Jeri Smith-Ready

Blogtoberfest Day 9 - Amanda Ashby

Today's Blogtoberguest is Amanda Ashby, giving away a signed copy of her hit release Zombie Queen of Newbury High.

And it just so happens that yesterday was World Zombie Day (I am not kidding).

Coincidence?

Um, actually, yeah. Sometimes I'm just a luck magnet, and things magically work out. Which makes up for my very poor planning skills.

(Speaking of flesh-eating holidays, Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian friends!)

Amanda is also the author of the RT Reviewers Choice-nominated novel, You Had Me at Halo, about "a dead girl getting kicked out of heaven for talking too much."

But since zombies are more in keeping with our theme of Halloween (and, you know, World Zombie Day), Amanda's here to talk about her favorite movies on the subject. So give Amanda a the kind of warm welcome only the living can offer!


Okay, I have a confession to make. Not only have I never dressed up in a Halloween costume or gone trick or treating, I’ve also never been to a homecoming dance either. I know. Crazy, right. But in my defense I grew up in Australia – a country that is full of spiders and snakes and almost entirely Halloween and homecoming free. Actually, that might not be the case anymore, but back in the...er...well a few years ago, neither of these things really existed.

But fear not, because the one thing that us Aussie girls do have is the ability to think on our feet. I mean there was this one time when I bumped into a pack of fleshing-craving zombies who were determined to eat me. Obviously, I was scared at first but then my Australian ingenuity kicked in and I told those slobbering zombies that I’d just eaten some chocolate cake with gluten in it and bingo, they were shuffling off in the other direction before I could even tell them about the whipped cream (little known zombie fact. They are fine with all the blood and guts but gluten and lactose really screw up their digestion).

Okay, so that’s not really true but I figured it would be a cute way for me to start talking about my top five zombie movies. I know, I’m so smooth. So, in the only Halloween/homecoming blog post that you’re ever going to read about zombie movies, let’s get started.

Number Five is Serenity. I’m not really sure if this counts as a zombie movie but I’m going to include it for three reasons. First, it has flesh-eating Revers. Second, it was written by Joss Whedon and third (and most important) it has Nathan Fillion in it.

My fourth choice is the Resident Evil movies. Not so much humor in these ones but I do love a good butt-kicking heroine and Alice totally falls into that category.

28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later are my combined number three choice. I love both of these movies. Not exactly traditional zombies, since they move a bit faster than the average, degenerating, shuffling, flesh-munching living dead. But the fact that they move so quickly just makes it all the scarier. Plus, there is an added bonus of Christopher Eccleston in the first movie and Robert Carlyle in the second. Like I said to my husband, something for him (blood, gore and zombies) and something for me (hotties).

Fido is my number two choice. Now I must admit that I’ve not always been a big Billy Connolly fan but he is just perfect in this movie as a loyal companion to Billy. In fact it’s sort of Lassie but with zombies. A must see.

And my number one, all-time favorite zombie movie is Shaun of the Dead. What is there not to love? It has scare factor, some funny stuff and it’s all combined with the best British comedians in the business.

So, that’s it from me. But before I go, I’ve love to hear what everyone else’s favorite zombie movie. Oh, and did I mention that is a copy of my book, Zombie Queen of Newbury High, up for grabs?

* * * *

To enter to win Zombie Queen of Newbury High, leave a comment below. What's your favorite zombie movie or book? Are you ready for the zombie apocalypse?

For complete rules, read the introductory post.

Deadline for entry: Monday, October 19, 11:59pm Eastern. NOTE: THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. The winner is Cara King! Cara, please send your mailing address to jeri AT jerismithready DOT com in the next week.

Sarah Beth Durst and Ice
Megan Crewe and Give Up the Ghost
Nancy Holder and her 5-pack of novels
Kelly Parra and Invisible Touch
Lauren Baratz-Logsted and Crazy Beautiful

Thanks again to Amanda for her brilliantly timed post!

Labels: Blogtoberfest, Contests, guests

• posted by Jeri @ 9:00 AM
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