Call for Papers: The Walking Dead and the Problem of Meaning in the New Millennium of the Dead
Dawn Keetley of Lehigh University has issued a call for papers through Popular Culture and American Culture Associations. It is for an anthology volume titled “Dead Inside: The Walking Dead and the Problem of Meaning in the New Millennium of the Dead.” Keetley is seeking essays for a scholarly collection that will explore the complexities [...]
April Launch of “AMC The Walking Dead Social Game”
I will be a periodic contributor to a website aimed at fans of The Walking Dead called The Talking Walking Dead. My first post is a news item that discusses the forthcoming “AMC The Walking Dead Social Game” on Facebook. That news item can be found here.
The Walking Dead: “18 Miles Out” Raises Suicide Awareness
Sunday night’s episode of The Walking Dead titled “18 Miles Out” saw conflict among group members come to a head, with a brawl between Rick and Shane as the best illustration of the tensions that run throughout the group. But it would be a mistake to focus on such issues of drama and positive soap [...]
The Walking Dead Continues to Wrestle with Darabont’s Ethical Concerns
After Frank Darabont’s unexpected and sudden departure from The Walking Dead at the beginning of production for Season 2 many fans wondered and worried whether the quality of the writing for the program would be compromised. Although some have expressed concerns about the allegedly slow pacing of this season in contrast with the first (a [...]
The Walking Dead, Albert Camus, and the Fundamental Question of Philosophy
Last week The Walking Dead intersected with religion in wrestling the big questions of life in the face of apocalypse and life as the seemingly absurd. Tonight, with the episode “Save the Last One,” it not only raised questions about God’s existence,but also perfectly illustrated an existential question from twentieth century philosopher Albert Camus. In [...]
The Walking Dead Goes to Church: The Search for the Divine in “What Lies Ahead”
Last Sunday night AMC aired the premiere episode for season 2 of The Walking Dead. In the process the series set new records: The 90-minute episode drew 7.3 million total viewers, becoming the strongest telecast for any drama in basic cable history among two key demos. The zombie drama based on Robert Kirkman’s long-running comics [...]
The Walking Dead: Beware of Product Placement
An item from the mail online in the UK caught my attention as it describes the understandably negative reaction when an ad agency put an advertisement for The Walking Dead on the side of The co-Operative Funeralcare building. The article quotes someone from a nearby hospice saying the following: Mrs Jones said grieving families could [...]
Religion Dispatches: Toward a Zombie Theology
My latest entry at Religion Dispatches, this time for their blog, is now available. In includes some thoughts related to the final episode of the AMC series The Walking Dead, in a post titled “Toward a Zombie Theology.” The piece connects zombies, theology, and neuroscience. After discussing the episode titled “TS-19,” and mentioning its Christian [...]
Entertainment Weekly: The Walking Dead “Best New Show on TV”
I recently came across a magazine that devoted its cover to their assertion that AMC’s The Walking Dead is “The Best New Show on TV.” Surprisingly, this claim and appreciation for a zombie horror show was not found on the cover of Fangoria, Horror Hound, or Famous Monsters of Filmland, but instead on Entertainment Weekly [...]
Reflections on The Walking Dead
The television series The Walking Dead premiered last Sunday, Halloween night, and I thought before the second episode this weekend I’d share a few reflections. Given my interests and the social venues and media circles I travel in it was difficult not to become aware of this series. AMC did a masterful job of tapping [...]
