Tag Archives: zombie apocalypse

In which the Author leaves some rotting tuna out for a zombie cat…

The world clearly needs more zombie cats. To further this laudable aim, we present the zombie of Hodge, Dr

Johnson’s favourite cat.zombie cat

Samuel Johnson is probably the second most quoted person in the English language, after Shakespeare. His A

Dictionary of the English Language made him one of the major celebrities of Georgian London. A Life of Samuel

Johnson, the biography written by his friend James Boswell, cemented his status as one of the most mordantly

incisive – and quotable – thinkers of his age. Having been often bitten by poverty himself, Johnson was frequently

kind to those less well-off than himself. He was also – very unusually for his time – affectionately disposed towards

animals.

A statue of Hodge, his favourite cat, stands outside his house at 17 Gough Square in London. The idea of a zombie Johnson, surrounded by a legion of re-animated moggies, is an appealing one.

As with other zombies in this series, the zombie of Hodge comes from the forthcoming book Zombies from History: A Hunter’s Guide

zombies cover

In which the Author himself becomes a zombie…

The talented folks at The History Press have been busy zombifying images of the good, the bad and the ugly from British history for my forthcoming book Zombies from History: A Hunter’s Guide. Some of these gruesome images have already been shared in previous posts on this very blog.

And now it is the turn of the humble author himself. Here’s my zombie portrait as it appears on the inside cover of

the book. To me, it seems a distinct improvement on the original…

Zombie-Geoff_MONO

Here's the original

And here’s the original…

 

 

In which the Author greets the zombie of Oliver Cromwell…

Oliver Cromwell’s body has already had two lives. firstly as Lord Protector after the English Civil War, and secondly two years after his death, when the corpse was dug up and ‘executed’ a second time, in punishment for the

beheading of Charles I. And now, with the imminent onset of the zombie apocalypse, he’s back for a third go,

possibly aided by thousands of Puritan zombie soldiers.

Oliver’s Army are on their way…

As with others in the series (collect the set!) Olly comes from the forthcoming

Zombies from History: A Hunter’s Guide

oliver cromwell

In which the Author is honoured to meet the zombie of St Patrick…

Today’s selection from the forthcoming Zombies from History: A Hunter’s Guide is St Patrick, the patron saint of

Ireland.

The whereabouts of St Patrick‘s final resting place are disputed. However, as he supposedly banished snakes from Ireland, you could perhaps locate the holy herpetophobe by taking along a reptile or two.

As Indiana Jones said, “Snakes. Why does it have to be snakes?”

Zombies-2 USE alt

 

In which the Author says howdy to the zombie of Alfred the Great…

Here’s another historical zombie, in this case King Alfred the Great, who most people remember for incinerating

some baked goods, but who was actually one of the most able Anglo-Saxon kings of Dark Age England, taking on

the Vikings to boot.

As with the other images in this series, this regal zombie comes from the forthcoming

Zombies from History: A Hunter’s Guide

Zombies-4 USE

In which the Author meets Macbeth’s zombie…

Today’s zombie taken from the upcoming  Zombies from History: A Hunter’s Guide is none other than Macbeth,

King of Scots.

 

However, forget everything you think you know about Macbeth. Shakespeare’s play is a fantasy, based on false

propagandist historical accounts. Macbeth was a hereditary mormaer or regional lord of Moray, at a time when

most Scottish nobles perished at the hands of their power-hungry relatives. Macbeth got the job by killing his

cousins (who themselves had murdered his father). Another power struggle developed when Duncan I – who, in

contrast to his aged portrayal by Shakespeare, was only in his thirties – became King of Scots. Macbeth killed him

in a skirmish.

King Macbeth went on to reign for seventeen years, feeling so secure as to go on pilgrimage to Rome, the only

Scottish king to do so.

 

And now he’s back: is this a zombie I see before me…?

Macbeth - beard and bling, model's own.