The Walking Dead: Terminus Experience

   

It seems only yesterday when I was clutching onto the back of a complete stranger as we made our way, screaming and terrified across the halls & corridors of The Walking Dead: Haunted Prison last year in Eastwood City and now - here I go again! 

Last year's The Haunted Prison experience was a hit with the long lines snaking it's way all over Eastwood Central Plaza. So it was no surprise that the horror house would stand once again to bring chills, screams & thrills to those who dare enter it's gates. 

And in keeping with tradition, this year's Haunted House followed last season of the hit show The Walking Dead's setting which is in Terminus a place which promises sanctuary for all but as we all know that really isn't the case.

Because of last year's going-through-the-horror-house with strangers experience I invited some friends to go through the Horror House with me. At least if I would be clutching on to someone, it's someone I know! Lucky enough Sarah and Khin who I've been friends with through Paramore Philippines jumped to my invitation :) 

Come 6PM last Friday October 30, lo and behold the line for the Haunted House was so long already Surprise! Surprise! People wanted to get scared. 

While I was waiting for them (they got stuck in Friday traffic) I had the chance to observe the people in line and I saw how they took out their mobile devices and gadgets when the first batch of people went in, camera were flashing, photos were being taken by people waiting in line. You'd think that there was a concert. Kids passing by the horror house clung to their parents and cried- they know something scary is in there for sure! 

I just love the rock version of The Walking Dead's opening theme that they play. Hmmm I really should find that online. 

                                    

So when it was finally our turn, the three of us went through the horror house screaming and shouting - those damn zombies seemed to be coming out from everywhere! 

Even if in our group I was the eldest and they both called me 'Ate' I was the coward cowering behind them. There seemed to be more tricks, special effects and scares this time than last year. You also might want to check your back every once in a while. 

The Horror House is open until November 10, the price of the ticket has increased though to P150.00 still worth it - and let me ask you how much is your Starbucks coffee? Besides this treat is just once in a year-so make sure you don't miss it! 

It's a fun and memorable experience with friends. A great Halloween treat you should skip out on!  

                      

Covering for Azrael's Merryland. 

Things Will Fall Apart: Fear The Walking Dead: Episode 2

What's really scary about Fear The Walking Dead is that it is society as we know it. It is society as how we live in it. We are the characters, with our domestic drama, hopes, dreams, fears, worries about school or work. Heck! They even have their cellphones and lines of communication are still open! 

In creating these characters that thought of uncapable to handle the apocalypse was in mind and what chances do a guidance counselor, an English teacher, a drug addict and a competitive high school student have against surviving something that they don't even know or can understand? 

They're very different from the original series' characters, a Sherrif, a huntsman with a bow and arrow and a katana wielding badass. So how will they deal with society collapsing and neighbors and peers turning into the infected? Well, this is something that we have to see as the series goes on. 

In episode 2 - "So Close Yet So Far-"school is already out and we start to see riots breaking out in the street. Looters have begun to ransack food, medicine and weapons. The police are trying to contain the chaos but until when can their shields and batons protect them from what the audience knows is the beginning of the end? 

There are two compelling scenes in the last episode, both placing protagonist Madison on center stage, in the first, she faces an old colleague who has just turned, what does she do? Can she bring herself to kill him in order to survive? And in the other scene - the family is hiding in their home when they hear their neighbor who has just turned attack another neighbor. Her cries and pleas for help pierce the night - would you go out to help? 

It's a whole new level of frightening - unfortunately Fear The Walking Dead is on break next Monday (September 7) as it is Labor Day in the US. We'll be able to watch episode 3 on September 14.

Fear The Walking Dead is on every Monday at 9:00AM (local time) on AMC Asia, channel 106 on Sky Cable. 

Sink Your Teeth Into Fear The Walking Dead

While waiting for the new season of The Walking Dead, Walker fans can sink their teeth into it's companion series Fear The Walking Dead which had it's worldwide premiere today. 

Robert Kirkman, the co-creator of the original Walking Dead comic books and TV Series worked with executive producer Dave Erickson (Sons Of Anarchy) for the six episode first season. 

If you recall the protagonist of The Walking Dead Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) was in a coma during the beginning of the first season. Fear The Walking Dead covers the five week period where Rick was in his coma; it takes viewers out of the backwoods of Georgia to the concrete jungle of Los Angeles. 

Kirkman and Erickson tell the story of a blended family led by Madison (Kim Dickens) a widowed high school guidance counselor struggling to raise her drug-addicted son, Nick (Frank Dillane), and ambitious teen daughter, Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey). Madison finds strength and companionship in fiancé Travis, an English teacher who has his own strained relationships with ex-wife Liza (Elizabeth Rodriguez) and son Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie) who are all in the middle of the domestic drama from which some middle-class American families would be familiar with. 

 “We start off with a slow burn in our first few episodes because we had the opportunity to explore the dysfunction that comes with family,” Erickson says. “We also wanted to have characters who were completely ill-equipped for the apocalypse.”

The first episode starts with some drugged up version of that Resident Evil scene I can't get out of my head from when I was a kid then it goes to the central family, their problems and drama (too much drama maybe) with some little clues as to the beginning of the end. 

It's just dissapointing that the exact cause of the outbreak or the search for a cure will not be addressed. That's something that I have been salivating for (so to speak) in the original series. You'd think that when they'd go to "where it all began" they would at least brush on the origin of the outbreak. 

It's interesting how the viewers know more than the characters themselves, they haven't exactly gone through Zombie 101 yet and will have to learn things as they go-so to speak. Then all hell breaks loose as the viewers watch society as they know it crumble to the apocalypse. 

You can watch Fear The Walking Dead locally every Monday morning at 9:00 AM on AMC. Encore at 10:00 PM - the same day, Channel 106 on Sky Cable. We had it added on our package for P50.00 a month, it's a pretty good deal for one promising new show. I guess Monday morning errands would have to take a back seat. 

Fear The Walking Dead has already been renewed for a 15 episode second season. 

#FEARTheWalkingDead #FEARBeginsHere 

The Walking Dead: Haunted Prison Experience

I love watching movies but I'm not a big fan of Horror Movies. I just don't see the point of scaring yourself sh*tless - and I scare easily. Another thing about the Horror genre is that there is a fine line between "no plot and all gore" which is often crossed and slasher movies riddled with cliches leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Aside from not being a fan of the Horror genre, I am not a fan at all of Zombies. I remember having a conversation with my siblings (so long ago) that Zombies were our least favorite of all monsters and creatures. I mean they're dead and rotting and they eat you- as in not a bite but chew you up and worse- they could be your loved one turned undead, so talk about physical and psychological damages. 

Even when the Zombie Explosion blew up, I tried to fight against it as hard as I can. I didn't get into The Walking Dead wagon right away. It all started with Zombie books, colleagues encouraged me to read Mira Grant's Deadline trilogy. I was in a book club of sorts and Grant's Post Apocalyptic Zombie trilogy was in the circulation. It was in Grant's books that I learned terms like: Spontaneous Amplification: Defined as going through the "Zombie Changing" phenomenon without being bitten by an infected zombie. Happens after death. I also got an insight into what Virology would look like if say Zombie Outbreak does happen. 

After Gran't trilogy, I read World War Z, which unfortunately was not better than the movie. Watching Brad Pitt battle Zombies on the big screen was much better. It followed an actual -Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Resolution (of sorts) unlike it's boring book counter part. 

By this time, I've already started watching The Walking Dead, I tried to fight it off, but I couldn't- I was already bitten and the infection spread quick. Now, my heart goes through tachycardia every Monday Morning when I'm watching Fox's Parallel Play with the US of the newest episode of The Walking Dead and I spend the entire week wondering what will happen in the next episode. 

I guess I started as a non-Zombie person to an okay-Zombie person ^_^ So I was really excited when I got the opportunity to cover The Walking Dead: Haunted a prison House at (one of my favorite places) Eastwood! Thanks to Megaworld, FOX and my Senpai Azrael for the opportunity!

THE WALKING DEAD: Haunted Prison House at Eastwood City 

As if the Zombie Explosion could not get any bigger! Eastwood City (my home away from home) has tied up with Fox International Channels to bring you The Walking Dead Experience - yes you get to live in the skin (sort of) of all your favorite characters. You get to go ala-Rick or Daryl or Michrone in a Horror House este Haunted Prison House taken straight out of the TV show. Okay so you might not be swinging a katana or firing off a gun but you'll definitely feel the suspense and fear that could only come from walking through a pathway with walkers at every corner. 

Fox Philippines gives an even better The Walking Dead experience!

February marks the annual (obliged) celebration of "love" through the commercially (and economically) driven occasion known as Valentines Day but not everything is about hearts and chocolates since February also marks the return of: 'The Walking Dead' from its mid season hiatus.

So while the rest of humanity is off in a heart-shaped wonderland filled with roses and chocolates an entire following of 'The Walking Dead' fans will be eagerly awaiting the return of their favorite zombie franchise. So if the zombie apocalypse does happen you already know the people who will be ahead in the game :p 

So why am I blogging about The Walking Dead's return? Well this blog post is to commemorate and acknowledge the efforts of Fox Philippines to bring the latest episode to your TVs (and if you have a big ass TV then it makes for a great TV watching experience) closer to the US telecast! So close in fact that it is parallel to the US telecast! This means that you get to watch the latest episode while it is hot and fresh from the oven (so to speak)!   

You can watch The Walking Dead on Fox Philippines as early as Monday 11:35 AM, February 10 (and if you're not familiar with time zones this is Sunday evening in the US) and catch the prime time telecast at 8:55 PM on Monday and if you've developed the Saturday habit of watching the latest episode- you can still relive that practice with friends and families (the family that screams together while watching zombies stays together) :P  

I won't pretend to be something I'm not by saying that I never watched anything online by streaming or downloading it. I remember watching TV series that I follow online by streaming them and probably anyone of us can say that they did the same one point.  

Which is why I believe that in these fast paced times we should all adapt in order to stay relevant and compete with the infinite possibilities which the internet represents. So kudos to Fox Philippines for bringing their A game and making our 'The Walking Dead' experience an even better one. 

You can watch The Walking Dead on Fox Philippines, Channel 50 on Sky Cable on Monday, February 10 as early as 11:35 AM and catch the prime time telecast on Monday at 8:55 PM and on Saturdays at 8:55 PM.