The Z Word by Philly’s Own Dennis Finocchiaro

Zombies seem to be everywhere right now and if you are a horror fan you can’t seem to escape them. Well, local author Dennis Finocchiaro has gotten into the act with his very readable short story collection, The Z Word.

In it we get an assortment of tales from the zombie apocalypse, as found in some books by one of the survivors years later. It makes for an intriguing concept that works well with the short story format.

Each of the tales is a quick read, just vignettes really of lives interrupted by the coming of the undead. What I really thought was interesting was how some characters weave in and out of various stories, giving the book a sense of interconnectedness.

Plus where else are you going to read about geriatric zombies in a nursing home using walkers to creep up and attack people?

Dennis was nice enough to answer a couple questions for us about The Z Word and his other work.

Zombies seem to be all the craze right now. What makes them a better monster than say a vampire or angry slasher?

I think zombies attract a different kind of horror fan than vampires and slashers. That’s not to say I didn’t see movies like Scream 4 (really enjoyed it) and Let the Right One In (one of my favorites!). I love all horror. But zombies just have something creepier about them. They were human beings, but unlike the others seem to have lost all personality and everything that made them human.

Slow or fast, I think zombies are just more interesting. For some reason they just seem more realistic to me than vampires or werewolves. I’m so glad they haven’t figured out a way to give them a teen angst vibe like everyone’s favorite vampire series.

Certain characters cross over from story to story, even if it is just a passing mention. Was this a goal when writing the book, to give the reader the impression that all these events were happening in one place?

I wanted the stories to connect in some way so that while it is a collection of shorts the reader would still notice connections and crossover characters, maybe start to feel something for those who keep popping up.

And some of the characters I just loved so much that I wanted them to keep coming back for more. Especially Zachary, who saves the day quite often.

What are some of your favorite zombie movies or books?

I’ve always loved the Romero films. Land of the Dead is probably my favorite of his. Big Daddy is the natural conclusion to his idea of the zombie genre, the one who starts to reason and lead other zombies to do the same. Of course I love Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead as well. The solid mix of humor, spoof and still remaining legitimate zombie films is impressive.

Those two inspired me to attempt at mixing zombies into as many different genres as possible in The Z Word. So you see some that are just horror, some comedy and a few are even romantic. I liked the idea of not just showing the attacks that would occur, but those little moments of happiness human beings would still find in such a horrible world. And as for books, the usual, World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide.

What can we expect next from you?

I have a full-length apocalyptic novel that I’ve been working on for a while, and I think after a rewrite I’ll be looking to get that published. It’s called The Illiterates, but that’s all I’m willing to say about it right now.

And don’t be surprised if Zachary and some of the other Z Word characters end up in a novel as well, I have some ideas. But I don’t want to give the ending of The Z Word away, so I’ll just leave it at that. Plus I’m always posting new stories on my website, www.denwrites.com.

It even has a bunch of origin stories in case readers want to know more about the characters in The Z Word. We’re also doing a book signing of The Z Word at Bookspace in Philadelphia on June 4th. Readers can like The Z Word on Facebook for more information on that.

The Z Word is available right now on Amazon.com from Living Dead Press.