Today I welcome author, Gretchen Stull to the blog. Gretchen’s story The Pied Piper of the Dead, published within the zombie romance anthology Still Hungry For Your Love, takes the prize for the quirkiest and most fun novel I’ve had on the blog to date!
Love and zombies never die. Everyone knows that!
Editor Lori Perkins published the very first zombie romance anthology, Hungry for Your Love, in 2008, to rave reviews. But there’s so much more zombie love out there that she had to bring you a second volume.
In this new collection of never-before published zombie romance stories you’ll find:
• Undying Love by Scott Smith, a tale about lovers who never let go
• How the Zombie Apocalypse Turned Me into My Grandmother by Livia Ellis, an amusing story with an interesting older woman/younger man twist
• Dead Girls Don’t Love by Sarah Hans, featuring zombie love in the Caribbean
• Debbie Doesn’t Do Dallas Anymore by Tom Towles, featuring zombies and meth
• The Pied Piper of the Dead by Gretchen Stull, which speaks for itself
And many more
Welcome, Gretchen!
Thank you so much for having me! I’m excited to be here.
Rumor has it that you are a zombie expert. (How cool is that?) And I’m not talking about a watcher of The Walking Dead. Like a real zombie aficionado. Tell us about your zombie education.
I am. I finished up my Masters of Communication at Auburn University (War Eagle!) and my thesis was on zombies. So, technically, I’m a certified zombologist, although I haven’t had to use it in a practical application sense…yet.
Basically, I used my favorite movie, Shaun of the Dead, as a jumping off point for an exploration of the ways in which the zombie mythos has been used in our culture, and what the reoccurring focus on zombies says about us and our biggest, most ingrained fears. It was fascinating research (how many other academic projects mandate marathon viewing sessions of the George Romero catalog?) and I learned a lot. Culturally, we’ve used zombies as metaphorical scapegoats depicting everything from racial tensions to the fear of consumerism gone mad to nervousness about class warfare. Heavy stuff to lay on the shoulders of the shambling undead.
Yes, certainly! For those of us who aren’t familiar with zombies (okay, maybe it’s just me), please give us your expert definition of what exactly a zombie is.
This is a difficult question to answer, because the definition has changed so much over time, and each new storyteller tends to place their own spin on the mythos.
Zombie lore can be traced back to stories emerging from the West African and Haitian religious practices of Vodou or Vodun (what we tend to call voodoo). I’m going to tread lightly here, because I’m not an expert in any branch of this religion and don’t want to inadvertently provide false information or offend followers of the faith. Generally, these zombies were believed to be reanimated corpses that had been raised from the dead through magical means by a powerful bokor (sorcerer). These zombies were not the brain-hungry monsters of popular culture. They were benign, with no will of their own, controlled by the bokor. It has been argued these zombies were not actually dead, but under the influence of a powerful combination of neurotoxins and dissociative drugs that induced a death-like state. The validity of these claims is widely contested within the scientific community.
In popular culture, zombies have worn many faces. There are even arguments about what traits “real” zombies have: Are they fast (28 Days Later) or slow (Dawn of the Dead)? Caused by viruses (World War Z), radiation (Night of the Living Dead), parasites (Slither), or supernatural events (Boy Eats Girl)? Can they be cured (Warm Bodies)? Can they be tricked (Zombieland)? Do you have to be bitten by a zombie to be infected (Shaun of the Dead) or will you turn after dying regardless (The Walking Dead)? Do they have the ability to think and communicate? Can they control their impulses? Will they attack animals? Will they attack each other? Are they dead or alive?
There is a lot of variety, and I can get onboard with just about any of it if the story is well told. That said, I prefer my zombies classic Romero style. They are reanimated corpses, brought back from the dead by a natural event. These zombies are slow and lumbering, lack all but basic motor function, do not have the ability to communicate, can be “killed” only by severing the head or destroying the brain, and have an unquenchable thirst for brains. That’s my type of zombie!
Wow. Just…wow. Okay, tell us a little about this anthology and your story within it, The Pied Piper of the Dead.
Pied Piper of the Dead is a very loose reimagining of the Pied Piper of Hamelin tale. In my version, the pests infesting the city are of the zombie-persuasion, and the Piper is searching for her lost husband among corrupt officials and swarms of the undead. There are steampunk elements and the story is set in a cave system that actually exists under my hometown.
The anthology, Still Hungry for your Love, brings together 15 short stories from a variety of authors all dealing with the central theme of romance in a zombie-filled world. No rules were set as to the nature of the couples (human-human, zombie-zombie, human-zombie) or the type of zombie. Each author was bound only by their imagination and the word count, so there’s a wide variety of zombie love for the taking.
Love it! What is it about zombies that interest you enough to write about them?
I could talk for hours on this topic, but I’ll try to be brief 
I’m fascinated by what they represent (and I’m talking about my personal definition of zombie here). Other monsters, like vampires and werewolves, can be sexualized, to the point where there are many books, shows and even films on websites such as https://www.fulltube.xxx/ that sexualize them. But zombies are grotesque, rotting corpses. They aren’t beautiful. They aren’t charming. There’s nothing alluring about them. Their role in stories is to hold up a mirror to civilization and show how completely it can be corrupted. Every protagonist in a zombie story is one bite – one misstep, one mistake, one emotional moment – away from becoming a zombie themselves. That’s what’s terrifying about them. There’s no “us-against-them mentality” when dealing with zombies, because they are us. And eventually, if they story goes on long enough, we will all become them.
Zombies aren’t evil by nature. They don’t make the choice to kill; they don’t make any choices at all. They are humans stripped of humanity, driven only by the impulse to consume. They may be relentless, but they aren’t the real villains in most zombie stories. They are the foil against which we judge the human characters and their ability to maintain their humanity. From a cultural standpoint, that’s just fascinating.
What’s your current work in progress?
Currently, I’m working on a superhero novel. There’s not a zombie in sight (shocking, I know), but there is an invincible heroine, a smart-mouthed super-assassin hero, and reference to alpacas. Because who doesn’t love alpacas, right? The high concept is Deadpool meets Veronica Mars, and I’m having a great time with these characters.
I totally love alpacas! What books/authors do you like to read, and what’s currently on your nightstand? Books that is…of course. 
Oh, so many, and I know if I start listing I’ll leave someone out. So, instead of all the authors I love, I’ll list what I consider must reads for zombie enthusiasts
1. World War Z by Max Brooks. Ignore the movie. Forget it exists. Burn it with fire if need be. This book is not just a phenomenal zombie book; it is one of the best books I’ve ever read about human nature. Just buy it. Borrow it. Do what you have to. This is a must read.
2. Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry. This is book one of a four book YA series, and it’s just a fantastic read. Also, I learned yesterday that Jonathan will be bringing all new stories from the Rot & Ruin world to life as a comic book series through IDW starting in 2014. Those will be on my auto-buy list.
3. Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen. The first book in the 4 book Living with the Dead series, this is laugh out loud funny. It’s my go-to suggestion for romance readers who aren’t sure how they feel about the idea of zombies. Give it a try.
4. Enclave by Ann Aguirre. So well written. The zombies aren’t the focus of the story, but establish the atmosphere. This is one of those books that you read and then wish you had that kind of talent.
5. My Zombie Valentine anthology. This is a set of 4 zombie romance stories, and I loved each of them. Another hearty recommendation for romance lovers who aren’t sure they’re ready to take the plunge into zombie fiction.
Alright, now that I’ve had the benefit of expert education on the topic of zombies, I’m hooked. I’m going to read a few of these Zombie stories — starting with The Pied Piper of the Dead. Seems like the perfect fit for the warm and fuzzy holiday season! Thanks so much for being here, Gretchen!
Thank you for having me on the blog, today!
Gretchen wrote her Master’s thesis on zombies, making her, technically, a professional zombologist. Remarkably, there isn’t much work out there for a zombologist (yet!), so in the meantime, she writes. And writes. And writes. Sometimes, she even gets to write about zombies, so it all works out in the end. Gretchen lives in Nashville with her extremely patient husband, somewhat less patient dachshund, completely impatient son, and a cat who may be plotting her demise.
Find Still Hungry For My Love on Amazon
Mark it “to read” on Goodreads
Visit Gretchen’s website at www.gretchenstull.com
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