Welcome to Zombies From Space…and Vampires!
This is a blog novel, which means it’s free until it’s done. I write and upload a chapter on occasion…usually a chapter every few weeks depending on my work load and family life. Honestly, I’m astounded at the reception of Zombies from Space…and Vampires. I hadn’t expected it to do as well as it has. So here it is, a brief history, an explanation as to how I came up with the idea and why my zombies are really an alien race that look like zombies…
History
I conceived this idea shortly after watching Kung Fu Panda 3. The preview in the beginning showed two guys standing there… “zombies… In space!” After scribbling “zombies from space” on a popcorn napkin, I sat on my idea for the next two hours while I tried not to explode with enthusiasm. The movie was great, by the way.
By the time I got home, I had a plot, but I had a challenge presented to me.
My husband is a scientist. More specifically, he is a physicist and holds a Masters in organic chemistry. You know that stuff Sheldon Cooper does? That’s my husband. My husband is also a heavy sci-fi reader where one rule is gold: “Scientific accuracy.” He doesn’t watch The Walking Dead so every Monday night I fill him in on the next episode. His reason for not watching TWD?
“There are too many plot holes based on one ludicrous concept: Zombies are illogical!” he argues.
“Who cares!” I argue back. “They’re zombies! They are no more logical than Bruce Campbell and his army of Dead.”
“Yeah, but… It’s Bruce!”
This is where I sigh and call him a zombie-est.
“Bruce is so damn hokey that he’s awesome!” my husband says.
“So you’re saying that Walking Dead’s zombies are wonderfully real?”
“No! They’re hokey! But they think they’re realistic!”
“So they take themselves too seriously?” I ask.
“Yes!” The vein on his neck is pulsing. “Which is why Zombies From Space is awesome!”
I set aside my fuzzy feeling and keep arguing.
“I don’t watch TWD for the zombies,” I say. “They’re frickin’ cool. But they are not why I watch the show. I watch the show because of the characters.”
“Yeah, but they drag it out,” he says. “They’re going to come to the same realization as everyone else…the same blatant answer, but they’re taking six seasons to get there!”
“Which is what?”
“You do what you have to do to survive.”
“Of course that’s the answer!” I say. “But it isn’t the point. Of course they are going to do what they have to do to survive. We watched this develop in Carol. We saw it lost in Morgan. And that’s really what he’s afraid of! Morgan is convinced that if he kills again, he’ll go back to do whatever he must to survive. Something his therapist failed to cover with him. We see this strong in Rick. Survive. Of course! Crossing the lines of humanity? Most definitely! But at what cost? And that’s the question. Survival has a price and while humanity has fallen apart around them, Rick and his group desperately hang onto theirs. While it’s taken us six years to get this far, it’s really only about two years in their time.”
“But that’s just it!” my scientist shouts. “The human body falls apart after a few weeks.”
“But it isn’t about the zombies,” I shriek. “They’re just cool. The point isn’t survival. The point is humanity during apocalypse. This is like watching Apocalypse Now in slow motion. But at what point will their need to survive and end their humanity? At what point will it break them? At one point will they too join the cannibals, rapists, and wolves? Can they embrace survival and keep their humanity?”
I get a pensive grunt. He thinks for a moment and goes back to his science fiction novel.
So here we are: Zombies From Space… and Vampires. I had to come up with a credible explanation, one that my husband, an avid Science Fiction enthusiast, would accept…one that would stand against scientific accuracy.
What if the zombies are an alien race who just happen to resemble zombies? What if their food source is humanoids? What if they come from a planet with a much lower gravitational pull and they’re cell division rate is exceptionally faster than ours? So that they are constantly shedding their bodies every few days, but when placed on Earth where the gravitational pull is much higher, their flesh and skin is ripped off of them like rags giving them the appearance and movement of zombies.
It was sound. My scientist approved the science. It was credible enough that he could accept the claim of zombies.
So I have my “zombies.” I have my apocalypse. But then I had an idea. How could I make this even more epicly awesome? Vampires! And that is when I realized the zombies would threaten the vampire food source. Zombies vs. vampires. That was the original title. But I couldn’t let go of “Zombieeeees… from SPACE!” Aliens. Zombies. Vampires. What more could you ask for?”
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