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Quote:

Zombies are the middle children of the otherworldly family. Vampires are the oldest brother who gets to have a room in the attic, all tripped out with a disco ball and shag carpet. Werewolves are the youngest, the babies, always getting pinched and told they're cute. With all that attention stolen away from the middle child zombie, no wonder she shuffles off grumbling, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha."

- Kevin James Breaux

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Book Review: THE G.O.R.E. SCORE: Vol. 1 by Tony Schaab



Writer Tony Schaab has made a career or reviewing everything zombie through his website The G.O.R.E. Score (www.TheGOREScore.com) and his book The G.O.R.E. Score: Vol. 1, A Review Guide to All Things Zombie which is a collection of some of these articles that appeared on his site plus a few that are exclusive to this book.  Zombie fans should rejoice as Schaab touches upon not only zombie related films but games, comics, television shows, and various other media.  Now, there are a ton of books out there dedicated to horror films and probably just as many dedicated to zombie films but Schaab doesn’t just review films he rates them in a way that fans of these films can decide whether or not it is worth their time to watch some of the films he’s listed. 

The way in which he rates the films is known as his “G.O.R.E. “score.   The “G” is for General Entertainment; “O” is for Original Content; “R” is for Realism; “E” is for Effects and Editing; the average of the score makes up the film’s “G.O.R.E. Score.”  Schaab doesn’t spend time on zombie films most horror fans have already become fans of.  Instead, the majority of the films reviewed are independent films or films that have been overlooked over the years or become cult favorites.  Some of the favorites are Dead Snow (2009), Undead (2005), Planet Terror (2007), and Verses (2000).  He even touches upon the not-so-good such as Night of the Living Dead 3D (2007), Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959), House of the Dead (2003), and Zombie Strippers (2008).  Only half of the book focuses on zombie films.

The second half of the book focuses on games, comics, books, and music.  Schaab wants zombie fans to have the chance to open up to everything else out there that fans may have missed but would be interested in.  He does a great job with presentation of the material and his G.O.R.E. score for each reviewed item is very even giving you the impression that he isn’t biased for or against any type of item reviewed.  Schaab’s writing is also highly entertaining which is what you would expect from a fan of zombie films writing a book for zombie fans.

This is one of the better books of this kind that will appeal to both zombie fans and general horror enthusiasts as well.

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