Featured Artist: Jaden Nagy

This is our last featured artist this month. I'd like to thank Billy Tackett, Drew Falchetta, and Colby Blair for taking the time and participating. Special thanks to Billy for donating this month's prize of an autographed Zombie Sam print. Special thanks also to Drew for using his talents to paint the Zombies & Toys logo (more on that later). And, finally, congratulations to Colby for tying the knot this month.

I had intended to feature more zombie Etsy shops and the talents of other zombie fans this month but my ambitions are greater then my free time, I'm afraid. I haven't abandoned those ideas, though. So expect to see some home-grown zombie goodies in the future.

Anyway, on to this weeks featured artist. Jaden Nagy is a 4 1/2 year-old zombie fan. He's been drawing zombies for about a year and enjoys playing with zombie toys. So, yeah, Jaden is my son if you haven't figured that out yet. I asked Jaden some zombie related questions, mostly softened up a bit. I'll write his responses as a simple Q & A as even that way some of his answers a bit difficult to understand. I had fun all month with those who have participated but especially with this one. I hope you get a chuckle reading!

Why do you like zombies? Because I watch zombie movies. (he doesn't; I won't let him... yet)

Whats your favorite zombie movie? The Halo one. (he doesn't play Halo, either)

Would you like to be a zombie? Maybe.

Do you think it would be fun? No no, I’m going to be a space guy astronaut for Halloween.

What would you eat if you were a zombie? Zombies like pink goo. (he's not too far off with that one)

Why do you like to draw zombies? Because I draw each picture of zombies because I color them and put them on the xbox and take pictures. (no clue? but he does play some games on the 360)

Whats your favorite zombie? I like the blue, purple, red, with black eyes. (I think he's referring to October Toys' Z.O.M.B.I.E. toys)

Do you like to play with zombie toys? Yeah, cause I buy them in the store.

What store? At the clear man store. You have to take an airplane and turn there, and turn there, and turn there. That’s how you get there.

What’s your favorite zombie game? First Zombie, like, because you blast them. That’s how you blast the zombie. Lookie how I blast the zombie (flings rubber band). That’s how you shoot the zombies.

What’s the name of that game? Third Zombies.

Is there anything else you would like to tell me about zombies? Zombie come out in the dark and in the day and they are silly and they are crazy.

There you have it, folks. The thoughts of a four-year-old whose father is a zombie nut and shares his passion with his son. Below are some of Jaden's zombie works with titles when available.

"Zombies"

"Zombie With One Arm and One Ear"

Horror Realm Report

As many of you know, I had the opportunity to attend Horror Realm this past weekend in Pittsburgh, PA. It was the first horror specific convention I have attended. I know, I know… I hope you don’t think less of me. I do attend regular geek …er, comic and toy conventions on a regular basis.

Overall I had a great time. I was able to put faces to some familiar names, have some conversations with interesting people, and bring back some swag for the fine readers of Zombies & Toys! You can expect a “part 2” to my Horror Realm report as I have more pics, notes, and information to go through yet.

The first person I had the pleasure of meeting was Frank Serrao who is better known as The Gray Suit Zombie from George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Frank was one of the genuinely nicest people I have met. If you ever have the opportunity to meet him, make sure to stop by and say “Hi”. Besides, it’ll give you the opportunity to see first hand the Gray Suit Zombie sculpture that has been featured on Zombies & Toys. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, please check out this month’s feature on Colby Blair.


Frank introduced me to an author I was unfamiliar with and whose books I purchased, Robert Cordray. His books, Memoirs of a Haunted Man: A Zombie Trilogy and Zombies 101: Knowledge Is Survival are in my possession and on my very long list of books to read. Even better is Robert took the time to answer some fun questions I had prepared in addition to donating an autographed copy of one of his books to be given away to one of you! Here’s what Robert had to say and I’ll apologize if my transcribing is not 100% correct; it was extremely noisy at the con:

Okay, Robert, so we’re fighting off some zombies and you’re bitten. Should I shoot you and put you out of your misery or just walk away? No, let me walk around because I’m still valuable for a short while. Anywhere between (pauses) you know 10 and 12 hrs before I start getting really sick. Then it’s seizure, coma, death, and reanimation..

But what about once you reanimate? Put me out of my misery. Three in the head and I’ll stay dead.

Alright. So we’re going to make a toy of you. Would you be a zombie or a hero? Oh, I’d be the hero.

What accessories would you come with? I’d bring 2 pistols. One’s called a ZKA . It’s an 8mm ultra round. About 32 caliber about 1650 ft per second has a 22 round magazine capacity plus one in the pipe. Then I’d bring the Jury. It’s a 12 round magazine plus one in the pipe. That means it’s your judge, your jury, and the person who’s wielding the gun is your executioner.

You know a bit too much about those guns. Actually, that’s the book. Those are the weapons that our hero uses in the book.

Finally, when the apocalypse happens…

The Zombpocalypse, yeah.

When it happens, where do you want to be?

Anywhere. I’m prepared at all times.

Thanks to Robert for taking the time and sponsoring an upcoming contest. A super-friendly guy who takes his zombies seriously, make sure to spend some time with him if you have the opportunity.


I was also able to meet Travis Adkins whose book, Twilight of the Dead, is another one of my favorites. It’s one of those books that I read a while ago and have been meaning to post a review of. I’ll try to get that posted more sooner than later as I obtained his follow-up book, After Twilight: Walking with the Dead and plan on reading that one ASAP.

S.G. Browne was also present at Horror Realm. I didn’t bother him with my questions since he was kind enough to take the time a few months ago. Instead, I learned that the ending we are familiar with in his book, Breathers, is not the original. I also discovered that it took over 80 agents before someone finally decided to move forward with his book. For those who didn’t already know, it was this agent who had ties with Diablo Cody and is the reason we can now look forward to a Breathers movie! Browne was also kind enough to give me some pins and stickers that I will be giving to a few lucky readers.

Across from S.G. Browne was another featured artist this month, Billy Tackett. Again, I didn’t bother Billy with any printable questions since he we already have him featured. Instead, I learned more about some of his upcoming projects. Sorry, folks, top secret stuff but rest assured Zombies & Toys will have more news as I’m able to report it. I also picked up the amazing Zombie Sam print Billy was kind enough to sign and donate for this month’s contest.

Check back later for part two of my report where I’ll share my experience with Kim Paffenroth, Ken Foree, some of the artists and vendors present, as well as report on more goodies guests donated to give to you!

Featured Artist: Colby Blair

This week, I’m focusing our attention to a talented creator of zombie sculptures. Keen readers will recognize the below video showing the creation of The Gray Suit Zombie. I posted the video of Colby Blair’s talents in an earlier post. This time, Colby has been gracious enough to answer a few of our questions for zombie art month!

The Gray Suit Zombie

Colby is one of the more well-rounded artists I was able to speak with. His sculptures are made using Super Sculpey and Magic Sculpt epoxy putty. He creates zombie magnets that are molded in silicone and cast in resin. Colby does drawings in colored pencils and ballpoint pens and has been getting into digital art using Photo Shop and a Wacom Intuos 3 drawing tablet. Remember those zombie book marks posted earlier?

So what was Colby’s first introduction to zombies? “This is kind of embarrassing, but I guess my first real introduction to zombies was seeing Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.” Being scared of zombies at a younger age, Colby stayed away from horror films in general. “However, for some reason, I was always drawn to zombies. I would buy any issue of Fangoria magazine with zombies on the cover. I would draw zombies and think about zombies. There was always a fear mixed with fascination”.

As time moved on, Tom Savini’s book, Grande Illusions, entered the picture. “I became fascinated with the images from Dawn of the Dead. I also became aware that all these great zombie films were made very close to my own home. This got me even more interested in the genre.”

As if he hasn’t done enough with the genre already, Colby has also designed his own zombie game, “Brains”. “…the brains game is something I came up with that harkens back to those great games from the late 70s and 80s like Mr. Mouth, Stuff Yer Face, Hungry Hippos, etc.” A game where you catapult brains into the mouth of a zombie? I want one! I would definitely play that with my kids. “It has never really gone past the prototype stage, but I may send the idea to a few gaming companies eventually. It’s very fun to play!”

Colby! You were just bitten by a zombie! As your friend, should I walk away or end your misery? “This is a difficult question. The simple answer should be ‘blow my brains out and put me out of my misery’ but some sick part of me wonders what it would be like to be walking around ‘like that’”.

More Zombie Artistry

A short while ago, I featured some bookmarks created by Colby Blair. Well, his talents don't end with his skills on a computer. Take a look at this video he has on YouTube. I wish I had a fraction of his talent. Witness from start to finish, the making of The Gray Suit Zombie from Dawn of the Dead!


The Gray Suit Zombie