One terrified courier, one “urgent” delivery, and one town that turns into a nonstop survival gauntlet. Dan, Leah and Ollie (OllieEatsBrains) sit down for a Zombie Book Club deep dive on Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, and the conversation is as chaotic as the movie. We cover the tone that’s both hilarious and horrifying, the pacing with no room for a bathroom break, and a hero who plays like a horror-game player dropped into real consequences. We also settle (sort of) the great F-word count debate, then argue over whether the infection is a parasite, a virus or an “evolutionary agent.” Along the way, we rank the creature roster, from the tentacles to the Pile. We keep it MOSTLY spoiler free until the end, so you can bail before we blunder our way through it.

Underneath the gore, we dig into corporate science and externalities, who gets stuck doing the risky work, and why horror casting still defaults the way it does. We also share a Groan from the Horde: Rebecca Cuthbertson’s Waves of Undead short film, and how to support it.

Relevant Links:

• Waves of Undead by Rebecca Cuthbertson: https://www.gofundme.com/f/indie-short-film-creation-waves-of-undead
• OllieEatsBrains: https://www.instagram.com/ollieeatsbrains/
• Resident Evil (2026 film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_(2026_film)
• Zach Cregger, director: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Cregger
• Externalities, the corporate-science theme: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

After nearly 40 days on the road, we’re home, sick, and running on fumes, which makes this Halloween-week check-in feel more undead than usual. We start with the zombie updates: Resident Evil, an upcoming conversation about Black Zombie and the cultural history behind zombie myths, and a future look at Colony from the filmmakers who made Train to Busan. We talk about writing. Drafting Dan's first book was fast, but editing is the real monster. We talk about beta reader feedback, why we’d rather go slow than ship something half-cooked.

Then we answer the question nobody asked: could you survive a zombie apocalypse inside a Staples? We weigh the bathrooms, snacks, batteries, and comfy chairs against ring binders as forearm armor and that terrifying paper cutter thingy. Is this a bad idea, or did we just hit the easy button?

Relevant Links

• Resident Evil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_(2026_film)
• Dead of Winter (board game): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/150376/dead-of-winter-a-crossroads-game

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

We’re recording from a hotel bed at The Saguaro Palm Springs, hungover, sun-sensitive, and happy, after driving cross-country from Vermont for our friends Eric and Joe’s wedding. Zombie stories keep telling us the same thing: the monsters are never the point, the survivor group is. The wedding felt like proof, a tight-knit chosen family where everyone looked after each other. We briefly discuss why community beats rugged individualism, and the rare superpower that holds a group together: making someone feel like the most important person in the room and meaning it. Then we ask how you build that where you already live, one friendship at a time. If you want more of Eric, he joined us earlier to zombie-proof a house Home Alone-style.

Then we thought about the hotel as a survival haven: bars on every floor, a courtyard of silent ballet in sleepwear that might be a cult, and real bunker potential.

Relevant Links

Where We Recorded

• The Saguaro Palm Springs: https://www.thesaguaro.com/palmsprings

Eric’s Previous Episode

• Home Alone in the Zombie Apocalypse with special guest EricLloydDesigns | Ep 75: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124392/episodes/16317584-home-alone-in-the-zombie-apocalypse-with-special-guest-ericlloyddesigns-zombie-book-club-ep-75

Road Trip and Progress

• Road Trip on the Bad Road | Ep 167: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124392/episodes/19855230-road-trip-on-the-bad-road-zombie-book-club-ep-167
• Midwest Road Trip Update | Ep 169: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124392/episodes/19922196-midwest-road-trip-update-zombie-book-club-ep-169

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com