The eclipse has finally taken place and NYC is starting to look like a ghost town.  With so many people getting sick, it can only be thought that the virus outbreak is going to be epic once everybody changes into a flesh craving beast.  There is no place to hide in the city, as it seems that everyone knows somebody that is infected and they are looking to pass it on.

Eph, Nora and Abraham have to find a way to kill the infection before it takes over the city.  Having to listen to the old pawn broker, they try to devise a plan to bring The Master out to the surface.  Knowing that Jim Kent is in talks with the group behind the outbreak, they guilt him into playing along and making demands that could only be met face to face.  Kent agrees, but when the meeting does not go as planned, the group has to follow The Master’s helper, Thomas Eichorst, into the subway and try to locate The Master’s hiding place.  Knowing that this is a trap, Eichorst turns the table on the group and his old friend Abraham and keeps them at arm’s length until he is ready to face them.

Neeva is holding onto the Luss children until she is able to be certain that the sickness in the house is controlled.  Returning home from a business trip, Roger Luss is upset to hear that his nanny has taken control of his children without proper cause and demands they be brought home immediately.  Against Neeva’s decision, her daughter takes control and brings the children back home only to find that it is filled with the infected.  Trying to hide from the threat, Neeva is met by a group of heavily armed hunters that seem to know how to kill the infected.  Being released from the house, the group has to find somewhere else to hold up while the threat continues to grow and become more deadly, with one less person.

Eldritch Palmer is recovering from his emergency liver transplant and is in no shape to fight with anyone.  Being disappointed that the magical cure that he was promised has not yet been delivered, he is not trusting his current clients.  With the internet being taken down fully in the New York area and only having limited cell phone coverage, his plan has gone off without a hitch.  Knowing that the group would not be able to accomplish what they are trying to without his help, he knows that there is a great prize awaiting him at the end of the tunnel, but he has to live long enough to collect it.

Gus and Felix have been arrested and thrown in jail for killing the infected morgue worker.  The police are not listening to a word that Gus is saying when being processed.  Trying to explain that it was self-defense, the two have been locked up and Felix is starting to get sick.  Being bit on the hand, it is only a matter of time before the old friends will have to come to terms with what is about to happen to their relationship.

Most of the episode was based around the relationship between Abraham Setrakian and Thomas Eichorst as they have known each other for a long time.  Eichorst was running the prisoner camp that Abraham was taken to during the war.  Finding out that the young Jewish man was a very gifted carpenter, Eichorst has assigned him to working on something extra special.  As Abraham worked his new project, Eichorst seemed to grow fond of the young man, visiting and talking with him more and more frequently.  Even though the two men shared some of the same views of what was currently happening during the war, Eichorst was still in charge and would not veer away from the completion of the special box that is being constructed. 

It seemed like this episode was paced a little bit slower than the previous ones, but with that said, it was over before you knew it.  Once again, it was a very strong story and covered the history between Abraham Setrakian and Thomas Eichorst.  With these two knowing so much about each other, I cannot wait to see how the end game plays out between the two.  Not knowing how many people have been infected during the eclipse, it looks like the living will have to find a way to survive an outbreak of epic proportions.  I am excited to see what comes from the group of vampire hunters as they are not normal people and nothing has yet been explained about their origins, but they seem to be worried about the survival of the human race.  The episodes cannot come fast enough and I hope that you are loving how this is playing out as much as I am.  Stay Scared!

A year has gone by and it was time for another vacation and what better place to take one than at the Stanley Hotel.  After my last trip, I was overly excited to arrive at the hotel once again and have my entire stay be in the main building this time.  This trip I was on the first floor of the hotel and that might have some people shaking their heads as it is not one of the most haunted areas in the hotel, but it does house a couple of ghostly accounts here and there.

Now staying on the first floor and being so close to the patio, I did not expect to hear any voices I could not explain.  But one thing that I could not explain was my window flying open unexpectedly.  What caused this?  I do not know, it was locked when I got to the room and has the old 1920’s latching system that has worked fine for several years and playing with the latch, there is no way that it could have moved by itself.  The interesting thing about this is I was booking my ghost tour for the next night and right as I hit ‘book’ on the website, the window flew open.  It was strange and it might have been a coincidence, but the timing makes it seem kind of eerie, and it opened one more time during the night as well.

The second strange thing that happened in my room was that the main light turned on in the dark hours of the morning, then gave a little flicker, and burned out.  I did not have any of the lights on, or any of my electronics so this seemed a little bit strange as well.  With it being before 3am, I decided to wait to call the front desk and see if it was my mind playing tricks on me, but when I tried to turn the lights on the closer to dawn, it was apparent that they were burnt out, along with the two lamps in the room as well.  Talking to the maintenance man who brought the new stock of lights, he said that he had never heard of it happening in this room before.  Now, it could have been a power surge and admittedly, I did not check to see if the lamps were working in the room when I arrived so I do not know if it was all connected or not, but my window was open again, so it just felt kind of strange.  Just two more room accounts that will go into my personal log of Stanley stays. 

Now, onto the ghost tour.  I love taking the ghost tours whenever going up to the hotel for one reason, you get to see which guides believe in ghosts and which ones don’t.  This tour, I had a guide that did not believe, not a full blown skeptic as he has heard things that he could not explain, but would not guarantee that we would be blown away on the tour as well.  First stop, we hit up the Concert Hall where it is believed that there a couple of spirits lurking around.  After a beautiful rendition of Halo 3’s score being played on the piano, it was decided that the main hall was quiet for the night and we headed down stairs. 

We did take the creepy way down to the basement and had no light to speak of so cell phones were pulled out to give us a little bit of light.  Snapping shots in all of the open doors along the way, I was in the back of the group and right after the guide started to speak, we heard a large crash from behind us.  It could not be explained and even the guide was a little freaked out as he turned on the lights to take a look for anything that fell.  We did continue the tour and stepped into Lucy’s room and turned off the lights.  It is said that Lucy would grab people’s hands when they are in her space, but nothing happened to our group as the lights were out and we could not see a thing. 

Moving out of the Concert House and starting our way back to the main building, we stopped and talked about The Lodge, but did not go inside.  The Lodge is a mini copy of The Stanley that was built for the bachelor visitors to the resort, as it was not viewed well to have single men staying in the hotel.  It is said that there are animal hauntings in this building, mainly a cat that will rub the bottom of your leg, or hide under things while your pet tries to catch it.  I am allergic to cats, so I did not want to get involved in this one, ghost dander might be worse than regular, but I hope to never find that out.

Moving back to the main building, we took a seat in the billiard room and talked about F.O. Stanley and where he had been seen.  Not as a normal ghost in this room, but a regular older bearded man that helps his guests out with their problems.  Since we had someone showing us around, it was apparent he was not going to show up tonight.  It is also said that there is a mustached man in a bowler hat and stripped shirt that will show up in pictures that you take in the mirrors in this room.  Tried it, but I was the only person with facial hair that showed up in the pics. 

The tour ended in the tunnels under the hotel that had everyone in the group worried.  They were lit very well, so there was no fear of running into anything.  It was nice to see the walkways that the staff have to take under the hotel to not intrude on their guest’s enjoyment.  There was also an open vent that went up into the MacGregor room right above it and you could hear everything that was going on right above you. 

The tour was great and I invited the members from my group to try to come open my window that I complained about to start the tour.  Nobody could find a reason for it opening, so that will just have to go down as a big question mark about the visit.

My final night of the stay was probably my favorite by far. There was a massive thunderstorm that moved through the area, stranding several people out in the open for longer than they would have liked.  Talking to the staff while this was going on, they mentioned that when there is lightning around the area, Flora Stanley likes to play her piano.  This night I was awakened at 2am by a dog that was losing his mind, so I went and sat in the billiard room for a couple of minutes and just tried to un-rattle my nerves.  I think I heard a key or two get hit on the piano, but not being able to see who was in the next room, I am not sure if it was Flora, or just someone else that got woken up as well.

My trips to The Stanley Hotel are the best.  Even if there is not a haunting to report, I would still be up there to listen to the stories of its history and guests and yes, even the staff is very entertaining.  The drives up to the formally remote spot are epic and you can come to understand why this hotel would be closed down in the winter in the past.  Now it is open year around and it would take an act of god to keep people away from this location.  If you have not been to the hotel, I would have to ask why not.  There are several people that live in this state that don’t even know it exists and that makes me sad.

This might have to turn into a bi-yearly occasion as I love the place so much, but will have to wait and see what the schedule will allow.  Believe what you want, I am still not sold that a ghost was in my room messing with my window or lights, but you never know.  Hope you all enjoyed the write up, I enjoyed giving it to you.  There is people that will doubt every account of what I have brought to you and that is just fine, I would just tell them to go up and see what happens for themselves. 

There are few things in my life I get really excited over, but my yearly Stanley stay is one of them.  A chance to get away from the hustle that life puts on you can get very taxing at times it is a good idea to get away from them, if even for a day.  If you can find that one place that makes you happy to visit, you need to do it, if you have not found that place yet, you need to find it.  The one thing that pulled me to The Stanley Hotel in the past was it was the inspiration behind my favorite movie, The Shining. 

There is one thing that I will not hide from and it is my love for this story.  I have read the book, watched the movie and viewed the mini-series and love them all.  Although the book and the movie are different enough, they follow the same story line and it is amazing that the idea for a killer hotel could come from such a beautiful place.  With that said, there are several things that I love about the hotel, other than its partial isolation, is what it has to offer.

With the history that comes into play about the hotel and how F.O. Stanley built it for his friends to come and stay when they visited, it is hard to imagine it could be haunted. I will admit that this is a huge draw for me since I love listening to ghost stories, especially if they are true.  It is hard to gauge what is true and what is made up, but if you look the person in the eye when they are telling it, I would hope you would be able to tell the difference. 

The staff in the hotel is great as well.  They are all happy to give you advice on what you are wanting to do when visiting the resort and are even willing to get into long discussions about Stephen King’s stay, even though they have told it countless times.  You might be able to gain a little different nugget of information if you are able to ask the correct questions as well, or possibly figure out that the novel King could not get published during his stay came out thirty years later.

The guests that come out of their way to stay at the hotel are amazing as well.  With The Stanley being a destination point for several people out of the country, it is fun to hear what they know about the hotel, and if they did not come for The Shining, what they did come for.  Then with the people coming to stay from around the county, it is nice to see that some are making their pilgrimage to the hotel, along with others trying the same thing Stephen King did and overcome their writer's block.  I met several writers this trip and they were all happy to talk about what their hold ups were with their current stories and I hope with them getting it out, that they are able to move on and make something magical pop out on the page.

With everything that the hotel offers, you must take one of the tours that they offer.  They have the standard hotel tour that will tell you everything you could have ever wanted to know about the hotel and its history, along with F.O. Stanley’s life and how he was able to overcome tuberculosis while staying in Colorado.  All of the famous guests and movies that were shot in the area are also highlighted as well.  But my favorite tour is the ghost tour that takes you inside of all of the haunted locations, but you have to make sure to do it after the sun goes down.  You will almost get the exact same tour as the hotel tour, but with ghost stories being added in, just adding a little bit extra to your experience. 

With every trip that I take up to The Stanley, I am always sad when it comes to an end.  Real life calls too often and regardless what or why I am away, I have to answer.  I hope everyone gets a chance to visit the historic landmark and has the time of their lives.  I will keep doing this trip, no matter what the situation is as this place has a sort of energy around it that makes me feel like I have found a home away from home, and you never know, maybe I will be lucky enough to be a ghost guest whenever my time comes.  Hope to see you all up there at one point or another.  

If you were fired up about the new episode of Doctor Who and you decided to see what other great programing BBC America was bringing to the table, you would have been privy to watching the pilot episode of Intruders.  If you are a bit like me, you may like to have a little bit more suspense in a show, not that Doctor Who does not provide this, but come on, you know what is going to happen.  Intruders has left you with a wide open story that unless you already know the story, you will have to wait and see what is really happening.

There seems to be something fishy going on in Seattle, no pun intended, when people are changing into someone else.  From what I have gathered thus far, there is a signal being broadcast on a frequency that humans are not able to hear that needs to be guarded at all costs.  There is an assassin that will kill anyone/everyone that knows anything about it.  Not to give too much away if you are still on the fence about watching this, there is something strange that is awakening someone that is inside of someone else and it has to be released.

As the story begins, a young girl is handed a relic from her past and goes through a change.  Learning more and more about her past in a matter of hours, she comes to the conclusion that she has to kill herself.  That is just in the first ten minutes of the show and if that is not your cup of tea, then you will not care for the rest of it, but if it is, then you need to give it a view.

An assassin is working his way through the great northwest and trying to find one individual to give him the key of the signal.  Fronting as an FBI agent, he is having no problems in getting around, but is making sure to keep everyone quiet about the conspiracy that is about to occur.  He has two types of targets at this point, people that know about the signal and people that have encountered it in their past lives. Right now, people are being identified by hearing, seeing or holding a relic from their past that awakens whatever is still being hidden inside of them and even though they cannot be killed, he will do his best to keep them in slumber.

This is an interesting premise and I will have to watch a couple more episodes to see what is really happening, but if it brings me in, so be it.  I am excited to see where the story is about to go and what Seattle has in store for them.  Not knowing what to expect is one of the best things about watching a movie or TV series, as you ned to keep an eye on everything that they are willing to show you. As I hate being in the dark about what is going to happen next, I am ready to see what is about to come to light as it appears that a little girl is going to be coming after the assassin and I am curious as to what she can do.

Another couple of hours have passed and there seems to be something much more sinister coming to New York City than anyone could prepare for.  As the eclipse is coming closer and the virus is spreading faster, it is obvious that the city is in grave danger.  Eph and Abraham need to get on the same page as to what needs to be done to save all of the innocents around the area, but not knowing who they can trust will keep them from accomplishing their goals in a timely manner. 

Dr. Eph Goodweather is on a mission to save his family before the virus becomes unstoppable around the city.  Seeing that the FBI is staking out his soon to be ex-wife’s house, Eph is stepping carefully to make sure he can see her and his son before being captured.  Kelly’s new boyfriend has a different plan however as he calls the authorities as soon as Eph walks in the door. Being arrested, Eph has to find a way to make the Bureau believe his story and put a stop to what is happening before it is too late.  The agents in charge only know the facts that have been placed in front of them and will hold Eph on murder charges unless he will come clean about what he has done and where the other missing passenger bodies have been hidden from flight 753.  Eph says he will come clean and take them to the bodies and although the agents are leery about his sanity, they accept and take Eph on a drive during the eclipse. 

Dr. Nora Martinez is having problems of her own as she was able to escape the retirement facility with her mother before the virus was able to consume them all.  With her mother suffering from Alzheimer’s, Nora is having a hard time keeping her own mind clear to what is going on and trying to make sure that her mother knows the danger of what is happening.  When the FBI comes knocking at her door as well, Nora knows that she needs to take her mother to someplace safe as she will be hunted for the same offenses that her partner Eph is.

Gus has been called back into employment by Thomas Eichorst once again.  Since Gus had taken a look at the box he was paid to transport across town from the airport, his old deal has been killed and a new one has been put into the place.  Eichorst threatens Gus’ mother once again, knowing the ex-con’s love for her, he could get Gus to do anything when mentioning anything about her health.  Needing to dispose of a body before it gets autopsied, Gus is met by Jim Kent once again and the two will have to work together once again for their master that they do not trust.

Vasiliy Fet is still shocked at what he has seen in the sewers and looking for some way to justify it in his own mind.  Returning to his office, Fet finds that his co-worker and boss have become the same beasts he has seen under the city.  Knowing that sunlight is harmful to them, Fet now knows one way to dispose of the creatures once and for all.  Trying to return to his parents’ home and warn them to leave the city, Vasiliy is called out for his life choices by his father and is given nothing but grief.  Fet knows that there is something horrible coming and tries to reason with his old man, but he will not be heard.  Needing to find a way to protect himself, Fet leaves knowing that he will probably never see his parents alive again.

Kelly Goodweather is torn between her past love for Eph and current love for Matt when the two collide in her home.  Knowing that Eph has had his problems in the past, she has never seen him act this way towards anything she has ever seen.  Not knowing if she should trust him, she is angry at Matt when he took it on himself to have the doctor arrested before he could tell her his full story.  Having this done right in front of her son, Kelly makes sure to make it known to Matt that he is just a guest in the household and he is not the one to make the decisions.  The two end their discussion in a huff and head to work.  With the cell phone service being spotty and the internet being down, there is no way for the two to get ahold of each other for the rest of the day.  Kelly feels as if she treated the situation badly, but she has to think about what is best for herself, along with her son.

Finally, the eclipse has come and the plague will start to roam the streets.  This is the event I have been waiting for since the show has come on the air and I am dying to see what happens to the city in the following episodes as you have seen the infected running the streets and hitting people with their stingers.  With only seeing what happened on the street that Eph was on, it will be great to see how others have viewed this event as it seemed to open up the possibility all over the city for the infected to be running free.  I am loving this series thus far, they have been able to set up all of the main characters and you know which ones you love, and which ones you hate and now it is time to get into the blood and guts of the story with the creatures running amuck and people either trying to stop the outbreak, or just survive another day.  Stay Scared!

As the time ticks away until the eclipse, the threat of an outbreak seems to be imminent.  With all of the bodies of the dead passengers coming back to life and turning into something much worse than expected, there seems to be only one way to contain the threat, killing them all.  With Dr. Martinez looking the other way and removing herself from the situation at hand, Eph and Abraham have to battle the threat on their own.

Abraham Setrakian has finally come clean to Eph about what the people of New York are up against as all of the passengers of flight 753 are changing.  Giving Eph a little bit more background about what he knows, we are transported back to 1944 and get to see through Abraham’s eyes the Master that took his fellow prisoners during the night.  Although he did not know what was happening when it began in the camp, Abraham was able to put it all together as the sick people he was kept with were winding up dead.  The Master only seemed to take out the sick people, but his thirst was getting stronger and he had to start feeding more frequently, taking out Abraham’s brother right in front of his very eyes.

Eph needs to get footage of the creatures to prove to the powers that be that a quarantine is needed.  Being able to capture this using his cell phone when visiting the house of Ansel Barbour, he is able to bring the proof to his boss.  Everett is not willing to watch the footage that is placed in front of him, when all he sees is Eph shooting a chained up, sick man and calls in the authorities to try and get Eph off of the streets.  Jim Kent is still upset about being kicked out of the group, but will still help his friend find a way of escaping before he is sent away.  Although Kent is trying to make amends with his old friend, he is still on bad terms with Eph and will have to do more to prove that he wants to stop this outbreak before being let back into the inner loop.

Gabriel Bolivar has completed his transformation into a new creature.  With his publicist trying to make sure he is healthy enough to perform his eclipse concert, she calls in another doctor to take a look at him.  Bolivar takes full advantage and gets his next free meal, but when his publicist sees what has happened, she calls in a ‘cleaner’ to make the situation go away.  Thinking he is just folding under the pressure and not wanting any bad publicity before the show, she does not understand what is happening to her cash cow.  When the ‘cleaner’ shows up however, Bolivar gets to take full advantage once again for another meal.  Even though there seems to be a little part of him left, he cannot fight the voices he is hearing in his head and needs to bend to their will, and feed.

Joan Luss, the final survivor from flight 753 is slowly starting to change as well.  Feeling under the weather, she has been stuck in bed since being released from the hospital.  With her two kids and nanny trying to do everything to make her feel better, she is starting to feel like something else is controlling her.  When her nanny tries to take the kids out of the house while she is still laying down, Joan gets upset, but is willing to let them continue on with their day.  Hearing the heartbeat of her children, along with fighting a thirst that cannot be quenched by anything that she knows of, she decides to take a jog and work the sickness out of her system. 

Vasiliy Fet is getting in trouble for not being the kindest to his customers, but does not seem to care.  Watching as rats are moving out of the sewers and taking to the streets, he knows that there is some other larger predator under the streets that are driving the rats away from their home.  Taking it upon himself, Fet goes down and takes a look.  Not knowing what to expect, he sees a little person run by and follows him.  What is finds blows his mind as there are several people with blood dripping from their chins that are looking at him like he is dinner.  Retreating back up to the surface, he sees that each of the people that were chasing him were burning when being exposed to the sunlight. Fet watches for a moment, then has to close the doors behind him as this is something that he has not seen before.

Is it possible that the show is getting better every week?  This is only five episodes in and each one seems to be more intense than the last.  With most of the internet being knocked out and now cell phone service is shaky at best, it is apparent that nobody knows what is on the horizon, other than Abraham Setrakian. I did not know how they would handle the old man’s story when it came into play, and am not too disappointed with how they brought it to life.  With Eph starting to believe the old pawn brokers story, and Nora being exposed to the outbreak while on her personal time, and no way to contact anyone, it appears that finding each other later on will be next to impossible, but you never know in a city like New York, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere…right?  Stay Scared!

The virus continues to get more intense and it is easy to see that New York is about to have a huge problem on their hands shortly.  With the way the last episode left us, there is something much stranger going on that Eph and Nora need to open their eyes to what is really happening as Captain Redfern attacked the group while while feeding in the bowels of the hospital.  

Having killed the monster that was coming after them, Eph, Nora and Jim have to take a step back for this is nothing they have ever witnessed before.  Trying to make sense of the stinger that was shooting out at them, they are starting to believe with Abraham Setrakian has told them about removing the head and destroying the body of everyone on the plane.  Not wanting to take it that far yet, Eph and Nora decide to do an autopsy on the former Captain, to see what is really happening to the bodies of the survivors.

Eldritch Palmer, the mastermind behind bringing the virus over to America is having his health fade away quicker than he expected.  Having been promised a miracle from The Master, he is still lying in wait, and is getting closer to death as every minute passes.  Keeping up with his end of the bargain, he hires a young hacker to take out the internet and communications around the city to allow the attack go unnoticed.  Clinging to his belief that he is will be resurrected by the powers that he has helped unleash, he will do everything he is asked to get just one more day of life out of his deteriorating body. 

Ansel Barbour is still home and not feeling well.  Asking his wife to take the kids away since he is starting to acquire the thirst, he will do anything in his power to make sure his family is safe.  Upon her return home, Ansel’s wife is not able to find him anywhere around the house, along with their dog.  Searching the property, she finds that their dog has been split upon and feed upon like a wild animal attack.  Hearing something in the shed, she searches for Ansel once again and finds him chained up with blood still dripping from his lips.  He implores his wife to leave him as the voice in his head is telling him to do unmentionable things to her and he will fight it as long as he can, but knows the power is getting to be too great.  She is able to escape and while burying her dog, her neighbor comes calling with complaints about the noise that the dog is causing in the shed.  Being fed up with the neighbor, she lets him into the shed to discipline the disobedient animal and he has just become another victim to the virus.  

Felix is trying to find a way to keep his mother happy and not allow his brother to get an upper hand on anything now that he is home.  As Felix runs into his old friend, he is told of a fool proof opportunity to make some more money.  As he listens to the plan, Felix is not sure it will work, but he needs the money to keep his mother safe in her apartment as his little brother is using the rent money for something else.  Felix does not want karma to come around and bite him while pulling his new job, so he returns the clock that his brother stole from the old pawn broker to make it all square.  Being blown off by Setrakian, Felix goes out to make his money once again, the best way he knows how.

During the autopsy in the basement of the hospital, Eph makes Jim tape the entire process to document what has really happened to these survivors from the flight.  Jim does not have the stomach to see what he is about to and makes it known that he is far from comfortable with the process.  As Eph and Nora get deeper into the body, they find that the virus is creating its own organs and pulling all of the nutrients from the old ones, making the human body a capsule, nothing more.  Seeing that most of the new muscles that have been created are to control the stinger, they are faced with the decision of what to do next, stop the impending outbreak or let the local officials take care of it.  Jim is none too keen on trying to stop the outbreak and comes clean about his role on what is currently happening.  Eph and Nora do not have time to listen to what their former friend has done and push him out of their circle and start their search for the dead little girl that arrived home several hours ago.

It appears that the fuse is lit and the city is about to take a fall as the internet has been taken down in N.Y. City.  The effects have been very good up to this point and now with a couple more characters beginning to utilize their stingers, it is great to see these blood suckers come to life.  Every episode is better than the last and they are all leading up to the unleashing of the virus around the city, which I hope comes very soon as I am a very impatient person.  With some great quality kills this week, you are able to see why Abraham Setrakian carries around his cane sword and will be very happy to see the results it leaves.  Until the next one, Stay Scared!

The living dead are everywhere. They rule television with The Walking Dead. They ruled the box office with the smash hit World War Z. Yet there was a time it was never like this. The zombie was once reserved for VHS and late night television, loved only by a few.  

Somewhere the tide turned and now you can find a Superman action figure positioned right next to Rick Grimes or the Governor at your local toy store.  It is an incredible paradigm shift, and thankfully there is one film out there to finally take a solid look at the living dead phenomenon sweeping our nation, Doc of the Dead.  

In fact, this is hands down the most thorough documentary on the zombie that I've ever seen.  You get the who's who of the zombie biz, talking about these fascinating monsters, including Romero, Savini, Pegg, Nicotero, Kirkman and Bruce Campbell, but it is the information included in this wonderful documentary that makes it world class. 

This is an epic history lesson on the living dead.  In fact, I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable when it comes to zombies and this film managed to school me.  I actually learned a few things about zombies in film history and quite frankly some of the original origins of the monster in human history that I never knew existed.

But in addition to the worthwhile history lesson, you are also treated to a look at the present, as the documentary explores why the zombie has latched on to every facet of popular culture while looking at the future of the zombie in our lives and it even takes the time to explore the one true worry on every zombie fan's mind...could an outbreak of the living dead happen?  

If you haven't seen this fascinating piece of film, hop on Netflix and check it out now because it is completely and utterly worth it.  There's no boring segment of this documentary, just moments of joy as the greatest legends in the genre, speak to the wonder and staying power of one of the greatest monsters in film history.  

Another week has come and gone and the effects of the ‘virus’ contracted by the survivors from flight 753 is starting to become very aggressive.  We have seen the dead passengers return to their loved ones and at least one take a bite out of her father, but now the survivors are gaining a thirst that cannot be soothed without blood.  As they keep trying to tell everyone that they are ok, they are hearing a voice that they do not know and a beating sound that they cannot phase out. 

With Gabriel Bolivar having a hard time feeling like his old self, and biting one of his groupies in the jugular last week, he is being urged to get back onto the stage by his publicist.  As there is no such thing as bad publicity and he needs to capitalize on the fame and fortune right now.  Refusing to play, Bolivar calls in the help from his old doctor to get any sort of treatment, but the doctor is not trying to play upon the actual symptoms, he is just trying to Bolivar back to making his music.

Dr. Goodweather and Martinez are trying to figure out what happened with all 206 of the dead bodies taken of off flight 753.  No bodies can be located in the coroner’s office, and the coroner seems to be missing now as well.  Fearing that another government group is trying to cover-up what happened on the flight, Eph and Nora are afraid that the pilot of the flight might be in danger of disappearing as well and go and try to figure out what this virus is actually doing to the survivors.

Abraham Setrakian has had his court date and acts like an old man with no idea of the legal system.  Playing the race card, he is able to get out of anymore jail time by and is thinking of a way to hunt down the new threat that is about to unleash itself in the city.  Being confronted by Nora about what he knows, he pushes her away knowing that she is not ready to hear the truth of what is actually happening to the people from the flight.  Wanting to destroy every body of the dead, the survivors and now the families of the ill-fated flight 753 may seem extreme, but Setrakian knows that this must be done and soon.

Vasiliy Fet is being called all around town as rats are being reported in mass numbers.  After his latest job was completed and he was ready to head home, he notices that there seems to be a migration of the rodents in the city.  As the critters are moving out of the sewers, Fet is curious about what is causing this, but still has to answer to his own boss if he finds anything.

Jim Kent is starting to have second thoughts about what he has done and goes to visit Palmer’s assistant and figure out what he is a part of.  When he threatens to go to the police, he is bribed with something he cannot resist, a possible treatment for his wife’s cancer.  With her name being put on a drug trial list that is so exclusive, he believes that this is best chance for her to get cured.  Being told that he is now employed by both his paying job at the CDC and now ‘The Master’ does not sit with Kent, but he has no choice as he has been accessory to something bigger than he can imagine.  

Another great episode and I am being far from disappointed in the direction that the series is taking us.  I am still undecided on Thomas Eichorst, the Master’s assistant, but the more screen time he has, the better.  He seems to have a power that nobody knows about and when you see him get made up for the day, you can understand why.  He is playing a pivotal role right now as the Master is gaining his power and will hopefully be fully involved in whatever happens when the eclipse hits.  Also a tasteful shot of Bolivar as his change is coming faster than any of the other survivors made this episode worth my while.  If you have not read the books or the comics you may not understand, but you do get a quick glance at him becoming a pale ken doll.  The Strain has me sucked in right now and with the slight variations from the novel, I am not looking back.  All of the episodes run too fast and leave you wanting more, but you just have to wait.  Stay Scared!