Podcast
Zombie Book Club
Hosted by Zombie Book Club · EN
Welcome to Zombie Book Club! We're a Podcast that's also a book club! We talk about Zombie / Apocalyptic horror novels, TV and movies.
22episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Laurie Calcaterra and The Golden City PotPR Issue 8 | Zombie Book Club Ep 152
3d ago01:19:46Tap to summarizeComic creator Laurie Calcaterra joins us to break down the world of Path of the Pale Rider; her genre-bending indie comic where death isn't a virus or magic, it's just broken. The "living impaired" keep rotting, brains decay at different rates, and even animals rise again, turning every meal and moral choice into a survival equation. We dig into what makes this series unlike anything on the shelf: QR code scavenger hunts, hidden videos, riddles, sign language, and layered clues that reward rereaders — plus a frank conversation about why real innovation keeps living in indie comics while big studios recycle the same tired stories.Then we crack open Issue 8 and step inside the Golden City, where Jude St. Clair finally arrives at the place that's haunted the series since page one. Hot showers. A buffet. Showgirls and tuxedos. It sounds like heaven after five years on the road... and that's exactly the problem. We unpack the auditorium sequence, debate the symbolism of the split angel portrait, theorize about who (or what) broke death, and wrestle with the ugliest question the series keeps asking: what are people truly willing to trade for comfort when the world outside is falling apart? Plus, Laurie previews the upcoming trade paperback Kickstarter for Issues 5–8.Guest & Relevant LinksLaurie Calcaterra / Path of the Pale RiderWebsite: pathofthepalerider.comInstagram: @path_of_the_pale_rider Kickstarter CampaignsTrade Paperback Issues 5–8 Kickstarter (from show notes): kickstarter.com — Path of the Pale Rider Trade Paperback 5–8Issues 1–8 Kickstarter: kickstarter.com — Path of the Pale Rider Issues 1–8Support the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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George Romero almost directed Resident Evil | Zombie Book Club Ep 151
1w ago01:20:28Tap to summarizeWe finally watch George A. Romero's Resident Evil — the 2025 documentary unpacking one of horror's greatest what-ifs, and trace the whole messy story: Romero hired by Constantin Film in 1998, his meticulous approach to studying the game scene-by-scene, the commercial footage that proves he could have nailed the tone, and the moment "creative differences" quietly buried a zombie legend's game-faithful script. Along the way we get into the Biohazard origins, horror ratings pressure, and why studios keep chasing a PG-13 that imagined box office math demands instead of the movie the genre deserves.Then we turn it into something bigger; the social critique running through Romero's entire Living Dead catalog, why zombies became cinema's sharpest tool for talking about race, consumerism, and survival, and why the horror community keeps attracting the most empathetic people in any room. This episode drops right before we head to Living Dead Weekend 2026 at the Monroeville Mall — the last year before the mall closes — and we're going in loaded with books from zombesties Sylvester Barzey, Rebecca Cuthbertson, Dia Van Gunten, and Laurie Calcaterra, bunking with Alice B. Sullivan, and looking forward to seeing Brandon Starocci of Avalon Comic.LINKS & INFOThe DocumentaryGeorge A. Romero's Resident Evil (2025) — Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fiIdvhCLMIIMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21990960/Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Romero%27s_Resident_EvilLiving Dead Weekend 2026 — June 12–14, Monroeville MallOfficial Site & Schedule: https://www.thelivingdeadweekend.com/Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/living-dead-weekend-june-2026-the-dead-will-walk-the-mall-tickets-1980534479944Living Dead Museum at Monroeville Mall: https://monroevillemall.com/store/living_dead_museumGreenMan — Pittsburgh ArtistInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/grnnann/AuthorsAlice B. Sullivan | Tomorrow Never Came + Elementary Undead | https://alicebsullivan.com/Sylvester Barzey | Intense BIPOC-centered zombie horror | https://sylvesterbarzey.com/Rebecca Cuthbertson | Waves of Undead | https://rcuthbertsonwrites.com/Dia VanGunten | Pink Zombie Rose graphic novel series | https://www.diavangunten.com/Laurie Calcaterra | Path of the Pale Rider comic (issues 1–4 trade paperback) | https://pathofthepalerider.wordpress.com/Brandon Starocci | Avalon zombie comic series | https://avaloncomic.com/Support the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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The Kara Mason Series with special guest Jill N. Davies | Zombie Book Club Ep 150
2w ago01:17:42Tap to summarizeThis week we settle a burning physics question; can an inflatable pool "self-level" on a hillside, or is it doomed? To answer this very important question, we welcome scientist, science teacher, and zombie sci-fi author Jill N. Davies. Jill writes the kind of body horror that will make you cringe in her Kara Mason Story series, a world rebuilt after the outbreak where the promise of a cure becomes a power structure, fear becomes policy, and the "safe" choice can quietly cost you your humanity.We get into why there's rarely one clean "right" decision, how the fear of being wrong fuels everything from authoritarian control to cringe culture, and why constant surveillance drains the joy out of learning and living. Jill also shares how the devastatingly premature birth of her first child pushed her toward publishing, how writing has carried her through hard times, and why she believes AI threatens markets but never human storytelling.Guest Contact & Social LinksWebsite: https://jillndavies.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillndavies_books/Goodreads (author page): https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20334595.Jill_N_DaviesRelevant Links from the EpisodeThe Kara Mason Story books (all editions): browse from https://jillndavies.com/index.php/books/Due North (Book 1): https://www.amazon.com/Due-North-Kara-Mason-Story/dp/B089267Y5QInto the Deadlands (Book 2): https://www.amazon.com/Into-Deadlands-Book-Mason-Story/dp/B0CH1XVPNWHearts of a Vanishing City (Prequel, 2025): https://www.amazon.com/Hearts-Vanishing-City-Prequel-Mason/dp/B0F4B3WJBHDue North audiobook (narrated by Samantha Norbury): https://www.audible.com/pd/Due-North-Audiobook/B0DD5MQKW7Support the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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We're Back from the Dead | Zombie Book Club Ep. 149
3w ago01:01:27Tap to summarizeWe crawl back from the zombie plague with a fever-dream catch-up that somehow turns into a sharp conversation about power, autonomy, and who gets to make the rules. We dig into our HOA annual meeting; a real-life "Survivor" moment where alliances formed around one loaded question: do we leave each other alone, or do we pile on rules to control what neighbors do on their own land? From petty bylaw enforcement to short-term rental panic, we trace how community governance becomes a proxy war for fear, control, and NIMBY instincts.Then we pull the thread from our previous Apocalypse Tech episode and go deep on surveillance capitalism, degoogling, and the creeping feeling that the internet has shifted from a decentralized commons into a centralized control mechanism. We cover data brokers, AI as a "truth gatekeeper," always-on vehicle tracking, and why your "free" apps aren't free. We end on a hopeful note: LoRa radios, Meshtastic mesh networks, DIY cyberdecks, and the case for physical media ownership as a practical act of digital self-defense and zombie preparedness.Relevant Links:Meshtastic (off-grid mesh networking): meshtastic.orgPrivacy Guides (degoogling & privacy tool recommendations): privacyguides.orgr/degoogle (community): reddit.com/r/degoogleDuckDuckGo (private search engine): duckduckgo.comCyberdeck Cafe (the hub of the Cyberdeck community, FAQ, build guide, curated parts list): cyberdeck.cafer/cyberDeck (Reddit community — builds, inspiration, troubleshooting): reddit.com/r/cyberDeckSupport the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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Apocalypse Tech (Casual Dead) | Zombie Book Club Ep 148
May 1001:16:38Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we dig into the real-world tools for communicating and coordinating without cell towers or cloud services: Meshtastic mesh radios, ham radio via Winlink and JS8Call, GMRS repeater networks, and the more radical vision of Reticulum — a cryptographic network stack built for a post-internet world. We also cover the surprisingly active landscape of community mesh networks already running in cities like New York and Philadelphia, and why building decentralized infrastructure now is mutual aid, not just prepper fantasy.Offline Wikipedia via Kiwix, self-hosted media libraries with Jellyfin, Calibre, and Audiobookshelf, and knowledge preservation archives like Open Source Ecology and Appropedia can turn a Raspberry Pi into a local server that keeps your community informed, entertained, and capable.CommunicationsMeshtastic — https://meshtastic.orgReticulum Network — https://reticulum.networkWinlink (email over radio) — https://www.winlink.orgJS8Call — http://js8call.comLocal networksNYC Mesh — https://www.nycmesh.netPhilly Community Wireless — https://phillycommunitywireless.orgPeople's Open Network (Oakland) — https://peoplesopen.netEntertainment / mediaJellyfin — https://jellyfin.orgKiwix — https://kiwix.orgInternet-in-a-Box — https://internet-in-a-box.orgCalibre — https://calibre-ebook.comNavidrome — https://www.navidrome.orgAudiobookshelf — https://www.audiobookshelf.orgKnowledge preservationSurvivor Library — http://www.survivorlibrary.comAppropedia — https://www.appropedia.orgOpen Source Ecology — https://www.opensourceecology.orgFarm Hack — https://farmhack.orgPrecious Plastic — https://www.preciousplastic.comSupport the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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Joseph Pesavento's World of Horror | Zombie Book Club Ep 147
May 301:22:08Tap to summarizeHorror and zombie author Joseph Pesavento joins us to dig into what really drives undead fiction; the freedom, the collapse of rules, and the uncomfortable truth that the living are often the bigger threat. We trace his writing journey from a childhood journal inspired by Nickelodeon's Doug through film school screenplays to seven published books, and get into the practical, unfiltered reality of going indie. Joseph also breaks down Death Cleanse, his militarized zombie road-trip novel about the man who caused the outbreak, now trapped in an eerie Montauk bunker steeped in real conspiratorial history with a gore level that doesn't flinch.Guest Links & ContactJoseph PesaventoWebsite: josephpesavento.comInstagram: @josephpesaventowritesDeath Cleanse (signed copy): josephpesavento.com/product-page/death-cleanse-signedSupport the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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V for Vendetta Feels Like Current Events (Casual Dead) | Zombie Book Club Ep. 146
Apr 2600:55:21Tap to summarizeA Kimberly-Clark warehouse worker lit a 1.2-million-square-foot facility on fire and filmed himself saying "all you had to do was pay us enough to fucking live." Media coverage mourned the inventory. Dan and Leah come in burned out but reach for a comfort watch (V for Vendetta) and find it hitting like current events. The movie may be twenty years old, but the machinery it describes; propaganda, scapegoating, fear-based unity, and a public conditioned to accept cruelty as normal — is running at full speed right now.From the Kimberly-Clark fire to stock buybacks that consumed 106% of company profits, to union-busting and Amazon workplace horror stories, the episode traces the pressure that builds when a system refuses to reform. Then we talk about V for Vendetta itself: the Guy Fawkes mask, the long game of symbolism, queer liberation themes, and what it looks like when people stop believing the polite path leads anywhere.Elevator PitchNeal Noakes on Instagram: @Neal.Noakes.BooksWe Will Not Survive on Amazon: Pre Order HereTOPICS DISCUSSED:The Kimberly-Clark Fire / Chamel AbdulkarimWikipedia summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Kimberly-Clark_Distribution_Center_fireDemocracy Now! coverage: https://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/13/headlines/all_you_had_to_do_was_pay_us_enough_to_live_worker_sets_fire_to_california_paper_warehouseJacobin deep dive on Kimberly-Clark financials: https://jacobin.com/2026/04/california-kimberly-clark-warehouse-arsonV for VendettaGraphic novel (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_VendettaMovie quotes: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/392838-v-for-vendettaCritical essay — V for Vendetta and the limits of liberal protest: https://bloodknife.com/v-for-vendetta-and-the-limits-of-liberal-protest/Support the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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'The Madcaps' Finale Kickstarter with Special Guest DM Ray | Zombie Book Club Ep 145
Apr 1901:00:26Tap to summarizeRay Jamison — writer, dungeon master, and creator of The Madcaps — returns to close out his medieval fantasy zombie miniseries in style. With his finale Kickstarter live for issues one through three, we dig into what it means to finish a story on purpose: one long night, four friends, and a necromancer standing between Ivywood and sunrise. We talk craft — how a DM mindset shapes pacing and payoff, why intrigue matters as much as action, and what makes these four characters (a brawny intellectual, a devout farmer, a good-hearted charlatan, and a social facilitator) ask the only question that really matters: who am I, and where do I fit?We also get into the nuts and bolts of indie publishing — scripts, art, color, letters, Kickstarter tiers, specialty covers, and why building a complete, jumpable story from issue one is both a creative philosophy and a reader promise. If you've been waiting to get into The Madcaps, this is your window. Go back the Kickstarter now.LINKS & CONTACT:Ray Jamison (DM Ray) on Instagram: @raymondthedmThe Madcaps Issues #1–3 Kickstarter (finale campaign): kickstarter.com/projects/philboentertainment/madcaps-issue-3Support the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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We can do No Kings, or we can do KillDozer (Casual Dead) | Zombie Book Club Ep. 144
Apr 1201:05:38Tap to summarizeEight million people showed up, and many on the internet called it pointless. We don't buy the nihilism; but we also don't pretend a permitted Saturday rally is the same thing as disrupting power. This episode, we dig into what No Kings actually does well (making dissent visible, connecting you to neighbors and organizations, being the tip of a much larger iceberg), and what it doesn't do on its own. We talk Montgomery bus boycott logic, general strike groundwork, mutual aid, and how movements win by targeting pocketbooks and prestige. Paperwork is the unsexy engine of real organizing.Then Dan takes us to Granby, Colorado, and the story of Marvin Heemeyer; a welder who spent 18 months secretly armoring a bulldozer in a shed, then spent two hours demolishing 13 buildings before dying alone in a basement. It's a story about how local capital weaponizes the law, what happens when every legal avenue closes, and why the internet's folk hero version of KillDozer conveniently strips out the part where the people who cheered for it would have sided with the Docheffs in todays political landscape.Links InfoNo Kings / Protest OrganizingNoKings.org — find or host events, training resources: https://www.nokings.orgMobilize with No Kings — volunteer and event finder: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/Indivisible (lead No Kings organizer): https://indivisible.org50501 Movement (coined "No Kings"): https://www.fiftyfifty.one/MoveOn: https://front.moveon.orgACLU: https://www.aclu.orgNonviolent Resistance ResearchErica Chenoweth's 3.5% Rule explainer — Harvard Kennedy School: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/advocacy-social-movements/35-rule-understanding-what-makes-protestWhy Civil Resistance Works (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011) — Columbia University PressCrowd Counting Consortium: https://ash.harvard.edu/programs/crowd-counting-consortium/KillDozer / Marvin HeemeyerWikipedia — Marvin Heemeyer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_HeemeyerSupport the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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Tomorrow Never Came with Special Guest Alice B. Sullivan | Zombie Book Club Ep 143
Apr 501:22:41Tap to summarizeAlice B. Sullivan is back, and this time she brought the apocalypse with her. We're celebrating the release of Tomorrow Never Came, Book 2 in her Aftermath series, and digging into everything that makes it tick; the virus science behind goners and vectors, infected animals that will haunt your nightmares, and get into the messy, beautiful question at the heart of this book: how far do you bend your morals before you don't recognize yourself anymore?We also pull back the curtain on Alice's wildly fun Facebook "choose your own adventure" apocalypse, what it's like to write fast and and how reader expectations (and the occasional one-star review) shape the way we talk about genre fiction. If you love post-apocalyptic thrillers, slow-burn relationships, lesbian zombie novels, and dogs that never die under any circumstance; this one's for you.Guest & Relevant LinksAlice B. Sullivan — Contact & SocialsWebsite: https://alicebsullivan.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliceBSullivan01Newsletter: https://alicebsullivan.com/newsletter-signup/Alice's Books — AmazonTomorrow Never Came (Aftermath #2): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRKHX4Z2Yesterday's Gone (Aftermath #1): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CK75RB5SFull Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Alice-B.-Sullivan/author/B09BX4BRR7Support the showZombie Book Club LinksJoin us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClubJoin the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CBZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
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