Thread:Matt Hadick/@comment-1774430-20130624191708

Here you go.

1. Tell me a bit about yourself and your involvement with the Zombiepedia.

I've always been a big fan of Zombies, Werewolves, Vampires, and many other types of monster horror, especially the ones that are creative, or make one feel like they are really there, such as Cloverfield. After reading Max Brooks' World War Z (now a major motion picture) I wanted to discuss concepts Brooks touched on. Zombiepedia was very high in all my web searches, but at the time, Zombiepedia's admins had abandoned the wiki, and it was in disarray. After fixing what I could as an editor, I needed to delete vandalism, so I applied for the administrator position, and the rest is history.

2. How did you get into Zombies?

I was shown Night of the Living Dead in a university course on horror film and literature. I was blown away. Left 4 Dead, the 2004 Dawn of the Dead and The Walking Dead also captivated me.

3. How would you recommend a beginner get into Zombies? Any particular books/movies/comics/TV shows/games/etc. that would serve as a good starting point?

I would say all the titles just mentioned. The Last of Us for Playstation 3 is also getting decent reviews, and encapsulates alot of the realistic "social horror" that some other zombie games and films overlook.

4. Anything you wouldn’t recommend?

I would warn that the genre can be very campy and excessively gory and unrealistic, and it's not for everyone. The recent renaissance of smart zombie fiction brought about by Brooks And Robert Kirkman are more exceptions than the norm.

5. Any additional advice you’d give to someone new to Zombies?

Like all fiction, Zombie works are a form of entertainment. However, the genre's popularity is partly due the the questions it raises about survival, order and chaos, social constructs, and humanity. Are zombies real? No. It's fun (almost an inside joke) to write as if they are. Are the questions they raise about how mankind functions worthwhile to take seriously, and apply to one's own life? I think so. So does the Federal Government.

http://news.yahoo.com/seriously-government-warns-citizens-zombie-apocalypse-urge-better-230018621.html

6. What resources on your wiki might be useful to an aspiring zombie fan?

http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Films is a great place to find zombie films one might not have heard of. The Manual of Style is required reading for contributors. And my talk page  is always open for questions - http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/User_talk:Philodox. 