Compiled from questions asked by real readers at Facebook.
What’s your all time favorite zombie movie?
That’s a tough one, because there are so many wonderful zombie movies out there. For scary movies, I think especially the first half of 28 Days Later is just about as terrifying as anything. I also just watched [REC] recently, which is the Spanish film Quarantine was based on and that one has really stuck with me. As far as zombie movies with a lighter touch, I think Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland and Fido are the best. Original, funny and yet they keep the “zombie” core that I hope I also capture in MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES.
What is your all time favorite zombie scene either in a book or movie?
I love the opening of 28 Days Later when Jim wakes up from his coma and stumbles into hell, not knowing what’s happened to the world. Amazing! And in Shaun of the Dead, I think when Shaun and Ed try to kill their first zombies with the records… man, that made me laugh so hard. But the moment when Shaun’s mother turns is also incredibly poignant. I think any zombie “moment” that feel s human (whether funny or scary or sad) is great!
Do married zombies practice birth control? if so what kind? Cuz comdoms would be a little icky….
I would think their…. Um… stuff would be dead, too, so they wouldn’t have to worry about reproduction. But I’m not sure in my zombie-verse that zombies would be capable of wanting to have sex. I know there are some great “higher function” zombie stories out there, but mine don’t go to that place.
What are the best and/or scariest zombies? Slow moaning ones or fast as hell rip your flesh off your bones with force? Which do you think would most likely occur?
I think both kinds of zombies have their terrifying elements. You’d think the slow movers might be less scary, but the fact is that they will not stop. Ever. They will come and come and come until you can’t run anymore or are trapped and then they’ll eat you. It’s not even personal and that is very scary.
Now the fast ones, there’s an obvious terror, right? Not only will they never stop, but they will run you over in their drive to, you know, rip your frontal cortex from your brain pan. They feel more predatory, so I think it was an awesome addition to the zombie lexicon.
As for which one is more likely to occur… I would guess a combination of the two. They’re slow until they get close to food, then they sort of wake up that predatory place inside of them. That’s what the zombies in MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES do.
What affect, if any, has the increasing fascination/interest in zombies had on the population of the United States? In regards to fear of a zombie-type outbreak or other potential disasters?
I think the affect actually goes the other way. The last few years have seen increases in “faceless violence” like terrorism, there are two wars being fought by American soldiers, there’s a recession going on, corporations and politicians are getting themselves caught in more and more situations where it’s clear they are betraying the trust of the people… there’s sort of a general underlying fear that comes from those things. I don’t think it’s coincidence that we are seeing such a rise in the popularity of zombie fiction at the same time.
Zombies are the boogey man representation of that kind of fear. They are a mindless, unstoppable force that is coming for you. They don’t really have a motive (except to get brains), they aren’t something you can reason or bargain with (like a traditional bad guy) and if they get you, they’re going to make you one of them, no matter how much you don’t want that to happen. You will lose all control over yourself and be a shell of who you once were, driven only by a need to feed.
If that’s not an allegory… I don’t know what is! LOL I think that’s why the genre is so rife for really smart satire like in Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. Even Mira Grant’s book Feed turns the zombie idea into something a little more political, marrying it to political campaigns and bio-terrorism. I don’t go as political, but I love the idea that all of us are a little zombie-fied right now with all our technology to separate us from each other and our general malaise, but that it takes a real zombie outbreak to make us human again.
Where are zombies going? What is the future of the zombie genre? What kind of evolution to the zombie genre/zombies would you like to see? What would you like to do to the genre, in general? Are you planning some new zombie behaviors in your next book?
Well, as we all know the zombies are on the rise! Which is awesome, by the way because I really love zombie stories. I hope we’ll see more interesting, unique takes on the zombieverse like Feed and Zombieland. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we see some more stories with zombie protagonists just to make things different.
I do have a zombie world where zombies are both slow and fast, also an outbreak caused by military experimentation. In FLIP THIS ZOMBIE there are bionic zombies (bigger, stronger, faster, more aware) and in the third… well, let’s just say there’s some interested developments when it comes to cures an side effects. 
As far as what MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES does in the genre, aside from entertaining zombie fans, I hope it just finds an unforgettable place in the zombieverse. That you laugh and put it on your keeper shelf and really look forward to FLIP THIS ZOMBIE! That’s the best we can all hope for as writers of books.
Do you believe that zombies could possibly ever come true? And not Haitian zombies, flesh eating zombies.
Hard to say. There are lots of diseases (mad cow, hello?) and drugs and God knows what else that could easily turn into “mindless rage” zombies. But eating each other and passing the disease from saliva? Harder to say. I’m going to say… maybe. And that’s what is so tantalizing!! What if….
How do you think a zombie apocalypse would occur/start and how would you go about survival and what would be the first thing you’d do once you heard the news?
I would say the whole virus idea is probably a good bet. Something is accidentally (or on purpose) released and then the whole thing would just spread like wildfire. The first few days would be carnage. People wouldn’t know what to do and wouldn’t recognize the dangers, so lots of infestations. And by then the zombies would start to outnumber the survivors, so that adds to the infection rate.
I’ll be honest, I’m guessing the first few days would be freaking out and panicking time. But then I guess I’d try to make it to my parents’ house in Idaho. Fewer neighbors, well armed, plus if anyone was going to survive a zombie attack, it would probably be my Dad. He’s a bad ass.
The last news station just went off the air as the zombies swarmed the studio. You know it is time to get out of Dodge right now. What/who would you take with you?
Any weapons I could get my hands on, as much Vanilla Coke Zero as I could carry (I really, really, really like that stuff), survival guides, The Anarchist’s Cookbook (hey, it has some good guerilla warfare type stuff in it), my husband and I couldn’t resist taking the cats. I know it’s a stupid idea to take the cats, you’re just asking for infection, but I’m a cat lady. As a writer, I’d probably also need something to write in.
What’s next in the “Living With the Dead” series?
Well, Sarah and David’s adventures don’t end with MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES. You’ll see them again in FLIP THIS ZOMBIE where they’ll take on a mad scientist and bionic zombies. And in the third book you’ll also see them trying to save the world alongside a coked up rock and roller and a stalkerazzi reporter. Let the madness begin!
