#NanoInterview: Bill "Zombie Zak" Snider

DD: Thanks for plugging in, ZZ! First off, tell us all about your program AFTER ROT.

ZZ: Hey, there, “The”, aka David - thanks for having me! Well, the short version is: It is a live internet radio show broadcast in which I talk about zombies, comic books and whatever the hell else I feel like talking about. That could be horror related, or other genre related, or even just plain anything, like cookies - because cookies are an important part of any zombie’s dietary regime. You can find me jibber jabbering every Wednesday night at 9PM Eastern Standard Time, at www.tmvcafe.com. Go to the section entitled, “Radio”.

DD: As a poet, you've written a lot about the subjects of death and undeath - sometimes tongue-in-cheek, others not. What fascinates you about the undead?

ZZ: Well, mostly I’m interested in other people’s reactions to it. In the event of an outbreak, how do people handle themselves, both in the context of survival, and in the context of interpretation of reasons and meanings and all that metaphorical stuff. People are strange creatures that do strange things, both in groups and on their own. I am always fascinated by people’s choices, and the reasons that they achieve them. Death/un-death is merely another facet, another element to the exploratory meme that is Humanity’s insanity. It’s all, a mad, mad, mad world out there, and poetically, interpretation becomes both measured methodology and mounds of mayhem.

DD: Do dreams inspire you in your work?

ZZ: Absolutely. Dreams are both the undermind working things out without the filters of the conscious mind, and the play time that infiltrates our consciousness when we are not paying attention. Anything that occurs in that space, is beauty and definitely not out of place.

DD: You seem to devour all things zombie. Can you recommend any cool/weird films, books or comics out lately?

ZZ: Oh, but of course!
Movies: “Maggie” - it’s a tear jerker zombie movie! “Wyrmwood” - Australian zombie flick! “Scout’s Guide to the Apocalypse” - just, good clean fun!
Books: “The Strange Dead”, by The David Dunwoody; “Mists of the Dead”, by Travis Adkins
Comic Books: “Zombie Tramp”, “Deadworld”, “Afterlife with Archie”, “Call of Duty, Zombies”, “Jesus Hates Zombies”, “Rex, Zombie Killer”, “Shaolin Cowboy” and sooooo many more.

DD: Is there anything you'd like to see more (or less) of in zombiedom?

ZZ: Less “blatant” commercialism in advertising; more innovative usage of zombie meme/messages in advertising.
Less “zombie everything” in movie/TV/media products; more interesting explorations of society and civilization in regards to what happens in the event of a zombie breakout. Unfortunately, this is becoming harder and harder to achieve with the plethora of material already out, it falls into the category of, “well, what else can we do with them?”