crisp attractive title screen, then even more impressed when the game actually started. All the cutscenes in this game are actually live action which I loved. It reminded me a bit of the parts in Prototype that had live action, both are chopped up, edited together patch works of information,  this goes hand in hand with the mysterious story. In Echoplex you are a test subject in a research laboratory, a Portal style voice tells you that if you complete the challenges set to you that you will be able to regain your missing memories. The rest of my impressions will be from the version I played, though I will mention the changes I know about.

The Book of the Not Dead Enough: Admin Errors from the Other Side (2015) by Richard T. Watson - Zombie eBook Review

I had gotten into the habit of point blank turning down any requests I got sent to review eBooks, this was due to having a backlog five years long. However I received such a polite email from Richard T. Watson about his collection of short stories; The Book of the Not Dead Enough: Admin Errors from the Other Side that I decided I would buy a new eBook reader in order to finally make an effort to get on top of things. I am very rusty when it comes to book reviews, but it is all practice!

So contained within this there are twenty one short stories spread over 171 pages all dealing with a different version of the traditional zombie tale. The stories all take place in a world where due to an administration error in the afterlife a percentage of the world's population upon dying stay in their bodies rather than move on. These N.D.E's (Not Dead Enough's) aside from being dead are no different than when they were alive, they don't hunger for brains or any of the traditional wants the undead have. Most of the stories here explore different issues the dead face, usually to do with bureaucracy such as the issues of life insurance, marriage rights, and job security.

Anoxemia (2015-17) - Horror Video Game Review (Playstation 4)

Anoxemia was first released on the PC back in 2015, though it was only released on the Playstation 4 and X-Box One on 28th March. As this underwater adventure contains moments of horror I felt it was a good enough fit for a review on my blog.

Set in a post apocalyptic world recovering from a devastating distant war you play as an operations drone named ATMA who is escorting scientist Dr. Bailey deep below the waves in a dangerous region covered in acid, in order to retrieve important samples. Unfortunately your submarine crashes on the ocean floor, trapping you there with the Doctor, who decides that despite loosing his sub the mission is too important to abort and so sets off in diving gear. However being trapped isn't your only problem as there are many still operational relics left over from the war, ones that are programmed to kill...

Outbreak (2017) - Zombie Horror Video Game First Impressions (PC)

While primarily a console gamer I know enough about PC games, and Steam in particular to be aware of the sheer amount of games that get released each week. It is in this busy landscape that retro zombie shooter Outbreak (from Drop Dead Studios) found itself released on 17th January, but does it do enough to stand out?

In Outbreak you play as one of four characters; a cop, a computer scientist, a student, and a paralegal. During a city wide zombie outbreak these four find themselves in a barricaded hospital, yet with the hospital itself breached they decide to find a way to escape the madness. There are four chapters in the game, all of which can be accessed right away, so it is not a spoiler to say that as well as the hospital there is the underground, resident housing (I think), and the lab where it seems the Outbreak originated from. There are also four levels that are just pure wave based survival.

Zombies in Love (2014) by Nora Fleischer, narrated by Martin Wurst - Zombie Audiobook Review

Back last August I received an email from Martin Wurst telling me about the book Zombies in Love (written by Nora Fleischer) that he had narrated in audiobook form. I listened to half of it, enjoyed it then somehow completely forgot it existed until a week or so back when I rediscovered it. Like the living dead I may be very slow at doing things, but I never give up (that analogy sounded better in my head).

The story takes place in Boston where Jack Kershaw is struggling to not only hold onto his job at a small pizzeria, but also to hide the fact that he is a zombie from his boss Lisa Alioto. It turns out that Jack as well as a variety of other dead people had been reanimated accidentally by two graduate students over at Winthrop University. Jack's new lease of life has made him really appreciate un-living due to a blossoming romance with Lisa, but one that may be cut short due to the bumbling grad students on a desperate mission to capture all the zombies, and the sinister heads of Winthrop University who will go to any length to cover up what has happened...

# I'm Zombie: A Zombie Mosaic Novel (2016) by Tony Newton - Zombie Horror Book Review

# I'm Zombie is a book that collects together different accounts from an (obviously) fictional zombie apocalypse, these include chat room and phone transcripts, found letters and even poetry. Rather than cover a whole time frame of the apocalypse author Tony Newton instead decides to mainly focus on the day his outbreak occurred worldwide; 10th October 2019. He writes these as if they were from real people so there are lot of intentional spelling mistakes and bad grammar throughout the novel.

I like the idea of a story told through various accounts, Stephen Jones's Zombie Apocalypse! (2010) did this to fantastic effect emulating a wide variety of different styles such as police reports, handwritten notes and newspaper clippings, I hoped for the same thing here and for the first forty or so pages it's not bad, the expected phone transcripts and secret memos all on show. In a weird move nearly half of the three hundred page book is set out like an online forum, one that we are told was from the day the outbreak erupted. At first glance this isn't a bad thing, it's set out like a forum with post numbers, site status and gender images but unfortunately it is uniformly both boring and bizarre in what people report on there. There is no sense of story, a few recurring characters keep posting such as Prepper Max, but for the most part a random person will post a random couple of sentences then vanish to be replaced by the next completely random post. Throw into this mix humorous oddities such as someone who has been bitten by a zombie asking for help (after they have taken the time to create a guest account, even giving themselves the user name 'Bitten') and I began to get confused as to the tone of the book, whether it was meant to be serious or not.

Rotter Apocalypse (2015) by Scott M. Baker - Zombie Horror Book Review

I have had a copy of Rotter Apocalypse for a shameful amount of time, I even received an advanced copy and so the fact I have only just finished reading it makes me blush. Being the third book in the Rotter trilogy (following on from Rotter World and Rotter Nation) I was kind of locked in and knew I would enjoy regardless of the quality. Thankfully Rotter Apocalypse is another great zombie story that fixes one of the bugbears I have fixated on in the previous books, there are bound to be unavoidable spoilers for the previous books in the series in this review.

Following on immediately from the events of Nation we find Robson struggling to deal with the influx of people he now has under his care (after rescuing them from a brutal gang). The two vampires who have teamed up with him start to become more and more disillusioned with his decisions and plan to leave. Meanwhile Windows and Cindy (the little girl she rescued) having escaped the rape gang on their own stumble across a protected farm out in the countryside where they befriend the owner; kind old Mr Denning. Elsewhere the remnants of the Angels have succeeded with their mission to deliver the zombie vaccine to the surviving government and learn of a plan to retake back ruined America.

The Laws of Nature (2014) by Ashley Franz Holzmann - Horror Book Review

I have always loved a good short horror story, I often find that they are far more effective in creating a feeling of dread than any full size story. Upon getting Ashley Franz Holzmann's The Laws of Nature I was hoping against hope for some quality stories. I will try my very best to spoil these as little as possible., and as an aside I really am not that great at book reviews!

I wouldn't normally mention it but kudos goes to the book design itself which looks very stylish with its black cover featuring minimalist scenes from three of the stories contained within. I also love the blurb below the title 'A Collection of Short Stories of Horror, Anxiety, Tragedy and Loss' which manages to conjure up a weird feeling of restrained terror. A solid cover is good and all but of course it is the stories contained within that matter. Within more design choices have to be mentioned before getting on to them. Opening with an introduction from the Editor and ending with a letter from the author this feels more personal than most short collections. Added to this is the fact that many of the stories end with an after word by Holzmann, usually providing his inspiration for the tales, these are all real interesting, it was cool to see the workings out that led to the stories.

Zombicide (2012) - Zombie Board Game Review

Zombicide is a board game in which you try to survive a zombie apocalypse while completing missions playing as one of six characters. I was given this game for free to review but funnily enough it was only a few months back I had actually been considering getting it of my own accord.

This game is designed for co-op play and all the missions are geared around working together with up to six people able to play at once, what I immediately loved was that this is actually even playable on your lonesome, something which Zombies!!! (the only other undead based board game I own) lacked and led to it gathering dust on my shelf. The characters you can choose from each have different special abilities that are at least initially exclusive to them. Phil the cop starts with a pistol, Josh the thug is able to move normally through squares occupied by the walking dead, Doug the office worker automatically gains duel weapons if he picks up a weapon with the duel symbol, Amy the goth has one free move action per turn, Ned the doomsday prepper has one free search action per turn, finally Wanda the waitress is able to move two spaces for every turn rather than one thanks to the roller skates she wears.

Rotter Nation by Scott M.Baker (2015) - Zombie Book Review

Rotter Nation is the sequel to Rotter World released back in 2012. For me that book took a while to get going, though by the end I was hooked as it had a thrilling final third reminiscent of Day of the Dead. The Rotter series takes place in a world over run with zombies, but in a twist there are also vampires in this world, albeit only a handful left. There are bound to be spoilers for Rotter World here as a warning.

Rotter Nation takes place exactly where World ended with the group of humans and vampires returning to their base after having successfully (though at no small cost) gained a working vaccine against the undead virus. However upon arriving home they discover the base in ruins and the vast majority of the people who stayed behind murdered at the hands of a brutal gang. On discovering that one of their people; a young woman named Windows was kidnapped by the gang, Robson (now the defacto leader) decides he is going to attempt a rescue. The Angels; a bunch of female soldiers led by Robson's new love Natalie meanwhile are given an important task, they are to transport the zombie vaccine across America to the government in exile said to be based in Omaha.

This is a hell of a good book, from the get go it had my attention managing to carry on the momentum of the ending of World and just building upon that. The plot is more focused this time around, less world changing but more intimately important and it works. Nation is split up into three different story lines. The first following Robson and his group as they try to discover what has happened to Windows.

With the first book in the series the sheer amount of characters you get introduced to initially was bewildering, the fact that so many are removed really helps the story flow better. I never imagined Baker would kill off so many characters in such a cruel fashion. My second issue with the initial book was getting my head around the notion of vampires in a zombie filled world, their inclusion seemed mostly silly to me and I rolled my eyes at a few parts of the vamps in action. With only two blood suckers left now their inclusion is much less jarring, they take almost a back seat with even the main characters seemingly forgetting about them for a time. There is only the one action sequence involving these two but when it comes it is all the better for it, this more realistic world (as realistic as you can get in a book about a reanimating virus) should make Nation more generic but it does enough with the inventiveness of the plot to stay well above the median line.

The second storyline involves Windows and her treatment at the hands of the gang she has been captured by, unfortunately rape is a key part of the gangs ethos and her and many other woman are sickeningly used. These parts of the book were very unpleasant to read, World featured a bit too explicit a sex scene but at least that involved love, here the rape scenes go in to enough detail to let your imagination fill in the blanks, it even made me feel sick on a few occasions. On the plus side this really does set up these criminals as the books antagonists, especially with their sadistic leader Price. These people make the governor of The Walking Dead fame seem like a saint.

The final storyline follows the Angels on their mission to deliver the vaccine. This part of the book was a lot more brief than the others seeming much more like a sub plot. I enjoyed Bakers decision to have the events of the end of World destroy the morale of this unit, that was something I found to be quite interesting. These sections are all pretty great but deciding to end the book with what is essentially a sub plot when there had already been a thrilling resolution for the other two story lines seemed an odd choice.

With a reduced cast there was still some issues for me of certain characters not being fleshed out, I confess towards the end when a couple of Robson's people may or may not be killed I struggled for a moment to even work out who they were, the central cast are given all the limelight with side characters just really being names on a page to me for all I actually knew about them. The same goes for the Angels, it is only really Natalie who has any character, the rest just seemed to be a series of names and so when any of them died I didn't really feel anything at all. The bad guys though are fantastic, all given personalities and made memorable. Meat, Price, Carter all conjure up images in my mind, makes the plot more satisfying.

The same trick of short snappy paragraphs is used to make the action seem all the more exciting towards the finales, both of these were very exciting to read, thanks to the visuals created by Baker's descriptions of the events happening. Hordes of undead, gunfights, explosions and car chases all hit the mark, his descriptions of the shambling dead also delight once again with lots of close range zombie attacks as well as desperate situations occurring, even a few plot twists that I did not see coming.

I loved Rotter Nation, it was a huge step up from Rotter World and rather than be merely interested in what happens next I am excited for it. A great use of set pieces mean there is never a dull moment here, a very solid zombie book.

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The Lost Level (2015) by Brian Keene - Fantasy Book Review

As anyone who has ever sent me an eBook for review knows I am terrible at getting around to reading the blasted things, I'm old fashioned in that if a book is not a book then I find it hard to get into. Brian Keene is mainly a horror author, I have read a few of his ace zombie books in the past (The Rising and City of the Dead) and while The Lost Level is not a horror title I felt confident enough I would actually get around to reading it.

Aaron Pace is an occultist whose research leads to him discovering the ability to summon doorways to alternate realities. He goes on many different adventures to these bizarre worlds until one day he discovers the place he has travelled to has got no exit, he has accidentally gone to a realm known as 'the lost level', a place that is said to be impossible to escape from. As he struggles to come to terms with his predicament he sets out in the hope of finding a way back home from this most bizarre world.

Keene wrote The Lost Level as a tribute to the lost world/man out of time genre of pulp fiction fantasy, as such it does read as very simple and without anything resembling depth. Having never read anything from this genre before I can only assume this is a accurate picture of what these books read as but I was at first disappointed before coming to accept it for what it was. The actual premise I found to be quite fascinating, the book itself is set out as a written recollection from an older Pace of his journey that led him up what appears to be a tragic end. 

The realm he finds himself is in perpetual sunlight and features a complete mash up of different genre types with the premise of the lost level being that it is made up of things from every different type of dimension possible. There are dinosaurs battling robots, Nazi UFO's, a dying cowboy who speaks of a horrific zombie plague, monsters of different fantasy types, forbidden temples, alien abductions and reptilian pursuers, really everything but the kitchen sink is included here. These different elements usually end up with a chapter to themselves each which makes it seems like a giant check list of different ideas but also help in keeping you never knowing what is around the corner.

The actual plot is quite simple with Pace befriending a woman named Kasheena after rescuing her from a roving band of evil reptiles. They, along with a Chewbacca type creature they name Bloop go on a journey to get to the woman's village where she suggests the village Shaman might hold the answer to escape the world. There really is not much more to it with the three main characters being under developed but again I assume this is a facet of the genre. Pace has little of the book that explains his past, it is glossed over how he  came to get the weirdly useful skills he has that lets him be the hero of the story (with certain flaws), while the love story that blossoms between him and Kasheena is cheesy and predictable but again I am sure it is a facet of the genre.

While as stated (many times) I do not know the genre what I do know is that Keene is a great writer so based on that knowledge I am confident that any complaints I have are due to the fantasy elements rather than his skill. There are many enthralling moments in The Lost Level, I loved the mash up of different elements, as well as comments relating to real world phenomena such as the Bermuda Triangle and the Philadelphia Experiment., while the initial panic Pace has when he realises he is trapped is tangible.

Overall as a tribute this book works well, for me personally though I just found it all a bit too simple and cliched for it to really keep my attention. Saying that there are a lot of good well written ideas here and with a sequel and prequel also planned I would not be adverse to revisiting this strange world.

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Outburst (2014) - Zombie Film Review

Outburst (or Udbrud as it is called in Danish) is a short forty minute zombie film directed by Henrik Anderson, It was made as homage to the exploitation films of the 1970's and 80's and features plenty of gore.

A young woman is having breakfast with her Mum and Dad when she gets caught up in a zombie outbreak, escaping out onto the street things are even worse and so she makes her escape on foot, and then later on by car. With pustule covered undead apparently everywhere is there really any place to escape to?

The film is in Danish with English subtitles available but with the exception of a voice over at the very start of Outburst there is no dialogue at all. The nameless girl not once uttering a single word, nor the undead around her. I can see why it was done this way as there would be not much reason for someone on their own to talk in the first place, but it also helps make the film appeal more to an international audience. The voice over gives an overview of such stating about the population growth the world has experienced in the last couple of hundred years and how in the middle ages population growth was naturally tempered by the outbreak of epidemics. It also throws some analogies about how people exist only to eat nowadays which of course can be contrasted with the zombies who also seem to appear just to eat.

Outburst reminded me a lot of Peter Jackson's early films Brain Dead and Bad Taste in that humour is mixed in with over the top violence and lashings of blood and guts. The director has stated that the biggest influences were Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci and these influences are obvious to see Nowadays it is the curse of film makers, especially ones making low budget films to rely on CGI for the effects. Here this is not the case (apart from some gunfire later on). People get their stomachs ripped open and insides pulled out, throats get slashed and heads destroyed, even an eye ball gets pulled out all in glorious practical effects that look at the same time unrealistic but also awesome. There is a lot of blood sprayed out from missing limbs and cut arteries, frequently the floor is awash with blood and this gore is focused on with even the camera lens getting sprayed at various times.

The humour is quite surreal and weird and comes at fits and bursts. A squirrel waving hello to some kids, a woman's compulsion to squeeze a boil on her husbands head and some over the top deaths leads to some bizarre and gross humour that made me feel quite queasy at times.

Zombies do not need a lot of make up to become effective foes but here they get a really unique look. The zombies are all covered in pustules, some of them have most of their faces obscured by large white lumps, this could not help but remind me of the ghouls you battle in The Last of Us. I was impressed with the make up of the zombies for sure, though it was inconsistent at times with it being really obvious that some were treated to contact lenses which really completed the look, while others had no such things and stood out more for having normal looking eyes.

My other complaint is a bit of a double edged one. There are plenty of child zombies in Outburst, and it is really quite funny how a serene fairytale neighbourhood transforms so rapidly into utter chaos. Children never feature enough in the average zombie film so I am not complaining about that. It is just a shame a lot of the children are (understandably) having a fun time and don't hide that on their beaming faces when they are meant to be the ravenous undead.

The plot is a bit all over the place and goes to some strange places seeming to skip genres at one point. This often feels more like a concept piece than an actual film and the final scene leaves the zombie genre altogether and heads into the post apocalypse genre feeling like something straight out of Mad Max (which was very intentional). Characters of all types dressed in ridiculous get up such as gas masks, jewelled eye patches and guy liner. Quite a cool action sequence entirely takes place in cartoon form which was a neat way to approach that particular bit.

All in all I did enjoy Outburst and I really liked the physical special effects used, gave me a twinge of nostalgia as for the most part films like this are just not made any more. A more tighter plot and a finale that didn't feel like it was taken from a different film and this would have been essential viewing. As it is I do think it is worth a watch if you have more than a passing interest in zombies.

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Rotter World by Scott M.Baker (2012) - Zombie Horror Book Review

I love zombie books, hardly surprising seeing as I love all things zombies but like films about the undead it is quite hard to make a bad one. Put in heaps of ghouls and plenty of action and your set, though it does of course take skill to write an engaging story.

Rotter World takes place eight months after zombie apocalypse was unleashed upon the world in a coordinated attack by vampires. Vampires in the books world were real but unknown to all but a few groups of vampire hunters. These creatures were being hunted to extinction and so believed unleashing a zombie plague would even the score, not knowing that they too would be the target of the rotting dead's insatiable thirst for flesh.  A small band of humans have survived in this ruined world, they have made an uneasy truce with a bunch of vampires in a protected base. Circumstance leads to the arrival of a Doctor who turns out is the man responsible for creating the zombie virus in the first place. He tells the group that across the country in a hidden government base lies the key to immunity, but to get there he is going to need their help...

As weird as it sounds for a book about fictional monsters I really struggled to get my head around the idea of vampires existing and it took me a good deal of the book to get over this and be comfortable with their presence. They are of the Fright Night style in that they are human in appearance but morph into a different form when fighting. They do add some spice to what otherwise is a generic tale as I can't think of another zombie book which features vampires and this also leads to a unique cause of the apocalypse as well as bring up an interesting dichotomy with parallels to race hate and bias. Some of the back story for the vampires was not so well handled though being ham fisted in places such as allusions that one of the creatures was actually Jack the Ripper which was too far fetched and wasn't needed.

The zombies in the book are referred to as 'rotters' and are made up of shamblers and swarmers. Shamblers are the typical slow moving Romero style ghouls, while swarmers the recently reanimated who can run (such is the modern vogue). I always like it when these two different styles are mixed. While starting off light on zombie action it steadily ramps with seemingly more and more of the damn things interrupting the characters actions. Plus you get to see what a zombie vampire is like (hint: something pretty awesome) and even a zombie baby pops up which is always fun. Another first was just how much of a pain the flies and even wasps that swarm around the undead can be, Again I don't recall another book where the insects around the zombies actually has an impact on events.

Rotter World is split up into three distinct parts. Part one sets up the characters and lays out their mission. I did not find this initial part to be that interesting. I felt there were far too many characters and none of them really stood out for me. Plus there is a lot of friction between the group and so I found myself disliking them for the most part. The second part of the book is a road trip. It is a solid rule when it comes to road trips in zombie books that they are never boring and here is no different. I really began to find myself getting more into the story during this mid part. Finally is the fantastic part three that without going into too much detail is like Day of the Dead in quick step. Everything is set up to go wrong and there are many fore warnings of this but still when it happens my heart was in my mouth helped in no part by the sudden emergence of short snappy paragraphs that helped bring a sense of urgency to everything.

The plot is nothing original or new (except for the vampires) and nothing happened that I did not see coming from miles away. The characters never really established themselves in my mind that well, that is none stood out, instead there was a real good vs evil element and so I was rooting for the good guys because they were the good guys, not due to really caring about any individual. For a zombie book you really don't need to break new ground to have a thrilling story as long as the writing is good and here with Rotter World the writing is good in general, a few missteps with back story (Angels the exception) and a graphic sex scene that wasn't needed in such detail but on the action side it is exciting and easy to picture what is happening in your mind with plenty of gore and violence.

When Rotter World ended I found myself interested to know what happens next, it took me a while but when I got into the book I was hooked. I really appreciate the little things that spiced up a traditional zombie tale, not bad at all.

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