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“Zombies in Space: A review of Containment”

“Eric Red, the screenwriter (The Hitcher, Near Dark) and author, first had his zombies in space graphic novel published by IDW back in 2005. It’s been out of print for a while but is now coming out of cryosleep and is now available in both paper and digital again.

How do you approach a comic book that has an introduction by Wes Craven who warns you about what’s about to hit you. You approach it carefully, that’s how.

Craven suggests you’re not going to be sleep after reading. I don’t know about that. Zombies have had a good decade since 2005 and perhaps we’re all a bit familiar with their antics now. Biting your nose off? Chomping through your friends? Yeah; we know what to expect. What makes Containment particularly hard hitting is the skill of Red’s storytelling and Nick Stakal’s dark and edgy art.

I don’t think it is the relentless zombies that are the true horrors in Containment. It’s not even the technological malfunction that created them. It’s the people. It’s the supposed friends of humans on board.

In fairness to the humans that freak out on board this NSAS space ship millions of miles from Earth – what would you do? You’re surrounded by the bleak expanse of space and the zombies in your ship are dismantling the air supplies. You can’t sit and wait. You can’t run. Whoever wins a zombie encounter by taking the fight to the shambling horde?

Stakal’s dark colours and lines do a great job at presenting this oppressive challenge and the sense of entrapment. Eric Red knows where the true fear is.

I’m not surprised that Containment was a success when it came out in 2005. Even today, nearly 10 years later, the graphic novel still packs a punch. Yeah, sure, I think some of the zombiehorror is a little familiar know but that’s like dismissing a Lovecraft as “yet another unspeakable horror trapped in the ice” story.

Overall? One for zombie fans! Like me.” – Andrew Girdwood

Read the full review on Geek Native at http://bit.ly/1JX4ize

View the graphic novel trailer at http://bit.ly/1y5RUZC

CONTAINMENT is available from amazon.com at http://amzn.to/1rzGlT2 or directly from the publisher, SST Publications, at http://bit.ly/1ClMdcB

Read the full article here: http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/81770/zombies-space-graphic-novel-containment-gets-re-release/

“Graphic novels had never much interested me, until I got my hands on First Comics, Inc.’s version of Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné in 1986. Now, having devoured Eric Red’s horrifically mesmerizing Containment, I see just how far graphic novels can be taken when produced by author/artist pairings such as Red (screenwriter for The Hitcher, Near Dark, and others) and Nick Stakal (Hyde, Silent Hill).

In 2025 a NASA vessel—the Explorer—200 million miles from Earth, and on year 26 of a 32-year mission, is in big-time trouble. A problem with the life-support system forces the 12 crew members to be “thawed” from hypersleep. Commander Stark soon discovers that not all of them have emerged from the pods in the same condition they entered 26 years ago. She and Trumbo, Tulsa, Langtry, and Hobbs find themselves in a dire situation, perhaps best captured by this poetic maxim: “…In space, nobody knows you’re dead.”

After several brutal encounters, the crew figure their violent mates have been rendered so by cryogenic fluid tainting their blood. And that’s not the only threat. Explorer has been damaged, and needs repair quickly, or else…well….

Red’s screenwriting experience obviously carries over seamlessly into this format, with Stakal’s detailed—yet somehow also impressionistic—illustrations the perfect match. The echoes of Alien and Aliens soon faded as I was yanked into this very dark, fast-moving tale—barely time to catch my breath between scenes. That Red and Stakal are able to sustain this pace (while showing the crew’s frantic discussions about what to do) is impressive.

Hats off to Paul Fry’s SST Publications for taking on Containment, and doing a visually striking job.”  –Reviewed by William Grabowski

Read the full review on Hellnotes at: http://bit.ly/1IrkdoC

My zombies-in-space graphic novel with dazzling artwork by Nick Stakal and a very cool introduction by Wes Craven will be re-released in hardcover and digital editions in October, just in time for Halloween.

“What does research matter in horror?
You’d think doing research as an author would be less important for a horror novel than other literary genres, because monsters and the supernatural aren’t real—or at least some think so. But in my opinion, the more realistic the everyday details, technology, ordinance, hardware, professional behavior, and science, the more the reader believes what’s going on, increasing their involvement in the story. Even though the reader knows a horror story is unreal, I believe the greater the verisimilitude, that on an unconscious level people believe what is happening just a little bit more—and it’s that much more scary. It all comes down to suspension of disbelief…”

To read the rest of my guest blog, go to Brian’s site at http://bit.ly/1sLFV0E.

The eye-popping artwork is by Nick Stakal, and the book has an introduction by the legendary Wes Craven.

The story takes place on a manned NASA space ship millions of miles from Earth, when a terrifying malfunction occurs in the cryogenic hypersleep pods containing the hibernating astronauts, turning most of the crew into the violently brain-dead. A handful of outnumbered astronauts awaken intact from their artificial slumber to find themselves pitted against murderous zombies running amok on the ship.

In his intro, Wes calls CONTAINMENT, “Some of the best visual storytelling in years. Eric Red takes no prisoners. Read it with the lights on. Read it with a friend so you are not alone afterwards. Won’t matter. You still won’t be able to sleep afterwards. What better way to spend your remaining moments?”

The graphic novel has been out of print and a high-priced collectable for years, and I’m thrilled it will once again be widely available. This a zombie saga unlike any you have read before, and is one of my all-time favorite projects. Big thanks to SST publisher Paul Fry!

More to come…