A Zombie Ate My Brain

Imagine my chagrin the other night when I stayed up till midnight to watch the first episode of the mini-series Dead Set only to find out that the IFC channel it's running on comes with a higher premium package than what I have with Cablevision. It was just one of those things that I assumed I had and never bothered to check. Apparently I have no brain. Maybe a zombie ate it.

I'm pretty sure the episodes are available on the Internet somewhere, so now I'll just have to hook up my laptop to the TV to watch them. The benefit of that is I don't have to stay up to midnight to watch it, and I don't have to worry about it interfering with my party on Friday.

In a related entertainment note, The Washington Post has an article running today on five (count 'em! five) new books about zombies.

"No less an authority than Stephen King has proclaimed that in a quest for world domination between zombies and vampires, zombies win."

I concur. Unfortunately for me, the books are more humorous than "real." As I've said before, I'm not a fan of humor in my zombie world (though I did like "Shaun of the Dead") so I probably won't be picking up any of the books with titles like "Night of the Living Trekkies," "The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten," and "Married With Zombies."

What I might check out is "33 A.D.," a story about the crucifixion of Jesus. While I initially thought it was suggested that Jesus was a vampire, it turns out one of his followers is and an order of vampire elders is sent to dispatch them both. As the promo for the book states, "killing them should be easy."

While its available on Amazon for around $11, it's available for the Kindle for less than $3. I don't have a Kindle, but I do have the Kindle for Mac application. It lets you download books to your computer and read them. There are many e-books you can get for free as well. Usually I prefer holding a book in my hand -- reading a story on the computer isn't quite the same -- but I might check it out anyway.

I recall reading one time that Jesus and the Resurrection are proof that zombies do exist, which gives me a reason to perhaps spread my haunt to Easter too. Now that would have been a more interesting book: Jesus as a zombie.

I'm Dead Set For It

There's been a lot of discussion about the new TV series "The Walking Dead" due to premier on October 31 at 10 p.m. on AMC, but I haven't heard mention of another show that's coming out on the 25th and will broadcast for five straight nights through the 29th: "Dead Set."

Apparently this was a British TV show that first aired back in 2008, but is only now making its way across the pond to the U.S. The mini-series tells the story of the only people who've survived a zombie contagion: the contestants holed up in the house of the game show Big Brother.

According to About.com:

"Britain has been hit by an epic problem. The dead are returning to life and attacking the living. Within two days, 80 percent of the population is dead. Few people remain who aren't worried about this living nightmare: the remaining contestants in the reality TV game show 'Big Brother.' Cocooned in the safety of the Big Brother house, they're blissfully unaware of the horrific events unfolding in the outside world...until eviction night when the walking dead descend on the studio."

Now as cheesy as that sounds, the trailer for it actually looks pretty good:

There is one dilemma though: if you miss any of the episodes they're going to be broadcast back-to-back at a later time. Great right? Except it's on Halloween night, beginning at 8:00 p.m. Aside from interfering with trick-or-treaters, it would also run into the premier of The Walking Dead. 

Dead Set is going to be airing on the IFC channel. I have Cablevision, so for me here in northern New Jersey, that would be Channel 83 or in hi-def on Channel 783. You can find out if you have IFC on your cable or satellite provider here.

Of course, my Halloween party is also on the 29th and starts at 7:00 p.m. which presumably means I'd miss the last episode. What's a haunter to do? Probably ignore my guests and watch the end of the show!