Zombie, Zomba ! Raid is Dead !

Interview « I am Zombie »: Shawn

The interview was designed and conducted by XofMdS:

Could you introduce yourself in a few words?

Hello! My name is Shawn Beatty. I live in the midwest and am a public high school teacher. I teach Japanese and advise the Zombie Defense League club.

A « Zombie Defense League club »? What is that?

ZDL (Zombie Defense League) is a club that was there before I was… but I promptly took control of it.
Most all of the members are zombie fans / gamers / geeks and nerds. We are allowed a couple of hallways in the basement and have Nerf Wars. From time to time we have lock-ins where we use the entire school (and it’s big) and have huge team based infection modes or just team wars. I’m trying to get us to do more things to up our rep. Volunteer at a food bank, etc.

I have also ran zombicide there and it was a BIG hit. Two of my 40-some students have bought them game so far… I’m hoping more.

How did you fell into Zombie universe?

I have been a huge zombie fan since I was a kid. The Cook skeleton fight scene (Youtube) at the end of the Ray Harryhausen film « Jason & the Argonauts » (1963) got me hook on scary undead things which developed into zombies. My love of zombies led me to starting a small online business in 2004, called KingZombie.com that specializes in our own lines of zombie stickers, dice and miniatures. We also do sell some other items as well.

Then in 2006, I started ZombieMarch.org and the Iowa City Zombie Walk and have been doing it ever since. It is used as a vehicle to raise awareness for various Eastern Iowa Charities.

My most recent zombie experience (outside of being in Angry Neighbors AS a runner zombie) is on was on the 2012 Discovery Channel show, « Zombie Apocalypse » as one of the 4 preppers featured.

How and when did you found out about Zombicide?

Someone I know sent me a link to a different zombie-themed boardgame on Kickstarter and I stumbled across this one. Best stumble… EVER.

How did you decide to take the huge « I am Zombie » step?

Well, at the time of Season 1, I couldn’t afford the « I am Legend » level at that time. BUT I was prepared to go for it in Season 2. Unfortunately, the 2 « I am Legend » pledge levels sold out in the first 2 minutes and actually went to -1. Do you remember that? Crazy. I knew I really wanted to be in the game. My nickname since the ol’ BBS days in college has been King Zombie… so I thought it would be cool to be a zombie. Not as cool as being a character… but still cool… so I decided to go for it. I figured I could always try to be a player next time. I just really wanted to be a zombie. ^_^

Kickstarter_3_IamZombie

After the KS is over, how did Guillotine Games and you processed into the design of your Zombie? Is there any easter egg around its art?

They sent me an email asking for pictures of the pose I wanted and the type of zombie I wanted to have done. I always have thought runners were scary, so that is why I went with that. The only « easter egg » is perhaps my purple trenchcoat. I have a killer Joker costume and that is from that. I’ve also had that coat since college… and that was a LONG time ago.

Zombicide_Box_Angry_Neighbors

After the KS is over, how did Guillotine Games and you processed into the kind of Zombie you would be? Did you get some access to new Zombie types/rules? Does it reflect some kind of your personality, or did you choose a more fictionnal path?

They just asked what I wanted to be. Although, after the fact I did find out just before the official announcement that I was a new type of zombie. I didn’t find out what the zombie type was until after the official announcement about the Season 3 Kickstarter and the Angry Neighbors overview. I will be a seeker. As for access to new rules… nope. It was very hush hush.

I personally am not a runner, so if there were running zombies, I know I’d be screwed. So that is why I chose to be a runner.

Doesn’t it feel weird to have this reflection of yourself?

Heck no! It’s freaking awesome! I hope I look 1/2 as bad ass when I’m dead.

We can’t imagine the « pride » (maybe a better word would fit) you can feel now that it comes a bit to the open. Are there anyone in your « neighborhood » with whom you can share that?

I have been sharing my Zombicide zombie-awesomeness with anyone who’ll listen.

What are your next moves regarding Zombicide?

Well, I have become a member of the Legion over at the CMON website. I LOVE the game. I talk about it with coworkers (and students) who are into games and plan game days when I can and I’m not doing demos.

I also plan to have a good friend who’s an amazing painter paint up one of the zombie « me »s so I will look really sharp when I’m out there chowing down on players.

I hope that answers all your questions. I can’t wait to see the final figures. I haven’t seen any photos yet.

Avatar photo

A propos Eren Histarion

Eren Histarion : L'esprit créateur de l'équipe du Fan Site

Articles similaires
  • Interview « Developper » : Fábio Cury... 23/05/2020 : 1/ A classic of ours: your personnal pop culture absolute reference ? And the one specific to zombie universes (if different)? I am a sucker for the Lord of the Rings, it shaped my taste for culture in so many ways that I can’t even list them! I’m not sure there are any [...]
  • Interview « Illustrator »: Dany Orizi... 06/04/2020 : I see you made the (magnificent) art for some references of their current Zombicide Kickstarter. Would you be interviewed by us? Hi Christophe, thank you so much! I’m always a bit reluctant to interviews, I’m not a social guy … but if it’s written, it can be done. 1/ First thing first: your [...]
  • Zombicide Classic : Lost Nightmares 01/06/2020 : This project started in our community 4 years ago, at early 2016. Initiated by the BoardGameGeek community then taken up by the Spanish community, the idea of recycling Zombivants as a tougher adversary took time to succeed. And yet, at the start of 2020, I am proud to present the result of all [...]
  • Interview « MapEditor Contest »: Brya... Thanks for accepting this interview! So, you are Bryan Sharkey, the author of C56 « Smash and Grab ». 1/ Where are you from? Could you give us a quick word about you and how you fell into Zombicide? I’m currently living in Seattle, though I’m from Missouri originally. That’s where I was first introduced to Zombicide [...]
  • Interview « Tile Artist »: Henning Lu... 07/03/2018 : I see that you are credited as artist for their upcoming futuristic opus. Are you the one? Yes, I’m the board tile artist behind their upcoming game. There’s really not much I can talk about at the moment, unfortunately, at least not until after the game has released. 🙂 That is a date, [...]

Laisser un commentaire

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *

Ce site utilise Akismet pour réduire les indésirables. En savoir plus sur comment les données de vos commentaires sont utilisées.

Archives