Blogger Zombie Walk - Giveaway

Zola the Zombie Doll

As my contribution to the Blogger Zombie Walk, I am giving away one of my Little Gothic Horrors. Zola the Zombie was designed and made by me. If you'd like to enter the giveaway for a chance to win Zola, just leave me a comment with the word "zombie" in it and you will go into the draw. Anyone, anywhere is welcome to enter.

The giveaway will be open over the entire weekend following the walk. A name will be drawn out of the cauldron during the week and a winner will be announced here on Saturday, October 8th. If you need to comment as "anonymous", please make sure that you leave a name so that I can identify you in the draw.

If for any reason you're having trouble leaving a comment then just shoot me an email, (here) and I will enter you in the draw that way.

I'd also like to thank Autumnforest, of Ghost Hunting Theories blog, for organizing this event!

The rest of the stops on the walk are listed below, so when you're done here, please shuffle and shamble off to the next blog.

Thanks so much for visiting Little Gothic Horrors!

October 9, 2011

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway for Zola the Zombie during the Blogger Zombie Walk. Entries have now closed, and the winner is HollyHorrorshow! Congratulations Holly! Zola will soon be on her way to nibble at your brain!


Ghost Hunting Theories
Above the Norm: Bizarre Arizona
Zombies Everywhere
Holly's Horrorland
Anything Horror
Katy Bennett Horror Writer and Poet
Bubba's Place
Horror Smorgasbord
Gnostalgia
Monkey Man
Words and Music
Red Shoes Chronicles
The Wolf's Eyes
My Day in a Sentence
Pixie's Horror Galore
Strange State
The Misadventures of HalloweeNut
Halloween Blues
Kweeny Todd
The California Blogging Massacre
Horror Shock Lolipop
Vanessa Morgan
Improbable Frontiers
No Really, You Can Eat It
Art By Living Dead Girl Nicole
Two Gory Chicks
A Dust Bunny in the Wind
A Ghoul's Best Friend
Zombies Are Magic
Cherry Neko Saves the World
Tall Tales
At the Mansion of Madness
The Haunted Rose
The Rotting Zombie
Halloween Overkill
Out of the Shadows
Creepy Glow Keyhole Gallery
Creepy Glowbugg
Bifocal Univision
Haiku-Koo-Koo
Sherry Soule
Anchors and Roses
Paranormal Researchers Group
Whispering Pines History
Lovely Miss Megs
Sean Thomas Fisher's Blogwash
Rise and Fight
Stump Town Horror
LoliClown's Little Blog of Horror
Zombies Can't Love
Books and Beyond
The Grave Bandits
Screaming Goregasms
Lazy Daisy Life
Icky Monster
Pretty in Fiction
Ivy's Closet
Justine's Halloween
Annie Walls
Just Johnny

Rise Again - A Novel by Ben Tripp

As I have mentioned in a previous post, The Walking Dead series gave me a new-found appreciation for the zombie genre, so I decided to give a zombie novel a try. After searching around Amazon, and reading a few reviews, I settled upon Rise Again, by Ben Tripp, and fortunately, I wasn't disappointed.

The story centres around Danielle (Danny) Adeleman, an Iraq War veteran and sheriff of small American town, Forrest Peak. During Fourth of July celebrations, a mystery contagion spreads through the town leaving the population of locals and visiting tourists decimated within hours. When the deceased begin to rise again and attack the living, Danny takes on the responsibility of a small band of survivors and flees the town, only to discover that nowhere is safe from the ravenous walking dead.

Okay, so the basic premise is pretty familiar zombie apocalypse fare, but it's the strong characters that really take this story to the next level. A warrior and natural leader, Danny is also a functioning alcoholic, scarred both physically and emotionally by her time in combat. She's not instantly likeable, but the way she tenaciously faces each soul-crushing trial, while at the same time searching for her missing sister, and attempting to protect those in her charge, made me care about her despite her faults. It was also interesting the way the book focused on Danny's military mindset and her constant need to create some kind of order amidst the anarchy.

Danny's little band of survivors are also engaging, and satisfy the most important requirement for any horror tale in my opinion, and that is, you really want them to survive. Some of these supporting characters, like a gay interior designer from Los Angeles, and a town drunk, could so easily have been stereotypes, but the author peeled away the superficial facades and created real human beings who quickly became my favourites. In many ways, the novel is primarily about the manner in which a broken society brings out the best and the worst in humanity. The most unlikely characters emerge with extraordinary nobility, while the actions of others are in fact far more disturbing and monstrous than the zombie threat.

Great characters aside, Rise Again is ultimately a zombie apocalypse novel, and as such, it also contains plenty of the requisite violence, gore, and scares that the zombie genre demands. The sights, smells, sounds, and tactile sensations are vividly described, and the pace is excellent with plenty of nail-biting tension, but just the right amount of respite between the big horror set pieces. Plus, without giving anything away, there is a stunning cliffhanger of an ending, and happily, from what I understand, a sequel is on the way. This book would have made a great television series if The Walking Dead hadn't got there first.

Rise Again is available here.

Delightfully Dark Finds

Lucy the Zombie Girl by Angela Rossi

As the countdown to the Blogger Zombie Walk continues, I went on the search for a Delightfully Dark Find of the zombie variety. Not an easy task as it turns out because zombies may be many things, but delightful is not really one of them. I think I succeeded, however, with Lucy the Zombie Girl. Both delightful and dark, Lucy is the work of artist, Angela Rossi, of Etsy shop, Beat Up Creations.

You can see more of Angela's altered artwork here.

Delightfully Dark Quotes

Blogger Zombie Walk Countdown

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you the countdown to the Blogger Zombie Walk. Little Gothic Horrors is temporarily going green... zombie green that is! For the next week, all posts will be devoted to the walking dead, culminating in the Blogger Zombie Walk on Friday, September 30. Details of the walk, organized by Autumnforest of Ghost Hunting Theories blog, can be found here.

Minions of Misery

My blogging friend, Slowdeath77, of the Horror Smorgasbord blog (here), has chosen me to be a Minion of Misery. This involves selecting a dark book, a dark movie, and revealing a dark secret! Thank you, Slowdeath... I think... Gulp!

Dark Book




My pick for a dark book is The World's Contracted Thus, which in and of itself is not dark at all. In fact, it was my English Literature textbook in High School, but it contained the dark poetry of William Blake, Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath. If the television, movies and novels of my childhood set me on the path to the dark side, then this book ensured that there was no turning back.

I Died For Beauty by Emily Dickinson

I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.
"And I for truth - the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a-night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.


Dark Movie

I'm going to bend the rules again and pick the television show, Twin Peaks. Love it or loathe it, this show was a landmark in the evolution of television. David Lynch went to shadowy and bizarre places with Twin Peaks, and paved the way for new styles of television drama. When I think of dark endings, Twin Peaks always comes to mind. The finale was shattering, both literally and figuratively.

Dark Secret




I once worked at an advertising agency run by a loathsome, reptilian man who bore a striking resemblance to Jabba the Hut. Even worse than the boss though, was the Creative Director, a sleazy degenerate devoid of any ethics... I'll refer to him as Mr X. After I quit this job, I met some of my ex-workmates for lunch one day. The meal was filled with tales of woe about their awful working conditions. In particular, I felt bad for a nice guy who had a sick newborn and desperately needed to hang on to his job. Mr X. was making his work life an utter misery.

After lunch, I went back to my new job, quietly seething, the words of Monty Burns from The Simpsons, running through my head:

"I could crush him like an ant. But it would be too easy. No, revenge is a dish best served cold. I'll bide my time until... Oh, what the hell. I'll just crush him like an ant."

Once I was back at my desk, I made a phone call to my old place of work. Posing as "Cindy", a fictitious one-night stand of Mr X., I left a message with a secretary, thanking Mr X. for his generosity in sharing a rather nasty venereal disease with "Cindy" during their brief encounter.

Yes, I know, it's all very vindictive, but I believe the universe was with me that day, my friends. Unbeknownst to me, the secretary was having a secret fling with Mr X., and she delivered  "Cindy's" message to him, with gusto, in the middle of an important client meeting. All hell broke loose, and the guy with the baby, who guessed what I'd done, rang me with gleeful progress reports all afternoon. Mr X. spent the rest of the day in client damage control, and racking his brain trying to remember which of his conquests had been named "Cindy".

So my secret is out. Was it a dark deed? Yeah. Do I regret it? Nah. Not one bit!

Now I have to choose the next round of Minions of Misery:

Fortean Squirrel
http://www.forteansquirrel.com/

Cherry Neko Saves The World
http://cherrynekostw.blogspot.com/

Something wicKED this way comes...
http://wickedwaysproductions.blogspot.com/


You have been chosen!

Delightfully Dark Quotes

"Get To Know Your Bloggers" Interview

It's all happening at the moment...

Britnie, aka Random Girl, from the Blog, ... It's On Random, has interviewed me for her "Get To Know Your Bloggers" series (here). One of the most fun parts of this interview was getting to ask Britnie some questions, and I discovered that this gal has an end of the world evacuation and procedure plan that makes Sarah Connor look like a slacker, by comparison! I was seriously impressed, and in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I know whose team I want to be on. And she's even got a crossbow, my zombie apocalypse weapon of choice... swoon!

Britnie's blog is an eclectic mix of zombies, craft, cooking, comics, games, and more. She is an amazing artist, and has a shop called Astrid's Alley, full of handmade soaps, and zombie items galore. Thank you for interviewing me, Britnie! Check out ... It's On Random, here.

Delightfully Dark Finds

Moribund Manor - Haunted House by Winona Cookie

Here's a little something to turn the Halloween spirit up a notch or two. Moribund Manor is a print of an original collage (the original artwork is also available to purchase) created by Ramona, of Etsy shop, Winona Cookie.

Not only is this artwork gorgeously detailed, but Ramona has supplied a delightfully dark backstory for all the deceased inhabitants of Moribund Manor. For example, there's Antoine Caput who committed suicide by the novel means of decapitation, and Owlwin Kestrel who was born with his head facing backwards and died after walking into one too many walls.

And just when I thought Winona Cookie couldn't get any better, I discovered that Ramona's shop was named after her childhood imaginary friend! 


You can see more Winona Cookie creations here.

Thank you... Again!

Sweet Cherry Neko has made Little Gothic Horrors her first "Blog of the Week", on The Little Blog of Blogs. Thank you so much, Cherry!  I feel ridiculously spoilt.

Based on the particular style of my blog, Cherry imagined that I'd be the type to own a gothic mansion with an adjoining cemetery for midnight strolls... well, naturally I do! And believe me, it was no easy task acquiring one in sun-bleached, suburban Melbourne, either! (Wink!) If you haven't already added your blog to The Little Blog of Blogs, then you can do so here.

I also have to thank Lisa Fee, of the blog, Tall Tales, for bestowing awards on me this week. Lisa writes paranormal fiction. As I have only just recently passed a bunch of these awards around, I will simply say a heartfelt thank you to Lisa. You can check out Tall Tales blog here.

P. S. In the meantime, I received an 'I Dig Your Blog' award from the lovely Lorelei, of Lorelei's Muse blog. Lorelei is a published author of vampire and fantasy fiction.Thank you so much, Lorelei!! You can check out her delightfully dark blog here. 

P. P. S. Oh my goodness! Now my blog pal, Pixie, of Pixie's Horror Galore, has passed the 'I Dig Your Blog' award on to me. Thank you so much! Pixie is adorable and funny, and you will find all sorts of interesting horror-related posts on her fantastic blog. So check it out here.

The Skeleton Dance

The Skeleton Dance was created in 1929, as the first of Disney's Silly Symphonies. The concept was bold at the time because the film featured no familiar characters, or even a story. It was simply a fusion of music and animation designed to evoke a mood.

In spite of its age, The Skeleton Dance remains an immensely popular and critically admired  cartoon. It is spookily atmospheric and kookily charming... although, those skeletons really should keep their bony hands off the long-suffering graveyard cats!

Buffy Revisited

Buffy: "Y'know, you really oughtta talk to your contractor. Looks like you got some water damage."

Master: "Oh, good. The feeble banter portion of the fight."

As I continue on my quest to re-watch Buffy in its entirety, I have come to the end of the first season. The Slayer has had her showdown with the Master, or as he will come to be known, Buffy's first "Big Bad". Apparently the expression "Big Bad" was coined after Angel turned dark-side in Season Two. In the episode 'Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered', Buffy describes Angel as "the big, bad thing in the dark." The term evolved, amongst the fans and the show's creators, into a label given to the major antagonist of each season. "Big Bad" has now become a part of popular culture vernacular, and is often used in reference to recurring villains in other television series.

The "Big Bad", and other assorted monsters, however, weren't the only things creating havoc in the corridors of Sunnydale High during Season One. Desires ran amok, as well. Buffy yearned for Angel, Xander coveted Buffy, and poor Willow longed for Xander. The faculty and the undead weren't exempt either, as school librarian Giles started to fancy computer teacher, Jenny Calendar, and Angel, of course, pined for The Slayer from his position lurking in the shadows. These infatuations would become the launching pad for a slew of love triangles that became a distinctive feature of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and its spin-off show, Angel.

So, on to Season Two...

Delightfully Dark Finds

Hip and Clavicle

These black butterflies were created by Jacqueline, of Etsy shop, Hip and Clavicle. They are 3D paper wall art, and they do come in many other colours, but I was particularly partial to the "soot" butterflies.

You can see more of Jacqueline's exquisite paper art here.

Delightfully Dark Quotes