Dia VanGunten joins us to crack open Pink Zombie Rose, her decade in the making magical realism series where zombies don't eat brains; they walk off the job, listen to trees, and fall in love. Structured like a tarot deck, Pink Zombie Rose: Major Arcana is a rhizomatic, genre-defying mashup of queer love stories, Cotard's delusion, anti-capitalist rage, and prose so alive it hurts. Dia reads from "Sweetest Kill", a glitter factory that sells sentiment while poisoning the earth, and we dig into the real history behind the fiction: enclosures, anatomy theaters, and the radical power of simply putting your hands in your pockets and stopping.

We also get into the making of Major Arcana and its collaboration with illustrator Beppi, the confrontational magic of writing in second person, what the Detroit auto industry has to do with the undead, and Dia's upcoming comic project Little Gores.

Guest Links

Dia VanGunten

• Website: diavangunten.com
• Instagram: @pinkzombierose
• Linktree (all links): linktr.ee/diavangunten

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

This week indie comics creators Laurie Calcaterra (Path of the Pale Rider) and Brandon Starocci (Avalon Comic) join us to unpack Boner Temple™; our affectionate nickname (stolen from Wicked Words Book Club) for the newest entry in the 28 Years Later saga "The Bone Temple". Through Spike’s childlike perspective, we examine how spectacle becomes belief, belief becomes control, and why Sir Jimmy Crystal’s myth collapses the moment doubt enters the room. We also debate the film’s moral center: a doctor honoring the dead, an infected alpha learning restraint, and whether survival means curing humanity or redefining it.

From hybrid theory and infected carriers to the soundtrack, psychology, and franchise endgame predictions, this episode balances horror analysis with big-picture storytelling. We also tackle box office fatigue, marketing misfires, and why word-of-mouth might decide the trilogy’s fate.

Guest Links:

• Laurie Calcaterra
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriecalcaterra
  • Comic: Path of the Pale Rider — https://www.pathofthepalerider.com
  • Issue 8 Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pathofthepalerider/path-of-the-pale-rider-issues-1-8
    
    
• Brandon Starocci
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonstarocci
  • Avalon Comic Website: https://avaloncomic.com
  • Avalon Comic Socials: https://www.instagram.com/avaloncomic

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

In this episode of Zombie Book Club, we sit down with writer and death doula Sara Wuillermin of Bury Me in New Jersey Community to explore the emotional and human heart of 28 Years Later, a film that uses its post-apocalyptic world not just to terrify, but to ask what it means to grieve, to love, and to carry loss forward in community. From Spike’s perilous journey to save his ailing mother to the rituals communities invent to honor their dead, we unpack how zombie stories reflect real-world grief, shared resilience, and the surprising spaces where care and resistance intersect.

We talk about how death doula work and mutual aid reshape our understanding of “survival,” how potlucks, Signal groups, and ordinary solidarity can be tools of connection. Whether you’re here for deep takes on grief, film, or community care, this conversation makes room for both the pain and tenderness of living in a world shaped by loss.

Guest Info

• Bury Me in New Jersey Community
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bury_me_in_nj
  • Website / Podcast info: https://burymeinnj.com

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com