• What is the reason for Deadmonton.com
    Originally, Deadmonton.net was the domain behind this site.  It was going to be used to promote the series of Deadmonton books that I have been working on sporadically between other projects (like the children's books that pay the bills, and, I might add, enjoy doing).  However, I soon realized that the site could be its own entity, taking some of the short stories garnered from the longer tale, enhance them, and put them out as interactive fiction.

    When that decision was made, I obtained the rights to Deadmonton.com and moved the project to that domain.  This was back in early 2014.  And while you don't see much change in the site since that time, plenty has been going on in the background... hidden in the depth of testing folders.  To make this site work, I needed two-years worth of writing ready to go, and figure out a navigation system and site design that would make it all come together.

    Another note regarding the Deadmonton domains: Deadmonton.net has previous history in the horror genre dating back to 2008, where it began as the home for the Deadmonton Horror Film Festival. See details here.

  • What is Interactive short fiction
    In the process of writing the Deadmonton book series, there were many characters and situations that, while I had fun writing them, seemed to detract from the tale.  I reluctantly ripped these poor guys and gals from the storyline and cast them aside.  But, like those damned zombies, they just wouldn't rest.  Some of those characters were resurrected and found a home in a couple of upcoming short story collections.  While others, which seemed to ask for more than just written words, will find themselves here, where you will have a glimpse of the affected Edmonton areas they are living in, follow their trails on Google maps, hear the sounds, and immerse yourself in the tales in such a way that it grabs hold of you like the putrid, decaying hands of the dead.
  • Why Deadmonton
    I was hooked on horror from a young age.  The first movie that introduced me to monsters was the fantastic, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.  But the first to ever scare the bejeapers out of me was,Salem's Lot.  I was 10, and I was certain those bloody-eyed vampires were at my window every night, telling me they were my friends, and scratching at the glass to be let in.  But it was my brother that really got me hooked, after introducing me to George A. Romero's original zombie trilogy (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead), there was no turning back from horror, with the zombie sub-genre always a favorite .
    So, back in 2001, during the World Championships in Athletics, a British reporter wrote the term, Deadmonton, in his article.  Apparently an athlete he was interviewing used the term to describe what he viewed to be the city's lack of enthusiasm (read about it here).  I instantly thought, "what a great title for a zombie-themed story situated in Edmonton."
    Zombies are dead (ish). Dead + Edmonton = Deadmonton
    It was something that stuck with me over the years as I published happy little children's books... there's not a lot of flesh-chomping zombies in those.  But, yes, it stuck, like stink on a shambling corpse.  Now here I am with three Deadmonton books outlined and in rough draft, half a dozen Deadmonton short stories, and Deadmonton.com (home for interactive zombie fiction) and Deadmonton.net (the former home of the Deadmonton Horror Film Festival) which will be featured in some other way, at another date, within the Deadmonton realm.
    Now let's see what comes of it all.
  • Who is Justin Lore
    That would be me. Just a pen name.  Thought it sounded cool.  And if I had to choose my own name, as I walk around a post-apocalyptic Edmonton, recording events for what will--hopefully--be, the next generation, then that is the name I would choose.

    Of course, in reality, my name is unpronounceable except to the French.  I'm a middle-aged, balding guy with a wife that is way too beautiful, and way too smart, for my league (hopefully she doesn't read this, agrees, and acts on that).  She tolerates this "silly" zombie venture, even as she travels around the world, helping to stop disease from consuming third-world villages, cities, and countries.

    Yup; I'm a pretty lucky guy.

  • Why not use your real name
    My wife wouldn't let me.
    :)
    Ok, not really, though she did seem quick to point out that I should use a pseudonym for this project since my real name is associated with children literature.  My agent seems to agree.  Besides, it will be kind of fun doing this, with no push from name recognition, to see if I can be as successful in the horror genre.  And it will probably keep those damn zombies from dragging themselves into my children stories and devouring Spot (hmmm... I may write that one for myself).

    Anyway, I believe I saw a trace of relief in my wife's eyes when I said I would use a pen name.  Perhaps she didn't want to have to explain all of this to her peers, as they work to eradicate the latest Ebola threat.

    I guess, when I think on it, I  do feel a tad guilty doing this, while my wife is out risking her life helping those who aren't even aware she's doing it.  But my mind works differently than hers; it doesn't have the capacity to be crammed full of medical knowledge, but it can put word to paper, and perhaps those words help a few escape whatever pains they are currently living through, as they read the tale on the page... or, in this case, the screen.

  • Why do this at all
    After ten years plus of this idea sitting in my mind, I really had no choice.  Whether it is successful or not, Deadmonton had to rise from Edmonton's ashes.

 

ZOMBIE ALERTS

THE SOCIAL DEAD

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

YouTube

DEADMONTON REALM