RIP Bill Hinzman
1936-2012

Horror Host Barry Hobart, better known as Dayton, Ohio’s very own Dr. Creep, passed away today at the age of 68. You can read more about Hobart’s life and career in this article, published today by the Dayton Daily News.

We just learned about the passing of French writer/director Jean Rollin, after a long illness, at the age of 72. Rollin was known as a great director in the horror genre, most widely known for his vampire films, but he was also an accomplished producer and actor also. Readers of the ZRC might know him as the writer and director of the great 1978 French zombie film Les Raisins de la Mort (aka The Grapes of Death, Pesticide), and director of the not so great Le Lac des Morts Vivants (akak Zombie Lake, The Lake of the Living Dead). Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

NYDailynews.com reports that the rumor Charlie Sheen loves the new AMC series The Walking Dead so much, that he wants to play a zombie on it, is false. That’s too bad- okay, not really, because who cares! Kill some time and read the whole article here.

FEARnet celebrates George A. Romero’s 70th birthday this Thursday, February 4th, with an all day zombie party. Here’s what they have planned:

Tributes to Romero from such horror luminaries as Guillermo Del Toro, Mick Garris, and Max Brooks.

Video interviews with Romero and cast members of his Dead films.

Full-length, free streaming movies featuring the consequences of zombie-like outbreaks, including Mulberry Street, the aptly titled J-horror film Infection and David Cronenberg’s classic Shivers.

Zombie American, a short starring The Hangover’s Ed Helms.

A Jobs of the Damned video lesson from our old friend actor Doug Jones on how to move like a zombie.

A review of Kevin Hamedani’s post-9-11 political horror-comedy Zombies of Mass Destruction, part of this year’s After Dark Horrorfest.

Original zombie haikus penned by visitors to our site.

And since no birthday is complete without cake, FEARnet will serve up a gallery of the best zombie-themed birthday cakes from around the web. To top things off, we’ll “tweet like a zombie,” retweeting zombie-related comments from horror fans and notables all day long.

This is odd:

“A man known as the “Zombie Bandit,” suspected of robbing banks…was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison Tuesday for a string of heists. Authorities said Hurwitz (the “Zombie Bandit” -ed.)…earned his nickname for his mumbling and blank demeanor…”

(Via MercuryNews.com)

Cinema Wasteland, the midwest’s premier horror convention is going “all zombie” for their tenth anniversary show, including a Lucio Fulci’s Zombie reunion! The reunion includes Al Cliver (tourist Brian Hull), Ian McCulloch (reporter Peter West), Richard Johnson (Dr. John Markway) and Ottaviano Dell’Acqua (THE Fulci zombie). There will also be guests from the Romero film series, including Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead, plus special guest fx creator/ actor Tom Savini, and much more horror and zombie related films, events and guests. Cinema Wasteland runs April 9th-11th in Strongsville, OH. Get your advance tickets here. I’ll be there, so should you!

Michael Jackson’s zombie infested Thriller video, along with 24 other films, will be added to the US National Film Archive this year. The films were picked by the National Film Preservation Board and by members of the public and their nominations. Films were picked for their “national significance”. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead should of been the first zombie film included, but Thriller made it on it’s merits of pushing “the development of the music video”. Read the full BBC article here.

Utah’s Deseret News reported today that members of the Animal Defense League of Salt Lake City protested at Sundance today, dressed as zombies. They were there protesting the wearing of fur. Organizer Jordan Halliday explained “…we chose Sundance to educate” because it “is known for its fur-bearing attendees”. “We understand that some fur wearers don’t realize the destruction their garment may have caused.” It seems like using zombies is becoming a popular choice for protests and demonstrations these days because of their attention grabbing visuals and their ability to fit into many different arguments (toxic TV waste, “Buy Nothing Day”, wearing fur, environmental awareness and so on). On a side note, Sundance is showing Dead Snow!

Recent contest winner Trevs sent us this pic and writes:

Dear ZRC -
I received the ZRC holiday prize pack in the mail today and just really want
to say – thanks! I know it’s luck I won, but man, you put a huge smile on my
face the moment I got home from work tonight. What a fun Christmas present!
I’m wearing the damn shirt tomorrow! Thanks for sharing the zombie culture
love with us all. Merry Corpse-Mas.