Today is George Romero's Birthday ♡

I barely into my teens when I saw Night of the Living Dead (1990). The film was disturbing, I saw a dead guy that was dressed in a hospital gown with autopsy incisions. That made it real.

The humans behaved poorly.  Everybody. This wasn't your typical horror where it was a united "us" vs "them".

I recall my childish frustration of how the survivors turned on each other. "Why are they acting so stupid? They should be helping each other!" I exclaimed more than a few times.

Check out the superb article where I got this photo over at: afilmaday blog

That scene where the hillbillies seemed to have waay too much fun shooting at the strung up zeds really stayed with me.

In the end my favorite guy got zombiefied, some people made it, but the ending wasn't necessarily a happy one.

Lots of stuff went over my head, but it was clear to me that those people and all the other jerks with their petty frailties managed to bother me more than the supposed monsters.

I didn't enjoy the film the first time and dismissed it in favor of seemingly flashier offerings of fangoria.

Freddy Krueger was cool and so were the protagonists who took him on. The Amityville Horror, Friday the 13th, and Hellraiser were staples of my mid teens. I never got into Clive Barker but my friends loved him to bits.

I got older and saw the original 60s version. The little differences between it and the later films helped me appreciate the nuances a little better.

This was when I began to understand what George was trying to tell us.

So here we are today. Prepping and getting my family squared away against the coming storm.

All of this thanks to George Romero. My appreciation for our favorite kind of horror and social commentary begin with him.

Thank you dear sir.

                  Photo from Wikipedia


Stay vigilant!

Cool Artist: Kittiwat Unarrom, "Body Bakery"

Well hello there survivors. Halloween is merely a few days away. Let's crank up the creepy factor.

*****

Bread. Body parts. These are words that should never be uttered in the same breath. And yet, a Fine Arts Student from Thailand has managed to create a unique experience that shall horrify you while delighting your palate. 

Kittiwat Unarrom is the brains behind BODY BAKERY. He is a Master in Fine Arts and is the son of a baker. What a deadly combination!

They look like chopped up people. Dead people! Walking into his establishment feels like entering a crime-scene or well-stocked morgue instead of a bakery.

Mr. Unarrom carefully sculpts each of his creations to look as realistic as possible and the effect is terrific.  The attention to detail could  probably fool Lt. Horatio Caine of CSI: Miami. 

I'm pretty sure this stuff would be pretty wild as birthday gifts.

Just don't try to bring these on an airplane unless you plan on explaining yourself to the police, immigration officials, or other philistines.
 

 *****

Horror is as primal as hunger. It is in our bones. It requires little or no conscious thought at all, and I believe Mr. Unarrom's work helps us understand ourselves a little better.  

We should confront scary stuff, not run away from it. At least this time we can eat it too!

If you have an open mind you'd get all that from munching on a "dismembered arm pastry" while slurping down the "bone marrow" that is actually some cranberry cream filling.

"if you get me one of these I'll kick your ass" 
- Mrs. Zombie Hunter

creative genius, strong stomach

If you are ever in Ratchaburi, Thailand, make sure to visit his shop! Its art baby.

Stay vigilant!