Ten Things to Know About the Zombie Apocalypse and How it Affects You, Patron of Boswell Book Company.

1. On Saturday, October 29, we are celebrating Zombie Afternoon.  At 1 pm, newly local illustrator Andy Rash will be telling you the story of Ten Little Zombies.  We will also learn how to draw zombies.  This will be quite handy after the zombie apocalypse. Why?  Because then you can become a zombie police artist, or alternately, a zombie portrait painter. Mr. Rash has also illustrated other stories, including the recently published Sea Monster's First Day. I have not heard about the impending takeover of our country by sea monsters, but just in case, this might also be a handy purchase.

2. At 2 pm, Zombie afternoon continues with Angus Macabre, the Scottish zombie comic. Angus is well known from his blog, at least in zombie circles.  It is said he has a side gig on public radio, where he impersonates a non-zombie. Angus has much to say about the world, as he has had his share of mistreatment,being a zombie, and all that. And on top of everything else, he is also Canadian.

3. Not coming, but in the news is Colson Whitehead with his recently released zombie novel, Zone One. I'm sure you're not surprised that Jason read this and loved it. What may be more surprising is that my friend Carol, the esteemed general manager of Harvard Bookshop, is also a big fan. Stacie, who also read it, and agrees with Jason that the book is meant to be read fast. There was much discussion of this, zombies as a metaphor for something or other, and whether civilization could reform and get back some semblance of normality. Most of us were able to come to agreement that Colson Whitehead is dreamy, and definitely not a zombie. Here's his interview on "Fresh Air".

4. Any zombie column must make note of last Sunday, when the second season of The Walking Dead premiered. Here is the trailer.

5. On some unforeseen day in 2012, when Max Brooks's World War Z comes to the big screen.  Rumor has it that the date is December 21 (of next year) and that Brad Pitt stars. Casting against type? Is a zombie sitcom far behind? Discuss.

6. We have picked up a number of zombie-related toys for your Halloween or Walking Dead viewing party festivities. In addition to the zombie action figures and the zombie pet shop, there are a few coveted remote control zombies with your name on it. And your name is written in guts.  That's how these things go.

7. How many stories can you add zombies to before a genre explodes? We all sold Pride and Prejudice and Zombies pretty well. Alice in Zombieland, not so much. And then there was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim. There was even a sequel to the hit with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After.

8. I'm not sure if I can handle zombies being inserted into a Boxcar Children novel, but there it is, Boxcar Children #128: The Zombie Project. Jason also noted to me that the James Dashner Maze Runner series does use the word "zombie" but there is definitely a zombie element. It's called The Flare. Amie would also like to call attention to Zombiekins.

9. I asked Amie if she had bought any zombie teen novels, especially romantic ones of the Twilight variety. "Yes," she moaned, "there are." She had trouble coming up with any specific titles--many were skipped.  I wondered whether it was the case that both romantic leads were zombies, but Amie said that no, in most cases, it's only the boyfriend.  I think, like for the Meyer novels, the lesson is you should wait until you get married before your boyfriend turns you into a zombie.

10. With all this going on, I thought it was high time we have a Zombie Studies section, as it's my suspicion that a concentration at UWM is just around the corner. We've got many but not all of the titles listed together; it's usually a question of where we think the book is more likely to sell. The Walking Dead series continues to be in graphic novels; Colson Whitehead is in fiction with his other books. But Jack and Jill Went up to Kill: A Book of Zombie Nursery Rhymes? It definitely needed to be moved over from our humor case. And like many of these sections, who knows how long this will keep up?  Once we're all walking dead, we'll have to have a special section for non-zombie novels.