‘Dead Wait’: Kansas City Takes on the Web…and Zombies

I have a proclivity for zombie stories, I find the commentary on how people would react to a situation in which other humans (often loved ones) will turn on them fascinating, not to mention the myriad of ways the “not infected” will survive and perhaps ultimately rebuild a society once the brain-eating stops. From the interview-style of the novel World War Z to the brilliant comedy of Shaun of the Dead, the creative ways in which the concept of the dead rising to eat the living can be spun has always been appealing to me.

So it’s not coincidence that I’ve come across many the zombie-based web series over the years. I in fact wrote about an upcoming one of them just the other day. One of my top five web series of all time continues to be American Heart, a George Romano-esque comedy (yes, it exists) about a group of survivors trapped in a hospital. I’ve watched in the internet video Radio Nowhere, which tells the story of a man returning from war to find his town overrun with zombies set to Bruce Springsteen, probably more often than any other video I’ve watched combined.

Now that you know my zombie qualifications, I can say that it is with utmost pleasure that I introduce my next find in living dead web, a Kansas City-based web series called Dead Wait. And I like it even though I’m two episodes in haven’t seen one zombie yet!

Created by Justin Parlette and Eric Havens, the story of Dead Wait centers around Adam Aldrid, a paranoid recluse who has taken all precautions against an end of the world that he knows is coming. The only problem is, the apocalypse he prepared for was the “everyone one dies” kind and he kinda forgot the “…and then rise from the dead” part. Playing Adam is Dan Hillaker, a long-haired, facial-haired yet still appealing to look at actor who holds your attention as strongly as Adam desperately clings to his nail-encrusted baseball bat. Which is extremely important, as the show is taking it’s time ramping up. By episode two, you’ve learned quite a bit about Adam’s inner demons but not anything about the demons he’ll supposedly have to deal with fairly soon.

“Yes, our episodes can run a little short,” explained Parlette on the show’s website blog. “Our first two are actually the shortest of the series, but we go much longer with episodes 3 through 6. So if you can hang with us through our first two shorter episodes, we can promise you’ll have more than you can handle in the coming weeks as we expand. Web is a new medium to us, and your feedback will help shape the series as we move along.”

Web may be a new medium for the creators, but they are embracing it whole-heartedly. The show has a very active Facebook Fan Page, which posts updates on the show as well as running contests (a recent contest will award fans by killing characters with their names in season 2) and posting zombie-related articles. Like did you know that May is Zombie Awareness Month? Well, thanks to Dead Wait, you do now.

The third installment of Dead Wait will premiere Wednesday May 26th at Noon CST on the show’s website.