The haters showed up at the rally. I was hoping for a simple, stoic demonstration but nothing ever goes the way I want it to. The entire zombie population here was there, which, to the average person might sound like a lot, but in truth, there actually aren’t that many true zombies around.

You see, as I mentioned before, only a trained and qualified necromancer is able to raise the dead, to breathe true life into them. Once they do that, the zombie is forever tied to that necromancer. Metaphysically speaking that is.

My father raised my friend Liam here. Liam can be hung, drawn and quartered yet still he will live. He won’t be particularly happy about it, but he will be alive. So to speak. But if, Elvis forbid, something should happen to my father and he would die (knock on wood, throw salt over the shoulder, spit three times and mutter a lot of Latin) then so would Liam. The necromancer animates the dead with his power. As long as the necromancer is alive, so is the zombie.

So as you can probably guess, necromancers don’t actually raise the dead very often. Too many zombies will eventually weaken the necromancer.  So after a very long explanation,  there just aren’t a whole lot of true zombies out there.

But the haters… God I can’t believe what they did tonight. It was awful. These people (and I use that term lightly) can’t seem to get past the stereotype. Too many movies have skewed perception so badly and some of the ones among the haters have *just enough* knowledge to make them dangerous. They know that an improperly raised zombie will be very much like the zombies depicted in movies like “Night of the Living Dead” and “Shaun of the Dead.”

Can you see where I’m going with this? Those idiots actually hit the local cemeteries last night and attempted to raise a LOT of dead folks. They did not gain the permission of the families. They did not perform the rituals properly. What they ended up with was a truckload of mindless, frenzied undead they could barely contain. They carted them all to the rally and loosed them on the crowd. It was not pretty. We managed to contain them before anyone was seriously hurt and we’re holding them in a storage room until my father can get to town to lay them to rest. Again.

The sheriff was reluctant to arrest any of the haters and he was slow to get his men together. I think he did that on purpose to let those idiots get away.

I suppose their goal was to show the world that the “bad” zombies exist and shouldn’t be granted rights because they were mindless and harmful. Unfortunately, all people will see when they watch the late news tonight is a crowd full of people running around shrieking and trying to avoid being eaten. They won’t see zombies like Liam trying to restore order and speaking rationally and moving about normally.

This is going to be a tough battle.

Whahey I’m back! Liam bet me I’d blog once and forget it. Ha. He owes me now. Besides, I kind of dig blogging. Where else can I ramble to my heart’s content?

What is going on right now? Well we are getting ready for a rally at city hall tomorrow. I’m spending this evening painting the signs and polishing up my speech. The fact that I am blogging instead of doing either of those things just shows I am the queen of procrastination. I believe in what we’re doing, but I’m terrified of public speaking and I was never any good at coloring.

But I look at Liam, and I remember what he went through after he was raised by my father the night he died and I find my fears to be petty. Liam and zombies like him deserve the same rights they enjoyed when they were alive. We’ve got such a long way to go in overcoming the stereotypes, but it will happen.

The rally is being held after dusk so that the vampires can join us. I’m hoping Lucy can make it but she’s been having problems rising that early. I’m not sure why.

Oh, who’s Lucy? My best friend. She got vamped a couple of years ago and it wasn’t pretty. Eesh. That was a rough few months let me tell you. But that’s a story for another post. I’d better get to work.

Well. Hi there. I have no idea what to say. My friend Liam seems to think it’s about time I “get with it” as he says and get online. “Time to join the 21st century CherryPop.” he says. So here I am. Bitching and moaning the whole time while Liam rolls his eyes at me.

It’s not so bad I guess. I’ve kept journals ever since I learned to write anyway. Maybe this way I’ll save bookshelf space.

I guess though since anyone can read this sucker, I’d better introduce myself. My name is CherryPop McGee. Yes, really. Save the jokes, I’ve heard them all. Besides, I love my name. So there.

Actually, Mom refuses to tell me why she named me after a fizzy drink. She just gets this dreamy look on her face and smiles before changing the subject. I gave up trying to solve the mystery when I was eight.

So enough about my funny name. If you’re here, you’re probably looking for info on zombies or vamps or witches and wizards. Maybe you met me at a rally and Liam handed you a card with my site address on it. Maybe you’re a crackpot who wants to let me know I’ll be spending eternity in hell. However you came by this place, I’ll do my best to keep you up-to-date on the latest news on the zombie rights front.

Here’s a few questions I get asked all. the. time.:

1. Are zombies real?
What do you think Liam? Are you real? Liam says, “Duh.” Liam’s sitting next to me nagging me to get this done keeping me company. Liam is a good friend of mine. Liam is also a true-blue, bona fide zombie and has been one since I was three. No, he doesn’t eat brains, or human flesh, or stumble around stupidly. Real zombies - the ones who have been raised properly by a trained necromancer - are human. Just dead. Liam and others like him can function normally in society. They just don’t need to eat, sleep, or drink. They do need to move around a lot or rigor mortis can set in and trust Liam when he says it’s a bitch to shake it off. Zombies don’t need to breathe either, so don’t offer them a ciggie.

Zombies cannot reproduce. No shagging There’s no blood circulating you see. So once you’re a zombie, nless you had children before you die, you will never be able to have them. One more reason to grant them rights as citizens. Some zombies would like to adopt, but as of now, that’s impossible.
2. I thought Zombies were slow-witted creatures who want to rip my guts out.
Some of them are. Avoid them. If a zombie is not raised properly, say if a wanna-be necromancer attempted to raise a zombie without the proper training and rituals, then you’re going to get the sort of zombie who give the rest of them a bad name. Yeah, they’re scary. Fortunately, it’s very difficult to raise the dead without the right training. Occasionally some idiot gets lucky, but for the most part the only dead things these amateurs might raise are bugs or fallen leaves.

3. What about vampires and witches and wizards? They’re real too?
Yes, yes and yes. I am a witch (I’m also a certified necromancer but you didn’t ask about those) and best friends are vampires and zombies. Similar cautions apply with all three of the above. You’re going to run into “evil” vamps and I know for certain there are “bad” witches and wizards in the world. There are “evil” humans out there too. Doesn’t mean they’re all evil now does it?

Wel I think I’m typed out for tonight.  Liam informs me that my little Q&A above is known as a FAQ online, so I will add to it next time. GNight!