So… hi. I suppose I should explain what we’re doing here.

First of all, welcome to the Wasteland Digest! I’m Zak, I’m 33 years old, and I’ve been reviewing and writing about horror movies on and off for over 10 years. It started as a Youtube channel that I made basically for the sole purpose of complaining about the Platinum Dunes remakes. While that channel, the potato quality videos it contained, and the eventual blog that accompanied them are no longer in existence, they did get me started down this path. Eventually I would go on to write for Wicked Horror and now Dread Central.

So why start up a blog again? Why now? Why isn’t this just called Reel Creepy like the last one?

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Well, as I said I’ve only been writing on and off, and part of that is because I’m constantly trying to do a million things at once. I’d been pursuing music somewhat seriously for a while as well as visual art, which is what I went to school for. All of this while working a steady 9 to 5. As it turns out, it’s pretty hard to break through as a rapper / illustrator / horror movie Youtube star and if I didn’t pick something and focus on it, I’d lose my goddamned mind. Starting this up is my attempt to channel all of these interests into one place.

The Wasteland Digest is not a blog. I have no intention of telling you how my day was. I’ll never post a bunch of vacation photos and detail my weekend step by step. This is a place for me to examine the media that I care about, vent, and generally work through things in a more constructive way than a Facebook post. It will always be media-focused, but I won’t shy away from getting personal if the subject matter calls for it.

I also have no intention of sticking to horror movies. Again, the whole point of this is to have a place to talk about all of these disparate interests. That’s partially why I’m calling this a digital zine. It’s more of a vibe than a particular lane. The Wasteland Digest is punk rock, it’s b movies, it’s hip hop, and it’s Dark Souls lore theories. The Wasteland Digest is whatever I feel like writing about. No rules, man. WordPress anarchy! Hopefully some people can pick up what I’m putting down, and if not then it’s still a good way to keep my pen sharp for when I’m writing for other sites. This one’s for me.

I’d also like to mention that while I am a pretty political person and have absolutely zero intention of hiding it, I won’t be diving into that on here. If it comes up then it comes up, but I’m absolutely not qualified to be giving a lengthy dissertation on the pitfalls of our modern political system. Go watch some Thought Slime videos or something. That said, fuck the police. Black lives matter. Down with Capitalism.

Anyway, I’ll say it again. Welcome to the Wasteland Digest! If you want to check out some of my recent work, I’ve been writing a series for Dread Central about Godzilla and I have a ton of reviews over on Wicked Horror. 

You can also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Letterboxd.