Romance and Bombs dropping are two of the things that most people like to read about, but having Zombies tie them together makes it fun for all.  Roms, Bombs & Zoms does just that, not only focusing on the popular genre of zombies eating their way through humanity, but adding in romance that goes unfinished in a sense when the world turns into a downward spiral. Couples face the oncoming apocalypse together or through correspondence, but no matter how far apart they are, their love will keep them together in one way or another.

Having stories that range from the middle ages to today, Roms, Bombs & Zoms makes sure to cover all of its bases with twenty one authors all giving us their take on love in a time of zombies.  Here's an idea of how diverse and incredible some of these stories are. In ‘Church of the Risen Dead’, by Tom D. Wright, Reverend Marcus has his faith in God tested with the loss of his wife Anne to the virus.  Trying anything to be with his wife, he starts going to the camp where she is held and tries to bring her mind back to where it was before her untimely death.  Trying to find comfort for himself, Marcus starts running sermons for the camp and gains a new fellowship with the zombies in attendance, along with their families.  The message he tries to deliver is however lost in translation as his new parishioners choose to go down a different path, and he reluctantly follows.

In ‘Mama’, by Jay Wilburn, Kelly is faced with the fact that her long time love had been taken by the virus and has found refuge in the protection of Buck.  Although she has strong feelings for Buck, Kelly only wishes she could love him as much as her previous lover.  Buck did not let this get under his skin as he was preparing a trip out to visit his mother so Kelly could meet and learn from her.  Being a very self-sufficient woman, Mama had her farm protected from the undead and was more than willing to teach any young woman, especially the one staying with her son the tricks of the trade.  While teaching Kelly how to make an easier explosive, Mama laid a profound fact on her to help Kelly get past the loss of her first love.

Other couples are separated by the onslaught of the outbreak and forced to join the fight.  In ‘I’ll Come Back’, Anne is sent out to battle the undead while her lover Matthew stays home and prays for her safe arrival.  Matthew is planning their future together and does not want to hear about genocide that is happening across the ocean.  Anne is focused on the killing that is right in front of her, along with the impending bombing that will be taking place if the soldiers end up losing any ground to the undead.  With the only way of communication between the two being conventional mail, their correspondence is cut off as a mail carrier near the front line is killed.  Not knowing the fate of his love, Matthew buys a farm for the two of them to work on when Anne arrives home, but did not expect the plague to arrive on his side of the ocean.  Arriving home, Anne is met with a surprise that ends up changing her life.

Some people may try to take advantage of the situation, trying to make their lives better or what they believe would be better.  In ‘An Undying Love’, Morty does just that.  Finding the love of his life and keeping her chained up while he tries to win her heart over.  Buying the finest flowers and getting the ring she would flip for, the love of his high school days would be his.  Although Christine got married, Morty never lost hope that she would be his, he just had to bide his time.  With the loss of her husband, and her life, it was just the chance that Morty would take to make her his, forever.

Dean has two rules. 1. Never take a joint from a guy named Don. and 2. No dogs in the Impala. 1 is a given, 2 was broken in this week's episode. What happens when a mysterious monster kills a random, creepy, taxidermist? The Winchesters get involved, that's what! Kevin appears to be back in the bunker (though we didn't get to see him) and Sam is itching to get out and go on a normal case. Dean, however, seems to be hesitant (with good reason) and refuses. As always, it's hard to say no to Sam when he pulls out those big puppy dog eyes. So, of course they go!

The monster, in question, appears to be some snake like human thing. With the ability to crush people to death and spit venom. It doesn't fit any snake-monster profile the brothers have, so a little more investigating is needed. A dog, witness to his taxidermist master's death, just became their new best friend. There's just one catch, they don't know how to communicate with the dog. Enter, a spell from Kevin. One that enables Dean to talk with the dog. It also means Dean sort of, kind of, picks up some Dog like traits himself. The dog does his best, explaining to Dean what the guy looked like.

Turns out, this creeper is the same guy who walked into an animal shelter, put a bunch of cats in a sack, clawed the clerk to death, and ate one of the cats. But why is this weirdo stealing animals?

The boys set out to find out. Dean's finding it hard to ignore all the animal chatter. When a pigeon gets mouthy, he pulls a gun on the thing and threatens to kill it. In front of a bunch of people. He starts referring to him and the dog as 'we' and decidedly is not a fan of vegan bakeries. Finally, though, they track the guy down to some restaurant, with help from a scruffy looking dog at the animal shelter…of which Dean lets all the dogs go.

Turns out, the man has cancer, and has been using Shaman magic, mixed with the eating of animal parts, to heal himself and possess the powers of whatever animal he just chowed down on. Thus explaining the weird murders. Dean and Sam split up to find the guy. Sam finds him first, gets his throat sliced open, and nearly dies right then and there. Ezekiel, however, has a good sense of self preservation and shows up long enough to heal Sam. Our creepy bad guy sees this, and decides that whatever Sam is, he wants to be. The only way to do that, of course, is to eat his heart. With Sam unconscious and on the kitchen floor, Dean now has to kill this crazy, soon-to-be-cannibal.

In classic, nothing-ever-goes-right-for-them fashion, however, Dean is overpowered and tied up. But, the eldest Winchester is clever, breaks free, and leads the guy on a chase. The guy (now with the power of a wolf) is ready to kick Dean's butt (because Wolf beats dog any day). That is, until Dean whistles and all the dogs from the shelter he let go show up. And eat the guy. Or tear him limb from limb. Or both…

That taken care of, Dean rushes off to check on Sam, who's still unconscious on the kitchen floor, and not waking up. Finally, Sam does come to (after Dean threatens to lick his face) and has no memory of his neck being healed. But he is confused as to why the man wanted to eat him, and was asking 'what he was'. Dean lies, because he's good at that now and they move on. The Dog gets to go live with the owners of the vegan bakery and all ends well.

Except there was no Cas, still, or Crowley, or even Kevin! That's okay. Next week is chalk full of Castiel! Which sounds promising. What's our ex-angel been up to? Coping with being human, without the Winchesters by his side! And is Sam getting closer to finding out why Dean is acting so weird with him? Probably, Sammy's always been a smart cookie. I just hope we get more Crowley in next weeks' episode. It's all fun and games, but when you have the King of Hell locked in your basement, anything can happen.

In my nearly, 28 years of life experience I have come to learn two things. First, I hate raspberries. Second, I'm not a fan of scary things. So when my friend Eryn asked Mattie and I to join her on her birthday, I thought 'sure! Birthday's are fun'. Unless they're in October and said friend likes scary things. In which case…it can be set up for a very not so fun time. Now, I pride myself on being able to not let things scare me. Mostly because I avoid all the scary things out there. But when she said she wanted to go to Spider Mansion for her birthday, I tried every which way to get out of going. Let it be said that if you promise someone you'll do something, they never forget it. So, as a good friend does, we went. 

The anticipation of going through the haunted house had my nerves on fire. I'm not a big fan of things that can jump out and yell, or dolls, or clowns, or anything remotely resembling both. Spider Mansion, in the middle, has two rooms dedicated to clowns. Nothing but clowns. People dressed as clowns that follow you. Thankfully, they have a rule that actors can't touch you and you can't touch them. Otherwise I would have cried. Or hit someone. Or both!

You enter the mention and it's dark and spooky. The floor is uneven and wobbles, lights are flickering, and actors are whispering eerily as you walk along. Some actors get close and scream. Others follow. And some just scare you by uttering insanely creepy things. I learned that if you laugh, they generally leave you alone. Which was pretty fantastic seeing as I hate being scared. While it's dark and spooky, it's also fun. You're on edge and waiting for the next person to jump out and scare you, and the entire time you're with your friends, trying to figure out who's going to scream first. 

The over all experience was well worth going. At one point, an actor jumped out and screamed in Mattie's face, paused and went "Hey, you're kinda hot!" Which I'm pretty sure is against the whole 'stay in character' thing. But hey, it was sweet and served as a reminder that the people trying to make you scream were just that; people.

At the end, you're forced to go through two giant black tubes that are inflated and squish you. Then you pop out and are outside. Just when you think you're home free a guy with a chainsaw comes out and chases the group. It was good fun. Nothing to horrifying. I have to say, I'd do it all again just to try and make the actor's laugh with my over all snarky sense of humor. I feel bad for the 'suicide' victim girl who stood at the end of the hall saying "Look at what they made me do!" Just to try and hold back a smile as I reply "Student loans made me do the same thing last month!". 

I plan on trying again next year. Nothing scarier than this though. I'm not willing to go through any more trauma!