Publisher’s Description

Why do zombies lumber? What is the Resurrectal Cortex? What lurks in the Home Depot of the Dead?

Often hilarious, always scary, Rigormarole collects a score of dark poems for the walking dead. Arnzen experiments with form while always remaining readable and entertaining, treating zombies in ways that make us rethink everything we assume about them. The book also features original quirky sketches by John Skipp, best-selling novelist and editor of the zombie books, Book of the Dead and Mondo Zombie. Rigormarole is a rare treat for horror fans offering an unusual approach to the genre of the undead brain-eater, crafted by a pair of its most notoriously creative practitioners.

Praise

“Reanimated flesh, cannibalism, brain succotash…the stuff that great poetry is made of! Mike Arnzen fuses humor and gore with a poetic sensibility to create his own fun subgenre! Come in and take a bite! — Tom Piccirilli, author of November Mourns

“Arnzen can always be counted on to approach the grotesque and the visceral with wit, and, often, compassion…but be prepared: Arnzen doesn’t hold back and his imagery is both visceral and explicit….horror poetry doesn’t get much better than this!”
– Tim Pratt, Star*Line

“Mike Arnzen is the finest zombie poet who ever lived, then died and came back.” — John Skipp, editor of Mondo Zombie

Contents

Nightmarried
Artist Of The Living Dead
Those Who Landed, Surprised to Discover that Zombies Had Taken Over the Planet
How the Zombie Holocaust Changed the Holiday Shopping Season
Home Depot of the Dead
Zombeanie Babies
Zombie Spurt
Advice from the Redneck Survivor
Skulls are Too Funny
Unhinged
Reminder
Stranded at Colonial Isle
Brain Chunks
Pecking Zombies
English Zombie Breakfast
Jesus Wept, But
Ice
Transcrypt
Brain Drain
Cuddling the Dead Kitten
Why Zombies Lumber
Rigormarole

Excerpt

Here’s a sampling of poems from Rigormarole, excerpted from the proofreading galleys. If for some reason you can’t read this, visit scribd.com/Arnzen.

Excerpt from RIGORMAROLE: ZOMBIE POEMS by Michael A. Arnzen

Audio

Here’s a performance of “Why Zombies Lumber” from Rigormarole, which was adapted to music for my cd, Audiovile:

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Specs

Rigormarole: Zombie Poems

by Michael A. Arnzen

Art by John Skipp

Naked Snake Press, 2005

Chapbook. Ltd to 250 copies. 40pp.

ISSN: 1545-7202

Out of Print

Related Links

• Arnzen’s Zombie Haiku in “The Nest” (twitter archive).
• Zombie-related posts in Arnzen’s weblog
• Return to the Books and Other Creative Works page