Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Blogtoberfest – Zombie Awareness Month

will-you-be-safe-or-will-you-be-sorryWelcome to October, or as I like to call it, thirty days of Halloween Eve!

This is one of the first posts of “Blogtoberfest” and it’s also Zombie Awareness Month!

So…..are you aware?  More importantly, are you prepared?

Many people are caught unprepared, no matter what the emergency, whether it be a hurricane, snow storm or zombie apocalypse.  This is according to the CDC, which has a page on how to prepare for any emergency event, up to and including a zombie apocalypse.  If you don’t believe me, click here.

Again, are you prepared to “bug-out” at a moment’s notice?  Your Kindle, table or extra-smart phone won’t be of much help when the ravenous, bloody-mouthed hordes of the un-dead start beating at your door.  Well, maybe you can throw your device at them, but at the most it’ll only take out one or two.

Okay, now you’re all asking, Dahlia, what can I do to prepare for the zombie apocalypse or any other emergency that might occur?

Well, I’m glad you asked that.  Here’s a list of items that are essential to surviving those first few days of utter confusion when there is no more room in Hell and the dead begin to walk the earth.

From the CDC Page:

  • Water (1 gallon per person per day)
  • Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly)
  • Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds)
  • Tools and Supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.)
  • Sanitation and Hygiene (household bleach, soap, towels, etc.)
  • Clothing and Bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)
  • Important documents (copies of your driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate to name a few)
  • First Aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane)

In addition to having this emergency kit, you should also have an emergency plan for your family.  Zombies wait for no one, so mapping the quickest route out of the infected area (and alternate routes) should be of utmost importance.  Does your family have a meeting place just in case you are separated?  How about an out of state contact that you can either run to or touch base with to ensure members of a family are safe?

Remember, the farther away you can get from a hungry zombie, the better.  And the more prepared you are for any emergency, the better off you and your family will be.  Take the time today because……..

They’re coming to get you, Barbara…

 

 

Movie Review: The Battery

Title: The Battery
Genre: Horror: Zombies
Director: Jeremy Gardner
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2272350/

the_battery_05

 

In a land ravaged by the undead, Ben and Mickey must first learn to survive each other.

It’s a zombie movie. Of course I’m going to watch it, either through my fingers or like a boss, but I’m going to watch it. I liked the movie poster. I’m still a fan of the baseball move to whack a zombie skull, so to see one of the characters holding a bat…I was pretty pleased.

This is not your typical zombie movie with the characters hiding in an attic or basement, surviving on canned food and sniping at each other. Rather, this is an open movie: regaling us with the beauty of the New England countryside in summer while also reminding us of the danger that lurks around nearly every corner.

The director, Jeremy Gardner, is also one of the main characters named Ben. Ben has an epic beard and is the alpha of the two males. The second main character, Mickey, is the softer type. He walks around with headphones on, keeping the music going in his ears as he follows Ben through the woods and along the roads, basically allowing Ben to make most of the decisions and all of the zombie kills.

Ben’s growing impatience with Mickey’s refusal to cope with their reality leads to some interesting scenes that I won’t spoil here.

Overall, this is more of a character study of the two men and how they react to these new circumstance than a run-for-your-life post apocalyptic movie.

Special Effects: The effects are not the point here. If I read correctly, Gardner spent about 6k to make the film in two weeks. Don’t go into this expecting realistic splatter and gross-out gore.

Watch or not to watch?:
If you like quiet, self-contained movies and the dynamic of male relationships, then you’ll like this movie. If you’re looking for blood, gore, brains and breathless chases, you will find this movie boring.

Trivia: In baseball, the term battery refers collectively to the pitcher and the catcher, who may also be called batterymen[1] or batterymates of one another. (wikipedia.org)

Grade: A minus