Comic creator Laurie Calcaterra joins us to break down the world of Path of the Pale Rider; her genre-bending indie comic where death isn't a virus or magic, it's just broken. The "living impaired" keep rotting, brains decay at different rates, and even animals rise again, turning every meal and moral choice into a survival equation. We dig into what makes this series unlike anything on the shelf: QR code scavenger hunts, hidden videos, riddles, sign language, and layered clues that reward rereaders — plus a frank conversation about why real innovation keeps living in indie comics while big studios recycle the same tired stories.

Then we crack open Issue 8 and step inside the Golden City, where Jude St. Clair finally arrives at the place that's haunted the series since page one. Hot showers. A buffet. Showgirls and tuxedos. It sounds like heaven after five years on the road... and that's exactly the problem. We unpack the auditorium sequence, debate the symbolism of the split angel portrait, theorize about who (or what) broke death, and wrestle with the ugliest question the series keeps asking: what are people truly willing to trade for comfort when the world outside is falling apart? Plus, Laurie previews the upcoming trade paperback Kickstarter for Issues 5–8.

Guest & Relevant Links

Laurie Calcaterra / Path of the Pale Rider

• Website: pathofthepalerider.com
• Instagram: @path_of_the_pale_rider
  
  

Kickstarter Campaigns

• Trade Paperback Issues 5–8 Kickstarter (from show notes): kickstarter.com — Path of the Pale Rider Trade Paperback 5–8
• Issues 1–8 Kickstarter: kickstarter.com — Path of the Pale Rider Issues 1–8

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

We finally watch George A. Romero's Resident Evil — the 2025 documentary unpacking one of horror's greatest what-ifs, and trace the whole messy story: Romero hired by Constantin Film in 1998, his meticulous approach to studying the game scene-by-scene, the commercial footage that proves he could have nailed the tone, and the moment "creative differences" quietly buried a zombie legend's game-faithful script. Along the way we get into the Biohazard origins, horror ratings pressure, and why studios keep chasing a PG-13 that imagined box office math demands instead of the movie the genre deserves.

Then we turn it into something bigger; the social critique running through Romero's entire Living Dead catalog, why zombies became cinema's sharpest tool for talking about race, consumerism, and survival, and why the horror community keeps attracting the most empathetic people in any room. This episode drops right before we head to Living Dead Weekend 2026 at the Monroeville Mall — the last year before the mall closes — and we're going in loaded with books from zombesties Sylvester Barzey, Rebecca Cuthbertson, Dia Van Gunten, and Laurie Calcaterra, bunking with Alice B. Sullivan, and looking forward to seeing Brandon Starocci of Avalon Comic.

LINKS & INFO

The Documentary

• George A. Romero's Resident Evil (2025) — Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fiIdvhCLMI
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21990960/
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Romero%27s_Resident_Evil

Living Dead Weekend 2026 — June 12–14, Monroeville Mall

• Official Site & Schedule: https://www.thelivingdeadweekend.com/
• Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/living-dead-weekend-june-2026-the-dead-will-walk-the-mall-tickets-1980534479944
• Living Dead Museum at Monroeville Mall: https://monroevillemall.com/store/living_dead_museum

GreenMan — Pittsburgh Artist

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grnnann/

Authors

• Alice B. Sullivan | Tomorrow Never Came + Elementary Undead | https://alicebsullivan.com/
• Sylvester Barzey | Intense BIPOC-centered zombie horror | https://sylvesterbarzey.com/
• Rebecca Cuthbertson | Waves of Undead | https://rcuthbertsonwrites.com/
• Dia VanGunten | Pink Zombie Rose graphic novel series | https://www.diavangunten.com/
• Laurie Calcaterra | Path of the Pale Rider comic (issues 1–4 trade paperback) | https://pathofthepalerider.wordpress.com/
• Brandon Starocci | Avalon zombie comic series | https://avaloncomic.com/

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com

This week we settle a burning physics question; can an inflatable pool "self-level" on a hillside, or is it doomed? To answer this very important question, we welcome scientist, science teacher, and zombie sci-fi author Jill N. Davies. Jill writes the kind of body horror that will make you cringe in her Kara Mason Story series, a world rebuilt after the outbreak where the promise of a cure becomes a power structure, fear becomes policy, and the "safe" choice can quietly cost you your humanity.

We get into why there's rarely one clean "right" decision, how the fear of being wrong fuels everything from authoritarian control to cringe culture, and why constant surveillance drains the joy out of learning and living. Jill also shares how the devastatingly premature birth of her first child pushed her toward publishing, how writing has carried her through hard times, and why she believes AI threatens markets but never human storytelling.

Guest Contact & Social Links

• Website: https://jillndavies.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillndavies_books/
• Goodreads (author page): https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20334595.Jill_N_Davies

Relevant Links from the Episode

• The Kara Mason Story books (all editions): browse from https://jillndavies.com/index.php/books/
• Due North (Book 1): https://www.amazon.com/Due-North-Kara-Mason-Story/dp/B089267Y5Q
• Into the Deadlands (Book 2): https://www.amazon.com/Into-Deadlands-Book-Mason-Story/dp/B0CH1XVPNW
• Hearts of a Vanishing City (Prequel, 2025): https://www.amazon.com/Hearts-Vanishing-City-Prequel-Mason/dp/B0F4B3WJBH
• Due North audiobook (narrated by Samantha Norbury): https://www.audible.com/pd/Due-North-Audiobook/B0DD5MQKW7

Support the show

Zombie Book Club Links

• Join us on on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ZombieBookClub
• Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
• ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
• ZBC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710957975263518/
• Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006‬
• Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com