Mackowski Work in Zombie Zine

Chris Mackowski, associate professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure University, is helping bring the undead back to life for iPad users.

Mackowski’s work is featured in the inaugural issue of an interactive digital magazine called Undead Zine, launched this month for the Apple iPad.

Mackowski, who taught an online class at St. Bonaventure this summer called “Pop Culture: Tales from the Zombie Apocalypse,” was recruited by the editors of Undead after they saw a series of zombie-related posts he had written last semester for the blog Scholars & Rogues (www.scholarsandrogues.com).

“Intelligent, quality writing on the zombie genre is not easy to find, so it was very refreshing to read Chris’s writing,” said Undead co-creator and editor Matt Hill.

Mackowski’s piece “Zombies: The New Media Darlings” serves as an introduction for the launch issue. The magazine also features an article by Mackowski titled “Night of the Living Dead: The Birth of the Modern Zombie,” which serves as the magazine’s cover story.

Undead, based in England, is the world’s first interactive, digital zombie magazine, available through Apple’s popular Newsstand app. The magazine offers in-depth features, interviews, and reviews in addition to videos, image galleries, and web links over more than seventy pages.

“The team behind Undead Zine decided, over a cool glass of beer or two, to dip their toe in the murky waters of living dead culture and see if creating a digital magazine on the subject was a feasible idea,” Hill said. “Within days, we knew it was something we had to do, with zombie fans, writers, artists, and even Lego builders giving us the thumbs-up and helping us out. We’re very proud of our first issue, which provides intelligent and entertaining comment on all manner of zombie-related issues, and can’t wait to share our enthusiasm with zombie fans across the world.”

The first issue focuses on the 1968 zombie classic “Night of the Living Dead,” which Hill describes as “the film that started it all.” The issue also features interviews with the writer and director of the new zombie film “Harold Goes Stiff” and zombie artist Rob Sacchetto, previews of two Osama Bin Laden zombie films, and an interview with author Daryl Gregory, who discusses his zombie novel “Raising Stony Mayhall,” with an excerpt of the book included.

In its second issue, the magazine will include features by Mackowski that focus on George Romero’s 1978 “Dawn of the Dead” as well as Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake. The magazine will also feature an interview Mackowski did with zombie expert Matt Mogk, author of the Stoker Award-nominated “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies.”

More information on Undead can be found at www.undeadzine.com. The application for the magazine can be downloaded from the Apple’s Newsstand app.

The news leader of the Twin Tiers ...
since 1947