Setting a World Record

This wasn't the first time I felt nude in public. 

I worked my way through college, and one of the most demeaning jobs I took was a mascot for a casino. I sweated in a giant duck costume like a deep sea diver, making my way through the casino to promote a new gaming machine. I couldn't see anything through the mask, so someone led me through the narrow aisles between ringing slot and poker machines. Old men pinched my tail feathers, convinced only a woman would take such a job. Anyone shorter than me got tripped over. At the end of the day, they thanked me politely for my time, paid me, and said I didn't need to return tomorrow. 

So it wasn't without experience that I donned another costume to appear in public. This experience was much better. 

I participated in the New Jersey Zombie Walk 2013 in Asbury Park. The Guinness Book of World Records was on hand to officially announce it the largest gathering of zombies in the world. 9,592 zombies stalked the boardwalk in gleaming artificial blood, flaking latex, and gore. The variety was stunning. 

I wore the suit that best approximates the Eaters in the video game of our Kickstarter. Their skin rotted off, they look like something out of the Bodies Exhibit. 

The response took me totally off guard. 

Read Dust Eaters Prologue

Dear readers,
As I slave away at my next novel, I have to wonder, "Is this any good, or am I indulging in my own little fantasy?" Frankly, I can answer that question myself, but your opinion is equally valid. So I posted the Prologue and Chapters 1 and 2 on Wattpad. I hope you'll do me the favor of providing excruciating, excoriating feedback. What good is horror without a little discomfort, even for the author?
Cheers!
Ronan Cray

What is the Zombie Death Toll?

Day 1
In a city like Shanghai, with 24 million people, 570 people die every day. Let's assume for the sake of argument that whatever causes zombies (alien slime, radioactive water, bacteria) has infected everyone in the city, so whoever dies turns into a zombie. That makes the math easy. That's 570 undead on day one.
Let's say each of them manages to kill, or cause to be killed, one person. Not greedy. You know, loved ones, neighbors, innocent bystanders.
The "cause to be killed" part is crucial because over a few days the death toll leads to mobs, riots, supply chain disruption, fires, anarchy, military crackdowns, martial law.... you get the picture. But I'm getting ahead of myself. On day two:

How to Escape from Zombies

How do you survive a zombie apocalypse? Are there any tricks you can learn before it happens? Are you ready? 

An explosion in obstacle courses follows that age-old question: are all those hours in the gym making us any more competitive in a Darwinian sense? Joining Tough Mudder, Spartan Beast, and Warrior Dash is new kid on the block Run For Your Lives, a straight up 5K obstacle course with a twist of zombie. Like many keyboard pushers, I thought I'd test myself against the real undead. 

Run for Your Lives complicates a 5K endurance obstacle course with ambling, flesh-eating zombies. To ensure realism, I did not train prior to the event. I haven't run 5 feet in as many years. When there's a fire, I'm the guy walking, not running, for the exits. I wanted to know if I could get up from my keyboard, off my pudgy ass, and run like hell if the occasion called for it.