******Afterthoughts Part One******

12 / 7 / 2024 - The following are the author’s afterthoughts after the first draft of “Zombie Xapper” was completed.

So, finished chapter 15 and yeah, that seems like a good place for season one to end. And I do want to do more Zombie Xapper but not anytime soon. So many other stories to tell.

And I am typing this segment literally right after finishing the last chapter of the season. It’s taken me a while to get back to writing this story. I started writing it back in late October and kept getting distracted by other stories or simply procrastinating. But I finally got to chapter 15 and that is a nice round number to end on.

Not really sure how Zombie Xapper will be received but I enjoyed writing this story a lot. It’s wacky, gross, has some dark humor and Lovecraftian fun, and some serious character development. Normally, horror comedy is pretty enduring for me. Sometimes a horror comedy comes along into my life and I get super into it.

Which is interesting since gross out humor and super dark comedies tend to turn me off. Can’t really explain why certain horror comedies work for me over others. I guess it's just how things are executed.

I do hope readers have as much fun with this story as I did writing it.

And I do want to do a second season and even more. I set things up to continue and like a supernatural drama, this could go on for a while. Or this is a one shot story and I just left it at a cliffhanger.

Who knows, it will all depend on feedback and if I’m in the mood to continue Xapper and company’s adventure.

Also, as of typing this, I am still recovering from the incident that happened to me on Thanksgiving 2024. More on that in blog “Update 2024/12/04”

My bottom still burns and my feet are getting tired from typing at my dresser for a solid two and a half hours. I’m going to continue proofreading and editing the first draft of Zombie Xapper later. I’m hoping to have the chapters ready by the end of December, along with the chapters proofread and edited for “Your Dreadfulness Line with Mine.”

Having two stories at the read for the blog would be super-special-awesome! Okay, time to relax and more entries to come.

12 / 17 / 24 Chapters 1, 2, 3

So, finally getting back to Zombie Xapper and so begins the proofreading marathon! And I just proofread chapter 1 and wow, I forgot how much this chapter made me laugh. “Awe, that dank umami flavor just hits the spot, doesn’t it Xander?” gets me every time!

Originally, when Xapper was hungover from dumpster diving, no one entered the hut. Sure, someone was outside the door (assumed to be Lieutenant Pyre) but they did not enter. Well, I changed it so they did in fact enter the hut and left Xeak on the dresser. I kind of wondered how Xeak ended up there and had no real explanation at the time. Well, mystery solved!

And adding in quotes from Xeak that are in each chapter sort of gives the readership a hint of how wild the chapter is going to get. Also, it was a concept I did not think I would get that into but I managed to do it for all 15 chapters. And the serendipity that the word “necrophage” is real and to use it in the story is awesome. I kind of thought the word was something I made up on the fly but it is a real word! So, I had to put that quote in the beginning, just for fun.

I love this beginning chapter, its a strong opening to this crazy horror comedy. So what inspired this loonesy? This oddball story about a drill sergeant being turned into a zombie eating monster?

Well, here is some quick backstory:

Many, many years ago, I used to be into the game Half-Life and it had a whole mess ton of games modified from its source engine (or open coding). One such game I was a fan of was called “They Hunger” and it was all about fighting your way through zombies in an isolated town. Another game was called “Opposing Force” and its tutorial area featured drill sergeants telling you how to play.

So, one day I started drawing and coming up with the concept of having a drill sergeant fight the zombies from “They Hunger.” But how to make it unique and different from the rest of the Half-Life Source games out there? And then it hit me, the zombies are attacking because they have an insatiable hunger. So, what if the main character was cursed and ate the zombies?

I never got around to make this game besides concept art that is now lost to history. The idea was that after killing a zombie, the drill sergeant would collect and eat limbs or even brains. I had this whole cool idea for a subversive horror comedy/action game where the lead ate zombies.

And here we are years later, with this Horror Comedy about Xander Xanthus Xapper going around and eating zombies. And that name I just cooked up while developing the game idea. That title, Zombie Xapper, just as a cool, video-game-y, feel to it. Some of those video-game concepts I had found their way into the game. Like Xeak the Voodoo-doll was also apart of the game and acted as the lead’s source of power.

The concept of how the drill sergeant got cursed and the voodoo-doll’s power and the whole zombie invasion was something I never finished developing before. But, being a fan of Lovecraftian horror, an ancient book with necromancy solved that problem. And why not have the whole thing go down because some politician’s spoiled daughter is having a hissy fit?

A simple plot for a simple story: Man becomes zombie eater due to black magic hijinks.

And chapter 2 just ramps up in the madness. To describe what zombie parts taste like to a necrophage is just way too much fun. I know the whole zombie eating became a background thing in later chapters but that’s only because I could go on forever with it. Seriously, writing gross out humor is really cathartic, especially if you work in food service and a lot of what you serve is just disgusting to you.

And the banter between Xapper and Xeak is by far my favorite thing in this chapter. Xeak just keeps making Xapper’s life more and more a living hell. And that is the real horror, to lose all control and being ordered to eat the undead. I enjoyed the weird relationship Xapper and Xeak have, it's kind of like a main character versus an imaginary friend that has gone wild.

Now, that reference with Lieutenant Pyre is likely going to be noticed. “Full. Metal. Jacket.” But for those of you who do not recognize it, in the movie “Full Metal Jacket” a recruit loses his mind and loads up a machine gun and says that very quote. And since R. Lee Ermey’s drill sergeant from the movie is so memorable, I had to reference the movie in some way. I like my references to pop-culture, as many have found out when reading “The Last Job: File 3454.”

I planned on referencing R. Lee Ermey in ever chapter, having Xapper quote him from various things the actor was in. I then completely forgot about that until this very moment. So, maybe it was for the best that I don’t keep doing references because I know some people don’t like that kind of humor.

So, back on the zombie eating, brains are bland. I wanted to do something subversive and create a twist with brains. Zombies love brains but would the necrophages that eat them like the brains of zombies? The answer is no, no they would not. Bland food can be hard to swallow, that’s way salt and sugar and seasonings are in such demand. But what if you had no choice but to eat the most bland part of a delicious meal?

The comedic twist of Xapper seasoning the brains is just perfect to me. The idea of this main grappling a zombie and salting the brain is too rich in hilarious imagery. And he does not need to eat all of the brains. That was a decision I made to show some mercy to Xapper. He was already suffering enough by eating every zombie brain that came his way. I can show mercy to characters, especially poor fools like Xapper who are caught in a horrific cycle that doesn’t seem to end.

Grab, open skull, eat brain.

Zach shared with me a hilarious War Hammer 40k animated short that someone did where this knight in demon armor is killing wave after wave of enemies. And the enemy he is fighting are the Death Korps of Krieg, an endless wave of soldiers that keep coming and coming. They blow a whistle to sound their approach. And this demon knight guy, at first, enjoys killing the Krieg. But soon after wave after wave, wave after wave, and wave after wave, demon knight begins to learn the futility of fighting an endless horde. At one point he calls it “Manual Labor” and perishes under a pile of corpses.

Yeah, that’s Xapper’s situation. Endless hordes of zombies and he’s not just killing them, he has to eat the brain to get them to stop. It is hilarious while also being truly terrifying. And it's not just the human zombies but the wildlife as well. And the thing about the undead is that it’s like a plague.

A few corpses start to move and attack. And after they kill one living thing, that becomes a zombie next. And then like a shockwave of death, before you know it, the zombies are everywhere.

And they’re so ripe and plentiful for a necrophage that a predator of the undead has an endless supply to feast upon.

Like what Nar-Goathgeir says in chapter 3: “FEAST!”

That name just came out of nowhere for me. I cannot remember when I came up with it. But after reading lots of Lovecraft and looking up oddball names for horror gods, I began to invent my own monster-gods for horror concepts and ideas. And Nar-Goathgeir was one such name.

It all just came together to have one of my invented lovecraftian gods be the source of Xapper’s power and misery. I think I go into further detail in later chapters about Nar-Goathgeir’s appearance but for now, an impossibly giant bug eating a whole planet is cosmic horror enough.

And the whole things with pooping obsidian and using it as magic charms to heal up and powerup is such a video game thing. And it’s a concept that was a spur of the moment thing. I originally had no utility planned for Xapper’s leavings after eating the undead. I could have just left out pooping altogether but this is a horror comedy and what horror comedy leaves out poop for gross out humor?

The fact the rocks could be used as magic talismans and grant Xapper boons is just something that seems to fit with this horror comedy inspired by a scrapped video game concept. And of course the bear is the obvious boss fight part way into the story. And what other wild animal could invoke absolute terror then a bear turned into a zombie. Bears are scary enough without being zombies but add that extra layer of horror and you got prime nightmare fuel.

And yes, I did see the movie Annihilation (2018) and that bear thing still haunts me to this day. That movie both scarred me and inspired me. And I saw that in a crowded theater with friends and it was one of those movies that kept people’s attention. Silent theater throughout the whole thing and little sleep was had after I got home. That monster bear and other lovecraftian stuff from that movie will inspire horror authors for years to come.

Anyway, at some point after seeing the zombie bear, Xapper shouts: “Sweet Ermengarde” which he does not do again. That is a reference to the one and only time HP Lovecraft wrote a romantic comedy. You read that right, the master of horror tried to write a romantic comedy under the pen name of . . . Percy Simple. I would love to read up on why the master of horror decided to dip his toes in a genre that was far removed from his usual fare.

I recall the story and it’s pretty much about one girl finding a guy to marry. And it's kind of dull and all over the place. And not very romantic or funny. I assumed Lovecraft did it out of a dare, since he was good friends with other writers. They probably all got together and challenged each other to write outside their genre. Loser had to give the winner 5 bucks, which was a lot back in the 1920s.

But more power to Hit Points Lovecraft, an author should try to write new things and get a feel for genres outside their comfort zone. Heck, I ventured into the Gothic Romance genre recently and made a very weird but interesting work of comedic and bizarre fiction.

Check out “Your Dreadfulness Lines With Mine” and let me know what you think.

And I will admit this right now, I am enjoying the hell out of Zombie Xapper after proofreading these last three chapters and I might have found my comfort zone in horror comedy. Writing this story was a blast and I cannot wait to proofread more.

I am tempted to do more but maybe I should space out the work and not burn myself out. I already burnt myself physically, I don't need to burn out mentally. Plus, I do have an update blog to set up. Yeah, I’ll give myself a break for now, till next entry . . .

******END OF PART ONE******