Wake The Dead

It's a spooky season, and we've been looking forward to the moment zombies take over Choices this month. We have lots of sneak peeks and even a zombie makeup tutorial coming up! Today, we're taking a behind the scenes dive into the team behind this terrifying book...

To kick off things, what can you tell us about our first ever Choices zombie book?

Kathleen: 21 years ago, a plague of zombies brought the world to ruin. Now you and your companions must battle for survival against enemies both alive and dead.

Oooh, I hope we can work together to survive! We've gotten a quick preview of some of the characters players will meet. Are there any in particular you're excited for players to run into? 

Kathleen: There are so many fun, awesome, badass characters in this book who you are going to dieeeee for. There is also a cocky, violent jerk with a superiority complex who wears way too much eyeliner. He is my horrible idiot son and I love him. I named him after my cat.

Emi: I try not to pick favorites, but Troy is absolutely the most fun to write. He's charming and funny, but completely loses his cool when out of his element. There's also a few more characters players haven't seen who are to die for, but you won't meet them until much later on.

Tom: It's so hard to choose! Each one has been at the top of my list at one time, but currently it's got to be Angel. Her approach to things is a little radical, but she sure would make the apocalypse fun!

Making the apocalypse fun is definitely a skill. I can't wait to meet them all! Next question: There's tons of zombie media out there, what's your favorite?

Kathleen: In the Actually-a-Really-Good-Movie tier it's Train to Busan, in the Kinda-Dumb-but-Super-Fun tier it's Army of the Dead... and in the What-in-Five-Hells-Did-I-Just-Watch tier we have my favorite movie of all time: a Japanese rock n’ roll cult movie masterpiece called Wild Zero.

Emi: Definitely The Last of Us. The zombies in it are terrifying, and the characters deal with real trauma yet somehow come out on the other end, which I think is what most of us are looking for in these kinds of stories. That and way too much gore.

Tom: I agree with Emi, The Last of Us is hands down the best zombie game out there. The book World War Z paints a grim picture of an international zombie pandemic from multiple perspectives. And in the movie category, Shaun of the Dead is my go-to zombie flick.

We'll definitely check out some of these! Looking back, what was your favorite part creating Wake the Dead?

Kathleen: Getting into the nitty gritty of how our zombies were going to work. In my opinion the best zombie stories are the ones that start with a classic foundation, and then throw in some unique feature or mechanic that makes their take on zombies fresh and interesting. Our zombies are cool and weird and gross and I absolutely cannot wait for them to eat y-- I mean... meet you...

Emi: I will say, coming up with some of the moments that will pull on players' heartstrings was really fun, but nothing beats finding new and exciting ways to describe how utterly gross and disgusting zombies are.

Tom: It was so much fun designing the zombies! I can't wait to unleash them on our players, muhahaha!

The zombies look amazing! Just for fun: If the zombie apocalypse started tomorrow, how prepared are you?

Kathleen: Well, I’m pretty fit and have access to a shop where I could weld scrap metal into all kinds of crazy weapons... 

Emi: I know martial arts, so I've got combat going for me, but in terms of surviving in a world without grocery stores and the internet, I'm totally screwed.

Tom: I'd like to think I'd be a stoic unshakable badass like Rick Grimes from the Walking Dead... but in reality I'd probably be huddled in the corner of my closet, crying. Until a zombie found me and ate my face off. Then I'd turn into a zombie, and be instantly put down by someone like Rick Grimes.

Let's hope we won't have to deal with a zombie attack IRL! To wrap up this interview, any final pieces of advice to share with WtD players? 

Emi: You'll be getting a chance to fully customize your colony, but remember, if you want to survive, balance is key.

Tom: Please play through the book with the sound up! You don't want to miss the haunting soundtrack and the super creepy zombie sound effects ;)

Kathleen: Rule One: No loud noises. Rule Two: Always go for the head. Rule Three: If someone gets bit, they get put down. No hesitation.

WHEW... We're stoked! Thanks team for sharing, and to our readers, thank you for taking time to read this. The clock is ticking, and soon Wake The Dead will be at your fingertips... You won't want to miss this.

- The Community Team