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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, January 11, 2015

Book Review: THE G.O.R.E. SCORE Vol. 2 by Tony Schaab



If you are a fan of all things horror and of zombies specifically than Tony Schaab’s book The G.O.R.E. Score Volume 2 is right up your alley.  If you are already familiar with Schaab and his previous book Volume 1 than you already know what’s in store for you in this volume which continues to review everything zombie related from films to television series and comics and books and music and video games. 

Schaab has a unique way of reviewing (and thus scoring) horror films which makes up a film’s G.O.R.E. score (which is explained in the book) but it should be safe to say that the higher the G.O.R.E. score the more you’ll enjoy the film.  Schaab does an excellent job of reviewing everything in the book on its own merits and highlights the components of what he is reviewing that will most appeal to his readers.  This is especially helpful when the film, overall, doesn’t get a very high cumulative G.O.R.E. score but still has merits it other areas.

Some of the reviews to look out for are those on the films The Serpent & the Rainbow, Pontypool, The Walking Dead: Season 1, and episodes of the TV series Eerie, Indiana and South Park, to name a few.  Some of the books of note are Stephen King’s Cell, David Dunwoody’s Empire, and Craig DiLouie’s The Infection.  Comics on review this volume are graphic novels from the Army of Darkness series, The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics, and Victorian Undead, to name a few .  Of great notice is Schaab describing his experience as a zombie extra for the live stage version of “Night of the Living Dead.”

There are a lot of great moments in this book as Schaab is a great storyteller and has some interesting outlooks on the things that he is reviewing.  What is missing from this volume are reviews on anything classic zombie or more mainstream.  Schaab’s choice of reviews for this volume is very eclectic but most of the things reviewed are mediocre at best.  There are no great revelations to be had here in this book so it is more designed for fans of zombie films from a zombie fan.  Readers who don’t love zombie related films or entertainment will find very little reason to give this book a chance but zombie fans may find more interest in Schaab’s look at the more indie films and smaller zombie related items that they may have looked over or missed.

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