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At once a staple in cult horror films and an icon to mainstream culture, zombies have gone through many reincarnations in recent history. The origin of zombies in popular culture goes back as far as the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1881. Frankenstein's monster isn't exactly what we'd consider a zombie these days, but Shelley was influenced by the history and folklore of the undead. Now, zombies are practically a genre of their own and annual Zombie Walks are held in every major North American city.

Everyone has a movie or a book or a video game that first introduced the wonderful world of zombies. I'm quite nostalgic about Zombies Ate My Neighbors… but more about that game later. There are hundreds, quite possibly thousands, of examples of zombies in pop culture, but I've put together a collection of the ones from recent history with the most artistic and social impact.

Image via She Knows (who also have great tips!)

When you are watching an action movie and you see the car speeding towards the edge of a cliff before hurtling down in to water, it always seems to go through your mind…what would I do? You weigh up the options before promising yourself never to go anywhere near a cliff or water in a car.

But what if you were in this situation, what would be the most sensible thing to do? Taken from the Worst Case Scenario: Book of Survival Questions, the options are:

I play a lot of iPhone games. Sometimes, too many.

I’m frequently kept up at night, filled with turmoil and wrestling with what game I should delete to make room on my iPhone for important things and… OMG. There’s a new Final Fantasy game out?! It takes up 1.2GB of space? WHAT DO I DO?!

[Deletes entire album full of photos and treasured, precious memories]

Whew. Okay.

As someone who adores books and video games equally, I love it when I’m able to find a combination of both of those things. Whether it’s with a book that uses video games as a key plot point (Ready Player One), or a game that happens to incorporate the literary (Device 6).

Here are a few iOS games inspired by books, that you should probably start playing now.

Whether it’s filled with sweet nothings or directions to the nearest zombie-secured manor, everyone needs to write a letter now and then. Transform your standard writing paper into a treasure when you age it yourself! This paper will be great for creating beautiful handwritten notes, like the kind Lizzie Bennet would write to keep in touch with Jane about family drama and zombie preparedness strategies.

This weekend, Nook is running an incredible First in Series promotion, with a ton of fantastic books discounted to $2.99.  And over the course of the sale, you'll be able to wrangle up a few great deals on select Quirk titles. Check it out!

– The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

– Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #1: Professor Gargoyle by Charles Gilman

– Nick & Tesla's High Voltage Danger Lab by Steven Hockensmith and Science Bob Pflugfelder

The sale runs Friday, March 21st until Sunday, March 23rd. 

Remembering loved ones nowadays means sharing photos online, but for folks in Regency-Era England, keepsake images were a little harder to come by. One of the many skills that could establish a young lady as thoroughly “accomplished” – aside from weapons use and hand-to-hand combat with the undead – was drawing. Drawing a silhouette was an affordable way for even young ladies without family, connections or fortune to keep a likeness of a friend or family member.

In Jane Austen’s time, silhouettes were made by shining light on a person in profile against paper, tracing the lines, and using that outline for cutting paper. In this modern version we simplify the process so anyone can immortalize a loved one as they are… or as a zombie!