Season of the Witch THE ZOMBIE INFECTION SPREADS

 3
Season of the Witch
New "American Horror Story" chapter keeps audience spooked
that such things are useless to the series.
But what can’t be ignored is that "American
Horror Story" has an amazing ability to
provoke disgust from its viewers. The show
has pushed boundaries in seasons one and
two, but the early episodes of season three
have left even its most loyal fans questioning
their ability to continue watching.
Part of the appeal of "Coven" is
that it enlists an all-star, female-dominant
cast including Jessica Lange, Sarah
Paulson, Taissa Farmiga, and Emma
Roberts. These Gucci-wearing witches
introduce themes of feminism and family into
the show, especially mother and daughter
relationships. The charming characters that
these women play attracted large amounts
of viewers from 18 to 49 years old, the most
popular demographic among "Coven" fans.
Along with the series’ recent
successes, Producer Ryan Murphy has
announced that "American Horror Story" will
continue with a fourth season that is already
underway. Rumors surfaced that the fourth
season would continue with the "Coven:
storyline, but an inside source quickly put
those to rest, saying, “Definitely not. It's not
By Christian Kreamer
STAFF MEMBER
"American Horror Story" recently
unleashed its third installment to its
anthology series with "American Horror
Story: Coven." The first episode aired on
October 9 and since then it has dominated
the ratings. Averaging 7.7 million viewers
each week, "Coven" may end up passing
"Sons Of Anarchy" as the highest-rated
series in the history of the FX channel.
Compared to the previous two seasons of
"American Horror Story," "Coven" has
surpassed the second season by 41% and
the first season by 90%. The reason behind
the overwhelming success of the show is no
secret to TV-MA fans.
The premiere of season three
hooked its audience with an abundance of
controversial themes. Abuse, racism, and
violence dominate the screen along with
other touchy subjects that spark debate
among some viewers on the purpose of
these aspects to the show. Some fans argue
about witches. It's about something else
entirely."
However, fans of the show won’t
have to wait very long to find out about the
fourth season as Murphy has said that he
will drop a clue in the season three finale as
to what the new season is all about.
With the overwhelming successes
of "Coven" this year, Murphy knows that
season three is going to be his toughest act
of the series to follow yet. Although, the
seasoned producer is no stranger to the
challenges of writing for shows that often
seem impossible to top. Murphy, the brains
behind "Glee" and "Nip/Tuck" confessed in
a media interview, “We go through five or
six drafts on this show every script just to
make sure it’s good.”
So whose names will be listed on the
scripts of Season 4? Well it’s confirmed that
next year will be Jessica Lange’s last year
on the show. In a recent interview, the face
of the franchise admitted, “It’s like doing a
stage play, between the rehearsal and the
run. This is a six-month commitment every
year. I want to have more time to myself, I
guess. I think four years of doing something
THE ZOMBIE INFECTION SPREADS
By Sam Soliday
STAFF MEMBER
The zombie apocalypse is upon
us! The undead have swept the nation
and have begun to take roots on other
continents. The hit show “The Walking
Dead” has had a major impact here in the
United States with so many students and
teachers alike talking about the show on
a Monday morning. In fact, the show has
almost 20 million viewers and has
claimed the #1 show spot from former
record
holder,
“American
Idol."
Additionally, World War Z proved to be a
wildly successful summer blockbuster
with its sequel already in development.
And this Halloween saw zombie
costumes, parades known as zombie
walks, and Zombie Mud Runs popping up
all over the country.
The Zombie Mud Run is one
event that has capitalized on the
popularity of the zombie craze. The run
is a post-apocalyptic 5K obstacle Mud
Run teemed with zombies infected with
the living dead virus. It is held in
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, and New
Jersey throughout the summer and fall.
Obstacles include the “Corn Maze of
Death” which requires runners to
navigate through a corn maze packed
with the undead who are chasing you
down to remove three flags around your
waist that symbolize your life. Lose all
three… you’re "infected!"
The creator of the 5K New
Jersey course remarked, “Whether you
are an avid mud runner or you have
never participated in a mud run, the
Zombie Mud Run promises to be the
most amazing, heart pounding, adrenalin
producing mud run ever created!”
Several
humans
at
A-C
participated in the Mud Run in East
Windsor,
New
Jersey
this
past
November.
Senior Nate Morgan said, “ It
was a ton of fun, and you don’t even
realize that you’re working out! The
Zombies were very realistic and it felt like
I was really in a post apocalyptic area.”
“It was the first 5k that I ever
ran. And let me tell you, it was one of the
most thrilling and exciting experiences of
my life. The intensity of the zombies
chasing you, while maneuvering through
obstacles and protecting your flags was
exhilarating. I can’t wait to do it again!”
exclaimed senior Derrick Sanders.
And the students weren't the
only ones experiencing the thrill of
running away from zombies.
The
Dutchman Crier advisor Mr. Ryan
Clements also participated in the
November race and thought it was a
clever way to disguise fitness through
having fun.
"Look, if you told me a few
T V , film , and even races have all
capitalized on the fad
is a sufficient amount of time.”
The question that is on every
fan’s mind cannot be more obvious. Who
will fill the void left by Lange’s character in
Season 5? Rumored actresses include
Legally Blonde’s Reese Witherspoon and
Michelle Pfeiffer who played Catwoman in
the 1992 film Batman Returns. But more
pressing questions are that which
surround Season 4. Murphy dropped a few
hints about the upcoming season saying,
“It’s not contemporary. It’s either gonna
shoot in New Orleans or it’s going to shoot
in Santa Fe.”
As excitement builds over this
season of black hats and voodoo, one can
only hope that Season 4 of "American
Horror Story" will be just as disgusting and
unconventional as "Coven."
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” M o v i e R e v i e w By Kaitlyn Pavelsich
STAFF MEMBER
(Above Left): Muddy senior Sam Soliday finishes the November mud run in New Jersey as a “survivor.” He was able to finish
with two of his three flags.
(Above Right): Journalism teacher Mr. Ryan Clements slides down the side of a hill on a tarp into a pool of muddy water in his
quest to finish the race. He finished as a “survivor” with one flag.
months ago that I would be slapping a
number on my chest in preparation for
running a 5K race, I would have called you
delusional. But I'll admit, I had so much
fun. Granted, it was really tough because
there were so many obstacles, so much
sprinting involved from dodging zombies,
and so much mud to crawl through. It was
a demanding race, to say the least, but I
felt like I was right in the middle of 'The
Walking Dead!'" Clements said.
Inspired by the hit TV show,
ordinary people dress up as zombies and
act out an undead apocalypse. And the fad
is not limited to the United States;
hundreds took part in Chile's fourth annual
Zombie Walk last month in the capital of
Santiago, and fancy-dress clad zombies
also took to the streets of Serbia. The
ghouls and boys wore "blood" splattered
clothes with creepy makeup and limped
through the streets.
The culture's view of zombies in
21st-century America and Europe is mostly
thanks to television and film. Starting with
George Romero’s 1968 cult classic Night of
the Living Dead, followed by the popular
AMC series "The Walking Dead," and
including the recent film World War Z, the
personalities of these "living dead" have
grown increasingly prevalent.
No doubt this zombie fascination
exploded as a result of “The Walking
Dead," the American horror drama
television series developed by Frank
Darabont. The first season aired three
years ago and ever since has been
attracting more and more viewers. The
show is based on the comic book series by
Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie
Adlard. Even if you have read the comics,
you will find them to be very different from
the show. There have been some different
and exciting twists in the show that you
can’t find in the comics. The series stars
Andrew Lincoln as sheriff's deputy Rick
Grimes, who awakens from a coma to find
a post-apocalyptic world dominated by
flesh-eating
zombies,
nicknamed
“Walkers."
The show’s plot focuses primarily
on the dilemmas Rick’s group faces as
they struggle to maintain their humanity
during the day-to-day challenges of
surviving in a hostile world. This includes
battling the zombie hordes, coping with
casualties, and dealing with predatory
human survivors. The director and cast
have worked hard to create both lovable
and hateable characters.
And watching the show together
has even become a ritual for some.
“Every Sunday night, we get the
crew together to watch our favorite show.
We order pizza and have a good time,
because we always get there an hour early
to talk about last week's episode and get
ready for a new thrilling episode,” said
senior Matt Reigle.
"Although I'm not there physically
with anyone watching, I tweet throughout
the show. To me, when something huge
happens in an episode, I use Twitter not
only to share my own shock but also to see
what others from across the country are
saying," added Clements.
In most post-apocalyptic worlds
filled with more zombies than human
beings, survivors must come to grips with
the reality that the enemy can't think, can't
reason, can't feel, can't talk, can't relate,
can't build, can't create, can't share, can't
change, and can't be trained. They exist to
eat you. They don't discriminate among the
old, sick, pregnant, young, smart, or
stupid. They show no mercy, have no plan,
and are driven by no motives. They are
pure destruction. So, if the zombie
apocalypse started tomorrow… how would
you survive?
On Thursday November 21,
hundreds of thousands of Hunger Games
fans lined up in anticipation to see the
second movie of the series, Catching Fire.
With a whopping $158 million made on its
opening weekend, it is safe to say that
fans all stormed the theaters to see what
happened to their favorite Panem tributes
since they left off from seeing them return
from the 74th annual Hunger Games.
Catching Fire indeed picks up
with Katniss and Peeta about to set out to
embark on their Victors Tour after winning
the most recent Hunger Games. Along
the way, there is a sense of tension and
rebellion in the air. Nevertheless, a 75th
Hunger Games is planned but with a
unique twist:
an “All-Stars” Hunger
Games, featuring all former victors
included in the reaping. Who will survive,
and who will be the next victor?
I had high expectations for
Catching Fire, and the film delivered!
There was not a moment of boredom
during that movie for me. As much as I
enjoyed Hunger Games, I liked Catching
Fire even better. Many improvements
have been made since the first of the
series. One in particular no one could
ignore is the improvement of special
effects. There was a much better sense of
quality and reality within the graphics of
Catching Fire. The battle scenes were
more intense and suspenseful with these
new graphics and personally left me
sitting on the edge of my seat.
Another reason why I loved
Catching Fire was that it was far more
emotional than The Hunger Games. A
good portion of the movie focused on the
complicated relationship between Katniss
and Peeta. Now this might not seem
appealing to male fans of the series, but
don't worry! The battle scenes were just
as good, if not better, than the sappier
scenes. In Catching Fire viewers get a
better sense of who Katniss and Peeta
really are and how they actually feel about
being victors in the Hunger Games. It
was refreshing as a viewer to get to see
that side of the two famous victors.
Overall, I would give this movie
5 out of 5 stars! The combination of the
special effects, intensity, and different
viewpoints of what was going on made for
a great movie. No rotten tomatoes here;
Catching Fire was fresh! I would even go
as far to saying that the odds were ever in
this movies favor.