Mail Order Zombie

Mail Order Zombie was an award-winning zombie movie podcast.^[1] In addition to featuring reviews of and commentary on zombie films, Mail Order Zombie, or MOZ, also featured coverage of zombie and post-apocalyptic literature; interviews with writers and filmmakers; recordings from zombie media-specific panels and events from various horror and genre fan conventions; and reviews of zombie movie scores, video games, comic books, musicals and other zombie media. Also, every episode of MOZ included a recap of current zombie media-related news from around the world. Mail Order Zombie's website has been called one of the "20 Best Zombie Sites on the Web"^[2] and is regularly updated between episodes. MOZ Presents: The Monthly Munchies was a side podcast focusing on non-zombie horror genre topics, and was also released through the same feed used to distribute Mail Order Zombie. Both Mail Order Zombie and other special "MOZ Presents" podcasts were made available through Mail Order Zombie's website, iTunes, and Zune.

Mail Order Zombie was produced by writer-filmmaker Derek M. Koch,^[3][4] also known as Brother D. A new episode of Mail Order Zombie was released every other Thursday.

History

Originally, Brother D launched Mail Order Zombie to cover straight-to-DVD zombie movies.^[5] The show quickly expanded its focus to include coverage of more mainstream zombie films, and eventually zombie and post-apocalyptic novels as well as other facets of zombie media. With this expansion, Brother D's wife Miss Bren joined the show as a co-host, accompanying Brother D in discussing some mainstream zombie films and answering listener email and other feedback; Miss Bren would later launch the Post Script book review section of the show. Even though MOZ has evolved to include coverage of more mainstream zombie media, Brother D still enjoys "digging for the obscure zombie movies that may have slipped through the cracks and presenting them on the show."^[6] In the final quarter of 2011, Mail Order Zombie went on hiatus. Mail Order Zombie returned with Episode #173 on Thursday, January 26, 2012. In Episode #203, Brother D and Miss Bren announced the show would be coming to an end.^[7] The final episode - Episode #205 - was released April 26, 2013,^[8] after an "astounding run as the leading zombie-news, interview, and review podcast." ^[9]

Segments

Before the 2011 hiatus, a typical episode of Mail Order Zombie included an introduction by Brother D, news in a segment called The Zombie Beat, The Zombie Aptitude Test, one to three reviews, and the Feedback Discussion. When Mail Order Zombie returned, the structure of a typical episode of the podcast became more loose. Some episodes would only contain one movie review, other reviews would be contributed by Mail Order Zombie listeners, and Brother D would introduce an occasional segment called the Palette Cleanser in which he would review non-zombie media. (The Palette Cleanser would take the place of the MOZ Presents: The Munchies podcast.)

The Zombie Beat

When the show was launched, Brother D would open every episode of Mail Order Zombie with The Zombie Beat, a review of zombie media news from around the world. Eventually, show contributor Scott Morris, also known as Need-a-Nickname Scott, would take over production of this segment, with contributors Tracey Morris and Jay Emmitt occasionally assisting. Every news story discussed during The Zombie Beat is referenced in the shownotes of the episode in which the story appeared. Since Episode 115, Charles Craig, the newscaster who appears in Night of the Living Dead, introduces The Zombie Beat.

The Zombie Aptitude Test

The Zombie Aptitude Test, or ZAT, is the question-of-the-month on Mail Order Zombie. Originally, the ZAT question was a bi-weekly question; the ZAT question would be posed to listeners one week, answers would be collected by email and voicemail for two weeks when the answers would be reviewed on the show. The ZAT went monthly in 2010, and in early January 2011, Brother D announced that he would put the Zombie Aptitude Test question on hiatus. During Episode 155, it was announced that the ZAT would return with a new producer running the segment.^[10] Professor Chad (formerly of the A Welcome Invasion of Privacy podcast) took over this segment in March 2011.^[11] This segment was eventually discontinued.

Movie Reviews

MOZ features two different kinds of movie reviews produced in-house. Most reviews feature Brother D synopsizing the zombie movie in question, and audio clips from the movie are used to illustrate his points; music from the movie is used as bed music throughout the review. Occasionally, Miss Bren, Need-a-Nickname Scott or others may join Brother D for a movie review, and in these cases, the review is more discussion-based; while there may still be music from the movie used, typically audio clips do not interrupt the discussion. Occasionally, a movie review will be produced by other contributors to the show.

Ratings

In most cases, the movies are given a rating of 1 to 5 Headshots. Brother D has given the rating scale is as follows:

• 5 Headshots. A receiving 5 Headshots gets the Mail Order Zombie stamp-of-approval. It's highly recommended and definitely deserving of space on your DVD shelf. The movie will hold up to repeated viewing and is well worth tracking down. Buy a copy for your mother for Christmas.
• 4 Headshots. This movie is worth renting through Netflix, Blockbuster Online or some other mail service. You may end up liking the movie enough to buy it yourself. It's technically a well-made film, but there might be one or two things that keep it from being considered perfect.
• 3 Headshots. 3 Headshots means the movie is all right. It's not spectacular but it's not horrible, either. The movie is strictly middle-of-the-road. There might be one or two entertaining elements of the flick but these elements aren't enough to warrant actually buying the movie.
• 2 Headshots. A movie receiving 2 Headshots might be worth a rental once. It doesn't really warrant watching more than once. For whatever reason, more than half of the film's components get in the way of the film's merits.
• 1 Headshot. Mail Order Zombie cannot recommend a movie receiving 1 Headshot. You're better off spending your time and money on something else.

If the movie is somehow billed as a zombie movie (e.g. the movie appears under the Zombies category at Netflix) but does not actually contain a zombie element, the movie may still receive a review, but will not receive a Headshot. Instead, the movie will receive one of the following ratings.

• Helmet. This rating is reserved for a movie lacking a zombie element, but is still worth viewing and is therefore spared a Headshot through the wearing of a helmet.
• Trioxin Gas (sometimes simplified as Gas). This rating is reserved for movies that desperately need an injection of zombies to make the movie worth watching. (The Trioxin Gas is a reference to the reanimating agent from the Return of the Living Dead (film series)).

Post Script

The name of this segment was determined after MOZ ran a contest for its listeners to suggest the name of the show's book review section. Originally, Miss Bren used this segment to review and discuss post-apocalyptic literature, but as the show continued, this segment became a home for any book review produced by any Mail Order Zombie contributor. A rating scale of 1 to 5 Bookmarks has been created for the Post Script book reviews.

Dead Letter Awards

Every year, Mail Order Zombie celebrates the previous year's best in zombie movies and media with the Dead Letter Awards. The Mail Order Zombie Dead Letter Awards are a yearly awards show in which the best of zombie movies and media are honored in categories like Best Movie; Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Book, Fiction; Best Book, Non-Fiction; Best Video Game; etc.

Once the nominations are announced, the winners of most categories are determined by popular vote.

MOZ Presents: The Monthly Munchies

Originally, MOZ Presents: The Munchies had no set release schedule. In June 2011, Brother D rebranded this supplemental podcast as a monthly release, changing the name of the show from The Munchies to The Monthly Munchies.^[12] When the podcast went on hiatus at the end of 2011, this monthly supplemental podcast was discontinued.

Reception and Awards

In 2009^[13] and 2010,^[14] Mail Order Zombie was nominated for a Dead Lantern Splatcademy Award (Best Horror Podcast). In 2010 and 2011, Mail Order Zombie was nominated for a Parsec Award (Best Speculatic Fiction Fan or News Podcast, Specific).^[15][16] In 2010 and 2011, Mail Order Zombie was nominated for a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award (Best Horror Audio or Video Podcast).;^[17] in 2012, Mail Order Zombie received a nomination for the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award (Best Horror Multimedia (Audio or Podcast)).;^[18] in 2013, Mail Order Zombie was nominated in the same category.^[19]

Notes

External links

• Mail Order Zombie
• Plan D - The Official Website of Derek M. Koch