Zombie Crawl 2 - Blog Party: Confessions of a Recent Convert (Post + Giveaway)

Zombie Crawl 2 - Blog Party

October 22 - 31, 2015

by Band of Dystopian Authors & Fans

How it works: Each day, the scheduled authors and bloggers will post awesome zombie-tastic content for your enjoyment along with a giveaway on their site/blog/page. You can hop around to all of the participating sites and enter as many giveaways as you like! If you would like to be emailed links to the new posts each day, join this Zombie Crawl Daily Digest list which will ensure you don't miss a post (or join the party on Facebook to get notifications). Make sure to leave comments and interact with the participating sites. Thanks for joining the party!

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Confessions of a Recent Convert

Hey there blog hoppers. Welcome to my stop on the Zombie Crawl Blog Party! Today I'm going to be sharing my brief story as a recent convert to the zombie trope. Hope you enjoy!

I'll be honest with you readers, Ethan here is not really a zombie fan. *gasp* I know, I know. Hard to believe. I've never seen an episode of The Walking Dead, most horror movies bore me to tears, and until about a two years ago, I'd never so much as touched a zombie novel. So what am I doing here? Well, it just so happens that the works of a few pretty awesome people have converted me over full fledged to where I maybe, just kind of really freaking enjoy the trope now. So what changed? Let's take a walk through my top five favorite zombies ever.

So let's go back to my childhood. Yes, I'm pretty young, I know. In my house, we were big Scooby-Doo fans. Couldn't get enough. I watched all the movies, TV shows, and all. Let's be honest, some of it was pretty scary for a cartoon. None more so than the 1998 hit Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Zombies, pirates, were-cats, voodoo, and the Louisiana bayou all rolled into one cartoon? Uh yeah, scary as hell. To this day it remains one of my all time favorite cartoon films. Those zombies were seriously legit. That and I tend to get the "It's Terror Time Again" song stuck in my head whenever I think of zombies. If you've never seen this one, you're really missing out.

So picking up from the screen side of things, I've recently took the plunge into trying to enjoy some television zombies. No, it's not TWD, but one other that really appealed to my love of crime shows and forensics: iZombie. Adapted from the wildly popular comic series, this new CW series has really taken me by storm, I seriously cannot get enough. It's a bit different than your average zombie series, but I'm thoroughly impressed. The first season is now in Netflix, be sure to check it out.

So honestly, that's about it when it comes to the visualized zombies that I can tolerate. Thankfully, there have been some absolutely incredible zombie book series that have really appealed to my inner bookworm. I've read about a dozen at this point, but these three are hands-down my favorite. Let's check them out!

First would have to be the novel that first introduced me to literary zombies, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. I know there's a lot of controversy around this one and it's inclusion in true zombie lore, but seriously as a newbie who was really hesitant about zombies in the first place, it was the perfect introduction for me. I've read these books so many times now. They're great!

Second would be The World Without End series by the incredible Nazarea Andrews. Right after I began my journey in the bookish world, I came across Andrews and this series. It's a New Adult zombie series that is full of horror, drama, and steam. I've been raving about this series for a long time now and all my bookish friends know how much Ren and Finn appealed to me. This four book series has now ended, but Andrews is beginning a spin-off series starting next year. Definitely worth adding to your TBR!

Finally we've got what would have to be my number one all-time favorite zombie anything ever. The absolutely amazing Rachel Auke's Deadland Saga. Oh holy hell you guys. On my list of all-time favorite book series, this one definitely is close to the top. I have never felt the wide spectrum of emotions I felt when I devoured this series. From absolute horror to heartbreaking emotion, it was one ride I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forget. I'm not an emotional reader but there were times when this series had me in tears. Nothing is sacred in the apocalypse and Aukes definitely knows it. Spinning the trilogy off as a retelling of Dante Alighieri's classic Dante's Inferno, Aukes weaves together the perfect series of survival and redemption in a shattering world. It's the only series I've seen that really closely follows the zombie apocalypse from the very beginning. I couldn't recommend this series any more if I tried.

As you guys can see, while I may not be a huge zombie fan, I've got a few zom-favories under my cap. Every time I read another zombie series it changes my bookish mind towards the zombie trope. While I don't believe it'll ever become my favorite, I think it's definitely going to be something I see becoming more and more prominent in my future! What about you guys? Fan of the films? The books? Let me know what you think in the comments below! To share some of my favorites with you all, I'm giving away box set copies of both Andrews and Aukes series below. Don't miss it!

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GIVEAWAY

Anxious to learn just how Nazarea Andrews and Rachel Aukes converted me to the dark side? I'm giving away a box set of EACH incredible series to a lucky winner. Enter the rafflecopter below and it could be you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Schedule:

OCTOBER 22 - Thursday

Band of Dystopian Authors & Fans (Party & Grand Prize Host) Jo Michaels Blog (author) Rissa Blakeley (author) OCTOBER 23 - Friday Claire C. Riley (author) 2 Girls & A Book (blog) Emily Shore (author) OCTOBER 24 - Saturday Kathy Dinisi (author) Us Girls & A Book (blog) The Voluptuous Book Diva (blog 18+) OCTOBER 25 - Sunday Casey L. Bond (author) THE KATY blog (blog) OCTOBER 26 - Monday Saul Tanpepper (author) Warren Fielding (author) The Leighgendarium (blog) OCTOBER 27 - Tuesday Kody Boye (author) Rhiannon Frater (author) ER Arroyo (author) OCTOBER 28 - Wednesday Allen Gamboa (author) Armand Rosamilia (author) Ethan @ One Guy's Guide to Good Reads (blog) OCTOBER 29 - Thursday Kate L. Mary (author) aftershockzombieseries (author) Eli Constant (author) OCTOBER 30 - Friday Aria Michaels (author) Brian Parker (author) Mama Reads Hazel Sleeps (blog) OCTOBER 31 - Saturday Cindy Carroll (author) M. R. Pritchard (author) Toni L.H. Boughton (author) Digital Dirty Girl (blog)

To learn more about Band of Dystopian and/or to enter our Grand Prize Giveaway, visit BandofDystopian.com and don't forget to join the group on Facebook!

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Thanks so much for stopping by! Don't miss out on all the fun, be sure to head on over to all the other blog tour stops for even more amazing giveaways and fun. Like what you read? Subscribe to One Guy's Guide to Good Reads via any of the links in the sidebar. Thanks so much for stopping by today and to the incredible gang over at Band of Dystopian for allowing me to participate in this blog hop. Until next time, Happy Reading!

-Ethan