The fifteen day zombie epidemic in media clippings creator posted a last installment in his 15 day creation today, January 15th. On reddit, the creator called Vidzilla explained that the 15 day series that gripped reddit’s zombie fans was created with no advance planning. He was inspired by a conversation about how people would react if a crowded place were “ground zero” for a zombie outbreak, and after his Day 1 post on January 1st got a big reaction, he decided to continue his story for two weeks.

Tomorrow Vidzilla will post a “Director’s Cut” including the zombie story in full on reddit.com/r/zombies. Read his latest comments on reddit to find out more about his awesome zombie storytelling. And thanks, Vidzilla, for a really creepy two week ride. Can we do this again sometime?

I’ve been filled with a sense of growing dread watching this series of media clippings and screenshots that has been posted on reddit.com/r/zombies. The series of images shows a snowballing zombie epidemic in social media, personal messages, and news outlets. Check out days 1-6 below.

I can’t help but think this method of storytelling is something of a throwback to some analysis of modern information overload and the zombie pop phenomenon we talked about in 2010. But mostly, I can’t wait to find out where this story is going. I’m going to be following what I hope continue to be daily updates by Vidzilla on reddit.

And don’t forget to update your 2012 preparedness plans. This is getting real.

Updates: Day 7 (comments) | Day 8 (comments) | Day 9 (comments) | Day 10 (comments) | Day 11 (comments) | Day 12 (comments) | Day 13 (comments) | Day 14 (comments) | … (comments)

Note: Check out Day 5, Day 9, and others for secret hidden messages. See reddit threads for spoilers. Could this be a viral marketing campaign? For what?

In an awesome turn of events, the world’s largest pumpkin, weighing 1,818.5 pounds, was carved into an awesome zombie sculpture by artist Ray Villafane. The great pumpkin carving was done at the New York Botanical Garden, which has an excellent video of the process.

Check out the more photos here.

Last weekend, Wisconsin protesters organized a zombie walk to bring attention to an important cause: The lack of brains in the Tea Party-led state legislature. Dozens of hungry zombies stumbled around Madison, Wisconsin — no Tea Party brains could be found.

This video of the zombie walk is pretty epic — watch till the end for some killer zombie action.

via Dangerous Minds

By Manuel Morgado, found on reddit

Screenshot from Dead Rising

The New York Times has a rather interesting piece on zombies, titled “My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead.” Even that esteemed newspaper can’t ignore the zombie phenomenon and seeks to find the underlying reasons for their rise in popularity.

The hypothesis is compelling, if not strikingly concise: “Zombies are just so easy to kill.” According to the author, battling zombies provides a vivid allegory for our repetitious, Internet-oriented lives. However many emails we delete, YouTube videos we watch, or news sites we frequent, the information is relentless and inexhaustible. We do our best to manage this overload, but one slip-up and we’re overcome.

Zombies are easy to kill, but they keep coming, and coming, and coming.

Spotted at the Intervention Con in Rockville, MD this past weekend: Left 4 Dead Anti-Zombie Medication. Please be safe and get your own stash. You’ll be glad you did when the hordes come hunting for your tender, delicious living brain.

I took this photo with my iPhone. You can buy your own from Morlock Enterprises.

Also, here’s a random Left 4 Dead machinima video about the pills for your amusement:

Because nothing is more romantic than fighting the zombie invasion together from high ground. Featured in Geekologie with a cute photo of the happy bride and groom.

BoingBoing posted this photo from the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show yesterday. Prepare to be boarded!

UPDATE: This zombie pirate has been identified as Mic the Scallywag from Northern California. He does all his own makeup, costume design and distressing, prop building, and custom leatherwork.

Newsweek is secretly covering the zombie apocalypse. As of right now, you can visit Newsweek.com and use the classic Konami cheat code: [UP] [UP] [DOWN] [DOWN] [LEFT] [RIGHT] [LEFT] [RIGHT] [B] [A] [ENTER]. Once you have entered this on your keyboard, Newsweek gives you the latest news about the rising zombie hordes.

Because the Powers That Be are likely to sweep this news under the carpet sometime soon, here’s a full screen grab of zombie Newsweek. Continue reading »